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"If it were Father…?"
Hearing Sawara Kiri's voice, Kakashi was first startled, then fell into deep thought.
As a genius who grew up hearing the heroic legends of his father from a young age, and then, after recognizing his own extraordinary talent, continuously tried to catch up to him, this seemingly ordinary sentence undoubtedly had a considerable impact.
Almost subconsciously, Kakashi began to recall every decision he had made from meeting at the Train Station until now.
Finally, he suddenly looked up at Sawara Kiri.
So that's it, his command strategy was wrong from the start.
It wasn't about protecting for the sake of protecting, but rather, one should take a series of actions to achieve the goal of protection. This was almost completely opposite to his previous state of drifting with the current.
"…"
"I understand."
Under Sawara Kiri's gaze, Kakashi slowly nodded.
Then, he immediately turned his head to look back at Kazahana Sōsetsu and his daughter, who still hadn't understood what was happening, and lowered his head, saying, "I apologize, Lord Daimyo, but we may have to change the objective of this mission."
"Eh?"
Kazahana Sōsetsu first looked at Kakashi in astonishment, then looked pleadingly at Sawara Kiri behind him, a sense of despair rising in his heart.
Could it be that even Sawara Kiri felt apprehensive about the strength of those rogue Ninja?
Or did he not want to risk the potential casualties of a few of his disciples?
Are we going to be abandoned here?
A rapidly escalating sense of urgency continuously gripped Kazahana Sōsetsu's heart, making him speak quickly: "Please wait, if the bounty amount and mission level are not enough, after this mission ends, we can still…"
"That's not it."
Kakashi shook his head, turned to look at Mei Terumī's team and the others, and said, "Mei, and Zabuza, please be responsible for protecting the Daimyo, escorting them back to the border Train Station."
"Hmm? …Yes!"
Mei Terumī immediately reacted upon hearing just that one sentence, nodding in agreement.
"Obito, Rin, you two will use the Transformation Jutsu to transform into the appearance of Kazahana and his daughter. Hozuki, you and I will protect them as they travel to the capital."
"Okay."
Hozuki Mangetsu nodded slightly.
This Konoha brat actually has a bit of a commander's demeanor now.
"Eh?!"
Obito, on the other hand, didn't understand at all, and said in surprise, "Why do we need to disguise ourselves? Wouldn't it be better to just fight our way through!"
"Obito!" Rin first gave Kakashi a gentle look, then turned her head and scolded him impatiently, "Kakashi wants to use us two to lure out those rogue Ninja!"
"Is that how it is?!"
"Then we should have done it sooner, we've been waiting for days for nothing."
Obito finally understood after hearing the explanation.
After hearing this explanation, the Kazahana father and daughter were also startled, looking at these young ones.
Disguising themselves as them and heading to the Snow Country capital, the kind of danger they would face next was naturally self-evident.
Kazahana Koyuki stared blankly at Kakashi, who was giving orders in an orderly fashion, and couldn't help but purse her lips.
Sawara Kiri's face showed a hint of appreciative smile.
Indeed.
If the Kakashi in the original world line had an extremely strong self-destructive tendency due to his father's death, making him unable to perfectly integrate with his teammates, then the Kakashi in this world line had no such flaws at all—after realizing his potential later, he even became the Sixth Hokage, managing the Village in an orderly manner.
This shows that this child's talent is not only in combat.
If he is cultivated properly in the future, he should become a rather good successor for the next generation, right?
After issuing a series of orders, Kakashi's heart was no longer confused.
What mission objective?
Protect the target, eliminate the enemy.
He wanted both!
"Depart!"
"Yes."
The Land of Snow, Capital.
Kazahana Doto stood at the entrance of the Daimyo's Palace, looking down at the intelligence report in his hand, a sarcastic smile appearing on his stern face.
"As expected."
"That foolish fellow, Sayuki, always risks his life for these trivial matters."
"Wouldn't it have been better to do this earlier?"
The information on the note was simple.
Kazahana Sōsetsu's whereabouts had been discovered in Snow Mountain City, within a two-hundred-kilometer radius of the capital.
He had originally thought he would need to spend more effort, blowing up this country even more, to lure him out.
