Kannabi Bridge, Land of Grass.
From a distance, Minato watched as flames erupted across the bridge.
First, the watchtower at the southern end collapsed—that was the result of Choza's Expansion Jutsu. Then the battle truly began, with ninjutsu flying in every direction.
Not long after, a brilliant flash of lightning erupted beneath the bridge. That had to be Kakashi's Chidori. Immediately afterward came the continuous thunder of explosive tags.
The fight started suddenly and ended just as quickly.
Choza's team was the first to retreat, but Minato clearly saw at least two jonin leading squads in pursuit.
Then the commotion beneath the bridge gradually died down. Although he couldn't see it, Minato's sensory abilities told him that Kakashi's team had also pulled back—and that six Iwagakure shinobi were chasing after them.
Now it was his turn to act.
Minato's figure flickered and vanished. When he reappeared, he was already near one of the bridge piers. A Flying Thunder God kunai that Kakashi had left behind was stuck in the shadows.
Seeing that no one was around, Minato moved quickly. Sheet after sheet of explosive tags were unsealed from his storage scroll and immediately plastered onto the bridge supports.
This was no small job. In order to ensure Kannabi Bridge's safety, Iwagakure had reinforced the entire structure with Earth Release.
Destroying it completely would take far more than one or two explosive tags.
Time passed second by second. Minato had already finished two of the piers. To achieve the desired effect, he still needed to rig at least six more.
Looking at the sheer scale of the work, cold sweat broke out on Minato's forehead. Iwagakure had really gone overboard reinforcing the bridge like this. His hands moved even faster.
While Minato was busy planting explosives, Kakashi's side was facing a difficult choice.
"Kakashi, how can you grow without experiencing life and death? We still have our trump card, yet we're hesitating like this. How are we ever supposed to catch up to Taiichi at this rate?"
Obito's words carried a strange, almost hypnotic power. They kept chipping away at Kakashi's resolve—until that final line about catching up to Taiichi finally broke through.
Kakashi's chest heaved violently. His eyes locked onto Obito's crimson Sharingan.
"You're right. But you two go first. I'll stay behind and hold them off for a while. Otherwise none of us are getting away."
"Kakashi, you—"
Obito tried to argue, but Kakashi cut him off sharply.
"Stop wasting time. This part of the mission is mine. Your strength is nowhere near enough."
As he spoke, he tossed the special Flying Thunder God kunai to Obito.
"Listen, idiot. Take this kunai. The moment things look bad, activate it. Training is training, but don't actually throw your life away."
Kakashi could feel the Iwagakure shinobi getting closer behind them. He continued, "I can only buy a little time. There are definitely more Iwa-nin who slipped past. You two need to be careful."
He stopped running, planted his feet, adjusted his breathing, and waited for the enemy to arrive.
"Kakashi—"
Obito couldn't help looking back at Kakashi, who was growing smaller in the distance. He solemnly tucked the special kunai into his tool pouch, then grabbed Rin and fled as fast as he could.
Once their figures had completely disappeared into the forest, a black shadow emerged on a large tree not far away.
"How young they are," Black Zetsu murmured. "Just a little genjutsu guidance and some mental suggestion, and they make decisions like this. Good thing they didn't call that other brat over, or this little play of mine would've been ruined."
On the other side, the Kakashi who had stayed behind gripped his short blade and watched the six Iwa-nin approaching.
"Oh? One of them actually stayed behind to die." Hikaru sneered with open contempt. "Hey, silver-haired brat. You think you can hold all of us off by yourself?"
"We won't know until I try!"
Kakashi pointed his blade forward in an aggressive stance, clearly choosing to attack rather than defend—even abandoning defense altogether.
"Careful. This kid is strong."
Mogera spoke up in warning. The burning pain in his chest constantly reminded him that the boy in front of them was not someone to take lightly.
"Hikaru, you and I will deal with him. Daishi, take the others and go after the other two."
Daishi nodded and waved to the three chunin behind him. They were about to circle around Kakashi's position.
"How could I let you pass?"
Kakashi roared and used Body Flicker to intercept them.
At that moment, a figure suddenly lunged out from the side and slashed toward Kakashi's chest.
"Your opponent is me."
Mogera's voice came only after the attack had already landed—sneaky to the extreme.
Kakashi barely managed to block the strike. The moment his blade met Mogera's, he felt something wrong beneath his feet. Before his brain could even issue the command, his body had already leaped several meters to the side.
A stone spike immediately erupted from the ground where he had been standing. Judging by the angle, it had been aimed straight at his rear.
