Chapter 95: Uchiha’s Takedown

Firelight truly deserved his reputation—not just in the Leaf, no, in Iwagakure’s line of leading shinobi. Against Kakashi and Obito, he never once dropped his footing. His special weapon, the wrist blade, gave him brutal power in combat and still allowed him to form seals and cast jutsu while he fought.

Alas, even for the Leaf’s three-man squad, there was a flaw: the medical ninja was too weak in battle.

Even though Rin had remained on full alert, she still failed to stop Great Stone from coming in behind her while invisible.

A silent, unseen kunai was pressed to Rin’s throat, while the other hand deftly untied the ninja tool pack at her waist.

“If you don’t want to die, don’t scream,” Great Stone murmured, covering her mouth and stepping back. His orders were simple: take Rin and interrogate her for Leaf intelligence; there was no need to create a big disturbance.

“Uh… Kakashi… Obito…” In barely two weeks, she had been abducted three times. Rin wondered if she truly had some bizarre curse about her.

“Trouble! Rin’s been taken again!” Afei cried out, as if he couldn’t bear the quiet.

“What?!” Kakashi and Obito spun around at once. There was Rin indeed, tears in her eyes, awkwardly being dragged backward.

Kakashi could see nothing, but Obito’s Sharingan read everything clearly: a moving mass of chakra behind Rin, an invisible figure.

“Rin!!!” Obito was close to frenzy. Who were these people, kidnapping his goddess again and again? Anyone with eyes to see would think he’d staged some kind of hero-saves-girl charade!

“Oi, brat! Don’t get distracted while you fight me!” Firelight gave a sly grin and increased the pace of his attacks.

Kakashi frowned. He hated this kind of constrained fighting, and he hated even more the men who would snatch women whenever it suited them, showing no shame worthy of a shinobi.

“Kakashi, do a combined attack!” Obito shouted.

“Since when did we train a coordinated combo?” Kakashi said, bewildered.

“Uchiha suplex!” Obito barked. He didn’t hesitate—he reached out and clamped both hands around Firelight’s waist.

“Are you insane, idiot?!” Firelight roared. He had no patience for some grand Otsutsuki elbow trick. The blade on his wrist drove in mercilessly, stabbing into Obito’s back.

“Now—take him!” Obito tightened his grip around Firelight’s waist. The sharp pain in his back kept him clear-minded; he knew he couldn’t shake Firelight off in time, and in this state the only way to end the threat was to pin him fast and free his hands for Rin.

“Idiot… you’re going to die.” Kakashi instantly understood the idea behind Obito’s combo. His hands moved in seal-work at full speed. His right hand was still sluggish from injury, but at least his left finally flared with the light of Raikiri.

“We have to… save Rin…” Obito said through teeth packed with fresh blood.

Then it crackled.

Kakashi’s Raikiri passed through Great Stone’s heavy armor without resistance. His blood-slick left arm burst through Great Stone’s chest.

“So… it ends like this? Two little brats, and you’re not satisfied yet…” Firelight fell upright for a moment, then collapsed flat.

“Obito…” Kakashi looked at him where he had fallen. For the first time, he truly acknowledged Obito. When he raised his eyes again, Rin was gone. Great Stone had already hauled her away and vanished into the distance.

He was facing the same crossroads his father had once faced.

Mission: Destroy the Shinobi Bridge.
Mission Rank: SSS.

It was an operation on the edge of the Leaf’s survival. Iwagakure forces were hurrying straight toward the main village of the Leaf. Only by destroying the Shinobi Bridge, cutting Iwagakure’s supply line, could those forces be forced to withdraw.

Its importance even surpassed the mission his father had taken years ago.

Should he continue the mission… or run after Rin?

Kakashi stood frozen in place, the heavens and earth darkening around him, locked in an ice-cold paralysis.

“Kakashi… you bastard… what are you still hesitating about… k-kh-kh…” Obito lay face down in the dirt, blood spilling wildly from his wounds, his body unable to lift even an ounce more.

Kakashi remained silent. He had to face something he had never wanted to face.

“Kakashi… your father was noble…” Obito began, then coughed.

*Clap. Clap.* The sound of applause filled the air. This was precisely the moment a villain should step in.

Black cloak, mocking mask—Whitewood entered.

He went to Firelight’s side and looked into his eyes, which still held a spark. Because Kakashi’s strike had gone slightly askew, being with the left hand, it had not gone straight through Firelight’s heart.

“You’re not dead yet. There’s still time,” Whitewood said, with a tone almost pitying.

Firelight stared at Whitewood with burning eyes, full of will to live and complete trust. He was sure Whitewood could save him.

Afei quickly opened his mouth, pulled out a women’s outfit, and dressed Firelight in it, somehow securing the promised hundred gold before Firelight exhaled his last.

“Kakashi, Kakashi… why are you still hesitating? Go complete the mission! A shinobi’s rule is that the mission comes first. A shinobi who does not value teammates is nothing. Break the rule, and you are worse than nothing. Your father took the wrong path once. Don’t let it happen again.” Whitewood paced around Kakashi with a tilted grin.

Kakashi said nothing.

“Pah…” Obito spat out old blood and passed out. The line he had just spoken, this clownish fiend had twisted it back on him. Who could bear that kind of mockery?

“My father—don’t you dare disrespect him, Whitewood!” Kakashi ground his teeth, glaring at him with pure hatred.

“Ho ho ho… Where exactly did I slip so that you saw through me?” Whitewood had no objection, removed his mask, and smiled.

Kakashi looked in silence at the half-dog-eared copy of Erotic Paradise poking from Firelight’s side.

“Ah, so that’s how you guessed it? Impressive, Kakashi,” Whitewood said. He knelt to check Obito’s body. His lower back had been torn open, and the wound was no better than the one in the original tale.

“Let me see your true strength.” Kakashi tightened his grip on the short blade in his hand.

“Oh? So you’ve decided to save your comrade first? If you go to complete your mission, I won’t stop you.” Whitewood sounded genuinely surprised. Without Obito to bait him, Kakashi had found his footing all by himself.

“Obito can give his life for Rin. How could I do less for my friends? The mission…” Kakashi straightened. “I trust Sensei—what I must do is save my comrades. I believe that if it came again, my father would make the same choice.”

Kakashi’s figure slowly merged with that of his father.

“So you’ve awakened, though it’s too bad. Are you really my match in this state?” Whitewood pointed to Kakashi’s injured right arm.

“I am never alone.” Kakashi dabbed blood from his sleeve and slowly formed seals.

“Still acting like a dog, are you?” Afei grinned crookedly.

Ninja Technique: Summoning Art

Boom boom boom boom…

Seven plumes of smoke rose, and seven ravenous ninja dogs with bared fangs stormed in.

Park came in sunglasses and a thick gold chain, a cigar clenched in his mouth. He spat out a heavy cloud of smoke and snarled, “This time, I brought my underlings with me.”