Fortunately, his brother was an absolute fool.
"Rouga Nadare, Hiori."
"Present."
Accompanying his call, two figures appeared before Kazahana Doto, kneeling on one knee.
Kazahana Doto's tone was steady: "Since Sayuki has already arrived, as brothers, we should at least fulfill our duty as hosts."
"You two shall go and welcome him for me."
"Yes!"
As his voice fell, the two figures quickly disappeared from their original positions.
With a faint roar, two figures, like kites carried by the strong winds of the Land of Snow, circled in the sky, quickly becoming two tiny black dots.
Looking at the distant figures of the two, Kazahana Doto slowly turned his head back to the familiar Daimyo's Palace behind him, muttering to himself:
"I told you long ago, Father."
"In this era where military strength is revered, choosing a benevolent ruler is the most foolish choice."
"You truly were completely wrong…"
Under the howling north wind, his voice slowly dissipated into the wind, along with the last trace of nostalgia in his eyes, which was blown away, turning into bone-chilling cold.
"Rustle… rustle…"
A group of four moved quickly through the thick snow, making soft sounds, leaving only faint footprints.
The Land of Snow is in winter for more than half of the year, and occasionally experiences polar nights. The heavy snow outside the city remains year-round, covering everyone's entire vision. Looking out, it was all a pale color, with only tall, sturdy cold-climate trees standing there, their needle-like leaves constantly shaking off bits of snow under the wind.
Among the group, only Uchiha Obito, who had always worn goggles to protect his eyes, still retained some vision in this environment, though his goggles had now been transferred to Kakashi's face.
"Almost there."
Kakashi looked at the solid fortress, which stood abruptly like a mountain range in the middle of the vast snowy plain, and raised his voice towards those behind him.
In this environment, even a slightly soft voice would be drowned out by the wind.
Behind him, Obito, still in his transformed state, complained irritably: "Kakashi, is your luring strategy actually working?!"
"We've deliberately exposed ourselves several times, but why is no one taking the bait?!"
"Maintaining the Transformation Jutsu for a long time is exhausting!"
"It's working."
During this trek through the snowfield, everyone's stamina was continuously being consumed by the cold and the act of lifting their legs. Therefore, Kakashi also tried to conserve unnecessary energy, completely losing his usual childish demeanor of always arguing with Obito.
Just one mission, after experiencing one mistake, gradually transformed him into a qualified commander.
Even Obito, that troublemaker, hadn't argued with him at all these past few days.
Such subtle changes, accumulating little by little, can make a child gradually grow into an adult.
It's just that Kakashi's growth rate was exceptionally fast.
"Whoosh—"
Hozuki Mangetsu exhaled a long breath, the warm water vapor quickly turning into a straight plume of white mist in the Land of Snow's cold climate.
Although he wasn't famous in the original manga, he was noted as a 'genius' in the manga's settings, the elder brother whom Suigetsu Hozuki of the later Taka team pursued his entire life.
And it was indeed so.
Although he always had to hide his Kekkei Genkai and talent during his years of undercover work in Konoha, Konoha's reformed scientific training methods did not diminish his strength at all. Even when facing Kakashi head-on, he had significant advantages.
At this moment, he was wrapped in thick clothing, with a Ninja blade at his waist, and subconsciously looked up in the direction Kakashi pointed, trying to observe the surrounding terrain of the Land of Snow's capital and suitable infiltration points.
However, almost the instant he looked up, his frostbitten red ears suddenly twitched.
Immediately after, he quickly formed hand signs and activated his long-range sensing Ninjutsu.
"Watch out! It's from above!"
The moment they heard this warning, Kakashi and the others suddenly became alert.
He and Mangetsu merely exchanged a glance, then their figures shot out quickly, each grabbing Obito and Rin, who were still in their transformed states, and rushing deeper into the dense forest.
"Boom! Boom! Boom!"
Consecutive explosions continuously sounded behind the two, with vigorous firelight, smoke, and melted snow shooting up into the sky.
Hozuki Mangetsu, while maintaining his sensing Ninjutsu, pulled the transformed adult Obito with one hand and quickly said, "There are two targets, at an altitude of over five hundred meters!"
