Konoha Hospital.
The Village was already preparing for Tsunade to succeed as Fifth Hokage.
And Tsunade had come here.
"Grandma Tsunade, how is he?" Naruto asked expectantly.
"His body is very well-preserved, even looks very healthy.
If it weren't for his mental issues, I'd suspect he wasn't injured at all," Tsunade said.
From Kakashi's body, she felt a vibrant vitality.
But according to Chakra detection, Kakashi's mind was indeed severely damaged.
Then, to Naruto and the others' anticipation, Kakashi slowly opened his eyes.
A familiar yet strange figure appeared before him.
"So big… no, Lady Tsunade… ah ah hahaha, long time no see."
Kakashi had just opened his mouth when he immediately realized his mistake.
"Hmm, how do you feel? Is there anywhere you're still uncomfortable?"
"No, it's just that I feel like I had a dream, someone was always eating apples next to me and asking if I wanted some."
Kakashi said, feeling his body and the fatigue in his mind.
Satoru chuckled, "Our genius Kakashi, actually beaten like this by a junior, how embarrassing!"
"It's you, huh? Don't talk to me, I need to rest."
Kakashi gave him a dead-fish eye glance, not wanting to talk to him.
His bad taste was too severe.
Tsunade felt the same way: "It seems Uchiha Itachi is really strong, to be able to beat you like this."
Uchiha Itachi, huh? What a troublesome fellow.
This reminded him of Orochimaru.
Every defector from Konoha was so troublesome.
"Hmm, no choice, the opponent's genjutsu was too powerful."
Kakashi recalled the scene of his fight with Itachi.
Originally, after sparring with Satoru, he had gained a deep understanding of dispelling genjutsu.
He was wary of genjutsu.
Theoretically, he could dispel the opponent's genjutsu in less than a second.
Unfortunately, the opponent's jutsu was clearly not simple; in less than a second, it felt like three days had passed.
His mind was already damaged, so he couldn't dispel it even if he wanted to.
"How does it compare to my genjutsu?"
Satoru asked.
He wanted to see what difference Kakashi saw between his genjutsu and Itachi's Tsukuyomi.
He hadn't experienced Tsukuyomi either.
He was just a little curious.
Kakashi glanced at him: "There's no comparison."
"Is that so? You actually trust my strength so much, you have good judgment." Satoru was very satisfied with his answer.
"I meant there's no comparison between your genjutsu and Itachi's."
Kakashi thought of Itachi's eyes.
In his opinion, Satoru's genjutsu could still be broken.
But facing Itachi's genjutsu, the only way to break it was not to fall for it, otherwise, there was no possibility of breaking it.
The others all looked solemn at his words.
Satoru was currently Konoha's strongest genjutsu-type Ninja.
Yet in Kakashi's eyes, he was so insignificant.
Tsunade felt the same.
To receive Jiraiya's praise meant Satoru's genjutsu was powerful, but in Kakashi's eyes, there was no comparison.
One could imagine the power of such a thing.
No wonder Kakashi had been lying in bed for so long.
"Hey hey, Kakashi, what do you mean? And what are those looks on your faces?
As a senior almost ten years older than Itachi, if I were to be surpassed by a junior,
that would be too humiliating.
Don't compare my past self with my current self, oh.
My genjutsu has greatly improved now."
Satoru felt so humiliated.
He had held back when sparring with Kakashi, and now he was being looked down upon, really.
"Is that so? If you ever get to experience it, you wouldn't say that."
Kakashi didn't think Satoru's progress over the years could reach that level.
But if he could defend against the genjutsu, he still thought Satoru had hope.
"Uncle Satoru, stop bragging. Kakashi-sensei only got that intel after lying here for so long!"
Naruto teased from behind.
"We'll talk about the intel later, let's go save the next one first," Tsunade said, seeing that Kakashi was fine.
Behind her, Might Guy, with a hopeful expression, couldn't wait any longer.
For so long, Lee's problem had troubled him for a long time, and now that Lady Tsunade was back, he finally found an opportunity.
Now he was all fidgety, looking at Tsunade.
...
A dark cave.
"It's about time, Kabuto…"
Orochimaru, enduring the pain, said to Kabuto who was tending to him.
"Hmm, I've already found a way to break Konoha's barrier.
That Senior Satoru is truly amazing; he actually adjusted Konoha's barrier,
making Lord Orochimaru's previous preparations useless!"
Kabuto said, feeding Orochimaru medicine.
One could hear the praise for Satoru's abilities in his voice.
Ever since Satoru became Acting Hokage, many things in Konoha had changed.
Besides the barrier adjustments, there were also changes to codes and such, which Kabuto had spent no small effort on.
He just didn't know if Tsunade would make adjustments this time when she returned.
Once he had time, he would have to figure out the situation.
"Hmph, that guy, he really is the most formidable person I've ever seen.
I always feel like he's doing something, yet he doesn't dare to reveal too much of his strength.
It's just like… me back then, plotting something in the shadows."
Orochimaru recalled the intelligence on Satoru, and their few brief meetings.
He could feel that Satoru seemed normal, but he was different from the Ninja of the Five Great Villages and even normal Ninja.
He was like his own replica, with his own goals.
And this goal was still very distant.
But Orochimaru only had a premonition; he couldn't be sure what Satoru ultimately wanted to do.
However, he could be certain that there was something off about Satoru.
In the intelligence, Satoru indeed seemed like an ordinary Ninja.
And precisely because of this, Orochimaru felt that the other party was different, because Satoru's strength was very strong.
And he was continuously getting stronger.
It was impossible for him to be like those ordinary Ninja.
Acting Hokage… perhaps it was also part of his objective.
"Lord Orochimaru seems to care a lot about Captain Satoru!"
Kabuto could also sense the difference when Orochimaru mentioned Satoru.
He was strong, indeed strong, but compared to the Third Hokage, he was just an ordinary Ninja, wasn't he?
"You shouldn't underestimate him, and don't interact with him too much. He might be even more dangerous than I am."
Orochimaru said, looking at his numb hands, warning him.
"Of course, I avoided him in this plan to invite Sasuke, and even specially prepared Ninja tools that block Chakra sensing abilities.
This alone cost us a lot of money."
As an excellent spy, Kabuto naturally wouldn't clash head-on with an unknown enemy.
Lord Orochimaru's goal was the most important thing.
"I trust your abilities, Kabuto."