"If you can observe closely, you can see that he had generated a chakra membrane", Hanabi elaborates as she keeps her eyes fixated on the scene before us. I utilize my Sharingan to take in Kabuto's physical state only to realize that Hanabi is damn right.
A thick membrane of chakra acts as a barrier to protect his vital organs. He's a Medical ninja, after all, it's only natural that he'd have perfect chakra control.
"Can you try putting him under a Genjutsu?", Hanabi suddenly inquires as she looks back and forth between Madara and the recovering Kabuto.
"No", I reply, hating how unhelpful I feel, "even if I succeed in ensnaring him in a Genjutsu then he'd generate a sudden burst of chakra that'll free him. His perfect chakra control is not to be taken lightly".
"His body might look injured on the exterior, but he hasn't sustained any internal damage yet", I explain further to her as I crouch down to place the exhausted Naruto against a tree, where he'll remain for the rest of this ordeal.
"Is that so?", Hanabi asks, to which I sternly nod while keeping an eye on her.
I held my breath tight as I began to contemplate a plan in my doubt-stricken mind. Hanabi seemed to be equally stiff as she chucked my sword back at me, which I caught effortlessly.
"I see you're not wearing your Akatsuki cloak Hanabi, are you planning on leaving our organization?", Madara questions, but from his tone of voice, it was evident that he knew the answer to that question was rhetorical.
"The face behind the mask", Hanabi asserted, stepping up towards them, "you told me it was the face of someone I knew"
"What?", I gasp at Hanabi, then dart my eyes to Madara and wait for him to confirm what I'd just heard.
"And you told me that regardless of who it is, I'll always be the monster that unleashed the Nine-Tails", Madara addresses back in a low, menacing voice, "...and besides, it's not like you're even ready to unmask my identity".
"Watch me", Hanabi growls and leaves a dent in the dirt she was just standing on, "You'll pay for what you've done!", Hanabi yells at the top of her lungs.
Hanabi charges at Madara with her bare clenched fists and speed. The two of them resort to a Taijutsu battle as I contemplate whether I should join. On one hand, Madara has his weird Jutsu where he could pass through things like a ghost. On the other hand, Kabuto is somewhat of a chakra control freak, which makes him a hard opponent.
Yet through all these dilemmas that circled in my head, I couldn't stop thinking about Madara and Hanabi's conversation. If Madara is actually a familiar face, then who could it possibly be, and what's his objective?
If I leave and let Naruto unattended then this Kabuto might just seize the golden opportunity and capture Naruto again.
"I don't wish to fight you, Hanabi Namikaze", Madara declares, when he'd strayed away from Hanabi's deadly Taijutsu attacks.
From the corner of my eye, I spot the four-eyed chakra control freak and the chakra scalpel that he was conjuring. That was my conspicuous cue to move on instinct and block his aim that was pointed at Hanabi.
"I'm actually pretty surprised", Kabuto mocks, "I had gathered the best of Lord Orochimaru's subordinates and experiments from his various hideouts. I have to say, Sasuke would've been a pretty good experiment himself".
"Shut up!", I snap, before swinging back my fist and plunging it right into one of his chakra points. I landed my attack with magnitude, but that's where I made a mistake.
I've already established that Kabuto Yakushi has excelled in chakra control being a Medical Ninja. So when I landed my blow on his chakra point, he'd thought quickly and created a chakra burst through that single point I aimed for, thus, repelling the magnitude of my attack.
With that small opening he created, which left me to comprehend his actions, he'd prepared the green-engulfed aura, which my eyes processed to be the chakra scalpel used by many Medical Ninjas.
His glasses glistened under the luminous light of the moon as he wickedly smirked at me. He'd purposely delayed the attack, so my Sharingan wouldn't be able to foresee it.
Kabuto swung his chakra scalpel near my face, where he clearly aimed a clean shot at my eye. If it weren't my danger detector body that leapt away before I could tell my mind to so, then I'd be screwed.
Instead, what Kabuto did manage to get his hands on were a few strands of my long dark hair, which got caught in our ordeal. Kabuto might be a tough opponent, but his skills will never make me go far as to use the Mangekyo. I certainly don't want any ocular problems, which is why Shisui and I have refrained from using the Mangekyo Sharingan.
