Chapter 174: first meeting (Kakashi)
After Shisui left, Kaida began thinking about the best way to approach Kakashi. He knew gaining Kakashi's trust would not be easy, especially given the Uchiha clan's history with him. However, Kaida was determined to make him his ally as soon as possible, even if he had to use Naruto's mistreatment as a way to find common ground.
'Kakashi may have issues with the Uchiha, but he can't possibly ignore the misery of his sensei's son,' Kaida thought. 'If I can convince him that I want to help Naruto, that I'm disgusted by how he's been treated, then maybe he'll be willing to hear me out.'
Kaida spent the next few hours going over different conversation scenarios in his head. With the additional mental capacity provided by his 3 tomoe sharingan, Kaida's mind was working better than normal, like a regular car modified into a racing car. He used that enhanced processing power while trying to anticipate Kakashi's potential reactions and responses.
He knew he'd have to tread carefully, as Kakashi was one of the smartest characters in the anime and would not be fooled easily.
That's why Kaida was not planning on lying to him extensively, following the simple principle of 'The best lie contains an element of truth.'
This was his plan for the meeting, and one thing he was sure about was that no matter how much he prepared, the end result would be quite different, and he would have to make many changes on the day.
When Shisui returned after 1 hour, he informed Kaida that Kakashi was indeed in the village and had agreed to meet, albeit reluctantly.
"He didn't seem too enthused about it..." Shisui said with a pause, trying to build suspense, but seeing no change in Kaida's expression, he clicked his tongue and continued, "But mentioning it involved the Fourth Hokage's son piqued his interest enough to say yes. He asked you to meet him at the restaurant near the Hatake clan compound at 4 PM."
"Okay brother, what are you going to do now?" Kaida asked.
"Obviously, I am going to escort you to that restaurant. The village is almost at its boiling point. I don't want to take any risk with your safety, especially when you are going out of the clan's compound. Also, you can complete this meeting in 2 hours, right?" Shisui asked.
"Yeah, but why?"
"Oh, I managed to get the clan head to come to our bathhouse today for a trial. Since we would need to make some preparations for the bathhouse, we would need to come back by 6 PM so that by 8, all the preparations are done."
"Wow brother, how did you accomplish something so impressive?"
"Talent. Now focus on one thing at a time. After your meeting is done, we will talk about the bathhouse," Shisui said.
"No need, brother," Kaida said and quickly made a shadow clone with 30 percent of his chakra. Even though the clone only contained 30 percent of Kaida's chakra, it was almost the same amount as many jonins. With this much chakra, sustaining the shadow clone for 1-2 days was no problem at all, though the mental burden when he would get those memories would be quite a lot. For this reason, Kaida had never done something like that until now.
"Fine," Shisui said and also made a shadow clone, but it only contained half the amount of chakra compared to Kaida's clone. Seeing the questioning look in Kaida's eyes, Shisui said, "It's not like the clones are going to fight. No one is stupid enough to attack me in the Uchiha compound. No one."
"Okay, brother," Kaida nodded.
So while his and Shisui's clones were discussing and planning about the bathhouse, Kaida prepared to head out for the meeting.
Before half an hour from the time of the meeting, Kaida went over his mental preparations once more, refining his approach. Finally, it was time to head out. With Shisui by his side, the two made their way across the village towards the designated restaurant near the Hatake compound.
When they were 100 meters away from the restaurant, Shisui said, "Okay, since you want to talk to him alone, I will be staying here. If anything happens, don't forget to send a signal, and this time, the moment you sense something is off, you will send the signal. Am I clear?"
"Yes, sir," Kaida said while bowing respectfully like a soldier in front of his senior. Shisui smiled and patted Kaida's shoulder. "Go."
Upon arrival, Kaida took a calming breath before entering. He spotted Kakashi's unmistakable silver hair, one dark black eye visible while the other was covered with a headband, and the famous mask covering his face until his nose, almost immediately in one of the corner booths. As expected, the jonin had chosen a location that gave him sightlines on all exits - the hallmark of an ever-vigilant shinobi.
Kaida made the best possible smile he could while suppressing his excitement at meeting Kakashi in real life.
"Kakashi Hatake," Kaida greeted calmly. "Thank you for agreeing to meet with me."The jonin's single visible eye narrowed slightly. "I'm only here because you mentioned this having to do with Minato-sensei's son. Out with it - what's this about?"
'Yup, this version of him is not the cold and collected one we saw in the anime. Until now, he is still not mentally stable enough, that's why Danzo was able to control him until now,' Kaida thought, listening to Kakashi's reply. While maintaining the smile on his face, Kaida sat on the chair in front of Kakashi.
While sitting, Kaida thought, 'Now that I'm looking closely, he is not that strong at the moment. Well, he still has 8-10 years to increase his strength before he becomes the sensei of Naruto and the gang. Even though he doesn't train enough, since he possesses such monstrous talent, getting an elite jonin rank even without being serious is not difficult for him.'
Kaida mentally clicked his tongue in annoyance. 'Some people have everything others would kill for and still don't care about it,' Kaida thought, remembering how difficult it was for him to get to this level of strength, and this boy in front of him became a jonin even without giving his best. Life is totally unfair.
But without any change in his facial muscles, keeping his expression earnest, Kaida sat down. 'Here we go...'