Such a Coincidence

Using his exceptionally powerful senses to pinpoint the enemy's location, Uchiha Daiki discovered that the enemy had suddenly stopped.

Before long, he arrived at his destination.

Peering through the branches and leaves, he saw a cave.

On the surface, there was nothing unusual about it at all.

There was only one presence inside the cave. Its breathing was steady and its heartbeat normal, but compared with the several presences hidden outside the cave, it was much weaker.

Uchiha Daiki judged that the owner of that presence was probably not even at Chunin level.

As for the presences hidden outside the cave, they were at least Jonin.

He was wondering what those enemies were up to here.

At that moment, two voices suddenly entered the range of his senses.

"Kakashi, come save Rin with me!"

"She was captured by the enemy! She's in danger right now!!"

A teenage boy's voice, still in the midst of changing, rang out.

Uchiha Daiki's heart stirred slightly when he heard it.

Then the other voice followed. "Our mission is to destroy Kannabi Bridge. That will cut off the enemy's supply line and help our forces deal with them more effectively."

"After we complete the mission, I'll go save Rin with you."

"But then Rin will be in danger! We might not make it in time! She's our comrade!"

Obito Uchiha sounded somewhat anxious.

Yet Kakashi seemed unmoved.

"Damn it, are you really going to stand by and watch Rin get killed by the enemy?"

"Since you won't come save Rin with me, I'll go myself! We'll split up, Kakashi!"

With that, Obito Uchiha turned and headed this way.

Judging by the distance, he was still at least a kilometer away from Uchiha Daiki.

Those words also allowed Uchiha Daiki to figure out the current situation.

"So the presence inside the cave is Nohara Rin. No wonder she's so much weaker than those two guys outside..."

He had not expected to coincidentally run into Nohara Rin being captured by Stone Village ninja.

Uchiha Daiki's figure flashed, and he entered the cave directly.

Outside the cave, Hokage and Taiseki, the two Stone Village Jonin lying in ambush beneath the trees in the shrubbery, suddenly became alert.

"Did you see that?"

Hokage asked uncertainly.

"See what?"

"Just now, it seemed like a figure slipped inside... into the cave!"

"No. Your eyes must be playing tricks on you. There's no way anyone could enter the cave right under our noses without us noticing."

Taiseki was extremely confident.

Hearing that, Hokage nodded, finding some sense in it.

They were Stone Village elites—Jonin.

If even they could not detect an enemy's movements, how strong would that enemy have to be?

There were only a limited number of such powerful people in the entire Shinobi World. They could not possibly be so unlucky as to encounter one here.

Still, he remained uneasy. "Why don't I go inside and take a look?"

"No. The earth-style trap I set up has already sensed someone approaching. We'll wait here for that guy to walk right into our hands."

Taiseki rejected Hokage's suggestion.

Hokage could only nod again in agreement.

Meanwhile, inside the cave, Uchiha Daiki had already arrived before the tightly bound Nohara Rin.

She was still unconscious.

Uchiha Daiki placed a hand on her shoulder and gently sent a stream of Chakra into her.

She slowly woke up at once.

When Nohara Rin opened her eyes and saw Uchiha Daiki, she froze for a moment. Just as she was about to speak, Uchiha Daiki stopped her.

At that moment, Nohara Rin also saw the Konoha forehead protector on Uchiha Daiki's head, and her eyes brightened slightly.

She blinked her bright eyes a few times to indicate that she would not speak, while Uchiha Daiki took out a Kunai and instantly cut through the ropes binding her.

"My name is Uchiha Daiki. We'll talk after I deal with those two guys outside."

The moment Uchiha Daiki finished speaking, an enemy's sinister laugh came from outside. "Hehe, did only one of you come to throw your life away?"

"Damn it..."

Following the traces left by the enemy all the way here, Obito Uchiha discovered that he had fallen into an ambush and was instantly plunged into danger.

"Stop wasting words on him. Kill him!"

The enemies swiftly attacked Obito Uchiha, intending to kill him first.

A Jonin against a Chunin—and an experienced one at that—immediately became a one-sided battle. Obito Uchiha was just about to die at the enemy's hands.

At the critical moment, a figure suddenly appeared and took a slash in Obito Uchiha's place.

"Kakashi?"

"Y-Your eye..."

Obito Uchiha stared in shock at Kakashi, whose left eye had been slashed by the enemy but who had also stopped the attack.

"Take Rin and leave, Obito!"

Kakashi reminded him in a low voice.

He acted as though it was no big deal.

But the blood streaming down from his left eye and across his cheek told Obito Uchiha that the injury was serious.

Kakashi's left eye was probably beyond saving.

At that moment, Taiseki, who had attacked them, sneered. "Hehe? You want to save someone? Both of you will die here today!"

Hearing this, Obito Uchiha was instantly overwhelmed by grief and rage. An inexplicable fury erupted from within him.

"You bastard... you actually did that to Kakashi's eye..."

His own carelessness had put both himself and his teammate in danger.

And Kakashi had even lost his left eye because of it.

For a moment, Uchiha Obito was furious and remorseful, countless intense emotions continuously assailing his mind.

It was then that he felt a warmth in his eyes, and a special Chakra surged forth.

His eyes changed from a single tomoe into the Two-Tomoe Sharingan.

"You're the one who should die!!"

Obito Uchiha attacked furiously, intending to kill Taiseki and avenge Kakashi.

However, before his Kunai could strike the opponent, there was suddenly a sharp whoosh.

Out of nowhere, a black Kunai shot forth and slit Taiseki's throat, killing him instantly.

This sudden turn of events left both Kakashi and Obito Uchiha utterly stunned.

"Minato-sensei? No, that's not right. It wasn't Minato-sensei..."

Kakashi stared at the enemy Jonin as he fell backward, the life rapidly fading from his eyes. His own gaze became uncertain.

While he was thinking, Obito Uchiha rashly turned and rushed into the cave.

"Wait! Obito!!"

Kakashi suddenly snapped back to his senses and tried to stop him, but he was already too late.

The instant Obito Uchiha rushed into the cave, the ground shook violently. After a fierce tremor, the entire cave suddenly collapsed.