What Would You Choose

At this point in time, the Third Great Ninja War had only just erupted not long ago.

The spark was Sunagakure losing their Third Kazekage, then shifting the blame to Konoha and brazenly declaring war!

This round of the Great Ninja War came with exceptional suddenness; compared to the past, the interval for recovery between wars was extremely short this time!

From the Second Great Ninja War to the Third Great Ninja War, only a little over three years—less than four—had passed in between.

The Five Great Shinobi Countries were all baffled, never expecting war to surge back so quickly.

Among them, Konoha was the most stunned!

Their earlier optimism about peace had been far too excessive, leaving them caught completely off guard when the new round of war broke out.

Now forced into battle, many of their missions were rushed and hasty.

Take, for instance, the mission Kakashi, Obito, and Rin had just received—infiltrate the Land of Rain and confirm Amegakure's stance on this war!

Konoha's misjudgment of the war situation showed in every aspect. For example, three years ago, when Tsunade left after the war ended, they made no effort to stop her. Two years ago, when White Fang committed suicide, no one raised any alarm.

Or consider that during the brief three-plus years of peace, their control over the surrounding minor nations had weakened to an alarmingly dangerous degree.

This directly led to Konoha, which had managed to keep the enemy entirely outside its borders throughout the Second Great Ninja War, being easily pushed into the Land of Fire from the very start of this conflict.

And now, the mission Obito, Rin, and Kakashi had received was essentially paying off debts.

Debts incurred from their years of complacent ease.

On the very first day of receiving the mission, Kakashi sensed its difficulty.

"The outposts marked on the old map have all been dismantled. The changes around the Land of Rain over these past few years are enormous.

Why does the village know so little about this? We fought all the way here in the last war."

During the previous Great Ninja War, Jiraiya, Orochimaru, and Tsunade had clashed with Hanzo the Salamander in the Land of Rain, holding him to a stalemate, earning them the title of the "Three Ninja" that resounded across the shinobi world.

Though the Three Ninja hadn't managed to take down Hanzo back then, Konoha had at least maintained strategic initiative throughout—a permanent scar for the Land of Rain.

But who could have imagined that in just a few short years, the situation here would slip entirely out of Konoha's grasp?

"An outdated map that's almost worthless, completely reshuffled village layouts, and that new organization called 'Akatsuki' we heard about earlier...

We're missing far too much intelligence on this area. We have to pick up the mission's pace!"

Thinking this, Kakashi couldn't help but feel a headache coming on.

Because he wanted to speed things up, but his teammate was still sulking at him.

Even without jumping down from the tree branch, he could hear Obito's loud complaints from below.

"That Kakashi guy, always putting on that deadpan face during missions, saying stuff like 'the mission is more important than comrades' and 'if you can't complete the mission, you're worthless.' Rin, tell me, is that any way to act?!"

Nohara Rin, walking beside Obito, could only force a faint smile and console him, "Obito, say a little less. You know what Kakashi went through two years ago. He's just having a hard time letting it go."

"But I still can't forgive his way of thinking! How can he talk about his own comrades like that? In my book, someone who abandons their comrades is worse than worthless!"

Obito declared this with full force, both to counter Kakashi and to show off in front of Nohara Rin.

Too bad some people are destined to look cool for only a second.

The next moment, as his words faded, he sensed a sudden, violent gust of wind pressure beside him, as if something had shot past at incredible speed!

By the time Obito came to his senses, all he heard was a low voice.

"Well said."

Then he turned around and was horrified to find Nohara Rin gone!

Instinctively, he reached for a Kunai from his ninja tool pouch, but a sharp pain slammed into his stomach!

Shiba Seika, having succeeded in his ambush, kicked him viciously, sending him flying!

At that moment, Shiba Seika couldn't help but wonder if this counted as getting a little revenge for Konan-senpai in advance.

Sure enough, bullying the big boss was best done early.

"Your comrade is in my hands now."

Hearing Shiba Seika's words, Obito Uchiha was consumed with rage, but at this point in time, Obito was still nothing but a tender, weak rookie.

"Damn it, give Rin back to me!!"

The only thing worth praising was probably his tenacious, cockroach-like will and his obsession with Rin.

But this time, Shiba Seika had been plotting his move for a while and gave him no chance. The moment he seized the hostage, he handed Rin straight over to Konan-senpai.

"Konan-senpai, restrain this girl!"

And Konan-senpai, strictly following Shiba Seika's orders, immediately activated her paper ninjutsu, using layers of white paper to fold and coil into chains, firmly binding the captured Nohara Rin.

Ever since finishing Ando's mission not long ago, Konan had unconsciously developed a strong dependency on Shiba Seika.

Perhaps it was because Shiba Seika's theories sounded lofty and profound, impressively incomprehensible, deeply shaking Konan's soul, or maybe it was that over these days, Shiba Seika had firmly etched his reliable persona into Konan's heart.

In any case, Konan had grown increasingly accustomed to acting according to Shiba Seika's instructions.

Just like this time, when they happened to spot a "strange" Konoha squad on their way back, Shiba Seika suggested making a move, and Konan agreed without any hesitation.

Throughout the battle, she followed orders completely, doing whatever was asked.

This was a treatment that even Yahiko had never enjoyed in the past!

Shiba Seika's plan to dismantle the Akatsuki Organization's iron triangle was already showing its first fruits.

Returning to the current battle, after safely entrusting the hostage Rin to Konan's control, Shiba Seika lifted his head to meet the lightning racing toward him from the high branches above!

Kakashi, charging in, was burning with anxiety and regret.

He never should have stayed alone in the tree just because he found Obito's chatter annoying!

Now he had placed Rin in danger instead!

Anger and remorse gnawed at his heart.

But the enemy seemed to know him inside out, precisely exploiting his turmoil.

Shiba Seika threw a homemade paper kunai concealing an Exploding Tag.

He knew full well that Kakashi, who had yet to obtain the Sharingan, couldn't precisely control his Chidori.

Compounded by the negative buff of rage and impatience, Kakashi indeed crashed headlong into the oncoming paper kunai.

"Boom!"

A thunderous blast!

Kakashi, who had been gripping an arc of light and commanding the lightning, emerged from the smoke, disheveled and battered, leaping back in disgrace.

"Damn it!"

He cursed under his breath.

The one always hailed as a genius might have faced such a major setback at the very first clash of battle for the first time.

But even greater torment was yet to come!

Seeing that he had repelled Kakashi's initial assault, Shiba Seika's lips curled upward, his smile growing more pleased.

He spoke, "I caught a bit of your conversation earlier. If you truly prioritize the mission, shouldn't you abandon your comrade right now, retreat first, and preserve the intelligence you've already obtained to the fullest?"

The moment these psychological words left his mouth, just as Shiba Seika expected, Obito, who had just scrambled to his feet, immediately exploded.

"What?! Kakashi, if you plan to abandon Rin, we're done! I'll never forgive you for the rest of my life!!"

In that instant, Kakashi's pupils violently contracted, while Shiba Seika's smile grew even more delighted.

What will you choose, Kakashi?