"Ok, let's try this again," I said with a sigh as I met all the kids (and Tazuna) at the exit to the village. "As soon as our escort arrives, we can be on our way." I turned to my team. "Before we leave though, why don't you tell team three a bit of what you learned from the short time we were out. I'm sure they have their own experiences, but you can always learn from other ninja."
Naruto perked up. "Hell yeah! Well we didn't get very far, but we were walking and we saw this puddle, and we were like 'wait, why is there just that one puddle?', and it was really suspicious, and I was like 'hey, senseis, check that out', and then these two guys jumped out and Kai sensei beat the hell out of them! He's crazy strong, you know, I bet this mission will be easy with him along!"
"I love the confidence," I said with a grin. "But if you think I'm going to be carrying this team with an ANBU ninja along, you've got more of it than I do."
He snorted. "Please, those ANBU guys aren't so great. I used to slip past them to pain the Hokage Monument all the time, and they never caught me once. You would totally have caught me on the first try. I bet they're sending some lame old guy with a super serious voice who talks like this." His voice dropped into a super low register at the end, his face smoothing out into his approximation of stoic and dramatic.
"Ne, I had no idea that's how you kids saw us," said a playful voice from just behind him.
He shrugged. "It's nothing personal, I just think Kai-sensei is way cooler than some stupid ANBU an-" he froze, turning slowly to stare at the familiar figure. "C-cat-neechan," he whispered, in a voice dropping with what I could only describe as absolute dread. "I didn't think the old man would send YOU. I was…just joking, ya know?"
"I didn't think it was very funny," said the playful voice again, the eyes of the purple haired woman tracking Naruto like he was a mouse she was hunting. "But then again, neither are most of your pranks, so I suppose you're consistent at least."
That seemed to snap him out of his terror, and he scowled at her fiercely. "Hey! I'm hilarious, ya know! Nobody in this village is funnier than me, believe it!"
"I don't believe it," she said immediately.
"Hey! Not you too!" he whined. "Kai-sensei, it's spreading now! This is all your fault somehow, I just know it!"
Tenten, who had been watching this whole time, turned to Sakura with a sigh. "Is he always like this?" Sakura nodded in exasperation, and the bun haired girl shook her head. "I'm so sorry." She turned to bow formally to the purple haired ANBU (Yugao Uzuki, obviously, but I wasn't supposed to know that). "Apologies for our teammate ANBU-san. He should have been more respectful."
Yugao chuckled. "It's not a problem. Naruto-kun and I are old friends. He neglected to mention all the OTHER pranks that we caught him trying to pull. He only got away with the Hokage Monument pranks because I wasn't on duty at the time. Isn't that right Naruto-kun?"
He shuddered, the dread coming back. "Yes, Cat-neechan." He said obediently. Then stopped.
"You made him stop talking," I said in disbelief. "I…I didn't know that was possible. You have to teach me how to do that."
She giggled at that. "You're much funnier than described, Mikado-san. Now, Hokage-sama didn't give me all the details, so perhaps we might chat a bit about our goals as we travel? I'm told you will be my commanding officer for this mission."
If she was bothered to be listening to a Chunin (what rank even WAS Yugao?) she didn't show it, her tone was cheerful and professional, and I didn't hear even a hint of curiosity about the fact that I had been put in charge. Those ANBU are the soul of professionalism, barring a certain bandaged asshole, and I wasn't sure he even counted.
"Sure, I'm happy to debrief," I said wryly. "Even if I'm in charge, I'm kind of new to all this. I have a basic shape for how I want things to go,, but I'll need your input. The broad strokes of the operation are as follows. This is Tazuna," I gestured to the bridge builder. "He's the client, and is currently the target of an assassination order from a man named Gato. The bounty has been accepted by Zabuza Momochi and an unnamed associate of similar or even equal power."
Her head cocked. "That seems like a dangerous mission for a group of Genin. I assume we're not going to be engaging directly?"
"No, Kakashi and Guy will be following at a distance, poised to intercept." We'd considered a few different methods for them to track down the enemy, but a good old fashioned bait and switch seemed like the most reliable method. "Our mission, aside from escorting Tazuna safely to the wave, is to find and neutralize Gato, thereby rescinding the bounty."
"Understood," she said cheerfully. "And will this be a scorched earth mission, or will we be moving incognito. If the latter, I would request the removal of my mask for the duration, so as to blend in more effectively."
"Granted," I said with a nod. "Introduce yourself, please, Cat-san."
She reached up, removing her mask to reveal a lovely round face with a strong nose and intense, deep set brown eyes. "Greetings children," she said with a deep bow. "My name is Yugao Uzuki. But you may refer to me as Yugao-sensei, or in Naruto-kun's case, Yugao-neechan is fine as well."
I was stunned she'd done that so easily. I'd expected a fake name. I wondered if this was another test from Hiruzen, seeing if I could be trusted with sensitive information. Regardless, I offered her a hand. "Greetings, Uzuki-san, you already know me, but you can call me Kai, if you feel comfortable. Coworkers shouldn't feel compelled to stand on formality when they're trusting their lives to each other. Though I suspect I'm going to need to do a lot more trusting than yourself, given how much more skilled you are."
That same silvery laugh. "Oh, I wouldn't be so sure, Kai-san. Hokage-sama mentioned that you're much more impressive than your exam scores led us to believe. I look forward to seeing what you're capable of."
The kids, meanwhile, were all staring, but one more than the rest. "I'm sorry…did you say your name is Yugao UZUKI?" Tenten asked, her eyes shining. "Yugao the Sword Princess? The youngest female kunoichi to graduate the academy in the last hundred years? The leaf's most dangerous kenjutsu mistress?"
"No," Yugao laughed. "At least not the academy thing. That's a common misconception, but Lady Tsunade graduated at six years old. People just tend to downplay the achievement because she was a Senju and it was expected. As for the rest, I have been called by those appellations in the past. I do boast some skills in kenjutsu. I'm surprised you've heard of me, actually. I was under the impression I'd been largely forgotten after entering ANBU."
It was hard to concentrate with her just standing around being gorgeous like this. She wasn't as classically pretty as Kurenai, but she had a kind of elevated girl next door gorgeousness that made her VERY distracting. Kurenai looked like a supermodel who you could never get with, but Yugao looked like the captain of the cheerleading team. She wasn't APPROACHABLE, but she was closer to the same stratosphere while still being absurdly pretty.
