After spending a night researching, Kakashi decided to visit the Alliance Breeding Base with Froakie the next day.
From his understanding, Froakie and its evolutionary line were among the Pokémon used by the Alliance's Nine Families, making it an officially recognized Pokémon well-suited for beginner Trainers.
Knowing this, Kakashi wondered if he could take Froakie to see others of its kind.
While making some friends, he could also observe the daily habits of Froakie's species.
This would help Kakashi take better care of Froakie in the future.
After much inquiry along the way, Kakashi and Froakie finally arrived at the Alliance Breeding Base.
"Sorry, the Alliance Breeding Base generally does not allow non-Alliance members. Please leave."
Unfortunately for Kakashi and Froakie, they couldn't enter the base to observe the Greninja population.
The security level of the Alliance Breeding Base was such that many high-ranking officials of Alliance City had a hand in its operations.
Even at the outermost gate, a regiment of the Marines stopped Kakashi and Froakie.
Not to mention there were also patrolling robots and a navy detachment inside, along with Porygon2 monitoring the entire base.
The patrol robots were a later addition.
The reason they were "added later" was because they were failed products or incomplete versions of the Peacekeepers that Vegapunk made.
Vegapunk wouldn't allow these failed products to leave his lab to work for the Alliance, but he had no problem using them as security guards.
The patrol robots were mostly equipped with various technological weapons. They weren't very strong, but they could easily reduce any ordinary person attempting to trespass into a pile of ash or a pincushion.
Failing to enter the breeding base left Kakashi and Froakie a bit disappointed.
But there was nothing they could do about it.
Just as they were about to leave, they turned and bumped into a very tall and long-headed old man.
Although Kakashi felt somewhat strange about it, he was getting used to seeing all sorts of unusual things on Pokémon Island.
Looking at the white coat on the man and the people following him, Kakashi figured this must be a researcher from the Alliance, likely of high rank.
"Are you a ninja from the Shinobi World?"
Vegapunk had noticed Kakashi as well.
Seeing Kakashi's outfit, Vegapunk had a guess about his origins.
"Yes."
"Why are you at my lab?"
There was a look of doubt in Vegapunk's small eyes.
This lab was normally only visited by researchers from Monet's team. Besides them, hardly anyone ever came.
If he remembered correctly, Alliance City had just opened to the public yesterday.
And here, early the next morning, a ninja was standing outside his lab?
Vegapunk was highly suspicious of Kakashi's purpose for being here.
"Ah, please don't misunderstand. It's like this..."
Seeing that Vegapunk and his assistants were already about to reach for their Poké Balls, Kakashi quickly waved his hand to explain why he had come.
However, he clearly remembered that this was supposed to be the Alliance Breeding Base, so why was it this person's lab?
Curious, Kakashi couldn't help but take out the map and take a look.
Upon closer inspection, he realized that the Alliance Breeding Base was actually built around the "Alliance Research Lab," encircling it.
"I see."
Vegapunk glanced at Kakashi, then nodded, "In that case, help me with a task, and I'll allow you and your Froakie to enter the Alliance Breeding Base to observe the daily lives of the Greninja line."
"No problem."
Kakashi agreed without hesitation.
He was currently in a period of free activity, and helping Vegapunk didn't violate any regulations.
This was essentially Kakashi accepting a mission from Vegapunk, and the reward was clear. Completing missions was familiar territory for a ninja like Kakashi.
"Then come with me."
Vegapunk nodded.
Kakashi and Froakie followed Vegapunk into his lab.
Even Dak hadn't been to this lab many times.
After all, Dak wouldn't understand much even if he did visit, so he simply avoided coming.
Now Kakashi was about to discover some of the lab's secrets. Whether he chose to report these findings to Hiruzen would be his own decision.
Even if Kakashi did tell Hiruzen everything, it wouldn't matter much.
All the research materials in Vegapunk's lab could be freely taken, but Konoha wouldn't be able to replicate much.
Vegapunk was known for his technology that was 500 years ahead of the world, all thanks to the power of the Brain-Brain Fruit. Given the level of technology and resources in the Shinobi World, it would be extremely difficult for them to implement Vegapunk's technology.
Some of the materials used in Vegapunk's experiments were only possible to create using the abilities of the Gulp-Gulp Fruit from the Pirate World, so finding such special alloys in the Shinobi World was out of the question.
