Eye Injury
Uchiha Obito was visibly shocked when Kakashi said, "Let's go."
"Kakashi… you're coming with me? To rescue Rin and Takei Katsuhiko?"
Kakashi nodded. "If you're not afraid of regretting it, why should I be? I've already experienced that pain once. I just hope you won't regret this. But before we move, there's something you need to understand."
Obito brightened immediately. "Okay! I'll agree to anything you say."
Kakashi sighed. "Decide after you listen. You and Rin are barely a team, which is the only reason I'm helping with this. From this point forward, no reckless actions. Follow my lead. Got it?"
Obito didn't hesitate. "Understood! I'll follow your command!"
Kakashi took a deep breath.
He was never truly cold. His teacher, Qian Yu, had taught him well: compared to one's comrades, all rules and regulations are meaningless. Nothing outweighs the lives of those close to you.
But after what happened to his father, the disgraced White Fang, Kakashi had learned the cost of placing comrades above the mission in a village like Konoha. The pain of that loss had etched itself deep into his soul.
---
At the front lines, Qian Yu and Minato Namikaze arrived at the command post, where the exhausted commander Mimura Yoichi stood awaiting them.
"You're finally here," Mimura sighed in relief.
Minato stepped forward. "What's the situation?"
Yoichi's face darkened. "Roughly fifty Iwagakure shinobi. We've only got four left alive on our side…"
The battlefield around them was littered with the bodies of fallen Konoha shinobi. Iwa's forces were growing bolder.
"The outcome will be decided soon. It's time to go all out!"
Minato pulled out a dozen specially marked kunai.
"Throw these into the enemy formation. Qian Yu and I will take care of the rest."
One of the survivors hesitated. "That's suicide! There's no way—"
"Silence!" Mimura barked. "Do as he says! You're about to witness the Yellow Flash of Konoha… and the Blood-Eyed Shura. Don't blink. It'll be over in an instant."
The kunai flew.
In a blur, Minato began teleporting across the battlefield, his Flying Thunder God Technique cutting down enemy after enemy.
Qian Yu followed suit, leaping into the fray with Thunder Breathing: First Form – Thunderclap and Flash, carving a path of devastation through the Iwa ranks.
Against overwhelming odds, it was a slaughter—for Iwa.
"Unbelievable…" one of the Konoha survivors muttered, stunned by the sheer speed and precision of the two.
---
Meanwhile, Kakashi and Obito had located the cave where Rin Nohara and Takei Katsuhiko were being held captive. The cave was crudely made, its entrance sealed with stacked stones.
"I'll draw their attention," Kakashi whispered. "You go in and rescue them. Understood?"
Obito nodded. "Got it."
Kakashi picked up a stone and tossed it toward the cave entrance.
Inside, two Iwagakure shinobi—Firelight and Daishi—perked up.
"I'll handle it," Daishi said. "You continue the genjutsu and extract the intel."
"Camouflage Concealment Technique."
Daishi's body shimmered and vanished, blending into the terrain as he slipped outside.
Kakashi crept around the cave perimeter while Obito nervously watched.
Suddenly—
"What are you staring at?" Daishi's voice sneered from nowhere. "Think you'll trick me with a decoy and slip in unnoticed? Don't be naive!"
A kunai flashed toward Obito.
But Kakashi dropped from above like a hawk, slicing Daishi across the chest with his tanto.
Daishi staggered back, stunned.
Wasn't Kakashi still approaching the cave?
He had planned to eliminate Obito first, believing him to be the weak link—but he'd fallen right into a trap.
Obito blinked. "Kakashi? Weren't you…?"
Kakashi answered coolly, "That was a Shadow Clone. I figured someone with camouflage would target you first, so I planted the real me in the tree canopy."
Obito pouted. "You really don't trust me, do you?"
"Do you trust yourself?" Kakashi retorted without hesitation.
Daishi, clutching his wound, chuckled coldly. "If it were your master, Blood-Eyed Shura, I'd be cautious. But you? I'm not impressed."
Once more—Camouflage Concealment Technique!
He vanished into the terrain again.
Kakashi narrowed his eyes. His nose twitched. The scent had disappeared completely.
Now it would come down to sound and air movement.
Suddenly—
"Obito! Behind you!"
Obito froze. Kakashi lunged, shoving him out of the way—but it left Kakashi exposed.
A kunai slashed across Kakashi's face, cutting into his left eye.
"AGH—my eye!"
He fell back, clutching his face in agony.
Daishi discarded the blood-stained kunai, hiding again.
He had underestimated Kakashi, but not again. The next blow would be final.
"Kakashi!" Obito ran to his side, panic in his voice. "Are you okay?!"
Kakashi grit his teeth. "That guy's a pro. He threw away the bloodied blade to prevent us from tracking him. My eye… it's bad."
Obito stared, tears gathering.
Kakashi lowered his hand, revealing the bleeding wound over his left eye. He looked at Obito with his right.
"What? Sand in your eyes again? You're a shinobi. Don't cry over an injury. I'm not dead yet. This is nothing."
Obito wiped his eyes and raised his goggles.
He recalled what Minato-sensei had once told him:
"If you talk about perseverance, don't just say it—live it. Strengthen your heart."
He'd always just talked. He had always needed others to carry him.
But not this time.
"Those who abandon their comrades… are worse than scum."
Daishi reappeared once more, kunai aimed straight at Obito.
"Die!"
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