To be honest, I was biased. Yugao was my absolute favorite Naruto girl design wise, with the possible exception of Mei Terumi. Kishimoto designing her so pretty and then never using her in the story was a crime against good taste. I honestly hadn't expected to meet her so early.
Sadly, she was probably still with Hayate, who was going to die in the Konoha Crush, so romantically I didn't really have a chance, but I definitely didn't mind the sexy sword mistress riding shotgun on my first real mission. Gesturing to the others, we set off again, Neji and Sasuke taking point this time. Even without the Sharingan Sasuke had good eyes, and Neji's Byakugan would make scouting a breeze.
We pushed off, hitting the trees at a decent clip as we leapt from branch to branch. "So," I said as we hopped across the treetops. "Any chance you'd tell me exactly what the Hokage wanted you to find out about me? Because I don't believe you're here to play babysitter."
She laughed at that. She was a very cheerful person. It was surprising, because in the series she was haunted and morose, mostly because she watched her boyfriend and sword teacher butchered by Sand ninja we then made an alliance with, I'd assume. This Yugao was lighter than her canon self, more upbeat and playful. "I like you, Kai-san. You're funny."
"Yup, that's me," I said dryly. "The Leaf's number one comedy genius. So, what's our cover on this mission? I'd assume we need one, given we'll be interacting with civilians. I'd say husband and wife, but you're WAY out of my league. And brother and sister won't work because we look nothing alike."
She grinned at me. "Nai-chan told me you were a flirt. I'm taken, as it happens, but I'm also ANBU, and I can play a role. Still, it might be unnecessary. It's usually better to keep covers close to the truth when possible. I'd say we should pass ourselves off as teachers, escorting a few noble kids out to see the world."
I nodded along. "That sounds like a solid cover." I paused for a second. "Kurenai mentioned me?" I asked casually.
"At girl's night," she giggled. "I go out for drinks with Nai-chan and Anko once in a while, and she mentioned you after your meeting the other day." She winked at me. "She said it was nice to get some actual attention for once. Asuma wastes so much time being aloof he never bothers to actually try any more."
"Sounds like you're rooting for me," I laughed. "Any advice for a man trying to make a good impression?"
She snickered. "I really shouldn't…but Nai-chan deserves a little thrill. Fine. Nai-chan likes to act all cultured and serene, but she has a weakness for men that get up close and personal. Taijutsu is one of her weak points, so she leans hard into Genjutsu, but she LOVES close combat. She also loves drinking after a spar. That girl can down her weight in Sake."
"So your advice is to beat her up and get her drunk?" I asked with a laugh. "Are you sure you two are friends?"
"Don't take my advice if you don't want to," she snorted. "But it's the fastest way to get her attention. Of course, if you want to spar with her properly and actually impress her you'll need to get pretty good at breaking Genjutsu. You can just challenge her to hands only, but it won't make nearly as big an impression."
I smirked to myself, thinking about the Black Heaven Art and its perfect control. Perfect chakra control was the key to resisting Genjutsu, and I wouldn't be shocked if I was completely immune to the stuff at this point. I made a mental note to try out her advice when I got a chance. I didn't really have anything to lose here. Asuma was way ahead anyway, so I might as well try for an assisted score.
We chatted like that for a few hours, enjoying each other's company, until finally, we came to a small village. "Alright, we can stop here for the night," I said as we landed. "Stick together, just in case." They all nodded, and we headed into the village. The anime never really showed how long the trip to Wave took, but it definitely wasn't short. I couldn't wait to get some rest.
AN:// Lots of fun stuff incoming, I have a really exciting alternate plot for Wave that I feel branches well off the changes made so far, and is going to cascade into even bigger ones going forward. Can't wait to see what everyone thinks.
ANN:// Lee is carrying Tazuna, I forgot to include it in the chapter lol.Last edited: Jan 9, 2026 Like ReplyReport Reactions:Hiroshima911, Taylor Klatt, Tsureai and 957 othersMalcolm TentJan 9, 2026NewAdd bookmarkView discussionThreadmarks Chapter 18 New View contentMalcolm TentMonkey with a typewriter.Jan 14, 2026NewAdd bookmark#1,556Losing Yugao after we stopped for the night was surprisingly easy. The village we'd stopped at had a bath house, and she took the girls to one side while the boys went to the other (along with Tazuna). I slipped away after she was gone, leaving a clone to watch the kids so I could summon Shi-Woon for some much needed training, and HOPEFULLY to get my hands on those pills.
"You look like shit," I observed as he appeared in the shade of a large tree. "Are you still not healed after that mess with your old master?"
He grimaced. "I'm not certain what 'healed' even looks like, Kai-nim" he admitted. "My body's limits have been shattered, and I'm in a constant state of development. I'm growing continuously, but into what, I have no idea. The clan is thrilled, of course, but I can't help but worry that I'm turning into something…different."
Shi-Woon had originally been a normal kid at a high school in Korea who had been bullied constantly by his classmates. He'd stood up for himself and caught the attention of one of the new teachers, a dangerous rogue martial arts master name Chun-Woo Han, who went by the name of Goomoonryong (or the Nine Arts Dragon). Well, he'd more forcibly inserted himself into Chun-Woo's life, and then won him over with his inhuman persistence, but still.
Shi-Woon had the kind of determination and grit that made LEE look tame. This kid had literally run himself to death on the orders of his teacher, who had casually told him to run an impossible number of laps assuming he would give up, only to be dragged into the nurses office by the school nurse (who he was dating at the time) and informed that Shi-Woon had pushed his body so hard he'd given himself a fucking HEART ATTACK from the effort.
Naturally, there were other reasons at play, one of which was Shi-Woon's natural physique, the "three yin restriction", a type of blocked negative physique that made people sickly and weak.
Once the kid's persistence won him over, Chun-Woo had taken his student to a creepy experimental qi doctor with a thing for his ex and gotten him a pill called the "One Moon Divine Dan". The pill was supposedly useless because it contained enough qi to straight up kill any human who took it…unless they practiced the Black Heaven Art which gave you perfect qi control, and Shi-Woon had adapted, his body developing an absurd over the top healing factor and not much else.
Fast forward through a bunch of dramatic shit involving his master's ex dying (supposedly) and Shi-Woon being put in control of a huge martial arts clan, and the two of them had fallen out, with Chun-Woo cruelly shattering Shi-Woon's qi center and expelling him from his tutelage in front of the whole martial arts world.
