Naruto evolution system

Chapter 243: Discovery

Three months ago.

During the Five Kage Summit, the Fourth Raikage used the Eight-Tails as bait and coordinated with the other four major ninja villages to set a trap, intending to capture anyone targeting the tailed beasts.

Nagato seemed to sense something amiss, so he dispatched Hidan and Kakuzu, as well as Deidara and Sasori.

At first, everything unfolded according to their expectations.

However, at a critical moment, Baishi suddenly appeared and snatched the Eight-Tails away.

In doing so, he simultaneously offended both factions.

Since then, the Five Great Ninja Villages and the Akatsuki had been actively hunting for him.

Even after his battle with Nagato, where Nagato suffered a loss, they still refused to give up.

Baishi had only stayed on Moon Island for less than half a month before being forced to leave.

The ninja world had no shortage of intelligent individuals.

Since Moon Island had long been recognized as his base, most well-informed factions knew about it, leading to a constant stream of pursuers.

Baishi had eliminated several waves of them, but there were simply too many reckless individuals in the ninja world.

Eventually, he grew tired of the disturbances and left the continent, venturing into the deep seas.

Only then did he find some peace.

Now, having returned to the mainland, he knew that as long as his location was exposed, trouble would soon follow.

That was why he remained so cautious and vigilant.

---

"Hmm?"

Suddenly, Baishi frowned, his gaze shifting to Moonlight Hayate's right shoulder.

With a flick of his finger, a gust of wind swept past, instantly shredding the fabric on Hayate's shoulder, revealing bare skin beneath.

There, a strange marking was slowly surfacing.

"Is this... a Flying Thunder God mark?"

As someone deeply familiar with the Flying Thunder God technique, Baishi immediately recognized the chakra-imbued mark.

'Minato's mark uses text, Tobirama's uses symbols, but this one is different… There's only one possible answer…'

"Hatake Kakashi!"

Baishi muttered Kakashi's name.

Currently, in the entire ninja world, aside from himself and Namikaze Minato, the only other person known to use the Flying Thunder God technique was Kakashi.

Though he had never seen Kakashi's personal seal, he could deduce it with little effort.

"So, I really have been exposed after all."

Staring at the activated Flying Thunder God mark on Hayate's shoulder, Baishi muttered under his breath.

Hearing this, Moonlight Hayate's expression changed, and he immediately began recalling anything suspicious over the past three months.

As expected, he quickly noticed several abnormalities.

Over the last three months, while his mission frequency remained unchanged, the locations were all within the Land of Fire.

This was highly unusual.

Previously, about half of his missions were outside the country, but now not a single one had taken him abroad.

Clearly, Konoha had its own agenda.

Additionally, many small details he had previously overlooked now seemed much more deliberate in hindsight.

The more he thought about it, the darker his expression became.

---

"What's wrong? Did you realize something?"

Noticing Hayate's troubled expression, Baishi narrowed his eyes and asked.

"My lord, it's like this—"

Without hiding anything, Hayate relayed every suspicious detail he had noticed.

After hearing this, Baishi confirmed that Hayate had been compromised.

In hindsight, it wasn't surprising.

When Hayate was assigned to monitor Moon Island, Baishi had been there the entire time.

Even though Hayate could have feigned ignorance, it was inevitable that suspicions would arise.

What was strange was that Konoha never interrogated Hayate.

Whether they had received outside information or simply had their own reasons, they left Hayate unaware that he was under suspicion.

Thus, he had remained oblivious to his own exposure.

Had it not been for Baishi's naturally cautious nature and deep understanding of the Flying Thunder God technique, he might have fallen into a trap unknowingly.

---

"Hah—"

Baishi let out a soft sigh, closing his eyes as he extended his senses outward.

As expected, no one had been following Hayate.

This made sense.

If Konoha had chosen such a discreet approach, they wouldn't act so obviously.

In fact, Baishi suspected they still hadn't confirmed Hayate's true allegiance.

Without direct interrogation, Konoha could only speculate—they couldn't be completely certain.

But Baishi wasn't interested in playing mind games.

Since Hayate was already under suspicion, he might as well take him away now.

At least this way, Konoha wouldn't have the chance to manipulate him with false intelligence.

With this thought, Baishi reached out and brushed his hand over Hayate's shoulder.

Instantly, the Flying Thunder God mark vanished.

Indeed, once a mark was placed, it was difficult to erase.

But that depended on who was trying to remove it.

Given that Baishi himself was proficient in the Flying Thunder God technique, he could effortlessly eliminate it.

Even without that knowledge, his current abilities were more than enough to erase such a seal—though with more effort.

With the mark erased, Baishi grabbed Hayate by the shoulder and activated the Flying Thunder God technique, disappearing from the scene.

---

Shortly after their departure…

A group of dark-cloaked figures appeared in the small town.

They were wearing masks and dark robes—Konoha's ANBU.

Leading them was none other than Hatake Kakashi.

The team swiftly navigated the streets, following an insect tracker held by one of the ANBU.

"Captain, the target's scent ends up ahead."

Hearing this, the ANBU squad prepared for battle, but Kakashi remained still.

He knew that even if they found traces of Hayate, it was highly likely that he had already been extracted.

After all, if someone had erased his Flying Thunder God mark, then only Baishi could have done it.

And if Baishi was involved, then Hayate had undoubtedly been taken away discreetly, without a single trace.

It was precisely because of this reasoning that Kakashi had led this mission personally.

Had there been any real chance of encountering Baishi, he wouldn't have risked his subordinates' lives.

Still, to confirm his suspicions, he decided to check the room himself.

He signaled for the team to stand by, then swiftly leaped onto the second-floor balcony of a nearby inn.

Moving quietly, he arrived at the room Baishi had previously occupied and listened carefully.

"Huh? Someone's inside?"

To his surprise, he could hear breathing from within the room.

For a moment, his heart skipped a beat.

However, the breathing sounded deep and sluggish, completely unlike that of a trained shinobi.

This put him at ease—briefly.

Slowly, he pushed the door open.

Inside, the room was empty, save for a single man.

A middle-aged commoner was snoring heavily, a puddle of drool on the floor—clearly in deep sleep.

At first glance, nothing seemed amiss—

But Kakashi immediately noticed something was wrong.

'His posture is unnatural.'

With a frown, he stepped forward and carefully lifted the man's eyelid…

---

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