For Konoha, perhaps the biological and genetic research results of Vinsmoke Judge and Caesar Clown, or even Queen's biochemical weapons, would be more practical than what Vegapunk had.
Vegapunk led Kakashi further inside, eventually stopping at a hidden chamber.
"Open it."
Vegapunk instructed one of his assistants.
"Yes."
The assistant nodded and pulled open the alloy door of the hidden chamber.
Woosh.
The heavy door opened, producing a teeth-grinding screech as it scraped against the floor.
"This is..."
When the sight inside the chamber was revealed, Kakashi's eyes widened.
His first reaction was to drop into a defensive stance, reaching behind him for a kunai.
But suddenly he realized his right hand came up empty. He remembered that Alliance City banned weapons, and all of his weapons had been temporarily taken by the city officials.
In front of him was the corpse of a massive, eerie creature.
A sense of malice washed over him, nearly causing Kakashi to choke.
"A strange and terrifying creature, isn't it?"
Seeing Kakashi's reaction, Vegapunk confirmed something.
It seemed this ninja had no knowledge of the thing called the "Gedo Statue."
When Dak had suddenly brought the Gedo Statue to Vegapunk's lab some time ago, it had almost scared the timid old man to death.
Afterward, Dak told Vegapunk everything he knew about the Gedo Statue and then left.
Vegapunk had studied it for days, but hadn't uncovered much, only understanding its basic physical properties.
Vegapunk was an intensely curious scientist.
With such a bizarre behemoth in front of him every day, it was hard for him to resist the urge to study it, but he couldn't make any progress, leaving him frustrated.
Hence, when Vegapunk saw Kakashi, he had the idea of asking him for help.
Vegapunk didn't expect Kakashi to achieve any great breakthroughs regarding this thing—anything that someone like Dak valued likely wasn't something an ordinary ninja would be familiar with.
Vegapunk simply wanted to learn more about the Shinobi World in hopes of finding some connection to the Gedo Statue.
"Yes."
Kakashi nodded.
This was his first time seeing the Gedo Statue.
However, the ten protrusions on its back gave him a strong sense of déjà vu.
"This thing comes from your Shinobi World."
"...Huh?"
Kakashi was stunned, and cold sweat began to form on his forehead.
He had never heard of anything like this existing in the Shinobi World.
Not only him, but Kakashi believed that most people in the world had no idea what this was.
"Tell me about the history and legends of your world, such as... the Tailed Beasts."
Vegapunk glanced at Kakashi before asking.
He remembered Dak mentioning that the "Gedo Statue" also had another name: "Ten-Tails." And there were nine other well-known Tailed Beasts in the Shinobi World.
If that were the case, then this ninja should know something about the other Tailed Beasts.
"Alright."
Kakashi didn't refuse.
The legend of the Tailed Beasts was public knowledge, not some top-secret information.
What couldn't be disclosed was who the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki was in Konoha—something other villages had yet to discover.
Upon hearing the legend of the nine Tailed Beasts, Vegapunk asked many follow-up questions based on some of the terms mentioned in the legends.
These included, but were not limited to, the Sage of Six Paths, Ninshū, and the Three Great Sage Regions, among other legends.
"Do you know about the Rinnegan?"
"The Rinnegan? Yes, it's said to be the eyes of the Sage of Six Paths—like the Sage himself, it's something that only exists in legends. No one has ever seen a real Rinnegan."
"I see."
Vegapunk nodded silently, giving up on the idea of showing Kakashi the pair of purple eyes in the next room.
His suspicions were correct. The things Dak had specifically brought back were unlikely to be accessible to ordinary people.
Both the Gedo Statue and the Rinnegan were extraordinary items.
"Thank you for clearing that up. You can now take your partner to the breeding base. My assistant will take you to the Greninja population. Please don't wander around, as you might get accidentally hurt by some of the more aggressive species."
Since Vegapunk no longer needed Kakashi, he decided to fulfill his earlier promise.
"That's all it takes?"
Kakashi hadn't expected this task to be so easy.
He keenly sensed that it had everything to do with the enormous creature he had seen earlier, but he chose not to ask about it.
"Yes."
(End of Chapter)
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