After one exchange, neither side gained the upper hand. But the squad of Iwa-nin had already used the opening to disappear from Kakashi's sight.
Obito, Rin… from here on, you'll have to be careful on your own. This is all I can do.
Kakashi thought to himself, then steadied his mind and focused on the enemies in front of him.
Meanwhile, Obito and Rin were fleeing at full speed through the forest. By now all the simple traps they had prepared earlier had been used up. They could only try to disturb their footprints as they ran, hoping to throw off their pursuers.
The effect was minimal at best. They hadn't even been running for twenty minutes before Daishi—the jonin who had gone ahead—caught up to them.
Earth Release: Flying Pebbles.
Dozens of head-sized rocks came flying toward Obito and Rin, cutting off their escape route.
The two of them had truly been tempered by battle. With just a few quick steps they avoided the ninjutsu.
They exchanged a glance. No words were needed. They immediately split up—one left, one right—and charged toward the Iwa-nin.
Fire Release: Great Fireball.
Obito spat a massive fireball at Daishi, then followed right behind it, rushing in.
Daishi didn't even look at the fireball. His hands flew through seals.
Earth Release: Earth Flow Wall.
A wall of earth rose in front of the fireball, blocking both the flames and Obito's path of attack.
At that same moment, Rin had already closed in on Daishi.
As a medical-nin, Rin only knew Water Release: Water Trumpet as an offensive jutsu. Everything else she had learned under Taiichi's guidance was taijutsu—and she had made decent progress.
Even against Daishi, she was able to hold her own for several exchanges.
If Obito's attack had been able to follow up, the two of them working together might have lasted a little longer.
Unfortunately—
When Obito finally circled around the Earth Flow Wall, the first thing he saw was Rin being kicked hard by the Iwa-nin. She tumbled across the ground for a long distance.
"Rin!"
Obito roared. He pushed his Body Flicker to the absolute limit and appeared beside her in an instant.
He pulled the fallen Rin upright. Blood was continuously spilling from the corner of her mouth.
"Rin! Rin, are you okay?!"
Obito had completely lost his composure.
"Cough… Obito, quickly… call for backup."
Rin struggled to stand on her own, repeatedly urging him.
"Right, right. I need to call Taiichi."
Obito had finally snapped back to clarity. He also realized what a fatal mistake he had made.
He had overestimated himself and underestimated the strength of a jonin.
Not only had he put himself in danger—he had nearly gotten Rin killed as well.
Thankfully, it still wasn't too late.
He thrust his hand into the side pouch of his tool kit, where the special kunai from Taiichi was stored.
But his fingers met only empty space.
The hope on his face instantly froze, then twisted into pure, disbelieving terror.
He looked down and frantically searched. At some point, a clean, straight cut had been sliced into the side of his tool pouch.
Everything inside—including the life-saving special kunai—had vanished.
"No… impossible! How could it be gone?! How did the pouch get cut?!"
Obito's voice was distorted by extreme fear and despair. He searched frantically, but the only thing left inside the empty pouch was a single torn leaf.
Far away, in the shadow of a large tree's roots, Black Zetsu slowly rose from the ground.
Between his fingers, he was idly spinning a specially shaped kunai—the very one Obito had been desperately searching for.
A malicious grin spread across Black Zetsu's face. A strange branch extended from the tree roots beside him, its edge as sharp as a blade.
The branch took the kunai from his hand, wrapped around it, thickened, and squeezed. In the blink of an eye, the kunai was twisted into a mangled knot. Then the branch retracted into the ground and disappeared.
"Now no one will interfere anymore."
The cold, sinister laughter echoed through the forest—yet no one heard it.
Icy despair instantly flooded Uchiha Obito.
The glaring cut on his tool pouch seemed to mock his stupidity and arrogance.
The team's final life-saving trump card had disappeared from his possession. He had personally destroyed their only way out.
"Rin… the kunai… it's gone."
Obito's voice was hoarse and trembling, filled with apocalyptic fear and overwhelming regret.
Fear that was about to get Rin and Kakashi killed.
Regret for his own arrogance and overconfidence.
Rin's body shook violently. The moment she had just managed to steady herself, she nearly fell again.
She turned to look at Obito, her eyes filled with disbelief. How could something so important have been lost?!
But when she saw that Obito was already crying in panic, she swallowed all the blame back down.
"Just focus on fighting, Obito. We might really die this time!"
Rin's words cut like knives. Even without any accusation, they made Obito want to crawl into a hole and disappear.
But right now he had more important things to do.
He wiped his tears, gripped his kunai tightly, and stepped in front of Rin. His eyes were locked on Daishi, who was steadily closing in.
