Fight Until the Last Moment

The next morning.

Qingye immediately used a Shadow Clone to fight himself, hoping to quickly adapt to the heightened perception granted by the Mangekyō Sharingan.

Yūhi Kurenai asked in some confusion, "Qingye, why do I feel like something's wrong?"

"Are we about to go into a major battle?" Hyuga Himon felt the same way.

The atmosphere throughout the Konoha camp was strange today!

People assigned to distribute supplies hurried back and forth through the camp, making it feel as if a great battle were imminent.

"Isn't that normal?" Qingye said, shaking his head.

Some people had originally thought that once Minato Namikaze arrived, peace would follow.

But the opposite had happened. Minato Namikaze's arrival meant the great battle could finally begin.

"Are you all prepared?" Qingye asked.

There was no need to explain. Yūhi Kurenai and Himon knew exactly what sort of preparations he meant.

With a battle coming, the best preparation was Explosive Tags!

"I've borrowed from every source I could!"

Hyuga Himon looked heartbroken, as though he were ready to die.

If he died on the battlefield, his debts would naturally go unpaid. He was an orphan; his parents had died long ago, and he had no siblings.

It wasn't as if the lenders could go to the Hyuga Main Family to demand repayment, right?

If they actually tried that, Himon felt he wouldn't have died in vain.

"I used all the money my dad sent me to buy Explosive Tags."

As the only member of the team with a father who could help, Yūhi Kurenai had decided to rely on him to the fullest.

Yūhi Shinkō had originally planned to see if he could get Yūhi Kurenai transferred away from the Iwagakure front, but he hadn't been influential enough, and his attempt had failed.

Qingye nodded in satisfaction. "Good. Remember, don't hold back on the Explosive Tags when the time comes."

Across from him, Yūhi Kurenai's face suddenly flushed slightly. She gritted her teeth, as if steeling herself. "Um, Qingye, if—just if—we manage to survive until the end of the war..."

"Stop!"

"Don't!"

"Don't say anything so unlucky!"

Qingye cut her off at once, firing off a triple rebuke to stop her from jinxing them.

Yūhi Kurenai pouted but said no more.

After they discussed how they would work together on the battlefield, the Konoha camp suddenly called an emergency assembly to assign missions.

But the three members of Qingye's team didn't receive any orders.

Instead, Minato Namikaze came to see them.

Once he'd briefly explained the situation, Qingye understood. In essence, the higher-ups had decided that their team would take part in destroying Kannabi Bridge.

Qingye had wanted to recite a couplet on the spot: "For Konoha, I'd gladly give my life—what the hell is going on?"

The following day, at the border of the Land of Fire.

Ten people had quietly infiltrated the Land of Grass.

In addition to the three members of Team Kakashi, led by Minato Namikaze, and the three members of Qingye's team, there was also an Ino-Shika-Cho team.

Qingye knew those three as well: Akimichi Dōtō, Nara Shiosui, and Yamanaka Santen.

All of them had been assigned to blow up the bridge!

Qingye wanted to ask, "What the hell happened to the Battle of Kannabi Bridge?"

How had he gotten dragged into this?

And how had one team turned into three?

After they had advanced more than ten miles, Minato Namikaze suddenly stopped and unfolded a map.

"This mission is extremely difficult. Everyone needs to take it seriously."

"Your three teams will split up and approach Kannabi Bridge from three directions. Once you've destroyed it, you can retreat immediately. You'll have made a great contribution to the war!"

Nine scrolls were handed out, one to each person.

According to Minato Namikaze, simply unfurling and throwing the scrolls would be enough to completely destroy Kannabi Bridge.

"Don't worry, Minato-sensei. I'll complete the mission with ease."

Uchiha Obito pushed up the goggles on his forehead with an air of smugness, then glanced at the expressionless Qingye beside him. He thought, Once this war is over, I'll awaken my Sharingan too.

Then, whether it's Kakashi or Uchiha Qingye, they'll both be defeated by me!

"Obito, you mustn't let your guard down," Minato Namikaze warned.

Kakashi asked in confusion, "Minato-sensei, aren't you coming with us?"

"I have my own mission. I'll be leaving you now," Minato Namikaze said helplessly.

He felt somewhat guilty about sending his own students on such a dangerous mission.

But he had an even more important task today!

Once the arrangements had been made, Team Kakashi took the left route, Qingye's team took the middle route, and Akimichi Dōtō's Ino-Shika-Cho team took the northernmost, right-hand route.

Then Minato Namikaze took out three Flying Thunder God Kunai and gave one to each team.

"If you run into danger, hold out as long as you can. I'll come to support you as soon as possible."

With that, Minato Namikaze vanished in a flash.

Qingye put away the Flying Thunder God Kunai and completely ignored those words.

That was basically just another way of saying, "Hold out, and help will come." The last person who believed that... He couldn't put his hopes in the fastest shinobi in the Shinobi World, who might well arrive late.

He exchanged a glance with Kakashi and Akimichi Dōtō. Neither said anything more. The three teams split up and immediately set off.

On the northern route to the right.

After the Ino-Shika-Cho team had gone a short distance, Nara Shiosui suddenly called for them to stop.

"Everyone, listen. I need to tell you the real purpose of this mission." Nara Shiosui looked awful, his face pale.

"The real purpose?" Akimichi Dōtō asked, confused.

Yamanaka Santen asked, "Is there something else besides blowing up the bridge?"

Nara Shiosui took a deep breath. His arm trembled slightly as he struggled to sketch something on the ground with his finger.

"We're operating behind enemy lines. Blowing up the bridge is just bait."

"Konoha was caught off guard, and our forces on the main battlefield are at a serious disadvantage against Iwagakure."

"Given how many shinobi Iwagakure has in this area, most of their forces are certainly deployed on the main battlefield, but there must still be a sizable number guarding this region."

"My guess is that the Yellow Flash's mission is to use his Flying Thunder God Technique to rush from one front-line skirmish to another, providing support."

"But even that might not be enough!"

There were limits to Minato Namikaze's abilities, too!

With so many battlefields and so many Iwagakure Ninja, could he really kill them all by himself?

"You mean that, on the surface, we're going to blow up the bridge, but in reality, we're meant to draw Iwagakure's main forces away so they'll rush back and ease the pressure on the main battlefield?" Yamanaka Santen's expression changed.

"Isn't this mission just sending us to our deaths?"

Akimichi Dōtō's face stiffened. He took out the Flying Thunder God Kunai they had just received.

No wonder they'd been told help would come as soon as possible!

Without support, how could a single jonin team escape after blowing up the bridge?

"There's nothing we can do. This is the state the village is in. Clan Leader Shikaku had no choice," Nara Shiosui said with a bitter smile.

Akimichi Dōtō and Yamanaka Santen's expressions shifted repeatedly.

The highest-ranking commander here was one of their own, from the Ino-Shika-Cho clans, and even so, they still had to carry out a mission that was almost certain to kill them.

"...Fine. We'll go!"

After a moment of silence, Akimichi Dōtō suddenly hardened his resolve. "They're disciples of the Yellow Flash and prodigies of the Uchiha Clan, and they're all several years younger than us!"

"If they can go on a mission like this, how can we back down?"

"Exactly!"

Yamanaka Santen made up his mind as well.

If they could protect the village, they were willing to sacrifice all three of their lives!

"For Konoha!"

Nara Shiosui held out his hand, his expression solemn.

Akimichi Dōtō and Yamanaka Santen placed their hands on top of his, their expressions grave.

"For Konoha, we'll fight until the last moment!"