Chapter 27: My Card Can Hold Its Own Against Anyone

“How much chakra does Kakashi even have?” Bai Mu watched as Roshi spewed a torrent of molten lava, while Kakashi darted back and forth in a streak of white lightning, somehow avoiding any harm. After all, this was an S-rank jutsu; the cost couldn’t possibly be low. Moreover, in order to find a foothold on a ground flooded with lava, he had to raise a wall of earth from time to time.

“But if he still has the strength to carve dog heads into the Earth Wall, he must have a lot of chakra left? Then I’ll wait a bit longer,” Bai Mu mused to himself as he lay in hiding. Against a powerhouse like Roshi, any flashy moves would be futile—he needed to come up with a flawless strategy.

Then a thought struck him—he was a transmigrant. Did all of this happen in the original timeline? If it did, then surely Kakashi and his team would survive without any outside help.

While Bai Mu pondered this, Obito and Rin were already overwhelmed. The sudden attack had turned the small town into a living hell in an instant. The Konoha shinobi assigned to defend the area hadn’t managed any effective resistance; lava flooding the streets cut off the civilians’ escape, and the choking sulfurous fumes burned their lungs. Even if Roshi didn’t hunt them down one by one, the townsfolk would only die slowly, suffocating in agony.

The truth was not as simple as Bai Mu believed. This town was the first stronghold assigned to Kakashi’s team upon their arrival at the front lines. They had spent three entire months here. Amidst the blood-soaked fields of war, this place alone had offered the warmth of home, and they knew every inhabitant well.

Faced with such a hellish scene, faint wails drifting from the ruins, even the ever-coolheaded Kakashi put aside reason and stayed behind to save the civilians.

Their plan was for Kakashi to hold off Roshi, the ninja dogs to search for survivors, and Obito and Rin to escort the rescued out of the town. They didn’t need to get far; a powerhouse like Roshi might not mind killing a few civilians in passing, but he would never go out of his way to hunt them down.

Moreover, with Roshi’s stubborn temper, his indiscriminate ninjutsu, and his scalding, foul attitude, he was doomed to be a loner—no one would ever want him as a teammate.

Taking Kakashi’s chakra reserves into account, they set a twenty-minute deadline for the rescue operation. As soon as the time was up, regardless of how many survivors remained, Obito and Rin would immediately withdraw, and Kakashi would use Chidori to make a quick retreat from the battlefield.

The plan was flawless. But once they entered the ruined town and saw their familiar friends groaning helplessly in the rubble, how could Obito and Rin bear to choose who lived and who died? They could only try to save as many as possible.

Twenty-five minutes had already passed.

"Obito, Kakashi can’t hold out much longer. We have to stop now..." Pakkun, the ninja dog, panted heavily, his paws scorched and blackened, halting his search.

"Big Brother Obito..." A girl was trapped beneath a collapsed beam from the ruins ahead.

Obito clenched his fists, his hands trembling and covered in wounds.

Why must there be war in the shinobi world? And why must war drag civilians into its depths?

"At least let me save one more!" Obito roared in fury, summoning strength from nowhere, heaved the beam aside in a single motion, scooped up the girl, and leapt toward the edge of the village.

Rin immediately tossed a kunai laced with explosive tags into the air as she retreated—this was their agreed-upon signal with Kakashi.

Boom! The tags detonated.

Kakashi, his body pushed to the absolute limit, finally allowed himself a breath of relief. He hadn't expected to push himself this far—ten Chidoris in a row, something he’d never even dared imagine during training.

His father was right; human potential truly is limitless. Just thinking of his father’s teachings allowed him to draw out even more chakra.

Now…it was time to retreat.

"Trying to run, little lightning brat?" Roshi heard the explosion behind him and guessed immediately what they planned.

"Unfortunately for you, I’ve seen the limits of your lightning techniques. I can’t let you leave alive!"

Lightning beats earth. For Iwagakure, the masters of Earth Release, letting a lightning prodigy like this survive and grow meant who knew how many comrades would die in the future.

"Those who harm innocents will always pay the price..." Kakashi stared wearily at Roshi’s face, committing it to memory. Lightning flickered in his palm; one last Chidori would carry him away from here.

"Hmph, fool. This is war. Anyone who helps Konoha is the enemy! Lava Release: Scorching Flow Great River!"

Roshi spat a searing stream of lava, not even flinching at the heat, sending a tidal wave surging toward Kakashi.

After several rounds of jutsu exchanges, he no longer expected the lava to catch the Konoha 'lightning rat' whose speed made him nearly invisible; instead, he expanded the jutsu to cut off Kakashi’s escape.

As long as he didn’t let him get away, this boy, nearly out of chakra, was a rat in a trap—perhaps even ripe for capture.

"Just a little higher… a little higher…" Kakashi gritted his teeth, squeezing every last drop of chakra into his Chidori, hoping to vault over the wall of molten lava. But his chakra pathways were as dry as a desert spring—there was nothing left to give.

"Damn..." The lightning in Kakashi’s hand flickered a few times before finally fading away, and he fell from the sky like a bird with clipped wings.

"Damn it… If I hadn’t stayed up late reading Make-Out Paradise last night, maybe I’d have enough chakra now… Wait, what did Hinata say in the next chapter…?" Trust Kakashi to be distracted even in crisis—he still managed to react instinctively, casting a wire-wrapped kunai at a dead tree and using it to swing away from the sea of lava below.

"Heh heh heh… Now you can’t run, brat." Roshi finally let a look of satisfaction cross his face. A ninja without chakra was as helpless as meat on a chopping board.

It was good to be a Jinchuriki—after spewing out ten rivers of lava in a row, he wasn’t even out of breath.

"...Is this really a dead end?" Gasping for breath atop a lonely Earth Wall that stood like an island, Kakashi realized he’d already used up his soldier pills. Taking more wouldn’t help now.

"I just hope that idiot and Rin make it out…"

Fire Style: Grand Fireball Jutsu!

A massive fireball blasted in from Roshi’s flank—no doubt, it was Obito!

"Tch… A little fireball? Are you trying to amuse me?" Roshi snorted. A tail of orange-red cloak extended behind him, sweeping lightly and dispersing the fireball into a shower of sparks.

Water Style: Water Wave Technique!

Rin’s support arrived as well. Though a medical ninja, she had trained in ninjutsu enough to direct the water flow at the lava in front of Roshi.

Hissssss...

Thousands of degrees of molten lava met the water, instantly filling the area with dense steam, shrouding the battlefield.

"Kakashi, we’re here to save you!" Obito leapt nimbly to Kakashi’s side.

"...Idiot," Kakashi muttered weakly.

This was suicide, not rescue. Without Chidori’s speed, none of the three could possibly dodge Roshi’s wide-area lava attacks.

"What touching friendship. But I won’t show mercy—prepare to be reduced to charred bones! Lava Release—" Roshi began weaving hand seals.

"Spiral Flash Super Wheel Dance Howl Three!"

Three flash bombs exploded in midair, and a voice, loud enough to scare the heavens, announced the dazzling entrance of a blond-haired hero!