"Don't reveal your identities!"
Kakashi's words were directed at Obito and Rin.
Since their whereabouts had been discovered, it meant that the enemy's main target must have been recuperating in the Snow Country's capital in advance, and they had already been drawn into a confrontation. Mei Terumī's side would naturally be much safer.
The next step was to catch the enemy off guard and eliminate them as quickly as possible!
According to Kazahana Sōsetsu's account, there were originally four enemies, and now there were three left.
Did that mean there was still one enemy hidden in the shadows?
Kakashi thought to himself, his eyes under his goggles quickly scanning the surroundings, while he shouted, "Mangetsu, is there any way to bring them down?"
"Leave it to me!"
No sooner had Hozuki Mangetsu finished speaking than he swung his body and threw 'Kazahana Sōsetsu,' whom he was carrying, in front of Kakashi.
At the same time, he formed hand signs. Although the visibility under the dense forest was not clear, the figures of the two enemies and their extremely obvious Chakra reactions appeared clearly within his sensory range.
"Water Release: Frozen Water Bullet!"
The intense Chakra reaction, under rapid nature transformation, completely turned into horrifying frozen beads within the young man's mouth. Propelled by cannon-like air currents, they shot out one by one, sweeping across the sky.
The fine, high-speed water bullets rapidly reduced the heat generated by air friction in the Snow Country's cold weather. A hundreds-of-meters-long rapid flight was enough to make their hardness comparable to pebbles.
Hundreds, even thousands, of ice stones formed this way, spewed out from Hozuki Mangetsu's mouth like anti-aircraft artillery, sweeping towards the two figures in mid-air.
The vast snowfield, the roaring storm, and the coniferous forest obstructing visibility not only hid Kakashi's group but even more so, the two people flying in the sky.
It wasn't until this series of silent ice stones approached within ten meters that they barely managed to make evasive maneuvers.
But it was already too late.
"Clang, clang, clang—!"
Accompanied by a series of crisp metallic clashes, the relatively fragile thin wings were directly pierced by these ice stones.
The figures of the two, who were already gliding by relying on immense lift, immediately lost their balance.
Soon, one of them staggered and fell from mid-air.
"Bang!"
That huge, dull thud was incredibly obvious in the dense forest.
"Over there!"
Kakashi, who had been constantly monitoring his surroundings ever since Hozuki Mangetsu completed his Ninjutsu, immediately caught the movement.
Almost immediately after settling Obito and Rin, who were still in their transformed states, he activated his body with Lightning Release and shot towards the falling figure at a speed so fast that he was barely a blur.
In the blink of an eye, he saw a figure staggering up from a broken giant tree.
Perhaps due to the armor he was wearing, despite falling from hundreds of meters high, the opponent merely shook his head and seemed completely fine, at most having some abrasions.
This was completely different from Kakashi's goal of 'severely injuring the opponent' as planned.
"Damn it..."
"You damn Konoha brat!"
Soon, the opponent also discovered Kakashi's figure, who had no intention of hiding his presence.
The tall, ponytailed man's pupils constricted, and Chakra surged throughout his body.
His streamlined Chakra armor, with the eruption of Chakra within him, spewed out fine streams of azure Chakra from all around. The scorching temperature even melted the surrounding snow. He hunched forward, his gaze firmly locked on Kakashi.
Now, there was no time to worry about plans or no plans.
A Ninja, after all, still had to rely on strength.
Kakashi stood with his back against a giant tree, slowly drawing the gift Sawara had given him from his waist.
Scientific Ninja Tool: Red Fang.
At first glance, it seemed to be just an ordinary crimson short blade. Only in the center of the blade's spine was a thin, complex Sealing Technique pattern engraved, extending straight from the tip of the blade to the guard.
After a month of recent practice, Kakashi had completed his integration with this blade.
It was also time to find a suitable opponent for it.
One large and one small figure stood opposite each other in the cold snowfield forest, warily looking at the other.
Until a certain moment.
A branch, unable to bear the weight of the accumulated snow, suddenly snapped with a 'crack' and fell to the ground.