Unfortunately for him, Shi-Woon still had all that qi in his system, and due to a series of absurd circumstances, it had mutated his body, forcing him into the process called the Overhaul Rebirth, where an overabundance of qi began to alter the fundamental structure of the body, slowly allowing it grow and perfect itself. Which was why I wanted those damned pills, because I was sure that using them would allow my body to adapt to at LEAST the first gate, while the Black Heaven Art would let me control the chakra enhancement, presumably allowing me to LIVE in the first gate, permanently adapting to it ala super saiyan training in DBZ.
"I don't suppose there's been any word on the One Moon Divine Dan?" I asked hopefully. The pills Shi-Woon was going to get me were miracle medicine almost no one in the world could get their hands on, but they weren't the legendary One Moon Divine Dan. If I could get THAT I might be able to push myself into the second gate permanently.
Sadly, it wasn't to be. "Nothing concrete, as I told you there wouldn't be," he said bluntly. "But I've made some progress on getting you the Great Origin Rejuvenation Pills. Now I need to know you've made it on your end. My mother has been in the hospital for months now. When can you help me learn this 'mystical palm' technique?"
"I'm working on it," I said with a sigh. "I'm a grunt, and I've been reassigned recently. I'm on this trip with a member of the village's special forces, and all ANBU know the mystical palm as part of their training. I'm going to try to learn it from her. Just sit tight a little longer. In the meantime, the faster you get me those pills the sooner I can prove my value, and it'll make everything much easier."
He grimaced. "You've proved yourself with that scroll," he admitted. "The clan had one of our retired masters try out your method. He was able to open the first gate with only a modicum of training, though he had to be subdued to snap him out of it. Luckily the elders were on site in case anything went wrong, and they didn't pick anyone particularly strong, but it made an impression. They're eager for the method to open the second gate."
"And I'm eager for those pills," I said bluntly. "I'm not fucking around here, Shi-Woon. This world is dangerous. Where you're from, the Murim keeps martial arts contained, so people only have to deal with it under certain circumstances, but it's not like that here. Ninja are a known commodity, and they're everywhere. I can't help you with shit if I'm dead."
He sighed tiredly. "I understand. I've agreed to teach you already, and have no reason to stall. These things simply take time. Now, I assume you didn't call me for a progress report. I take it you wish to begin your training?"
I exhaled slowly. "Yeah," I said with a small smile. "Yeah I'd like that." Given how insane things had been and were likely to KEEP getting, training was the one area of my life where I was in complete control. Guy had instilled a perverse sense of satisfaction in me for a job well done, and now getting stronger REALLY made me feel good. Weird.
Shi-Woon nodded, taking a deep breath. "Alright. I won't be teaching you anything too combat applicable to start anyway. We'll begin with foot techniques, which should increase your survivability quite a bit.
"Our lineage uses a very special movement technique," he began, his manner subtly shifting as he started to lecture. Because of the big fight that had gone down between them, Shi-Woon currently HATED his master, but I suspected if I compared his current persona to Chun-Woo, I'd spot a lot of similarities. "Our foot technique is called 'Phantom Steps', and it can be effectively broken down into five types of movements."
He took up a very specific stance, his body held in a sort of casual off center pose that looked like a natural standing position, but almost definitely wasn't. "First up, we have Jin, or Advance." His figure blurred, seeming to cross the distance between us incredibly quickly. It kind of looked like a body flicker, but I could see that he wasn't exactly moving across the distance in a normal way. Rather than just 'running but faster', it was more like he'd used qi to glide forward in a single step.
"Next we have Tweh, or Retreat," he continued, and he made the same blurring motion in reverse, reappearing where he'd started. "Third is Hweh, or Evade." He vanished. Just literally disappeared from my sight. Granted I didn't have body flicker active, but still, being able to do that to a ninja was impressive.
His voice came from above. "Hweh is the art of entering the opponent's blind spot. To use it, one must read the opponent's gaze and deduce their line of sight." He vanished and appeared back on the ground in front of me.
"Finally, the last two techniques are the most difficult," he warned. "The fourth technique is called Gyuk, or Attack. It's a deceptively simple technique name, but the actual movements are anything but. Gyuk is a counterattack. It involves a deep understanding of the opponent's foot technique, and the careful application of force to their most vulnerable spot. Piercing their defense in a single blow and delivering a powerful strike, this is the essence of Gyuk."
He stared at me calmly, his lips peeling back in grim amusement. "And last but not least, Hwan, or Scatter." And suddenly, there wasn't one Shi-Woon, there was NINE. One of him was standing on a branch off to my left, one above, one below, one to the side, one in my face, one further away, and several others scattered in places I only managed to catch because of all sight.
"Hwan is where the Phantom Steps get their name," he explained as the afterimage clones vanished. "It's a technique of deception and timing, an exploitation of the enemy's perception. One would assume that having stronger perceptive abilities would allow you to pierce the effect, but in fact, it's the exact opposite. Hwan relies on taking advantage of the predictive and analytical abilities of the enemy to fool their senses. It's the ultimate feint. The creation of a phantom image."
I stared at him hungrily. Phantom Steps were easily one of my favorite movement techniques in all of fiction. Of course, I knew even with perfect chakra control, I wouldn't be able to learn them that easily. Everyone in the Black Origin Lineage had the same control as me, and it took months or years to master the timing on Phantom Steps. Not to mention that their effects scaled based on the amount of qi and the refinement of using it. Having perfect control only mattered if you knew HOW to apply it. Without the ability to see other people's chakra use, I would have to make incremental improvements to my techniques from experience.
"Do you understand the basic techniques as I've described them?" he asked me calmly. When I nodded, he gestured for me to approach. "This sort of drilling is best done in the Outer Body Combat Method, but I don't have time to teach you to that standard today. It'll be an involved process, so you'll simply need to practice in the flesh. Be careful about your qi application. Start small, or you'll break your ankles."
I winced, but nodded. "Alright. So first up is Advance. What…exactly do I do there?"
"Advance is fairly straightforward," he commented as he took up the same stance as earlier. "You'll be channeling qi through your feet and ankles. The trick is to cycle it in a specific burst to match the timing of your step. The exact cycling pattern varies person to person, but there's a fairly standard beginning form you can use to get started. From there you'll simply need to refine through trial and error, learning to apply more qi and use it more smoothly, as well as integrate the timing of your steps."
"Can I use it combined with other footwork?" I asked excitedly. "Because my flowing water steps are already pretty damned fast." I surged forward to show him, my feet gliding across the ground on a thin current of chakra. After six months of training, my flowing water steps were one of my most consistently used and useful techniques.
