The night wind whistled over the hill, carrying the sound of the subsiding rain. Hatake Kakashi stood motionless before the grave, his Anbu mask hiding all emotion, but his posture exuded a heavy and profound loneliness.
Kenji, hidden in a thicket not far away, held his breath. He completely suppressed his chakra, melting into the night, becoming an invisible observer. He knew Kakashi. He knew his skills. One of the most brilliant geniuses the village had ever produced. His presence here could not be a coincidence.
Kakashi slowly knelt. He didn't dig. He simply placed a hand on the grave, seeming to sense something. The instincts of an elite shinobi, honed in the Anbu's darkest missions, told him something was wrong.
"Who's there?"
Kakashi's voice rang out, cold and sharp, not directed at any specific location. He simply spoke into the night. He had sensed it. Not with chakra, but with pure instinct. He sensed a pair of eyes watching him.
Kenji remained silent, unmoving. This was a battle of patience.
Kakashi slowly stood up, his hand already on the hilt of the short sword on his back. "I won't ask a second time. Show yourself, or I will consider you an enemy."
Kenji knew he couldn't hide forever. Nor could he attack. Fighting Kakashi here would draw unwanted attention. He had to take a gamble.
He slowly stepped out of the thicket, his body still on high alert. He did not reveal his face; a black scarf covered the lower half, and his hood concealed his hair.
Kakashi turned. The single eye visible through his mask, his right eye, narrowed. He didn't recognize this person. The man's chakra was strange, suppressed to the point of being almost non-existent. But his demeanor and movements... were clearly those of a top-tier shinobi.
"Who are you?" Kakashi asked. "This area is sealed. You have no business here."
"I could ask you the same question, Hatake Kakashi," Kenji replied, his voice deliberately raspy and different from his own. "An Anbu member interested in a nameless grave?"
"I'm on a mission," Kakashi said curtly. "And you?"
"Same here," Kenji said. "I'm looking for something that was buried."
In that moment, their eyes met. They both realized something. They hadn't come here by chance. They were looking for the same thing.
"I don't know who you are," Kakashi said, his hand never leaving the hilt of his sword. "But if you're here because of Danzō, then you and I could be friends, or we could be mortal enemies."
It was a declaration, and also a trap.
Kenji decided to bet everything. He needed an ally. And if there was anyone he could trust, it was someone trusted by Minato.
"The Yellow Flash will never come again," Kenji said softly, a seemingly meaningless phrase.
Kakashi's body tensed slightly. It wasn't a code. But it was a sentence that carried a special meaning, a painful truth, and only those closest to Minato could understand the grief behind it.
"You... how do you know that phrase?" Kakashi asked, his voice no longer cold, but filled with suspicion and curiosity.
Kenji slowly pulled an object from his pouch. Not a weapon. It was a dragonfly woven from bamboo leaves, slightly old.
"A little girl named Hana gave it to me," Kenji said.
Kakashi froze. He remembered the report he had read. The report on Jounin Kageyama Kenji's final mission. It noted that he had saved two civilians, an old man and a little girl named Hana, before he was officially listed as "killed in action."
Kakashi's eye widened. "Impossible... You... you are..."
"A shadow," Kenji finished the sentence. "A shadow still carrying out his final mission."
Kakashi lowered his hand from his sword. The defensive wall between them had crumbled. He understood everything. Kenji wasn't dead. He had become an invisible operative, working under a secret order.
"Me too," Kakashi said. "Hokage-sama... both the Third and the Fourth before he passed... they shared the same suspicion. They gave me a secret mission to investigate Danzō. The trail led me here."
Two shadows of the Leaf Village, two men carrying the legacy and the will of Minato, had found each other on a rainy night at a forgotten grave. They were no longer alone.
"Well then, shall we search together?" Kenji proposed.
Kakashi nodded.
Together, they approached the grave. Kenji pointed to a spot next to the tree's roots. "The diary said it was here."
Without needing shovels, they used their hands and basic Earth Style jutsu to dig. Before long, they found a wooden box wrapped in moisture-proof cloth.
Kakashi carefully opened the box. Inside was a yellowed scroll, but it was very well preserved. On it were detailed reports, diagrams, and experiment results... on the transplanting of the First Hokage's cells into orphan children. Attached was a list of the victims, names that had been erased from the village's history.
It was undeniable proof. A heinous crime.
"So this is his true face," Kakashi whispered, his voice trembling with rage.
Kenji took the scroll. "This is exactly what Minato-senpai needed. This is the blade that will finish Danzō."
He looked at Kakashi. "Fugaku gave me one month. There isn't much time left."
"Then let's not waste another second," Kakashi said, standing up, ready for action. "What's the next step?"
"Now," Kenji said, his voice hardening, "we take this evidence to the Hokage. And together, we end this game."