"Obito… you—?!" Kakashi and Rin both stared at him in shock.
"Yeah... I finally awakened them." Obito had always taken great care of his eyes. He wore goggles almost all the time, used eye drops regularly—everything, just for the day they would finally awaken.
"Let's finish the enemy first!"
Even though the opponent looked battered, in Obito's newly awakened Sharingan, the flow of chakra was still relatively stable.
That meant—
The enemy had suffered serious external injuries, and some internal damage as well—but his combat strength was still far from gone.
"Right! Rin, provide support—Obito, with me!" Kakashi said, charging forward again.
In the past, whenever they faced a strong opponent, Obito's reactions and movements couldn't keep up at all.
But now…
With the Sharingan—
Those weaknesses were gone.
"You damn brat…" The Suna ninja's expression twisted.
He had thought that kid—the one with the goggles—was just a weak genin.
And yet, in the middle of battle, he had awakened the infamous eyes of the Uchiha Clan.
A Kekkei Genkai.
For the first time, the Suna ninja felt the urge to retreat.
Soon, the three of them clashed again—
But this time, the situation had completely reversed.
"Watch the left!"
A sneak attack was effortlessly blocked.
"His killing move is the Wind Blade!" Before the technique could even form, Kakashi had already forced him to interrupt it.
"Careful—explosive tags!" Kakashi and Obito both leapt back in unison.
Every single attack from the enemy was being dismantled with ease.
And more than once, that Sharingan-wielding kid had nearly turned the tables on him.
At this rate…
Damn it…
Clutching his wound, the Suna ninja turned and fled.
"Kakashi?" Obito blinked in surprise. "Why aren't you chasing him?"
Kakashi swayed slightly—
Then his body finally gave out.
He collapsed heavily onto the ground.
Blood poured from the wound on his chest, quickly staining the earth red.
"Rin!!"
…
...
...
Meanwhile—
Shimizu moved cautiously through the battlefield where Jiraiya had disappeared, scanning for any useful traces.
But in his mind, this mission had always been somewhat… low-stakes.
Jiraiya's strength spoke for itself.
And more importantly—
From what Shimizu knew of the future, Jiraiya wouldn't die here so easily.
So far, he had already found over a dozen corpses of Konoha shinobi.
Some had clearly been chased down and killed while trying to escape.
That meant in just over two hours, Sunagakure had already finished cleaning up the battlefield.
Even if Jiraiya had died—
There wouldn't be a body left behind.
Sunagakure would have taken it.
So there was nothing more to investigate.
He might as well go back and keep an eye on those three kids.
Shimizu quickly returned to their hiding spot—
And what he saw made his eyes narrow.
Blood.
Corpses.
Something happened.
He immediately spread out his sensory perception—
The battlefield was three hundred meters away, deep in the forest.
Don't tell me they're dead…
Without hesitation, he pushed his Body Flicker Technique to the limit. In just a few breaths, he arrived—
Just in time to see a Suna ninja lunging toward the three from behind.
The distance was still too great... he wouldn't make it in time.
Shimizu's hands flashed through seals.
Earth Release: Rock Lodging Destruction!
Massive rocks suddenly crashed down from above, blocking the enemy's attack path.
"It's Uzuki-senpai!" Obito's voice was filled with genuine relief.
Shimizu had arrived just in time.
The three of them looked battered—Kakashi in particular was in bad shape.
But what caught Shimizu's attention even more—
Was Obito's eyes.
Different from what he remembered.
Right now, there was only a single tomoe in each eye.
But in the original timeline… Obito had awakened with two.
Shimizu's thoughts churned violently.
The timeline has changed…
"Obito, do you still have chakra?"
"Yes!"
"Then protect Kakashi and Rin."
Before the words even finished, Shimizu vanished with another Body Flicker.
Obito's Sharingan spun rapidly as he muttered in awe,
"So fast… even with the Sharingan, I can't keep up with senpai's speed…"
Within Shimizu's sensory range—
There were three enemies.
"Watch—" The Suna ninja who had been blocked by Shimizu's Earth Release didn't even have time to warn his teammates—
A flash of blue light cut through the air.
Scarlet blood sprayed across the ground.
But this time—
It wasn't his.
"—out!"
His companion collapsed before he could finish the warning.
Shimizu vanished again with a Body Flicker—
Reappearing instantly behind the second Suna ninja.
But this one was ready.
A violently spinning current of wind had already gathered in his palm, forming a razor-sharp blade.
He slashed backward without hesitation. Wind Release: Wind Blade!
Water Release: Water Wall!
A surge of blue water rose abruptly, forming a barrier in front of Shimizu.
The green wind blade struck it—
And dissipated instantly, unable to stir even a ripple.
At the same time, Shimizu completed his next technique.
Lightning Release: Chidori Sharp Spear!
A streak of blue lightning pierced through the water wall in an instant—
And without losing momentum, tore straight through the Suna ninja's body.
Thud!
The second enemy dropped.
"You—?!"
The remaining Suna ninja, the one who had been stopped earlier, was struck with shock.
Who was this person?!
In the span of a single breath, he had eliminated two of his teammates—
And used three different elemental techniques in succession.
The speed of his hand seals.
The sheer power of his jutsu.
This was no ordinary shinobi.
Just like before—when he had been forced back by Kakashi and Obito—
He didn't hesitate.
He turned and ran.
I'm already injured. Fighting head-on is suicide…
I'll regroup with reinforcements… and come back later…
A jonin who chose to flee was nearly impossible to stop.
But his opponent was Shunshin Shimizu.
Even in death—
The Suna ninja never understood how the enemy had suddenly appeared behind him.
"Uzuki-senpai… you're insanely strong…" Even with his Sharingan active the entire time, Obito had only managed to clearly see the final enemy being killed.
As for the first two…
He had only seen them fall.
"…At least that guy's finally dead," Obito muttered, letting out a breath.
"He was strong?" Shimizu asked, slightly puzzled.
"Yeah. The first time, we actually forced him back…" Obito said. "But then he quickly brought reinforcements."
At this point, there was no trace of fear left in him—as if that life-and-death situation earlier had been nothing.
Was it the confidence brought by the Sharingan?
"There were four of them total. Kakashi was badly injured… we couldn't hold them off. We barely managed to kill one and hold out until now."
"…That one was only taken down because of Obito's Sharingan," Rin added.
This brat learned how to be modest? That seemed impossible.
"So you've awakened it, huh…" Shimizu looked at those familiar, cursed eyes and, for a moment, didn't know what to say.
"Ahahaha, yeah! Senpai, look—this is the Sharingan!" Obito pointed excitedly at his own eyes, clearly eager for Shimizu to admire them.
This kid... he's definitely getting ahead of himself.
"I'm amazing, right?!"
"I really am a genius!"
No…
He had never been grounded to begin with.
And yet—
Looking at Obito's bright, carefree smile—
A faint, indescribable heaviness settled in Shimizu's chest.
...
Drop some POWERSTONES to push the story forward!
PS: Read Advance Chapters at https://www.patreon.com/c/ReadJin