"Boom!"
"Whoosh—!"
The two figures shot out simultaneously.
Rouga Nadare's figure, covered in a layer of Chakra armor, seemed cumbersome, but in reality, propelled by the surging Chakra streams behind him, he burst forth with a speed far greater than the Body Flicker Technique. In a straight-line movement, he seemed to literally flash, and a blade suddenly extended from the thick armor on his wrist.
It pointed directly at the young man in front of him.
However, Kakashi's speed was even faster than his.
With just a slight step, leaving a shallow mark on the snow, the seemingly petite figure abruptly disappeared, leaving only a lingering arc of shadow as the crimson blade in his hand cut through the air.
Rouga Nadare, who crashed loudly into Kakashi's previous position, paused. From the corner of his eye, he caught sight of that light and shadow.
"Ding!"
He tilted his body, and the crimson blade lightly grazed him, emitting a crisp metallic clang.
"It's useless!"
Rouga Nadare roared arrogantly, "Mere steel, it's simply impossible—"
However, before he could finish his sentence, he inadvertently felt a warmth—no, to be precise, pain—on one side of his shoulder in this severe cold.
His voice hitched, and he looked down at his shoulder armor.
Then, he saw a molten trace, deeply etched into his Chakra armor, which he considered his trump card.
Rouga Nadare couldn't help but be astonished: "How is that possible?!"
"Is it that blade?"
He suddenly looked up at the young man opposite him.
Kakashi lightly stroked the blade with two fingers, his gaze calmly fixed on him.
In the cold air, only the edge of the crimson short blade subtly emitted a pale white mist, showcasing its unrestrained heat.
This was a Scientific Ninja Tool.
Kakashi quietly looked at him.
By injecting Chakra, it could exhibit Fire Release sword techniques and ultra-high-frequency Chakra penetration effects through the combination of special materials and Sealing Technique patterns.
It could even input Chakra of other natures on the basis of Fire Release, thereby exhibiting multiple Chakra reactions.
What he had just used was his family's inherited 'Wind Release: White Fang Sword Technique.'
The two combined to form the strike just now, which possessed both cutting and melting properties.
However, he had no intention of explaining this to the enemy opposite him, merely looking at him with indifference.
Under this chilling gaze, even Rouga Nadare couldn't help but let go of his slight contempt for the child.
Even his own armor was no longer secure.
However, this sense of threat brought not fear to Rouga Nadare, but an unprecedented fury.
"You mere Konoha brat!!!"
Under this gritted-teeth voice.
His tall figure suddenly shot out, the Chakra vents behind him increasing from four to six, making him even faster than before!
At the same time, a short blade extended from each of his wrists.
The twin blades whistled as they swept horizontally, pointing directly at Kakashi's neck.
Facing this fierce attack, Kakashi showed no intention of retreating. His Instantaneous Movement jutsu suddenly activated underfoot, and his figure charged forward without hesitation. The Red Fang short blade in his hand erupted with unprecedented heat at this high speed, faintly glowing with fire.
"Clang!"
Three blades collided.
In just a moment of impact, a flowing gap was melted into the short blade on Rouga Nadare's wrist.
But he reached out and pulled sideways, using the high-temperature gap where they connected to deflect Kakashi's short blade, while his other hand slammed down horizontally.
Kakashi ducked, avoiding his thick arm. At the same time, he bent down and kicked his right leg off balance, then immediately drew his blade forward, attempting to ram into his chest.
Rouga Nadare's center of gravity shifted, but the anger at being underestimated by a child grew even more intense. Completely disregarding the small figure approaching him, he suddenly roared and leaped forward with a knee strike.
"Thud—"
The small, white-haired figure shot out faster than he came, rolling and crashing into a giant tree trunk, exhaling a cloud of murky air, and then immediately got up to look at the opponent.
Rouga Nadare's gaze was chilling.
On his knee, a deep mark of molten metal was left.
At this moment, both sides realized how troublesome the other was.
join p atreon.com/KeyofStars and become a Sequence 9: Reader for advance chapters | Every 100 powerstones = 1 extra chapter | Report issues @discord.com/GVBdncd9Wr