Chapter 23: The Unlucky Guy
"Kakashi has already made his move, but he was quickly discovered."
In a forest some distance away from Kakashi's position, Hyūga Ayaka was carefully observing the situation. At the same time, she was trying to recover her chakra as much as possible. Chakra recovery, even with the aid of soldier pills, came with side effects.
Though soldier pills didn't restore much and their side effects were relatively minor, small things added up over time. Use a little here and there, and before long, the accumulation could cause significant problems.
Not just her—Uchiha Kei and Imai Kenta were also trying to recover their chakra naturally. As long as there was time, relying too much on pills was unwise. Of course, if it came down to life or death, no one would care about side effects.
Uchiha Kei slowly opened his eyes. Although he possessed the Sharingan, when it came to long-distance reconnaissance, he could never compare with the Byakugan users.
"How's the situation?" Kei asked after some thought. "Have you figured out how they're relaying information?"
"Summoning Jutsu," Ayaka replied quickly. "They're using it to communicate. I think... we're about to be discovered too."
"Our plan worked, Captain," Kenta chuckled as he scratched his head. "If Kakashi's surrounded by Iwa-nin, then why don't we just head over there?"
"No way! That's—" Rin Nohara immediately objected, but Ayaka cut her off.
"It's worth considering. Didn't Hatake-senpai already prepare for this possibility?"
"But... but he's our comrade!" Rin protested.
"Don't forget what mission we're on, Chūnin Nohara. Do you want Kakashi to walk the same path his father did?"
Kei frowned at the two arguing women. Ayaka's suggestion was sound, but... did they think the enemy was stupid? Sure, there were only four guarding the area, but charging in recklessly would only cause more problems.
Still, not trying wasn't an option either. As Ayaka said, this mission was critical. If Kakashi could really stall the enemy and they managed to break through, things could turn in their favor.
Just as Kei was mulling it over, Ayaka suddenly went silent, her face pale and tense. Rin and Kenta also reacted the same way. Kei hadn't sensed anything himself, but he had a good idea of what had happened.
Sure enough, moments later, information flooded Kei's mind. One of their decoy squads had been wiped out. Kei's clone had dispersed on its own, but the others had been "killed."
"We don't have time to hesitate," Kei sighed. "What's Kakashi's status?"
"Hmph, he's barely hanging on," Ayaka grunted. "While we were arguing, he's been burning through chakra like crazy. Even with Shadow Clones, this is absurd!"
"Save it," Kei cut her off. He wasn't about to tell her it was because of the Sharingan. "No more delays. We're going to back up Kakashi, then break out before more enemies show up."
"Damn it!" Ayaka cursed, but she had no choice.
Kei ignored her grumbling. Kenta remained silent as well—he probably knew that if they didn't act, someone might not make it out.
Taking a deep breath, Kei launched forward. Ayaka and Kenta quickly followed, with Rin bringing up the rear. As the medical ninja, she understood her role well. The four of them surged ahead, rapidly closing the several hundred meters separating them from Kakashi.
As they ran, Kei activated his Sharingan. Instantly, time seemed to slow down around him—a sensation he'd felt before but never fully embraced due to fear of exposure. But thanks to Minato-sensei's help, Kei had finally obtained what he wanted. There was no need to hold back now.
Their ambush immediately drew the attention of the Iwa-nin. With his Sharingan, Kei could clearly see the shock written on their faces. But he wasn't going to give them any time to react.
When they were still several dozen meters away, Kei flared his chakra and vanished in an instant. When he reappeared, he was right in front of an Iwa-nin.
"So fast!"
The Iwa-nin had already been rattled by the ambush. Kei's sudden movement left him pale with fear. Though the others snapped out of their daze, they were too far to help.
The Iwa-nin that Kei targeted suddenly showed a crazed expression and charged toward Kei's kunai.
But Kei had already seen through the act. With Sharingan, every movement was obvious. He twisted his body slightly and thrust his kunai toward midair, ignoring the enemy right in front of him.
The kunai pierced empty space—until a spray of blood confirmed the hit. Instantly, Kei vanished again with a Body Flicker, reappearing beside a retreating and exhausted Kakashi.
"You... why are you here?" Kakashi asked weakly. "Did you find something?"
"Yeah, we found a lot," Kei said, glancing at the blood-dripping kunai hovering in the air. "No time to talk. You have soldier pills, right? Take one. We need to finish this fast."
As he spoke, the air around the kunai distorted, revealing the form of an Iwa-nin using Camouflage Jutsu: Hidden in Plain Sight.
Truly unfortunate—this jutsu could be powerful on any battlefield, but he had the bad luck of facing Hatake Kakashi and Uchiha Kei. Not just him. Another Iwa-nin named Ōishi had suffered the same fate at the hands of Uchiha Obito.
Just then, Ayaka and Kenta arrived.
Kei turned his gaze to the three Iwa-nin ahead of them, who looked clearly uneasy. He took a deep breath and ordered:
"Chūnin Nohara, stay with Kakashi. Ayaka, Kenta—let's take care of the rest."
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