He hummed with interest. "Maybe. The more complicated the motions, the more refinement you need to do to adapt to them. We start with Advance because shooting forward is pretty consistent for everyone's body. We all take a step in roughly the same way. Something like that…it would take quite a bit of training to get right. For now, let's begin at the beginning." He gestured toward the clearing beside us. "Now…as I said. Advance." Then he began the laborious process of describing the qi circulation method to use on my legs and the training began.Last edited: Jan 14, 2026 Like ReplyReport Reactions:Lunaloyalist, Hiroshima911, Cheshirek4t and 778 othersMalcolm TentJan 14, 2026NewAdd bookmarkView discussionThreadmarks Chapter 19 New View contentMalcolm TentMonkey with a typewriter.Friday at 2:05 AMNewAdd bookmark#1,628I did not break my legs, that was pretty much the best I could say of Shi-Woon's training. It was hard, painful, complicated, and exhausting. I ran into every tree in the clearing, I shredded my calves. At one point, I was pretty sure I somehow stepped on my own head. If there was a painful or demoralizing event that could happen during training, I did it, perfected it, and then innovated a new twist on it just to be safe.
It took hours, and by the time it was over, I had Guy's hellish training to thank for the fact that I wasn't actually crying. Either that of the intense dehydration caused by all the sweating, I wasn't entirely certain.
When I finally sent Shi-Woon back, I slumped down against a tree, groaning as I let the pain wash over my body. "Never again," I groaned aloud. Now that I had the basics down, at least I could use the Outer Body Training Method. I didn't even have to wait for myself to heal because Outer Body…didn't…damage you.
I froze, staring in horror out into the forest. Outer Body was entirely mental. I…I could have be using it with fucking CLONES. The WHOLE TIME. I could have tripled my training speed. Perfect elite level max output martial arts training full time with multiple clone brains. How had I not even considered that? At least it hadn't been too long, I'd only wasted a few days. I stood up with a groan, focusing, and then created a clone.
Another me popped into existence, looking at me flatly. "Seriously?" he asked acidly. "You never considered the synergy?"
"Shut the fuck up, me," I snapped. "You and I have the same brain, so you didn't consider it either. Also, joke's on you, I'm in severe pain, which means YOU'RE in severe pain. Nerd. I really wish we had hurried up and learned the mystical palm."
I agreed with him, because of course I did, but I didn't say it out loud because I was mad at myself and feeling spiteful. I left him behind in the woods to work on footwork via the Outer Body Method, heading back towards the village. I was limping and wincing and making way too much noise, but I was also a ninja, so way too much noise was about as much sound as a particularly quiet field mouse.
As I approached the village though, I was surprised to come upon something odd. A girl, sitting at the bank of a river, feet in the water, head down as she stared at the rushing current. The river was moving pretty quickly, and I was a little worried she might fall in, so I did my best not to startle her. "Um, hi," I said as I slowly approached. "Are you ok?"
She stared desolately down into the water, hair covering her face. "It was all my fault," she sobbed. "It was my fault. I wasn't supposed to see. If I had just minded my own business everything would have been fine."
"What would have been fine?" I asked as I slowly crept closer. "I'm sure whatever you saw isn't as bad as you think. Why don't you tell me about it, we can figure it out together."
Her sobs redoubled. "I wasn't supposed to see!" she wailed. "I wasn't supposed to see!"
"Yeah, I got that," I said consolingly, but I don't th- JESUS CHRIST!" As I got close enough to touch her, I put a hand on her shoulder, and she looked up. Her hair fell away from her face, revealing a bone white visage streaked with blood tears, her eyes having been very messily gouged from her face.
All thoughts of pain and fatigue vanished and so did I as I pushed my body flicker and my flowing water footwork as fast and far as I could get from the mutilated woman as she leapt toward me. Her form shifted as she dove, becoming snakelike and even more disturbing, her jaw opening wide and becoming distended as fangs erupted from her gums. "I shouldn't have SEEN!" she roared hatefully.
"Yeah, there's a lot of that going around," I snapped back in agitation. "I wish I wasn't seeing your ugly ass right now.""
I didn't know what the fuck this WAS. I had never seen anything like it. The snake thing made me think of Orochimaru, but he shouldn't be making moves in the Land of Fire this close to the Chunin Exams. Had I changed something? Was this just some secret experiment Naruto and co had missed because Kakashi was a dick and didn't let them camp, or had the snake lady just avoided the Jonin?
She roared in hatred, surging forward, and I drifted out of her path effortlessly. Sore or not, attacking me with overwhelming force was a one way trip to disappointment town. My hands blurred, redirecting her massive body as she charged towards me, deflecting her mass into a nearby tree with a crash.
I cursed, taking off into the forest. Snake lady could wait, or fuck off for all I cared. I'd thought we were safe and left my kids alone. Ok, they were with the clone, and Yugao was across the building, but I was pretty sure that the baths were separated by a decent sized barrier to prevent people like Jiraiya from doing what people like Jiraiya did.
Sure enough, as I hit the clearing in front of the bathhouse, there was a colossal crash and the wooden side of the building exploded outward, a huge snakelike monster crashing outward in a storm of wood shards and hitting the ground hard enough to dig a furrow. As I'd approached, my clone had popped, and the rush of memories had shown me exactly what was going on inside, but I approached the group with trepidation, wanting to see the situation with my own eyes.
Lee was pummelling it into the ground while Naruto screamed in terrified fury about 'GHOSTS' (I'd forgotten about his ghost phobia) and Sasuke rained shuriken on the monster. Neji was standing at the newly made exit watching the other dispassionately. "You're not going to join in?" I asked casually as I stepped up beside him.
He turned to look at me, raising an eyebrow in confusion. "A clone?" He made the obvious connection, given my battered condition and fully clothed state.
"Had some training to get in," I answered truthfully. I'd have some explaining to do to Yugao maybe, but there was no feasible situation where I could convince them I had been with them the whole time, so I wasn't going to waste time training. Besides, we clearly had bigger problems.
Speaking of the purple haired Jonin, she was hurrying out, clad in a wet bathrobe, hair tied up with a pair of senbon. Tenten and Sakura were trailing behind her, wearing much thicker robes and looking scared out of their minds. Yugao was ALSO holding a drawn wakizashi, and it was coated in thin, oily looking pink blood, much like the strange substance leaking from the snake monster the boys were fighting.
