"You're finally back!"
Obito looked utterly aggrieved.
He'd arrived three days ago!
He'd wanted to challenge Uchiha Aoya to a duel right away, but then he'd heard that after completing his mission, Aoya hadn't come back at all. No one knew where he'd gone.
Obito refused to give up and kept waiting. He waited until the middle of the night, nearly falling asleep, and Aoya still hadn't returned...
He kept waiting the next day, but there was still no sign of him.
Just as Obito was about to give up, he finally spotted Uchiha Aoya!
"Come on, fight me!" Obito shouted in exasperation.
Aoya blinked, then glanced at Kakashi and Nohara Rin, who'd hurried over at the sound of the commotion. He greeted them both.
Minato Namikaze's team had finally arrived.
Thankfully, he'd spent two days lying low after his mission, making use of his time off.
Once he took out another loan, even if a major battle broke out immediately, he wouldn't have to worry.
"Obito, don't be like that." Nohara Rin gave Aoya an apologetic smile, looking helpless.
Aoya shot Yūhi Kurenai, who'd just arrived, an inquiring look. She looked a little embarrassed and explained quietly:
"I said too much."
"I told Rin that you'd killed an Iwagakure jonin a while back, and then Obito heard about it and wouldn't stop going on about challenging you."
Aoya had specifically told her and Hyuga Himon not to spread the news that he'd killed Gari, an Explosion Release elite jonin.
"Just ignore him. This idiot's asking for it." Kakashi Hatake rested his hands behind his head, sounding completely unconcerned.
"Hey, Kakashi, whose side are you on?!" Obito glared at him.
He could put up with Kakashi always being at odds with him, but now the guy wouldn't even show him any respect in front of another team!
Kakashi pursed his lips and said nothing.
Obito glared at him, then turned his attention back to Aoya. Clenching his fist with confidence, he said, "Come fight me! I'm completely different now from how I was at the Ninja Academy!"
How was he different?!
Kakashi rolled his eyes, unable to stop himself from thinking.
He still hadn't awakened his Sharingan, had he?
Aoya smiled. "By the way, I heard you passed the Chunin Ninja Exams, Obito. Congratulations."
Obito froze, then tried to keep the corners of his mouth from turning up. "You heard? Heh, I told you, I'm nothing like I used to be. Come fight me already!"
"You're a colossal idiot!" Kakashi finally snapped. "Can't you understand plain speech? You just passed the Chunin Ninja Exams, and now you're challenging someone who can kill a jonin. Get a grip!"
Even he had only killed one jonin so far.
With Obito's skills, he was practically offering his face up to be punched!
"Obito, just let it go."
"Rin, don't hold me back. I've been waiting for days. We have to settle this today!"
Back at the Ninja Academy, Kakashi had put him down every day.
And within the Uchiha Clan, people like Uchiha Aoya and Uchiha Tekka had put him down every day, too.
He'd been training under Minato-sensei for so long now. Sure, he'd only just passed the Chunin Ninja Exams, but that didn't mean he was bad at actual combat!
And most importantly!
Earlier, when Rin heard Yūhi Kurenai say that Uchiha Aoya had killed an Iwagakure jonin, the look on her face... Ah, he wanted Rin to look at him like that, too!
The more Obito thought about it, the less he could hold back. Today, he had to defeat Uchiha Aoya in front of Rin!
Seeing that he couldn't get out of it, Aoya could only accept. "We can spar, but out of respect for you, Obito, I won't hold back."
"Just what I wanted!"
Obito was full of confidence.
The two teams, six people in total, headed to the training ground together.
As soon as the fight began, Obito hurriedly formed Hand Seals, preparing to release the Great Fireball Technique.
Whoosh!
Before he could react, Aoya had already vanished from across the field. The next thing Obito knew, his right arm was pulled behind his back and pinned there, while a glint of cold light appeared before his eyes.
Somehow, a Kunai had already been laid across his throat.
"You..."
Obito still hadn't processed what had happened. He turned his head with difficulty and saw Aoya behind him.
"So fast!" Nohara Rin exclaimed.
Beside her, Kakashi Hatake narrowed his eyes slightly.
Meanwhile.
Inside Konoha's command tent.
Shikaku Nara and Minato Namikaze were receiving an old acquaintance who'd just arrived.
"Shikaku Nara, what's going on?"
Aburame Ryoma, wearing a black cloak and a pair of dark glasses, demanded bluntly, "You're supposed to be a brilliant strategist. How did you manage this? Three outposts have fallen in just two days!"
Shikaku Nara had no answer. He could only remain silent.
He still hadn't figured out what was going on.
The defending ninja at all three outposts had been wiped out—three jonin squads, completely annihilated!
And yet there'd been no report of Iwagakure Ninja infiltrating through any of the three locations. He was beginning to wonder whether Iwagakure Ninja were even responsible.
But who else could it have been?
Could it have been Danzo?
But Konoha was in the most dangerous phase of the war. Surely no Konoha ninja would undermine the village by fighting among themselves at a time like this?
Not even Danzo!
But if it wasn't Danzo, who else could it be?
"I'll do my best to find out what happened later. Right now, the most important thing is to figure out how to respond." Shikaku Nara spoke in a low voice.
"Respond? Hah!"
Aburame Ryoma sneered. "According to our intelligence, Iwagakure will launch an all-out attack the day after tomorrow. How do you plan to respond?"
"What?! Is that information reliable?" Minato Namikaze asked urgently.
"Are you questioning Root's intelligence-gathering abilities?" Aburame Ryoma shot back without hesitation.
Minato Namikaze and Shikaku Nara had nothing to say.
Sending undercover agents to other villages to gather intelligence was certainly one of Danzo's specialties.
Silence settled over the tent for a while. Shikaku Nara sighed, walked over to the map, and pointed at Kannabi Bridge. "We have no choice but to carry out this plan..."
Minato Namikaze couldn't help frowning when he heard it. "Will destroying a bridge really make the Iwagakure army give up its attack?"
That didn't seem realistic.
"That's one of the objectives." Shikaku Nara's expression didn't change. "The other is to support the fighting on the front line. If the squad sent to destroy the bridge makes good progress, they might draw the Iwagakure Ninja on the front line back to defend it."
That was practically the same as sending people out to be sacrificed!
They'd already be deep behind enemy lines, and on top of that, the Iwagakure Ninja might return to defend the bridge.
Once they were surrounded, there'd be no chance of making it back alive—even if they succeeded in destroying the bridge!
Minato Namikaze was about to object, but Aburame Ryoma cut him off. "It's feasible. But one squad won't be enough. They probably won't even make it to Kannabi Bridge. We should send several squads."
Aburame Ryoma was no more polite to Minato Namikaze than to anyone else. "The famous Yellow Flash, Minato Namikaze—if you want to object, you'd better come up with an alternative."
Minato Namikaze was at a loss for words.
The situation here was a mess. What could he do?
With both sides constantly sending reinforcements, Iwagakure now had at least a thousand more ninja than Konoha!
"Then it's settled."
Aburame Ryoma pushed his dark glasses up the bridge of his nose and said, "I heard that Uchiha Aoya's team has been doing very well lately. They'd be perfect for the bridge-destruction mission. I say we send them, too."
Before you continue