A Powerful Backer Has Arrived, Grab On!

After dealing with the enemy, Tōka quickly rushed to Kakashi's side, gathering chakra in his palm...

Mystical Palm Technique!

Yang Release merged into it, and Kakashi immediately felt the burning pain in his eye vanish.

"Kakashi, how is he?" Obito asked anxiously.

"The injury isn't life-threatening, but his eye..." Tōka removed his hand. Just as he had said, Kakashi's eye had become dull and lifeless, clearly unable to see.

"How could this happen?" Obito stared blankly at Kakashi.

"Don't overthink it. There may still be a way to deal with the eye. Our top priority now is getting out of here safely!" Tōka helped Kakashi to his feet.

The Wind Release ninja had been a jonin. Logically, there had to be three genin hiding nearby.

The other four squads in this area must have received the news and rushed over as well. Tōka and the others did not have much time left.

Sizzle, sizzle, sizzle...

A pungent smell of burning drifted over.

Then, one kunai after another, each with an Explosive Tag tied to its tail, shot into the rock cave.

"Not good, they're planning to blow this place apart!" Obito's gaze sharpened. His scarlet pupils could clearly see the trajectories of the incoming kunai.

They were not aimed toward the depths of the cave, but toward the entrance.

Before the three of them could react, the mountain rocks suddenly trembled.

Rumble...

A deafening explosion erupted.

Tōka and the others scrambled to dodge the falling rocks. They looked somewhat bedraggled, but escaped without injury.

Just then, a furious shout rang out.

"Earth Release: Rock Lodging Collapse!"

The Iwagakure Earth Release jonin used chakra to make the gradually stabilizing rocks crumble once more. In an instant, the mountain wall, which had only a tiny crack remaining, collapsed.

Tōka glanced at Obito, whose face had gone pale, and Kakashi, who was clutching his lower abdomen.

He gritted his teeth. Whether it worked or not, he had to try!

"All-Killing Ash Bones: Dragon Bone Barrier!"

Crack, crack, crack...

A section of Tōka's spine grew wildly from his back. The instant the mountain collapsed, it burst through his body, then rapidly expanded in the wind, more than doubling in size.

Rows of sturdy ribs quickly grew out from all sides of the spine.

They formed a narrow space that supported the mountain above.

"Get in here!" Seeing the surrounding area about to be swallowed by rocks, Tōka shouted urgently.

"But that space is so small, it can only fit two people at most!" Kakashi said heavily, yet his feet did not move forward even a fraction.

And those two people could not include both Obito and Kakashi.

In his haste, Tōka could only make such a tiny space. His skeleton had not fully matured yet.

Just making his spine grow twice as large had already exhausted him.

The Dragon Bone Barrier had originally only been a defensive technique Tōka laid beneath his skin. Using it now to create an absolute space, being able to fit even one person was already impressive.

A massive boulder fell. With his Sharingan active, Obito's vision was even sharper.

At the critical moment, Obito shoved Kakashi toward Tōka. Tōka could not worry about anything else and grabbed Kakashi, pulling him inside.

Rumble!!

The mountain completely collapsed. Aside from the small space within the Dragon Bone Barrier, every other place sank into deathly darkness.

"Obito!" Kakashi's pupils trembled as he stared in shock at the pitch-black world.

At that moment, he felt that the protection he had promised...

Was actually so pale and powerless.

Though Tōka could not see Obito in the darkness, he could sense that Obito's presence was extremely weak, his life hanging by a thread.

"Bastard!" Tōka cursed inwardly through gritted teeth. Had that idiot Black Zetsu brought so many Stone Ninja here to get him killed?

If Tōka had been alone, he could have ignored this kind of Earth Release ninjutsu entirely with the flexibility of his body and the toughness of his bones.

But asking Tōka to protect two others was truly beyond him.

"Kakashi, don't panic. Obito isn't dead yet!" Tōka activated his chakra sensing technique, confirmed Obito's location, and pointed to the left. "Can you use Lightning Release to cut through that boulder?"

"That one?" Kakashi's eyes turned cold, the grief in them instantly swept away.

He had to be able to! As long as he could save Obito!

The chakra inside Kakashi's body surged violently. He gripped the White Fang short sword tightly as lightning suddenly flashed in his palm, pouring madly into his hand.

Buzz!!

A lightning blade tore through the air. With a rumble, a massive boulder larger than three stacked Kakashis was split in two.

