Ordinary Is Also a Kind of Happiness, for Obito

After Minato Namikaze instantly dealt with the Stone Ninja surrounding Tōka and the others, he followed Tōka and Kakashi deep into the cave. Obito lay weakly on the ground, his face slightly pale.

If not for his slowly rising and falling chest telling everyone that he was still alive, Minato might have thought Obito was dead.

"Obito, your teacher failed to take care of you." Looking at Obito, half of whose face had been smashed apart and one of whose eye sockets was empty, Minato blamed himself deeply.

Obito's legs had been completely crushed into a bloody mess. He could only spend the rest of his life in a wheelchair.

"Oh? Is that Teacher Minato? We're saved!!" Hearing Minato's voice, Obito's calm expression suddenly turned delighted. Though his voice was weak, his spirit was full of vitality.

He had not given up his desire to live. He still wanted to go back and see Rin.

To see Rin again, he had to make it back alive.

Hearing his delighted cry, both Minato, filled with self-reproach, and Kakashi, looking utterly dejected, jolted in shock as they stared at Obito, who could still smile.

Why...

At a time like this, Obito could still... smile?

"Tōka, how confident are you in performing surgery on Obito?" Minato was the first to recover. He stared solemnly into Tōka's eyes and asked in a low voice.

Outside the cave, while the three of them had been dealing with the Stone Ninja corpses, Kakashi had already briefly explained what had happened.

To save Obito, they had to remove the bone fragments embedded in his heart. Yet they could not move him before the surgery succeeded, and they were currently surrounded by a massive Stone Ninja force.

With the Flying Thunder God Technique, Minato was confident he could safely take all three of them away.

However, Obito had to be able to move normally.

"Uh..." Tōka choked at the question. An answer flashed through his mind: he had no confidence at all.

But whether it was Obito's smile or the hope in Kakashi's eyes, Tōka could not bring himself to say what was on his mind.

Silence. Under Minato's gaze, Tōka chose silence. He had only learned the Mystical Palm Technique to improve his ability to fight continuously.

Did these guys seriously take him for a medical ninja?

"Just do it, Tōka. I believe in you!" Obito suddenly called out loudly, as though he had used all his strength to encourage Tōka. His voice became somewhat hoarse.

You believe in me? I don't even believe in myself, yet you do?

Hesitation appeared on Tōka's face. This was not like helping Kakashi replace an eye. If he messed up an eye, the worst that could happen was blindness. If he messed up heart surgery, someone would die!!

"Tōka, I believe in you too." Kakashi repeated Obito's words.

Tōka's expression shifted slightly, as though something was welling up from the depths of his heart.

Minato glanced at the clouds on the horizon. Night was about to fall, the best time for them to leave. Before then, Obito had to regain the ability to move on his own.

"If Obito can't be moved, we'll have no choice but to abandon him." Minato spoke in a deep voice, his expression merciless, completely unlike the warm, sunshine-like neighborly older brother who always wore a smile.

"Teach—" Kakashi's pupils contracted. He was about to speak when Minato interrupted him and motioned for him to look at Tōka.

A fierce look flashed across Tōka's young face, replacing his earlier hesitation. Whatever, let's do it. If the surgery failed, it wasn't him who would die!

Thinking that way, Tōka suddenly felt much more at ease.

"Then... let's give it a try!" Tōka pursed his lips and looked up at Minato, a serious expression appearing on his delicate face.

Seeing this, Minato and Kakashi exchanged a glance. The trust in their eyes seemed to deepen.

Tōka seemed serious now!

After knowing Tōka for so long, Kakashi had never seen him take anything seriously. Even while surrounded by five standard four-man Stone Ninja squads, Tōka had never worn such a serious expression.

Beneath the collapsed cave, Minato concealed their presence to the utmost degree.

Then Kakashi stood guard over Tōka, while Minato kept watch above. The moment any ninja approached, Minato would kill them with lightning speed.

They had light and clean water.

Nuibari? Unnecessary... With the Mystical Palm Technique, why would they need Nuibari?

Sutures? If they did not even need a needle, what would they need thread for?

Next was...

Tōka pulled open Obito's clothes and was about to begin when his hands suddenly stopped.

"What's wrong?" Kakashi was too worried to think straight and asked a stupid question.

"A scalpel! How am I supposed to operate without a scalpel?" Tōka had suddenly remembered that he could not use a chakra scalpel. Without a scalpel, how was he supposed to cut open Obito's chest?

Obito might not have been able to see, but he could hear. He immediately felt blood rise in his throat.