When she was us all, she let out a sigh of relief. "Kai-san, I am relieved to see that you are unharmed," she said with a concerned glance over my body. "Or at least, mostly unharmed, how were you injured so thoroughly?"
"I was out training and ran into one of these things." I jerked a chin at the one on the ground. "I realized the kids might be in danger so I ditched it and hurried back. Seems I might not have been needed. Still, I'm deeply unsettled. I have to ask, is it just me or do these things bring to mind-"
"Orochimaru," she said harshly. "It's not just you. Where are Kakashi-senpai and Gai-san? I'd have assumed they would have stepped in, anonymity be damned."
I paused, thinking about the situation, and then realized I was overlooking something. "They might have already done that," I pointed out. "Like I said, this is the second one I've run across. I ran from the other but I'd have expected it to pursue. Maybe they took it out before it could follow me."
There was a screech from above, and a messenger bird swept toward us, dropping a small scroll from an absurd height. Yugao effortlessly snatched it from the air, opening it quickly. "Ah," she said with a sigh. "You were right. They did destroy the other one. Kakashi-senpai says our orders are to investigate this village and attempt to discern the source of the anomaly. They need to remain out of sight in case the targets make an appearance." She frowned, looking around. "Where's Tazuna?"
"Right here," came the old man's gruff voice. "Just laying low so I didn't get in the way."
I saw him step out from behind a pillar, realizing that Neji hadn't been hanging back at all, he'd been protecting the bridge builder. I nodded approvingly at him, then turned to Yugao. "Alright, so obviously we don't ALL need to go investigate. Not should we all go. Tazuna needs guarding. I say we let Neji and Tenten do that, and Sakura from my team. Naruto, Sasuke, and Lee can come with us."
Neji had the Byakugan, which made him a much more effective investigator, but he also had attitude problems, and I didn't want to deal with them out in the field. Yugao clearly had a different opinion, but to her credit, she just accepted my ruling as superior officer, which was nice of her.
"So, there was one in with you too?" I asked her as we gathered and redistributed the kids. I made sure to keep my eyes peeled for more snake monsters, putting my all sight to good use as I kept my head on a swivel.
She nodded. "It entered pretending to be a serving woman. Eyes covered with its hair. I'm not sure what the eye thing is about exactly. It feels…important."
It did. Especially considering Orochimaru's weird obsession with kekkei genkai. I had to wonder if these things were made from former dojutsu holders or something. Or maybe they were clones. Whatever was going on, we'd need to follow them back to their base (or whatever equivalent of it they had) and poke around to find out.
To that end, we would need to track. I hadn't brought Neji along, mostly because I wasn't sure he'd be useful for this since we didn't have a trail or anything, but I wasn't sure exactly how to do it. So I used the most powerful ninja skill. I told a subordinate to do it for me. "Yugao, you're on tracking detail, you ANBU have advanced tracking skills, right?"
She nodded. "We do. More than that, I am particularly specialized in that branch of tradecraft." She bit her thumb, made a seal, and pressed a hand to the ground. A web of seals appeared beneath her in a VERY familiar configuration, and with a puff of smoke, we were standing in front of…a dog. In a headband. A very familiar dog. "Pakkun," she greeted. "We need help with a tracking mission, can you get a scent off…that," she gestured at the beaten and bloody snake beast.
The dog sniffed lazily. "Of course," he said cooly. "I can track anything." The tiny pug was unshakeably confident, and knowing who he worked for, I wasn't surprised. Honestly I was more shocked by the fact that he was here to begin with. Yugao had been one of Kakashi's subordinates, but I hadn't realized they were close enough for him to let her sign a contract with his summons. I'd have to ask him about that.
With the plan in place, we gather Naruto (who was calming down about the ghost thing), Lee, and Sasuke, and we set off following Pakkun's nose out into the deep forest. As we walked, I made sure my guard was up. I had no idea what was out here, but I had a sneaking suspicion I was in for more surprises before the night was out. Joy.
AN:// To clarify something people have been confused about, just because Kai is under the impression that they're watching him out of suspicion doesn't mean that's the case. Yugao is less "watching" him and more "evaluating" him. Kai is understandably paranoid. He passed Hiruzen's test and the old man trusts him at this point, he's being evaluated for possible advancement. He just hasn't considered that because the idea of him becoming a Jonin anytime soon seems absurd to him (not that it'll be a right away thing). So Yugao doesn't care that much that he fucked off for training, even if he thinks there's some big reckoning coming about it. She's not super pleased he wasn't around when needed, and it'll come up, but it's less an issue than he thinks.
In more relevant news, the creature he fought is based on a japanese legend called a nure-onna, as a nod to Kishimotot's love of japanese folklore, but it's not an actual monster. This is where we start diverging from canon more seriously.Spoiler
The first thing Yugao did was create a clone to escort the kids ahead to scout and corner me. "You snuck away from the Genin," she said bluntly. "I know that you aren't unaware of your situation. The Hokage sent me along not just to lend aid, but to monitor you on this mission. Sneaking away in the middle of the night just before an attack doesn't exactly inspire trust."
"I had some training to do," I said firmly. "Look. I'm a Chunin, and not a particularly talented one. I've been put in charge of some of the most unique Genin in the village, seemingly out of nowhere, and in order to live up to my potential as their teacher, I have to be able to train."
I stopped, turning to face her. "You're hesitant about me. I get that. But I made a commitment to those kids. They need to be able to trust and rely on me. To know that I have the skill and power to protect and guide them. Which means I need to HAVE that skill. And to get it I have to work my ass off. Not all of us are natural sword geniuses."
She snorted at that. "No wonder Lord Hokage likes you. He loves that kind of earnest dedication to the village." Her eyes narrowed. "Not that it would save you if he finds out you're compromised. Likes you or not, if you turn out to be a danger to those kids, you won't even know what happened. That's a promise." She stared a bit longer, then sighed. "Look, I don't want to make this a thing. You seem like a decent guy. Just…don't run off like that? You can still train, but maybe don't run off on your own."
I hummed in acknowledgement. "I mean…I guess. Like I said I can't let the kids see me training. But I DID have a few things I was hoping to learn that I can't pick up from studying alone. For instance, the Mystical Palm jutsu? It's a must have for taking care of a team."
"Gutsy," she snickered. "Lord Hokage said you were. In fact, he has you pegged. He told me that the first thing you would do if I had to take you to task would be to ask me to teach you a jutsu. Said you'd have some high minded justification for it, too. It's funny, that fact is one of the reasons he almost trusts you. Says real spies aren't so greedy."