Tōka leaped forward and darted out first.

Kakashi wanted to follow, but the instant he raised his foot, the world spun around him. "Not good, I've used too much chakra..."

With a thud, Kakashi dropped onto the ground and began gasping for breath.

Tōka had no time to deal with Kakashi now, because Obito's condition was terrible.

"Tō... Tōka... am I going to die?" Obito asked weakly. It took him a long time to say a sentence of fewer than ten words. Blood flowed from the corner of his mouth, staining a wide patch of ground red.

"You'll die, but that'll be a hundred years from now!" Tōka gathered chakra, using the Mystical Palm Technique as he pressed a hand to Obito's chest.

His other injuries were not fatal. It was only that the boulder that had crushed Obito's right cheek had also crushed the right side of his chest.

Tōka briefly checked Obito's face. Luckily, perhaps because the boulder's surface had been uneven, Obito's head had not been injured.

Only his right eye and half of his right cheek had been destroyed.

What truly endangered his life was his crushed right chest. Obito's heart was on the left, but fragments of his shattered right ribs had pierced into it.

Had they gone even a little deeper, he definitely would not survive until dawn.

Even now, it was extremely dangerous. The slightest movement could cause the fragments to pierce through his heart, and then even the gods could not save him.

Tōka desperately poured out chakra, using both hands. The circulating glow illuminated Obito's bloodless, pale face.

"Tōka, Obito..." Kakashi recovered slightly and ran over. Seeing the scene before him, his heart gave a violent tremble.

"Don't worry, he won't die." Tōka's face was grim as he maintained the Mystical Palm Technique with both hands. "It's just that for the rest of his life..."

Obito's legs had been completely crushed into pulp beneath the rocks. He would never be able to become a ninja again.

Kakashi bit through his lip, blood trickling from the corner of his mouth. His fists clenched tightly. If it had not been for him, if he had not been so weak...

As if sensing Kakashi's self-blame, Obito's voice suddenly rang out with a carefree hint of laughter.

"Kakashi, I'm really glad you're alive."

However, he did not look cool for more than three seconds.

Obito's expression suddenly changed. When he laughed, he accidentally tugged at the wound in his chest. The rib fragments shifted inside his heart, making him suck in a sharp breath from the pain.

"Don't move!" Tōka's expression changed as well. At present, all he could do was use the Mystical Palm Technique to stop Obito's bleeding and heal his other injuries.

As for his legs and heart, surgery was necessary.

Aside from Healing Technique, hemostasis techniques, and the Mystical Palm Technique, Tōka had only read about other medical techniques in books. He had never practiced them.

Naturally, he could not operate on Obito, especially not on such a vital area as the heart.

"Tōka, don't waste your strength. You won't be able to escape if you take me with you." Obito drew back his gaze and looked at Tōka. Though he disliked Tōka's smug attitude very much.

Obito was still very happy—happy to have such a monstrous classmate and teammate.

Though they had only been classmates for a few days, and teammates for only a few days as well...

"Don't talk. I'm serious, you won't die." Tōka frowned slightly, immediately understanding what Obito meant.

Judging from the scale of that Earth Release ninjutsu earlier, another Stone Ninja squad must have arrived as reinforcements.

In other words, there was at least one jonin and seven genin outside.

And the other three squads in this area would arrive as quickly as possible.

"Tōka, I'm serious too." Obito looked overhead. He could feel life leaving him. He was so tired, so tired, as if all he wanted was to close his eyes and sleep.

As long as he could... have a good sleep, nothing else mattered.

"Obito! Are you going to leave Rin behind like this?" Tōka suddenly asked. He did not want to waste so much chakra only for someone who could have survived to fail because he had given up the will to live.

Sure enough, the instant Obito heard Rin's name, he became as fired up as if he had been injected with stimulants.

His dim pupils gradually regained their light, and a bloody scarlet hue filled his remaining left eye.

Only then did Tōka and Kakashi notice that Obito had somehow already awakened his Sharingan!

Compared to Kakashi's shock, Tōka remained relatively calm.

"Rin?"

Obito's mind filled with that sweet smile, and his entire heart softened.

"That's right, Rin is still waiting for me. I can't die so easily!" Obito struggled to sit up, giving Tōka a huge fright.

Were you trying not to die, or trying to get yourself killed?

You still wanted to move in this condition?