Kakashi hesitated for a moment. His ninja tool pouch only contained Shuriken, and the only thing left was...

"Use this!" Kakashi removed the White Fang short sword from his back and handed it to Tōka.

"This?" Tōka looked up at Kakashi in a daze, then saw from his eyes that he was not joking.

The God of Slaughter's short sword, used to save someone?

You really came up with that?

Obito felt sweetness in his throat and spat out a mouthful of blood. He was beginning to regret letting Tōka perform the surgery. Neither of these two was reliable!

Treat a dead horse like it's alive. Muttering inwardly, Tōka took out the only Kunai in his ninja tool pouch and heated it over the flames.

"Kakashi, knock Obito out. I'm afraid he won't be able to endure the pain and might start moving around."

"Got it!" Kakashi raised his hand, lightning flash flickering around it, and struck Obito's neck directly. Electric arcs entered his skin and stimulated his brain.

In an instant, Obito rolled his eyes back and fainted.

At the same time, Tōka finished sterilizing the blade and brought it down...

Outside the cave, a golden shadow flashed by from time to time, as dazzling as the lingering glow of the setting sun.

With every flash of golden light, another life vanished.

The air within a radius of ten li seemed to have been stained red with blood.

Tōka no longer remembered how long the surgery had lasted. Only when he emerged from the cave, drenched in cold sweat, did he notice that it was already deep into the night.

The night wind brushed past him, drying his sweat and carrying away his warmth. Tōka shivered slightly and pulled his clothes tighter around himself.

The air was thick with the stench of blood, yet there was not a trace of battle.

"Captain Minato." Tōka lowered his head respectfully, an unreadable gleam flickering in his hidden eyes.

As expected of the future Fourth Hokage. Minato Namikaze, known as the Golden Flash, truly possessed terrifying strength.

Tōka narrowed his eyes and surveyed the area. Even the corpses had been cleared away, but how many Stone Ninja lives had dyed the air this blood-red?

"Teacher Minato." Kakashi followed behind, carrying Obito on his back as he leaped out and landed beside Tōka and Minato.

"Looks like the surgery was successful." A relieved smile crossed Minato's slightly weary face. His tightly wound nerves finally relaxed.

To ensure that no one interrupted Tōka, Minato had used two hundred percent of his strength.

Setting aside the chakra consumption, having his nerves stretched taut all day had exhausted him mentally.

"It barely succeeded." Tōka curled his lips and answered flatly.

Only he knew how dangerous it had been.

A Kunai was nothing like a scalpel. Several times, he had stabbed too deeply and caused massive bleeding. If not for his healing ability, stronger than that of an ordinary Mystical Palm Technique, Obito would have died long ago.

No matter what, it succeeded." Minato did not want to hear the process. He only knew the result: Obito had survived, and Tōka had succeeded.

"Tōka, you're really amazing. Believing in you really was the right choice!" Obito said weakly, though the delight on his face had not diminished in the slightest.

"Everyone, eat something simple and rest for a while to recover your strength."

As soon as Minato finished speaking, the three of them found a large tree and leaned half-reclined against its trunk.

Performing surgery on Obito had left Tōka more exhausted than running around Konoha with Gai for an entire day. Kakashi was no better off. His single crimson eye had watched the entire surgery without blinking even once.

The night wind was somewhat cold, and a lone moon hung high in the sky.

Cold moonlight spilled across the earth, making the bloody hue in the air seem even thicker.

Outside the cave, everything was silent. Even the chirping of nighttime insects was rarely heard.

After resting briefly, Minato made a hand signal. Tōka and Kakashi immediately stood up, and Kakashi naturally took Obito onto his back.

"We've spent too much time. I believe Ōnoki already knows what happened here. The ones hunting us next may be Iwagakure's elite forces, or even Ōnoki himself," Minato said solemnly.

He was not trying to discourage them. He was simply stating the severity of the situation.

The three kept silent with tense expressions. They knew Minato still had a plan to explain.

"My plan is this: we split into two groups. One group will lure the enemy away, while the other retreats quickly and delivers news of Kannabi Bridge's destruction."

"Once Shikaku learns of the news, he'll make the next move."

Only then would the group luring the enemy truly be safe.

The reason he had changed the plan at the last minute was because Tōka had spent too much time treating Obito.

Minato had originally expected the surgery to be completed before nightfall. After resting briefly, they could quickly withdraw before Iwagakure had time to react.

But it was now nearly midnight, and the Stone Ninja army had had ample time to form an encirclement.

If all four of them moved together, they would definitely be caught in the siege of tens of thousands of Stone Ninja.

