This was a young man with fluffy brown hair.
He wore a black Amegakure uniform, and a black sword was slung at his waist, giving him the air of a samurai from the Land of Iron.
But on his forehead, he did not wear a Amegakure's forehead protector.
He only wore a pair of black-rimmed glasses.
Although his posture was upright, his shoulders were slumped, his hands in his pockets, making him appear very lackadaisical.
Overall, he gave off,
A feeling of an "honest man".
Seeing someone like this, Kakashi wasn't particularly concerned at first.
But just at that moment,
Suddenly, for some reason, he frowned.
Then, he unexpectedly put down the book in his hand and walked over to Kyo, asking with slight confusion:
"Excuse me,"
"Have we met before...?"
"...?"
As soon as these words were spoken,
Hayate and the three Amegakure's students beside him were all stunned.
'Huh?'
'What's going on?'
'We had only just arrived in Konoha, and this guy was already saying this?'
However, hearing this,
Kyo remained completely unmoved, simply raising his eyes slightly to look at Kakashi, showing no fear at all, and said with a light smile:
"I'm not sure what you mean."
"Although your name, Kakashi of the Sharingan, resonates throughout the Shinobi World, and I have indeed heard of it,"
"Today is our first meeting, isn't it?"
As soon as these words were spoken,
Kakashi was momentarily taken aback.
He stared at Kyo for a moment, then his eye flickered slightly, and he frowned, saying:
"We haven't met?"
"But those golden eyes of yours feel somehow familiar..."
Kakashi's gaze darkened slightly,
And his mind began to carefully think.
He wouldn't doubt his memory; after all, he had never misremembered anything to date.
However,
He needed to carefully recall where he had seen them.
'Golden eyes... golden eyes...'
'Where exactly have I seen these peculiar eyes before?'
'Hmm...?'
'Wait!'
Just then, a flash of light passed through Kakashi's mind, and he instantly recalled a scene from his memory.
It was a few years ago.
On a commercial street in the Land of Fire.
Back then, after completing a mission there, Kakashi thought he'd conveniently buy a copy of Icha-Icha Paradise,
As a result, shortly after buying it,
A youth with blazing golden eyes appeared!
At that time, that youth, using information about Uchiha Obito as a condition, directly took the copy of Icha-Icha Paradise from Kakashi's hand...
Then, he disappeared with extreme speed.
Until today,
Kakashi had never seen him again.
Thinking this,
Kakashi's pupil contracted sharply, and he looked again at Kyo before him.
Upon seeing these equally peculiar golden eyes, his gaze flickered sharply, and his heart sank.
'Yes!'
'That's right!'
'Although the aura emitted by the two was completely different,'
'These should be the same eyes!'
Realizing this,
Kakashi's gaze darkened, and looking at Kyo, he said intently:
"No, we have definitely met."
"Although your appearance has completely changed now, I cannot mistake these golden eyes..."
"Back then, on that commercial street in the Land of Fire."
"You proposed trading information about my close friend for the book in my hand... have you forgotten?"
"Or rather... are you deliberately concealing something...?"
Kakashi spoke with a heavy gaze.
Although he didn't think this person was an enemy,
He had, after all, provided information about Obito, so he naturally wouldn't let go of this important clue so easily.
Hearing this, Hayate and the three Amegakure's students beside them were all startled.
'What...?!'
'Had they really met?!'
The three Amegakure's students were stunned, never expecting the situation to develop like this.
And Hayate beside them felt his heart tighten, gritting his teeth slightly, saying:
"W-What exactly is going on...?!"
Seeing the usually lazy Kakashi suddenly become so serious, Hayate immediately felt nervous involuntarily.
The surrounding air seemed to freeze instantly, even felt a bit tense.
Even the passing residents nearby couldn't help but cast surprised glances, all somewhat confused.
However, at this moment,
Kyo's expression remained unchanged. He simply raised his chin slightly, looked calmly at Kakashi, and said with a light smile:
"Sorry, Kakashi-san,"
"Could you please explain in detail what book I traded that information for?"
"...?"
As soon as these words were spoken, Kakashi was momentarily stunned.
Then he frowned and subconsciously raised the copy of Icha-Icha Paradise in his hand, looking at Kyo, and said intently:
"It was from Jiraiya-sama's Icha-Icha Paradise series."
"But it wasn't this one back then, it was a different volume."
Kakashi said very seriously.
"..."
"..."
However, as soon as these words were spoken,
Instantly, the entire scene fell dead silent!