However, a feeling in my gut keeps begging the question: What if it comes down to using the Mangekyo?
I shook the thought away and quickly peeked a glance at Hanabi's end of the ordeal. Her fight with Madara was fiery and heated. She was teleporting rapidly at the speed of light while utilizing her Sharingan to find a unique opportunity to counter-attack Madara's ghost-like Jutsu.
Of course, she knew better than to replenish her chakra by using senseless Ninjutsu offensives. Instead, she went for the Taijutsu approach in her battle, while utilizing the Teleportation Technique via the red butterflies.
I turn back to Kabuto who'd dared and lunged at me with a fistful of disrupting chakra that's aimed to immobilize one's chakra points. I utilize my Sharingan, frantically searching for one of his chakra points that he plans to burst in order to repel my upcoming attack.
I could conspicuously see that the chakra point in his shoulder was on the verge of bursting since I displayed a visible interest in that particular area. I held my breath as I rapidly changed the direction of my clenched fist towards his stomach.
My fist collided with his stomach, and with gritted teeth, I had to accept that I've been fooled once again. He tricked me into thinking that he was focusing his chakra into the bursting chakra point of his shoulder when in reality, he was just bluffing.
Because he'd channeled his chakra right into the place where my fist had collided.
"How did you manage to get within the barracks of the Hidden Leaf?", I demand as the two of us halt a decent distance from one another.
"That's not important", he wickedly smirks, and I see the visible crack on his glistening glasses.
"Tell me Kabuto", I pant, as a bead of sweat loosens its grip on my skin and therefore falls, "how come you managed to pull all this off and make us go through all this trouble?"
Kabuto simply scoffs at my questions as he regains his composure and begins healing any wounds on his body, "Oh Itachi, I promise you that that question will be the last thing on your mind after I tell you this", his lips curl wickedly as he tilts his head low to stare at me with the Kubrick stare.
My brows crease in utter confusion and for a moment, I tune out the ongoing battle with Hanabi and Madara. I focus solely on Kabuto and his revelation that's yet to shake us to the core.
"You see, back when I was simply one of the Hidden Leaf's citizens, I'd began fishing for intel that would've aided Lord Orochimaru", he says, then resumes, " Along the way...", he adjusts his glasses as I hold my breath captive in anticipation of what this revelation could be.
"Four years ago, when I was busy being a spy and fulfilling my duties, I'd stumbled upon something...quite significant"
"And what would that be?", I keep the tone of my voice steady and stern.
Kabuto tilts his head to the side and narrows down his eyes into slits, with a menacing smirk, he answers, "Documents about the prevented coup on the Uchiha"
"What'd you do?", I gasp as I stare at him with wide eyes. I never thought they'd make documents about that night. Either the security force in the Leaf is absurd, or this guy is just way more capable than he looks.
My mind refused to take the latter.
"I read everything about this supposed Madara Uchiha, his ghost-like Technique and his attributes-"
"Cut to the chase", I interject, sending him daggers with my glaring eyes.
"Feisty", he mocks, earning a scowl from me, "but since you're not the social type, then I'll keep it curt and conspicuous", he smiles at me, making my stomach twist.
"When you were busy getting detained by infiltrating the secret meeting, I was busy by indirectly gathering information", he addresses.
I already know that what he's about to spit out will render me in shock.
"As I inspect the scene that's in front of us, I guess that my suspicions were in place from the first time", he remarks while observing the fight between Hanabi and Madara.
"Just what are you getting at?", I inquired in a somewhat unsteady tone.
Kabuto adjusts his glasses and cranes his neck while giving me a toothy wicked smirk, "You don't get it do you?"
I simply crinkle my nose in disgust.
"Well then, allow me to educate you, you heathen", his tone sends shivers down my spine as I try to wrap my head around whatever he's getting at.
"It seems that the Ghost Technique the higher-ups so desperately tried to figure out for the past four years was right under their high noses"
"Wha-"
"If they could just look a little bit down from their high positions, they'd know that the Copy Ninja, Kakashi Hatake is capable of utilizing the same Technique"
He'd addressed that previous sentence so loud it'd made the ongoing battle between Hanabi and Madara finally come to an abrupt stop.
Just how did he make that deduction?
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A/N:- Yes, so to keep it simple and clear: Buckle up your seatbelts✨✨
-A