I blinked at her in confusion. "I…I'll be honest, that feels a little reductive. But it wasn't a no so I'll take it."
"You sure you can even learn it?" she asked skeptically as we resumed trekking after the kids. "No offense, but taijutsu skills or not, I DID look into your record before this mission. Your chakra control is notoriously terrible. If you hadn't had decent sized reserves for a Genin you never would have been allowed to even TAKE the Chunin exams, teammates or no."
I grinned at her. "I learned the shadow clone technique some time ago. I've almost always got two clones out and working, and chakra control exercises are one of the things they're good for. Control may not be easy to learn, but when you have two other you's dedicating a hundred percent of their time to grinding control exercises, you can make some pretty decent progress. I'm a whole different ninja at this point."
Which was even more true than they knew, but it was the excuse I'd settled on. Once I got the pills from Shi-Woon, I could permanently adapt to being in the first gate, and my chakra would consistently double. I'd be in the mid to high A-rank instead of B, and I'd be able to create five clones instead of two. Which I could 'reveal' if pressed about my sudden improvement.
Retroactive hardcore training was a much easier sell than hidden genius, and would hopefully push them away from this whole spy concern. I really needed to prove myself soon because I was going to get a lot more suspicious before this got any better.
"Fine," she sighed. "It's just a medical jutsu anyway. I suppose it wouldn't hurt to have you competent in first aid if you're going to be leading this mission."
I chuckled. "Are we still pretending that's what's happening here?"
"Why, Kai-san, I have no idea what you mean," she said in a faux innocent tone. "I am simply a humble kunoichi of Konoha, standing at the ready to follow the orders of my dashing commander in whatever fashion he may require to ensure the safety of our charges."
"I'm pretty sure the word Konoha was literally the only truthful thing you just said," I told her bluntly.
She grinned. "See, you're already improving as a commander. It's an important skill to be able to read the feelings and intentions of your subordinates. We can begin the training after we finish this mission. But I warn you, I won't be going easy on you."
"Oh no," I groaned as I saw the glimmer in her eye. "You're one of those 'pain is the best teacher' kind of people, aren't you?"
She batted her eyes at me. "I'm sure I have no clue what you're talking about," she said sweetly.
I was about to respond when there was a flash, and Sasuke landed on a branch beside us. "Pakkun found something," he said quietly. "Your clone told us to come and get you. She's watching the others to make sure they don't run off and get themselves killed."
"That's a valid concern," I admitted. "Naruto isn't really good with things like patience. Or consequences." Sasuke snorted out a laugh, but his face had smoothed out before I turned to catch him. His normally taciturn eyes were surprisingly bright though, and unknown to him, my all sight had caught his little slip.
We arrived deeper in the woods within a minute, to find out team standing at the edge of a clearing. Inside the clearing was a sort of squat gabled building, built sort of like a combination of a bunker and a torii gate.
"So," I said grimly. "What are the chances that this place ISN'T one of Orochimaru's labs?"
Yugao snorted. "It's always possible there's another insane shinobi scientist mass producing snake monsters within the Land of Fire."
"Really?" I asked hopefully.
"No, it's definitely him," she responded mercilessly. "Luckily he's not HERE. I'm a sensor, and I would know if someone at his level was present. Despite that, there IS someone in there. Someone surprisingly powerful. I didn't sense them until we got closer, so I suspect this place has seals on it to suppress chakra sensing."
I sighed. "Oh good, and here I was worried this might be boring."
I didn't like this. I had no knowledge of this base, of anything that might be IN it, and no idea if it should even exist at all. Was this a base that had gone undiscovered in canon? Had I somehow caused it to appear? Maybe I had alerted Kabuto to my presence somehow and this base was a response to my interference with Naruto?
Clamping down on my panic, I forced myself to calm down. I was spiraling. Things were going to change at some point, regardless of what I did. I'd thought I had time before any big swings given my minimal impact so far, but I'd been here for months, and butterflies were bound to butterfly. I forced the OTHER butterflies (the panicked ones in my gut) back into the box in my head marked 'denial: do not open' and prepared for a fight.
Yugao stepped forward, reaching behind her, and drew a small, razor sharp tanto. "I'll be going first. Kai-san, you'll follow behind me to prevent anything from getting past. I need to be very clear here. This is NOT an operation where you are expected to contribute. You are here to bear witness, and because I was concerned if I didn't keep an eye on you that you might run off and get yourselves killed. You will all keep your distance, and should it appear that we might be overpowered, you are to retreat immediately and wait for Kakashi-senpai and Guy-san to find you."
Pakkun, who was standing with them, nodded solemnly. "I'll watch the gakis Gao-chan. Don't worry, no one is getting past old Pakkun."
Yugao moved forward, blade at the ready. We crept in complete silence, our nerves at a razor's edge. A heartbeat. Two. Then there was a flurry of motion. A loud, ringing wail erupted from the darkened archway leading into the base, and a massive snakelike form exploded toward us. I prepared to deflect the charge, but Yugao didn't even slow down. Her arm flickered, and flare of chakra coating her blade, and with a soft swish the snake woman fell into three pieces.
"This wasn't what I sensed," she said worriedly. "This is nothing. There's someone ELSE in there. And they're aware of us. They're getting closer." She paused, eyes serene as she stood waiting for something to happen.
Suddenly she whirled, blade flashing, and chopped down towards a blurring form with her sword, ready to cut it in two. Which she did. Easily. Except it didn't STOP.
The white haired teenager hit her head on, passing right through the cut as he bared his sharklike teeth. "Nice try, bitch!" he snarled gleefully, as he wrapped himself around her, his body shifting as he did to become…goddamn it. Water. He was turning into water, slowly suffocating her.
Yugao's eyes widened, her hands jerking up to try to tear at the liquified teen, but they passed harmlessly through the water. Suigetsu began to condense, collecting his liquid body around her head in a dense bubble, probably intending to blow out her lungs or something. Her eyes hardened, and I saw her make several hand seals before slapping a hand toward her own head mercilessly, fingers crackling with electricity.
Sadly, Suigetsu wasn't exactly a scrub either. His watery body peeled away from her, leaping free as her hand made contact with her face, and what looked like it might have been a B-ranked lightning jutsu discharged right into Yugao's fucking skull. She dropped, clearly incapacitated, and I cursed.