"Rin, you go first. I'll hold him off for a while and create an opening for you."
"Oh? How touching. But you two really underestimate jonin if you think you can still escape."
With that, Daishi didn't give them any more time. He charged forward.
Obito's Sharingan widened. The single tomoe spun wildly, trying to track Daishi's movements.
He swung his kunai horizontally to block Daishi's thrust, then immediately followed up with a kick aimed at the man's waist.
"Oh? The Sharingan. What a shame it's only one tomoe."
Daishi's mocking laughter rang out as he stepped back to avoid the kick, then slipped past Obito and lunged straight for Rin.
Even a single-tomoe Sharingan could see a jonin's movements clearly. Unfortunately, Obito's physical abilities couldn't keep up with what his eyes could see.
By the time he turned around, Daishi was already right in front of Rin again. Obito could only watch helplessly as Rin's defense was broken in just a few moves and she was kicked flying once more.
This time the injury was even worse. Rin collapsed and immediately lost consciousness.
At that moment, the three Iwa chunin that Daishi had left behind finally caught up.
"Take that fallen Konoha brat and find somewhere to wait for me. I'll meet up with you later."
"Rin—!"
Obito tried to rush forward to save her, but Daishi's figure flashed in front of him again.
Obito no longer cared about anything else. He could only watch as the three chunin picked up the unconscious Rin and disappeared into the forest after a few Body Flickers.
Obito let out a beast-like roar. Enormous grief, rage, self-blame, and helplessness erupted inside his chest like a volcano.
The tomoe in his eyes spun wildly, almost merging into a single line. Then the tomoe began to split—one became two. The crimson background grew even deeper.
Under this extreme stimulation, Obito's single-tomoe Sharingan evolved into a two-tomoe Sharingan.
Powerful ocular energy surged forth along with his violently fluctuating emotions. At the same time, a new wave of chakra began rapidly generating inside his body.
His strength increased. His vision became clearer.
Obito could clearly feel himself becoming stronger. The enemy in front of him suddenly seemed like someone he could actually kill.
Filled with boundless confidence, he raised his kunai and charged at the Iwa-nin once more.
"Hah… hah… hah…"
His strength had indeed improved. Where he could previously only last four or five exchanges, he was now barely managing to trade blows.
Unfortunately—
"Oh? So this is what a Sharingan evolution looks like. This is the first time I've seen it. How lucky for me today."
Daishi continued fighting at a leisurely pace, blocking, stabbing, slashing, and chopping with only the most basic movements—yet he completely toyed with Obito.
"Damn it!"
Obito's unwillingness burned hotter. His kunai thrusts became faster and faster. The tomoe in his eyes spun rapidly.
The chirping of a thousand birds tore through the air.
Kakashi's figure shot forward at high speed, bursting out of the forest and appearing right in front of the Iwa-nin in an instant.
Kunai met kunai—Kakashi's broke.
Daishi, caught off guard, could only twist his body at the last second. His left arm was pierced straight through by Kakashi's Chidori.
It had missed his heart by a hair's breadth. Before the fear could fully register, the powerful force sent him flying.
The moment Daishi landed, he didn't dare pause for even a second. He flashed away and disappeared into the forest.
"Why are you still here? Where's Rin?!"
Kakashi was also in rough shape. He was panting heavily, eyes constantly scanning the surroundings. His clothes were torn and ragged, and several cuts over ten centimeters long were visible on his body.
"Kakashi… Rin—Rin was captured by them!"
Obito's voice was hoarse and broken. He kept hammering his own head with his fists. His crimson two-tomoe Sharingan stared at the place where the Iwa-nin had disappeared, filled with endless regret.
Kakashi's heart sank like it had been clenched by an invisible hand.
Looking at the battered, blood-covered Obito and the wild, regretful despair in his eyes, he instantly understood that the situation had become far more serious than he had imagined.
He had stayed behind alone to hold them off and had barely managed to force the two Iwa jonin to retreat.
Not only had he sustained serious injuries in the process, but his chakra was also heavily depleted. He had assumed that even if Obito and Rin couldn't hold out, they would at least be able to call for backup.
He never expected an outcome like this.
"What happened? How did Rin get captured? Where's the kunai? Why didn't you use it?!"
Kakashi forced down the blood rising in his throat, his tone urgent and severe.
He had already noticed the glaring cut on the side of Obito's empty tool pouch. An ominous premonition washed over him like ice water.
"The kunai… it's gone!
The tool pouch was cut open at some point. Everything inside disappeared!"