"Who the hell are you, and what do you want?!"
Cardo stared at the corpses scattered around him, terror flooding his eyes as he looked at the figure before him—cloaked in a black robe patterned with red clouds. This man was actually daring enough to come here alone.
Slap!
Without sparing Cardo a glance, Ash reached out and seized him by the throat, lifting him clean off the ground.
"You don't need to know my purpose," Ash said indifferently. "You only need to open your eyes and tell the truth."
The Sharingan spun open.
Cardo's pupils went blank as he fell instantly into a genjutsu, his mind laid bare. Under Ash's control, every secret he knew spilled out without resistance.
Crack.
Once he had what he wanted, Ash tightened his grip and snapped Cardo's neck effortlessly.
"So rich," Ash muttered, looking down at the three passbooks in his hand. "Seems profiteers are the same in every world—always hoarding money."
"Fifteen billion Pokédollars," he added after a glance. "Looks like this mission went far beyond expectations."
After pocketing the passbooks, Ash left Cardo's base and headed straight toward Konoha.
"No need to interfere again," he thought. "The original storyline has already started. Might as well go take a look."
With that, his speed increased sharply.
By the time Ash arrived, Zabuza Momochi had already trapped Kakashi Hatake in the Water Prison Jutsu. A shadow clone had been dispatched, and Naruto and Sasuke were being brutally suppressed, while Sakura Haruno stood beside Tazuna, acting as a guard—completely useless in combat.
In the end, thanks to one of Naruto's impulsive ideas, Kakashi was successfully rescued, and Zabuza suffered a shallow cut across his face.
"That was quite a show, Kakashi," a calm voice suddenly rang out.
"Since the end of the Third Shinobi World War, it seems you haven't improved much."
The sudden interruption shocked both combatants and forced them to halt their movements.
"Ash Ketchum…" Kakashi's eyes narrowed as he shifted into a defensive stance. "You actually dare show yourself near Konoha."
Zabuza remained alert as well—this was no longer a mission he could handle lightly.
"Ash Ketchum?" Naruto scratched his head. "Who's that supposed to be?"
"The Legendary Ash Ketchum…" Tazuna muttered grimly. "So it really is him."
Unlike Team Seven, Tazuna had lived long enough to hear that name. Any shinobi who survived the three great wars knew exactly who Ash was.
"Uncle, who is he?" Sakura asked, confused by Tazuna's pale expression. "He looks about our age."
"Idiot, keep your voice down!" Tazuna hissed. "If he notices us, we're dead. And don't be fooled—he's twenty-eight years old. You three aren't even remotely on his level."
Ash Ketchum's records were not a secret in the ninja world. Before crossing worlds, he had been an ordinary civilian, which made his background easy to investigate. Even non-shinobi like Tazuna knew of him.
Within Konoha, Ash Ketchum was a forbidden name. By order of the higher-ups, no one was allowed to speak of his existence. That was why the new generation of shinobi had never heard of him.
"Twenty-eight?" Naruto blurted out. "No way!"
Ash glanced at Naruto and Sasuke with mild interest.
"So these are your students?" he said. "Full of energy."
He completely ignored Sakura. To him, she was nothing more than a bystander—someone who, without becoming Tsunade's apprentice, played little more than a background role.
Kakashi, however, was different.
Ash remembered him well.
Back when he had crossed paths with Minato Namikaze, Kakashi—wielder of the Sharingan—had naturally caught his attention. Still, at the time, Kakashi had not been strong enough to truly enter his sight.
"Your Sharingan is nothing but a burden to you."
As Ash spoke, the three-tomoe Sharingan bloomed in his eyes. The moment his scarlet gaze locked on them, Kakashi and Zabuza felt their entire bodies tense, as if an invisible hand had seized their nerves.
Ash Ketchum's Sharingan was infamous throughout the ninja world—especially his terrifying mastery over ocular genjutsu.
"What?!"
Sasuke stared at Ash's eyes in disbelief. "A Sharingan… how can he have the Sharingan?!"
"What the hell is going on?" Naruto yelled. "Why does this guy have the same eyes as Kakashi-sensei—and both of them, too?!"
"Sasuke, Naruto, Sakura—take Mr. Tazuna and retreat. Now," Kakashi said sharply. "This is no longer a battle you can interfere in."
"Ah—!"
Before the words had fully settled, Kakashi let out a painful groan and dropped to one knee on the water's surface. His chakra felt sluggish, his body heavy and numb. Even beneath the mask, his exhaustion was obvious.
"Kakashi-sensei!"
Team Seven shouted in alarm as they turned back.
"Oh?" Ash said lightly. "You didn't lose consciousness like you did during the Tsukuyomi incident? Seems that while the Sharingan burdens you, it's also given you some resistance."
As he spoke, Ash's pupils shifted.
The tomoe twisted, spiraling into a Mangekyō Sharingan.
Sasuke's breath caught instantly.
"The Mangekyō…!" His fists clenched. "Those eyes—just like Itachi's!"
Zabuza stood frozen, Executioner's Blade clenched tightly in his hands. He didn't dare move.
He had seen it clearly.
Just a single exchange of eye contact—and Kakashi Hatake, an elite jōnin of Konoha, had lost his fighting capability completely.
...
TN:
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