Tōka quickly stopped Obito. During this time, he had stabilized Obito's injuries. Aside from the legs crushed by the boulder and the rib fragments piercing his heart, the rest of his injuries were no longer a problem.

"Don't move. You may not die, but you're still not out of danger!" Tōka said gravely.

"Even you can't heal him?" Kakashi's heart sank as he asked in a deep voice.

"His legs took the full force of the boulder. Every bone was shattered. Even Lady Tsunade wouldn't be able to do anything about that." Tōka was not afraid of discouraging Obito. Perhaps Obito being unable to become a ninja for the rest of his life would be a good thing for him.

"As for why I said he's still in danger, it's because rib fragments pierced Obito's heart. The wound is shallow, but they need to be removed with surgery."

At the mention of surgery, both Kakashi and Obito's expressions changed.

Leaving aside when the Stone Ninja outside might attack, even if they gave Tōka enough time and did not come in, this place was no place to perform surgery!

"Most importantly, the heart is a vital part of the human body. I'm not very confident." Tōka said this only because he did not want the two of them to worry too much.

It was more than a lack of confidence—he had never done it before!

If it were some nonfatal area, such as reconnecting limbs or ribs, Tōka could still rely on the Mystical Palm Technique's powerful effects.

But when it came to the heart, Tōka felt it was better to leave it to a professional.

"Then how long can Obito hold on?" Kakashi asked again.

"As long as he doesn't move, ten years or eight years won't be a problem." Tōka answered without thinking. But how could a mentally sound person possibly remain motionless for eight or ten years?

The fragments embedded in his heart were like a bomb that could explode at any moment.

And Obito could not possibly eat, drink, relieve himself, and do everything else without moving. So they did not have much time left.

"Then I'll go kill those guys outside and bring Obito..." Back...

Kakashi stopped halfway through. Even he had no confidence to continue. Whether he could kill the Stone Ninja was one thing, but bringing Obito back was simply impossible.

Tōka had said it himself: Obito could not move!

"Heh... looks like heaven won't help me after all."

In the silence, Obito suddenly laughed. Then he turned his head with difficulty and stared directly at Kakashi. "Kakashi, do me a favor."

"What?" Kakashi, immersed in grief, froze before looking seriously at Obito. Let alone one favor—even ten or a hundred, he would definitely do them!

"I dreamed of becoming Hokage someday and bringing happiness to everyone, but I can't do that anymore..." Obito paused slightly, then continued, "Become Hokage, Kakashi!"

"With my eye, I want to see the happy smiles of the villagers as they look at the Hokage. I believe that if it's you, you can definitely do it!"

Outside the ruined rock cave, nearly five standard Stone Ninja squads had surrounded the place so tightly that not even water could pass through. The Stone Ninja hid in the darkness, waiting only for Tōka and Kakashi to appear before killing them with thunderous force.

Suddenly!

A fluctuation of chakra appeared, and the rocks blocking the exit were sliced into two by a flash of lightning.

Above the collapsed cave, a silver-haired boy stood atop the ruins with the White Fang short sword in hand.

"Attack!" A burly man roared, and in an instant, two jonin and six genin charged at Kakashi.

However, the Stone Ninja's attention had all been drawn to Kakashi, and they failed to notice a smaller figure drifting out like a ghost.

"Genjutsu: Nirvana Temple Technique."

As a cold voice rang out, countless feathers drifted down through the air.

"Not good, it's genjutsu!"

"The intelligence was wrong! There's another person!"

The four jonin among the Stone Ninja froze briefly before immediately reacting.

They quickly formed hand seals and shouted, "Release!"

The feathers continued drifting down through the air. Tōka, hidden in the darkness, curled his lips into a cold smile. The Nirvana Temple Technique had never been genjutsu meant for jonin.

His target...

Was merely the Stone Ninja's fifteen genin!

Just as Tōka prepared to make his move, a golden shadow flashed through the forest.

Puff, puff, puff!!!

It sounded like countless kunai slicing through throats, yet also like only a single strike...

Nineteen Stone Ninja, including those attacking Kakashi and those hidden in the shadows, were mercilessly killed in an instant.

The golden figure landed. The newcomer opened eyes that were usually narrowed, his sunny face carrying an unusual killing intent.

"Sorry, I came late, Kakashi." Minato said in a deep voice.

"Minato-sensei..." Kakashi stared blankly at him, his throat tightening until he could barely speak. He had failed to protect his companion...

"Obito..."