Even Hayate, who had been so nervous just moments ago, was now completely dumbfounded!
'Hmm...???'
'Wait, wait, wait!'
'That person traded information... for a perverted book???!'
'Is there no mistake here!?'
'Who in the world would do something so brainless!'
'This guy must have a screw loose, right?!'
Hayate's look towards Kakashi immediately became strange.
He had once been an intelligence Shinobi in Konoha, so hearing this was more than just absurd...
The three students nearby were also completely stunned.
'What were they talking about...'
At this moment,
Kyo, with a calm gaze, smiled and said:
"Kakashi-san,"
"I think you might be mistaken about something, right?"
"The Icha-Icha Paradise in your hand is just an entertainment novel. Apart from its adult content, it has almost no substance."
"And now, you're saying I traded information for such a book?"
"Heh..."
Having said this, Kyo suddenly showed a faint smile.
Then, from somewhere, he unexpectedly produced a book with a gray cover, looked at Kakashi, and said with a bland smile:
"Am I that kind of person? I read The Tale of the Gutsy Shinobi, okay?"
"???"
'The Tale of the Gutsy Shinobi...?'
As soon as these words were spoken, and seeing this book, even Kakashi was momentarily stunned.
'This...'
'It really is The Tale of the Gutsy Shinobi...?!'
'There are people who carry this unsellable book around with them to read?'
Seeing this, Hayate beside him also showed an awkward expression, looking at Kakashi and smiling sheepishly:
"This... seems like a misunderstanding..."
"K-Kakashi-senpai, have you misremembered..."
As soon as these words were spoken,
Kakashi was first stunned,
Then, a wry expression appeared in his eye.
'Thinking carefully...'
'Trading information for an adult book... this kind of story does sound unbelievable...'
'But,'
'What could I do?'
'That youth back then had indeed pulled off this miraculous operation...'
Just as Kakashi was feeling helpless inside,
Kyo spoke again.
He smiled, handed the book in his hand to Kakashi, and said lightly:
"Kakashi-san,"
"In the future, you should read less of that kind of book. It's not only bad for your health, but also bad for your mind."
"You should read this instead. This one has positive energy."
As his words faded,
Kakashi subconsciously took the book.
And Kyo, still looking calm, directly bypassed Kakashi, looked at Hayate, and smiled:
"Hayate-san, please continue leading the way."
"Ah... okay."
Although Hayate was a bit confused, he still nodded and said:
"This way, please follow me."
Then,
Hayate led Kyo and his group away directly.
Leaving only Kakashi standing there, holding two different books in his hands.
"..."
He slowly raised his head and looked at Kyo's back.
He still had that same lackadaisical and leisurely appearance, as if he hadn't taken this matter to heart at all.
However,
Kakashi's brow was still furrowed.
Although this person and that youth from back then had completely different auras and behavior patterns, even their voices were completely different lazy tones,
But was it really that simple...?
Could it be that these two people just coincidentally had similar eyes...?
Kakashi's eye flickered slightly.
Although his words had just been denied, he still felt the situation was very suspicious.
During this Chunin Exam,
He decided to observe this visitor from the Amegakure carefully.
...
However, at this moment,
What they didn't notice,
Was that around a street corner, hidden in the crowd, a nondescript young Shinobi with round glasses had witnessed all of this.
Naturally, it was Yakushi Kabuto.
However, due to his special position,
He hadn't seen the faces of the Amegakure's group, only heard their conversation.
Now,
Seeing the Amegakure's group leave,
His eyes flickered slightly, and then he immediately disappeared into the crowd.
Since Orochimaru had assigned him a task earlier, he naturally had to go report immediately now.
...
A moment later, he mixed into the Sunagakure's main base and found Orochimaru, still disguised as the Kazekage.
He first recounted everything he had witnessed, including the nonsensical parts in between.
Then, he pushed up his glasses and smiled:
"Just as expected,"
"Everything is as Orochimaru-sama predicted."
"The Amegakure actually did send people to participate. It seems the Akatsuki indeed wants to hide the secret that Hanzo of the Salamander is dead..."
He was just sighing with emotion,
When suddenly, he noticed that Orochimaru's expression ahead had frozen for some reason.
Kabuto was surprised and said:
"Orochimaru-sama... what's wrong?"
Hearing this,
Orochimaru stared straight at him, a hint of shock in his eyes, his expression grim as he gritted his teeth slightly and said:
"Kabuto, you just said..."
"That glasses-wearing Shinobi from the Amegakure took out a copy of... The Tale of the Gutsy Shinobi?"