That was bad. Yugao wasn't a pushover, but Suigetsu was…really hard to deal with. He was almost an out of context problem for Naruto. His Hydrofication was an absurd kekkei genkai, and Yugao had done well to pinpoint the weakness and immediately go for the kill, even if in her panic at drowning unexpectedly she maybe hadn't thought the whole thing through all the way.
Behind me, I heard movement, Lee and Sasuke literally dragging Naruto away from us as they obeyed orders, refusing to let the kid get involved. Good instincts on their part, but they were being loud and drawing attention. I panicked a bit, then decided to lean back on my tried and true brand of bullshit. Pretend to be all knowing. "Suigetsu," I said, grabbing his attention. He looked at me warily. "Suigetsu Hozuki."
"Who the fuck are you?" he demanded angrily. "You work for that snake fucker?"
"My name is Kai Mikado," I said formally. "I'm a shinobi of Konoha. Orochimaru is pretty much number one on our shit list. That's who had you captive here? How did you escape?"
He snorted. "One of those snake bitches let me out. Thought I was gonna HELP her. Can you imagine? Pretty satisfying drowning her to death from inside her own lungs. Just like it will be you. And that purple haired bitch too." He bared his jagged shark teeth. "Here, I'll show you." He surged forward. Literally surged, body shifting into stream of water as he flowed toward me.
I didn't even think, my hands came up, chakra coating them as my body moved unconsciously. Suigetsu's watery body came into range, and my hands intercepted, creating a path of least resistance through the air and allowing his hydrofied body to slide past me smoothly. The water shot out past me toward a tree, and Suigetsu, who had apparently been waiting to reform and attack, manifested back into physical form JUST in time to smash into the trunk with a splintering crash.
Staring down at my hands, I gaped in complete astonishment, absolutely dumbfounded at what I'd just done. Suigetsu's Hydrofication was deeply busted…but apparently my Flowing Water Fist hard countered it. My lips quirked up into an evil smile. "In case you didn't pick up on this from context," I told the water man as I took my combat stance again. "This is going to be a bad day for you." And with a roar of fury, he blurred forward, charging me again, and my first big fight in my new world was on.
AN:// Show of hands, who saw THAT coming?
PS: Suigetsu's location is not confirmed before Shippuden, except that he was in Orochimaru's custody, so it's NOT technically AU and please stop asking me to tag it that way.Last edited: Yesterday at 10:51 AM Like ReplyReport Reactions:Cheshirek4t, Hiroshima911, tlhgeek and 819 othersMalcolm TentTuesday at 8:54 PMNewAdd bookmarkView discussionThreadmarks Chapter 21 New View contentMalcolm TentMonkey with a typewriter.41 minutes agoNewAdd bookmark#1,819Suigetsu Hozuki was a monster. Not the monster he was GOING to be, mind, but he was still an extremely competent shinobi with more than a bit of combat experience. I, on the other hand, was pretty new to this world, and while I'd trained a lot, that was TRAINING. It wasn't the same as a head on conflict with a high Chunin level shinobi.
The first thing he did, as soon as I took him down, was head for Yugao. I cursed, but I'd been training my foot technique, and I used Advance, combined with Body Flicker, to interpose myself between the two of them.
Suigetsu's hydrofication was a near perfect counter to physical attacks, but it was ALSO an exceptional too for mobility, allowing him to essentially travel as water for short distances and move massively more quickly than would normally be possible because of it. I cursed as pain flared in my legs at the movement technique. I'd already seriously fucked myself up in training, and the only reason I'd managed that move was that at the beginning of this fight I'd dismissed the clone I'd left out in the woods training with outer body.
Despite the influx of knowledge though, I still wasn't actually competent with foot technique yet, and using it in combination with my flowing water step had torn something in my legs.
Suigetsu stood about four feet away, having been deflected by my flowing water fist, but to my discomfort, he didn't look upset. He looked smug. "Not bad," he said idly. "You're pretty good for a nobody. Weird fighting style. But I don't need to be able to turn to water to kill you, no-name." He shifted slightly, and my face went pale as he revealed what he'd been hiding behind the line of his body.
Yugao's fucking wakizashi. He'd used the blitz as a cover to snatch it. Which was a problem, because the youngest Hozuki brother was, at his core, a kenjutsu expert. He lived for the sword. Hydrofication was his gimmick, but bladework was his passion, and I had VERY little experience countering a sword.
The only saving grace here was that he was young. Fifteen years old, actually, so only three years younger than me, but still young. He wouldn't have had time to truly master the sword yet. Grimacing, I reached into my pouch and withdrew a pair of kunai.
While I hadn't ever really trained with a sword, I'd been training against a weapon mistress, or at least the prototype of one. Tenten wasn't a dedicated swordswoman, but she had a freakish talent for almost any weapon, and swords were on the list. I'd been able to work up a few counters to bladed weapons while training with team three, and they should serve me well enough here.
Suigetsu grinned, then FLOWED forward, blade swirling like a rising tide as it flashed out to try to gut me. I moved at the same time, kunai sweeping forward in an implacable wave, intersecting his slash and diverting it. The force of his attack rolled through me, my other hand rising to return it with the same ferocity repaying his force with my own added to his attack.
His body split into liquid to avoid the blow, but as soon as it did, I dropped one of my kunai, and my hand blurred out to intercept the liquid formed shinobi, altering his course and whirling him around my body to toss him out like he was being fired out of a fucking hose.
This time he hit the tree in liquid form, coalescing into a normal body shortly after, but his face was sour. "Stop DOING that!" he snapped in agitation. "Just stand still and let me kill you!"
"That's not happening," I said grimly. "And you're not winning this." Of course, I didn't mention my torn leg muscles, and he seemed to assume I wasn't moving because I was guarding Yugao, rather than because I basically couldn't. "Why are you trying to kill me anyway? I don't even know you. Hell, you could make a case that I'm the reason you're free."
He sneered. "You're from Konoha, which means you're connected to Orochimaru. I hate that bastard. All the reason I need."
"What if I could give you a reason not to?" I asked slowly. Kakashi and Guy weren't here. Which was weird. In fact, I would go so far as to say it was almost impossible. I could only think of one reason why they wouldn't have shown up yet, and that was that they were busy with something else. And I could only think of one thing that would be keeping them busy around here.
Zabuza and Haku had arrived. This was early, but presumably capturing the demon brothers had aroused their interest. Granted, I was making some assumptions here, but it wasn't important either way, because Zabuza WAS involved, and if there was one thing I knew about Suigetsu, it was that he had a fanatical hard on for the seven swords of the mist.