"Teacher Minato, let Tōka take Obito away. I'll lure the enemy with you!" Kakashi immediately volunteered. The decoy group existed to ensure Obito could leave safely.

Minato neither agreed nor refused. He turned to look at Tōka.

Tōka looked completely unconcerned, tilting his head up at the sky without saying a word.

Meanwhile, Obito silently clenched his fists. He opened his mouth as though he wanted to say something, but in the end, he bit his lip and made no sound.

I'm sorry. I'm the one dragging everyone down.

"No. I've decided that Tōka will come with me. Kakashi, you'll take Obito and leave." As Minato spoke, he handed over a letter he had personally written to Shikaku.

"Why?" Kakashi accepted the letter unwillingly and refused to give up.

"Well, I just figured that Tōka is small, so it'll be easier for me to carry him when I use the Flying Thunder God Technique." Minato scratched the back of his head and laughed.

Kakashi, "..."

A vein throbbed at Tōka's temple as he silently raised a middle finger in his heart.

"In two quarters of an hour, there will be a huge commotion to the northwest. Once the Stone Ninja rush northwest, you'll begin your retreat," Minato said, his expression turning serious.

"The northwest?" Tōka was dumbfounded. The northwest was toward the Land of Earth! Even if they were luring the enemy away, there was no need to venture so deeply into enemy territory, was there?

"That's right. While luring the enemy, I have another plan. Tōka, I hope you can help me!" Minato looked at Tōka seriously, his usually narrowed eyes now wide open.

Tōka's mouth twitched. With Minato putting it that way, could he still refuse?

Under Minato's "affectionate" gaze, Tōka silently nodded. His gloomy little face took on the color of ashes. He had a feeling he was being set up!

"Since everyone understands the plan, then..."

Minato swept out a hand and shouted, "Move!"

Whoosh, whoosh!

Kakashi carried Obito toward the southeast, heading for the Land of Fire. He first needed to find a hidden place to conceal themselves and wait for Minato to make his move...

Meanwhile, Minato used the Flying Thunder God Technique to take Tōka to one end of Kannabi Bridge, which he had marked beforehand.

"This..." Tōka stared in shock at the collapsed bridge and the bloodstains covering the ground. The Stone Ninja had only cleared away the corpses.

For an explosion that massive, how many Explosive Tags had been wasted?

Explosive Tags were not paper. The price of one Explosive Tag could buy a huge stack of paper.

"Going northwest from here leads to the Land of Earth. However, Ōnoki and Iwagakure's twenty-thousand-strong army are in the Land of Grass. The chance of running into Stone Ninja is actually much lower in the Land of Earth," Minato analyzed.

For one thing, Iwagakure would certainly believe that after completing his mission, Minato Namikaze would retreat southeast toward the Land of Fire.

Either through the Land of Rain into the Land of Fire, or through the Land of Waterfall into the Land of Fire.

They would never expect Minato to take Tōka directly through the Land of Grass and infiltrate the Land of Earth.

For another, the Land of Earth was vast while the Land of Grass was small. With the same number of Iwagakure ninja, the chance of encountering them was naturally lower in the much larger Land of Earth.

Because Minato Namikaze had penetrated deep into their territory and destroyed the vital transportation route of Kannabi Bridge, Ōnoki had ordered the Stone Ninja to travel in groups. This meant the Stone Ninja now appeared in squads, reducing their numbers even further.

Furthermore, Ōnoki had issued a special order: upon encountering Konoha's Golden Flash, they could abandon their mission and flee without punishment.

"What does Captain Minato want to do?" Tōka was exceptionally clever and instantly understood the current situation. It did not seem as bad as he had imagined.

"Iwagakure's supply forces!" Minato's narrowed eyes suddenly opened, and he squeezed out the words with killing intent.

Supply forces? Tōka's pupils shrank sharply. Only a force of at least a thousand people could be called a supply force.

Tōka admitted that Minato was incredibly strong and could instantly kill dozens of Stone Ninja jonin, but that was a thousand people! Once numbers reached a certain scale, they could bring about a qualitative change.

"Captain Minato, are you serious?" Tōka frowned tightly, his whole face taut.

"Of course I'm serious. Although Kannabi Bridge has been destroyed, making it extremely inconvenient for Iwagakure to transport food, Ōnoki will not retreat unless the Stone Ninja suffer a major loss," Minato said in a deep voice.

What was Iwagakure of the Land of Earth best at? Naturally, Earth Release!

The destruction of a single Kannabi Bridge was not enough to completely stop their invasion of the Land of Fire. It was merely an opportunity—an opportunity to hurt Ōnoki badly!