Many years passed.
The Leaf Village had been rebuilt upon the scars of the past. The Third Hokage had steadily steered the ship of Konoha through the storm. But the atmosphere in the village had been forever changed. Pain and suspicion had sown bitter seeds.
To the world, Kageyama Kenji was a name on the Hero Memorial Stone. But for Kenji, his world had now shrunk, focused on a young, blond-haired boy who was shunned by the entire village.
He was a ghost, an anonymous protector. He watched Naruto from the rooftops, in the alleyways. He saw the boy being chased away, being called "demon fox." He saw the loneliness in his blue eyes, a loneliness he understood better than anyone. He did not interfere with these sorrows, because he knew it was a path Naruto had to walk on his own to grow. His mission wasn't to shield the boy from all pain, but to protect him from real dangers.
And that danger never slept.
One night, while watching Naruto sleep soundly in his small apartment, Kenji sensed another presence. Two cold, emotionless chakra signatures, professionally concealed. They were approaching the building.
Kenji narrowed his eyes. He recognized them immediately. The technique of suppressing emotion, the style of movement that left no trace.
Root.
Danzō. That old man had not given up. After years of silence, he was making his move again.
The two Root members easily neutralized the security system and broke into Naruto's room. Their objective was clear: kidnap the Jinchuriki, to turn him into Danzō's own emotionless weapon.
Kenji knew he could not reveal himself. A fight here would not only expose his identity but could also harm Naruto. He had to act like a shadow. Fast and efficient.
He created a single Shadow Clone, ordering it to move to the other side of the building. A few seconds later, a small but attention-grabbing sound echoed, as if someone were trying to break in through another window.
The two Root agents flinched. They exchanged a look, and one split off to investigate. A perfect division.
The moment one had left, the real Kenji acted. He didn't move. He just formed a single hand seal. A jutsu he had created himself, based on the principles of the Shadow Clone.
Muei Bunshin no Jutsu. (Shadowless Clone Jutsu).
A copy of Kenji was created, but it had no physical form. It was a pure chakra entity, nearly invisible and imperceptible by conventional means.
This shadowless clone drifted past the remaining Root agent, closing in on him. It didn't attack. It simply transferred a minuscule, finely controlled stream of chakra into the agent's chakra system, creating a temporary disturbance in his senses.
The Root agent froze. In his eyes, the room suddenly distorted. He saw three, four shadows of Naruto on the bed. He heard footsteps from all directions. A low-level genjutsu, but perfectly executed to cause confusion.
Just then, the second Root agent returned. "It's nothing. Just a cat."
But when he saw his partner in a defensive stance, pointing a kunai at non-existent shadows, he knew something was wrong. "What's wrong with you? We have an enemy!"
"He's everywhere!" the affected agent yelled.
Chaos and uncertainty had been sown. Their perfect kidnapping plan was shattered. They knew a third party was here, one they couldn't see, couldn't sense. For those like Root who were used to controlling everything, the unknown was the greatest threat.
"Withdraw!" the second agent ordered. "Mission failed. Report back to Danzō-sama. There is a 'ghost' protecting the Jinchuriki."
The two Root members vanished as quickly as they had arrived.
Only when he was certain they were gone did Kenji dispel the shadowless clone. He looked down at Naruto, sleeping soundly, completely unaware that he had just escaped a dark conspiracy.
He had succeeded. He had protected the boy once more.
But he also knew that from this night on, he had officially made a mortal enemy. Danzō would not let this go. He would hunt everywhere to find the "ghost" that had ruined his plan.
The silent war between the two most powerful shadows of the Leaf Village—one who wanted to control and one who wanted to protect—had officially begun.