Rolling the timeline back just a little—
After destroying Kannabi Bridge, Koeda Kyoichi immediately slung Rin Nohara over his shoulder and started heading toward the main Iwa-nin encampment in the Land of Grass. Kakashi and Obito followed behind, not too close, not too far.
It wasn't that they were prepared to bow their heads and work under Kyoichi. Rather, they were carefully watching for any opening—any flaw in his guard—that might let them snatch Rin back.
Of course,
if no such chance came,
then all they could do was wait for their teacher to arrive and negotiate.
One way or another,
Obito would never abandon Rin. As for Kakashi… since their mission was already complete, he no longer clung stubbornly to the shinobi rules, and instead chose to chase after Kyoichi together with Obito.
Then—
When they were still six or seven kilometers from the Iwa-nin camp—
"Sensei!!"
A cry of joy burst from Obito behind them.
At the same moment, Kyoichi sensed a chakra presence—neither familiar nor completely unknown.
He stopped in his tracks,
turned his head, and looked back.
"So we meet again! The Yellow Flash of Konoha." Kyoichi waved a hand broadly toward the figure who had just appeared beside Kakashi and Obito, calling out in greeting with a faint smile of delight. It was almost as if he had forgotten that he still carried Minato's student on his shoulder as a prisoner.
Minato Namikaze stood balanced on a tree branch, his gaze sweeping across the surroundings. In the blink of an eye, he took in the entire scene: the dark, oppressive forest; his two weary disciples; and the smiling young Iwa shinobi with Rin hanging from his shoulder.
A quiet sigh escaped him.
As expected—
Kakashi and Obito simply weren't this Iwa-nin's match.
What a pity. Even though he had rushed with all his might, in the end he still hadn't arrived in time. …Still, at least his students were alive, whole, and unharmed—no missing limbs, no mortal wounds. Even Rin, though captured again, looked uninjured for now.
"Kakashi, Obito—where are we, and how did your mission go?"
Even as he asked, Minato's thoughts were already racing: should he try to rescue Rin first, or destroy Kannabi Bridge?
Another dilemma. Again.
In truth, the latter posed little difficulty. But the former… that would be hard. He had already been forced to use Sage Mode once in his earlier attempt to rescue Rin. This time, the enemy would surely be on guard. To rely on the same trick again seemed impossible.
And what's more, the Flying Thunder God seal he had placed could no longer be sensed at all. Somehow, it had been erased.
Of course, he knew it wasn't truly indestructible. Difficult to remove, yes—but if the medium carrying the seal was destroyed, the seal itself would vanish. When carved into human flesh, a deep enough wound—or even stripping off the skin around it—would suffice to break the pattern.
In fact, that was precisely how Kyoichi had removed the seal from the back of his neck. At first he hadn't thought of it, but while handling Dani's corpse afterward, he realized. He had simply drawn a kunai across his skin, tearing the seal into pieces.
"Sensei, Kannabi Bridge has already been destroyed. We… we…" Kakashi trailed off, unable to find the words to explain the current situation.
"The mission's complete? Then we no longer need to divide our attention."
Minato's eyes shifted toward the tall, straight-backed young man before him.
No more impossible choices—now his full focus could go into rescuing Rin.
At that moment, Obito suddenly spoke:
"Sensei, we only managed to destroy Kannabi Bridge because of him."
"Obito?"
Minato turned sharply toward his disciple, startled.
What did he mean by that?
"Sensei, Rin's safety matters more than anything else." Obito lifted his head and met Minato's eyes with a firm gaze.
Minato's brows furrowed slightly.
"…Sensei, nearly ninety percent of the Iwa-nin we fought along the way were taken down by that guy. By his hand alone, at least a dozen Iwa-nin lie dead." Kakashi lowered his eyes as he spoke, quietly adding weight to Obito's words.
Minato blinked, his gaze flicking back and forth between the two of them, confirming that neither was under a genjutsu. Only then did his eyes return to the young Iwa-nin holding Rin.
"Koeda Kyoichi, isn't it? Judging by your stance… are you still intent on pursuing the deal you proposed before?"
"That's right."
Kyoichi nodded without hesitation.
And then,
he simply stood there in silence, staring at Minato.
"…So long as I help you rescue your clansmen, you'll release my student?" Minato asked at last, seeing that Kyoichi would offer no further explanation on his own.
"That's how it is."
Kyoichi's words were few.
After all, there was nothing more to be said. He had already made his terms clear before. His promised payment—destroying Kannabi Bridge—was already fulfilled. Now it was up to the Yellow Flash to decide. If he agreed to honor the bargain, so much the better.
If not—
a single blade drawn across Rin's throat would end everything.
Yes, he truly wished to save his clan trapped in the village. But he was not so selfless as to throw away everything for it. He would do what he could—nothing more. In the end, he valued his own life above all.
"Haa…" Minato let out a long breath. "…Then how do you intend to proceed?"
The question itself was an answer.
He had accepted Kyoichi's deal.
Though he had once firmly refused, times had changed. Nothing stays the same forever under the wash of circumstance. Back then, he had declined because he knew nothing of Kyoichi's true intentions, and he bore too heavy a mission to weigh such matters.
But now—
The mission was complete.
Iwa's offensive on the front lines had been broken. Their supply line—anchored by Kannabi Bridge—lay in ruins. Without it, they no longer had the strength to continue a war they could not possibly win.
Still, to hasten the end, and to ensure no resurgence, Konoha would need leverage in the coming peace talks. Helping the Koeda clan defect would be a powerful bargaining chip.
Besides—he couldn't abandon Rin.
Not only was she his student, but if anything happened to her, Obito would likely collapse completely. For the sake of the village, for the sake of these children who represented its future, he had to make a different choice this time.
And even if the deal fell through, even if something went wrong halfway, how bad could the result truly be? Surely Iwagakure wouldn't risk everything to launch a fresh war with Konoha just to protect one defecting clan. No—more likely they would publicly execute their traitors, if only to save face.
Which meant—
There was no reason to refuse this low-risk, high-reward bargain.
Having weighed it all in his mind, Minato did not hesitate any longer. His decision made, he looked straight at Kyoichi and added:
"You brought up this deal yesterday. That means you already have a concrete plan for how to rescue your clansmen, doesn't it?"
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