Let's turn the clock back a little.
When the piercing alarm sounded throughout the entire area, Kakashi, who had been eating, suddenly changed expression.
Without hesitation, he threw down his chopsticks and bowl, his figure shooting like lightning toward where Rin was.
Since this mission was a close-protection assignment, even during something as ordinary as eating, Kakashi had remained highly alert, not daring to stray too far from Rin.
By the time Kakashi rushed to Rin's side like a gale, only a little over ten seconds had passed.
But when he saw Nohara Rin, the scene in front of him left him stunned.
It wasn't that Rin had been injured or was in danger.
It was that seven White Zetsu had suddenly crawled out of Chizuru, who was standing beside her.
These White Zetsu had developed from extremely tiny spore powder.
The spores came from the string of prayer beads Chizuru had gotten a few days ago.
Although over the past few days Chizuru had unconsciously washed away a large amount of the spore powder, some still remained.
The appearance of these White Zetsu wasn't unfamiliar to Kakashi.
Because in the past, when the village upgraded its barrier, quite a few similar entities had been captured.
But at this moment, Kakashi's heart was filled with doubt and unease. Where exactly had these spores come from?
Chizuru had been drained of a large amount of chakra by the White Zetsu. She was completely weak and collapsed to the ground.
But Nohara Rin, who was equally shocked, did not fall into panic.
She reacted immediately. Both hands gathered powerful chakra, forming extremely sharp chakra scalpels.
Without any hesitation, she slashed fiercely at the White Zetsu that had just crawled out.
These spore-born White Zetsu were like starving wolves, crazily absorbing the chakra from Chizuru's body.
Their bodies kept swelling with the influx of chakra, turning into humanoid forms in the blink of an eye.
Then, scrambling over each other, they leapt into the ground and quickly used the Mayfly Technique to escape the scene.
Although they moved swiftly, within such a short span of time, two of the White Zetsu were killed by Rin's chakra scalpels before they could fully transform into human shape.
Kakashi arrived in a flash. The long blade in his hand gleamed coldly as it sliced through the air.
The remaining three White Zetsu didn't even have time to react before their heads were separated from their bodies.
At this point, the battle came to a temporary end, though two cunning White Zetsu still managed to escape.
"Rin, are you alright?"
Kakashi looked at Nohara Rin with a tense expression.
Seeing her in danger just now had nearly made his heart jump out of his chest.
In contrast, Rin appeared relatively calm.
She gently shook her head and replied, "I'm fine. I'm not hurt."
After saying that, she immediately crouched down and carefully checked Chizuru's condition.
After examining her, Rin discovered that due to having a large amount of chakra extracted, Chizuru had fallen into a deep coma.
Chakra is closely tied to a person's physical stamina and life force. If someone's chakra is completely depleted, the consequences can be extremely severe, even life-threatening.
Realizing the seriousness of the situation, Rin didn't dare delay. She quickly transferred her own chakra into Chizuru's body, hoping to save her life.
"Kakashi, Chizuru is in great danger right now. We need to get her to the hospital immediately."
"Got it!"
Kakashi reached out and hoisted Chizuru onto his back in one motion.
Then, like a bolt of lightning, he dashed toward the hospital.
At the same time, as he ran, Kakashi asked Rin, "Rin, what exactly is going on? Why would something like White Zetsu appear on Chizuru?"
Facing Kakashi's question, Rin was just as confused.
Because a strange method like spore-born White Zetsu had never appeared in the ninja world before. It was completely unfamiliar to everyone.
"I don't know where the White Zetsu on Chizuru came from, but one thing's certain, she didn't get infected today."
At that moment, a voice from the Yamanaka clan of the Barrier Team suddenly sounded in Rin's mind, ["Nohara Rin, a large number of people not from the village in the outer city are currently being afflicted by an unknown illness."]
The Yamanaka continued: ["You are to immediately head to Passage 17 to provide support and rescue in the outer city."]
["That area has fewer personnel and is likely to become a target of enemy attacks."]
["Your primary task is to act as bait. If you are not attacked, proceed through Passage 17 to the outer city."]
Rin quickly responded in her mind, ["My colleague just had all of their chakra drained by White Zetsu that suddenly appeared on their body. They're in critical condition. I have to escort them safely to the hospital first!"]
The Yamanaka paused briefly before replying: ["Some villagers and ninja within the village have also had White Zetsu appear on them, but the total number is not high. Although it has caused some chaos, there have been basically no casualties."]
["These White Zetsu are likely gathering intelligence. Their combat strength is not high."]
["Have Kakashi create a shadow clone to send the injured companion. You continue carrying out the original plan."]
["Yes! Understood!"]
Rin answered.
Hearing that these White Zetsu weren't very strong, Rin let out a quiet breath. In that case, a shadow clone should be enough to deliver her.
She quickly turned to Kakashi beside her and relayed the mission instructions she had just received.
"The village has issued new orders. We're to head to Passage 17 immediately to provide support and rescue in the outer city."
"Make a shadow clone to take Chizuru to the hospital."
After listening, Kakashi quickly crossed his hands.
A puff of smoke rose, and a shadow clone identical to him appeared before them.
The clone bent down, lifted Chizuru onto its back, and then dashed off like an arrow released from a bow, disappearing from their sight in the blink of an eye.
Meanwhile, after completing all this, the real Kakashi and Rin didn't dare waste a single moment. They rushed at full speed toward Passage 17.
At that moment, they suddenly raised their heads, their gaze turning toward the towering wall at the boundary between Konoha's inner and outer city.
From atop the wall, a full one hundred and twenty-eight cylindrical pillars suddenly extended outward.
These pillars were covered all over with dense, obscure, and heavy runic markings.
At the top of each pillar was embedded a dark green gem that emitted a faint, eerie glow.
Now, those dark green gems seemed to ignite, beginning to shine with a bright orange light.
When all the airborne ninja had fully entered Konoha's sphere of influence, and just as foretold, a large number of Konoha villagers had been poisoned, the Fourth Hokage of Konoha, Namikaze Minato, who had been holding back until now, finally stopped restraining himself and made his move.
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