Predictably, the white haired kid scoffed. "And what reason could you possibly give me not to kill you?"
"I can do better than that," I said with a grin. "I can give you a reason to switch sides. You hate Orochimaru, well so do we. He's a fucking prick, and I personally would love to see him dead. You work for us, you're not just sanctioned by a powerful village, you have an ally against him. But more than that, you can get in on our current mission."
He sneered at that. "Why would I want to be sanctioned by a village? You think I'm scared of that snake bastard?"
"I think you're scared of Yagura," I corrected him. "Or you're a fucking idiot. One of the two. Your kekkei genkai is one of the most famous in the mist, and Yagura is all about bloodlines. There's no way you're not on his shopping list. But that's not why you're going to join up. No, you'll join up because of who our current mission is targeting. At this exact moment, we have a pair of elite Jonin engaging Zabuza Momochi."
He froze. "What?" he all but whispered. "Zabuza is HERE? With Kubikiribocho?"
"Yup," I told him gleefully. "Assuming they managed to beat him before the kids showed up to ask for reinforcements. Because the guy running that op isn't the type to prioritize taking out one missing nin over his comrades. There's a decent chance you fucked up the whole operation with this little stunt."
Suigetsu looked torn between being livid and being smug. His body was tense, and the his sword was shaking slightly with anticipation. He looked like he was considering trying to murder me out of sheer frustration. Finally, he lowered the blade. "What would this whole 'switching sides' thing entail?" he asked suspiciously. "You'd just let me go? Hand me a leaf headband and say welcome to the team?"
"Well first you'd need to give me that sword," I said calmly. "And then you'd need to let me put a chakra suppression seal on you." I didn't know how to make seals, but Yugao had some on her, and I knew where she kept them. She'd told me about it during the trip in case of emergency.
He looked ready to spit at the suggestion, but I held up a hand. "You won't be restrained. So you can still run if you need to, or fight. I just need some insurance you won't try to kill us again. It'll also give my backup a reason to believe you aren't a threat. Unless you think you can successfully beat Copy ninja Kakashi in a straight fight. Because he'll be here any minute now."
Actually, he was ALREADY here. As was Guy. I'd caught sight of them approaching with all sight, I'd just decided to stay focused. Kakashi was smart enough to scope out a situation before engaging, since no actual violence was happening, and I trusted him to follow my lead.
If Suigetsu had been frozen before, now he was a fucking glacier. His eyes roamed over the area, terrified, and they finally landed on a certain silver haired Jonin. He dropped the sword. "Fine," he spat. "Fine I'll let you put a seal on me. FOR NOW. Only until we can come to an arrangement."
Kakashi stepped out of the trees. "I can agree to that," he said cheerfully. "You haven't hurt my cute little junior too badly, and poor Gao-chan is more bruised than bloody. Though I'm curious why you think you have any leverage at this point."
That got a bitter laugh. "Your no-name buddy already said. My bloodline is valuable. I don't have much other place to go, not that it would stop me from trying to make it on my own. But Zabuza? I can't take him by myself. You guys can get me that sword. Hell, you might already have it on you."
"We don't," Kakashi assured him. "Kai's prediction was spot on. We'd confronted him and his little friend directly, but were forced to disengage when we received word of your attack."
His tone was casual, but I could tell that rankled him. I hadn't even questioned if he would come, of course. Kakashi lived his life by a code, and leaving us to fight a powerful threat of any kind just to take out Zabuza was never on the table. Besides, that wasn't even the actual mission. Speaking of which. "I take it Guy is with Tazuna?" I asked, noting that the green beast wasn't present.
"We split up," he confirmed. "With Zabuza lurking around we didn't feel safe leaving Tazuna to the kids. We weren't expecting him to show up so early, honestly. It's a good thing we were on lookout, or we might not have intercepted him in time. Sneaky little bastard."
"You guys are ok?" I asked worriedly. "Like Guy isn't injured?"
He actually laughed at that. "It does you credit that you worried about us. But no, Guy is fine. Zabuza and his little friend were surprisingly effective, but not THAT effective. We'd have beaten them if we hadn't needed to break off. The one in the mask was pretty fast, but Guy has more than enough experience with that kind of speed. They used those strange mirrors to escape, but Zabuza was injured. I took out one of his shoulders."
I blinked at that. I had expected that to be harder. I guessed I was scaling Haku too high. Zabuza had used team seven against Kakashi in their fight, but without the distraction I wasn't surprised the copy ninja had put him down hard. For some reason I'd expected Guy to struggle with Haku though.
Reaching down for Yugao's belt, I snagged a seal, then walked over and slapped it on Suigetsu. He glared hatefully, but I wasn't even remotely worried about it at this point. Not with Kakashi right there. Seeing my lack of reaction, he actually pouted and looked away, which was pretty funny. Despite his reputation and bloodline, he was still just a kid. For now. But Suigetsu was a legitimate threat, and I had high hopes for his potential as an asset of the Leaf. I hadn't planned for this or anything, but as far as wild cards went, this wasn't a bad one.
Unfortunately, that was where the good news ended. Zabuza and Haku had escaped, and while taking out his shoulder wasn't nothing, that wasn't nearly as badly as Kakashi had injured him in canon. They were still a legitimate threat, and Guy and Kakashi would need to be stationed with Tazuna directly at this point. Bait and switch wasn't an option anymore.
That SHOULD be the end of it, to be fair. There was no way the demon of the mist was getting past those two. But something felt…off. Things were changing dramatically, and I had the sneaking suspicion they weren't going to stop doing so. I could feel it in my bones. We weren't out of the woods yet.
AN:// So, that's where Guy and Kakashi were during this mess. Personally, I think that both of them are the type to drop a fight, mission or no, to come save teammates. That's like Kakashi's MAIN rule. Our boy had a great showing against Suigetsu, unfortunately, which Flowing Water Fist counters hydrofication in combat, Kai doesn't have the means to actually HURT Suigetsu, barring fuck ups like the one he made with the timing on that first attack. For those worried about how suspicious it is that he knows Suigetsu, it's really not. Suigetsu is nearly identical to his brother Mangetsu, who is one of the most famous swordmasters in the world at this point. He mastered all seven ninja swords, including the one Zabuza has, so doing a bit of research is more than in character for Kai's Sherlock persona.
Suigetsu joining the leaf is a huge change, but far from the last. I have some VERY cool ideas for how this will change canon going forward, and for how that will affect Kai.