Obito Uchiha's face lit up with visible delight the moment Kakashi said, "Let's go."
"Kakashi, are you really coming with me to rescue Rin and Katsuhiko?" he asked eagerly.
Kakashi replied, "If you're not afraid of regretting your choice, what do I have to fear? I've already lived through it. I just hope you won't end up regretting it too. But there's one thing we need to get straight first."
Obito nodded enthusiastically. "Sure, I'll agree to anything you say."
Kakashi sighed helplessly. "Hear me out before deciding. The reason I'm willing to go is because you and Rin might count as my teammates, even if just barely. So once we start—no more freelancing! Follow my orders to the letter!"
Without hesitation, Obito immediately agreed. "Okay, I'll obey everything you say!"
Kakashi exhaled slowly, steeling himself before action.
He had never truly been an emotionally detached person. And his teacher Chinya had always taught him:
"To me, rules and regulations meant nothing compared to family and friends. Nothing matters more than those close to you."
Yet with his father's tragic precedent in mind, and in the cold-hearted environment of Konoha, Kakashi had no choice but to remain distant and approach every issue with rationality.
After all, that incident would forever remain a painful memory etched into his soul.
...
Meanwhile, Chinya and Minato Namikaze had already found frontline commander Maki Hayamura.
Seeing them arrive, Maki Hayamura let out a heavy sigh of relief. "You finally arrived."
Minato asked, "What's the current situation?"
Maki Hayamura reported seriously, "There are about fifty enemies. In contrast, our surviving forces here consist of just the four of us…"
Konoha ninja bodies littered the battlefield.
The Rock Ninjas were now full of morale.
"It'll be decided soon enough! Let's finish them off together!"
Minato pulled out dozens of Flying Thunder God kunai and told Maki Hayamura and the other three, "Everyone, throw these kunai at the enemies. What follows will be handled by Chinya and me."
One of the Konoha ninja muttered, "This feels reckless… but I guess we have no choice."
Maki Hayamura snapped, "Silence! Just follow orders! Next, you'll witness Konoha's Yellow Flash and Crimson-Eyed Asura in battle. It'll happen in the blink of an eye—make sure you're watching closely!"
As soon as Maki Hayamura and the other three threw all the Flying Thunder God kunai, Minato began flashing between each kunai.
Each flash eliminated one enemy.
Chinya activated [Thunder Breathing, First Form: Lightning Flash], cutting through the enemies in an instant.
Faced with enemies far outnumbering them, Chinya and Minato executed a one-sided slaughter with terrifying efficiency.
"So… so powerful…"
Maki Hayamura and the others stared in awe at the battle unfolding before their eyes.
Meanwhile, Kakashi and Obito Uchiha had already located where Rin Nohara and Koseki Katsuhiko were imprisoned—a rocky cave cobbled together from stacked boulders.
Kakashi told Obito, "I'll draw their attention. You take the chance to rescue them. Got it?"
Obito lowered his voice. "Understood."
Kakashi picked up a stone and hurled it toward the entrance of the cave.
The sound of shifting rocks caught Fireglow and Taiseki's attention.
Taiseki said to Fireglow, "I'll handle this. Keep using the genjutsu and hurry up to extract the information."
[Camouflage Invisibility no Jutsu!]
Taiseki turned transparent, blending into his surroundings as he exited the cave.
Kakashi moved silently toward the mouth of the cave.
Obito Uchiha watched Kakashi nervously.
"What are you staring at? Letting that silver-haired brat lure us out while you go save others? Don't be naive!"
Taiseki released his Camouflage Invisibility and threw a kunai at Obito.
But suddenly Kakashi dropped from above, slashing across Taiseki's chest.
Staring in shock at Kakashi, Taiseki couldn't grasp what had just happened.
Wasn't Kakashi approaching the cave earlier?
He had originally intended to eliminate the weakest target—Obito—first before dealing with Kakashi.
Little did he know—he was the one getting ambushed.
Obito Uchiha stared at Kakashi in shock: "Kakashi, weren't you just...?"
"That was just a [Shadow Clone]. Since I knew one enemy could turn invisible, how could I trust you—a crybaby like you—to act alone? I guessed the enemy would try to take you out first, so I created an early clone while my real body stayed hidden in the tree."
Obito pouted unhappily: "You really don't trust me at all?"
Kakashi replied bluntly: "Don't you know your own weight in this fight?"
Taiseki stared at Kakashi for a moment, then suddenly burst out laughing. "Like I said before, if it were your master—the Crimson-Eyed Asura—I might feel a bit cautious. But you? I don't even consider you a threat."
[Camouflage Invisibility no Jutsu!]
Taiseki vanished again, concealing himself completely.
Kakashi twitched his nose once more.
Sure enough, the scent had disappeared completely.
Then he could only rely on air currents and sounds to determine the enemy's position.
Kakashi carefully observed his surroundings when suddenly he heard something.
"Obito! Behind you!"
Obito barely had time to react when Kakashi yanked him aside. But that also left Kakashi no chance to counterattack.
Taiseki's kunai came flying, slicing across Kakashi's left eye.
"My eye!"
Kakashi clutched his left eye, writhing in pain.
Taiseki tossed away the bloodstained kunai and hid again.
Despite acting like Kakashi was beneath him, Taiseki stayed on high alert.
After all, Kakashi had earned his deadly reputation fighting alongside Chinya.
So Taiseki decided to proceed carefully.
Obito helped Kakashi up. "Hey, Kakashi, are you okay?!"
Kakashi kept his hand over his eye, clearly suffering. "My eye's really messed up. Just like Sensei predicted. That guy is strong. He took a kunai with my blood on it and threw it away."
Tears welled up in Obito's eyes as he looked at Kakashi.
Kakashi removed his hand from his eye, revealing a deep wound on the left side, and glared at Obito with his right. "What's wrong? Got dust in your eyes again? If you're a ninja, don't cry. I'm not dead yet. Getting hurt is perfectly normal for a ninja, isn't it? Stay focused!"
Obito Uchiha pushed up his goggles and wiped away the tears from the corners of his eyes.
He recalled the words Minato Namikaze had said to him earlier.
How could sand possibly get into his eyes with his goggles on? If you're going to talk about being a deterrent, don't just say it—strengthen your heart as well.
He was always talking big and then asking everyone else for help. Just a dead-last.
But… Obito refused to let that one line—"someone who doesn't value their teammates is trash"—become just another hollow phrase.
Taiseki had already lunged at him again.
"Die!"
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