Decision

Uchiha Kei's voice was grim. He wasn't joking in the slightest. Without even realizing it, his eyes had already turned red, and the Three Tomoe in them rotated faintly.

Nohara Rin was completely stunned by the sight. She had never imagined that someone from her own squad would do something like this.

What she found even more unbelievable was that Hyuga Aya, who had seemed so kind to her, had activated her Byakugan as well.

The atmosphere grew exceptionally tense. Imai Kenta still looked harmless, but his eyes lingered on Nohara Rin with a hint of danger.

What happened within their squad was their own business, and it would be best if their squad's secrets stayed hidden.

Imai Kenta wasn't doing this for the squad. He was doing it purely for himself. Leaving a witness alive would always be a liability.

Especially if Hyuga Aya and Uchiha Kei really started fighting. At that point, there would be no way to contain what happened.

Still, Imai Kenta thought they probably wouldn't come to blows in the end—unless Hyuga Aya had gone crazy.

Sure enough, Hyuga Aya managed to hold herself back. She could afford to disregard Uchiha Kei when he didn't have the Sharingan.

Although she was constrained by the rules, Hyuga Aya didn't think much of someone who couldn't even use his Kekkei Genkai. He had no future.

But things were different now. With the Sharingan, Uchiha Kei had become someone Hyuga Aya didn't want to face.

After all, Uchiha Kei had dodged Namikaze Minato's lethal surprise attack. Hyuga Aya didn't think she could move that fast.

"Tell us your plan." Hyuga Aya was frustrated, but she took the initiative to deactivate her Byakugan. "You'd better have a complete plan, not one that takes us all to our deaths."

"I haven't managed to get myself killed yet." Uchiha Kei also deactivated his Sharingan. The sensation from a moment ago had genuinely felt good. "I already said that whatever we want, the Iwa Ninja will want too. And if you look at the map, the place with the fewest people is really an Encirclement Mouth. Once Kakashi goes in, the people at the other locations can rush over at full speed."

"So?" Hyuga Aya calmly studied the map. "You're going to take us and Kakashi to our deaths?"

"But don't forget: once we choose a place to break through, they can rush back there. Besides, the other locations are even harder to attack than this one. We're too few in number," Uchiha Kei said coolly.

That was right. Uchiha Kei had studied the map for a long time without finding anything hidden, but based on what it showed and Hyuga Aya's intelligence, he could already infer quite a bit.

The Iwa Ninja couldn't be so stupid as to leave so few people at a relatively easy place to break through. That meant it was deliberate. It was obviously a trap: either they were waiting to surround them and close the net, or it was an Empty Fort Strategy.

Uchiha Kei didn't think the Iwa Ninja were foolish enough to try something like that. More accurately, given the current state of the battle, they wouldn't dare.

That location was likely guarded by a group of powerful Ninja, ready to reinforce other positions at any moment. Or they were waiting for any Konoha Ninja foolish enough to attempt a surprise attack to pass through, so they could surround them and wipe them all out!

Normally, seeing this, Ninja might set out a decoy like they had and then launch a surprise attack elsewhere.

But Uchiha Kei had decided to make a bold move. He was going to break through right there!

It was a huge gamble, but if they won, the way ahead would be clear. They might even reach Kannabi Bridge directly.

Uchiha Kei didn't like gambling, but this time he had a trump card. Before leaving, Kakashi had given him Namikaze Minato's Kunai, so Uchiha Kei could decide for himself when to summon Namikaze Minato.

"Are you worried they did it on purpose?" Uchiha Kei hadn't explained his thoughts, but Hyuga Aya and Imai Kenta seemed to have figured out some of them.

"I'm not worried. I think that's exactly what happened." Uchiha Kei nodded. "So I've decided to take a more extreme approach."

"But if we follow them like this, aren't we going to our deaths, Captain?" Imai Kenta scratched his head. But when he saw Uchiha Kei create several Shadow Clones, he immediately understood. "You plan to send the Shadow Clones out on purpose?"

"I see." Hyuga Aya nodded. "Ninja attacking behind enemy lines need to conserve their chakra, so they won't use many high-cost techniques. Send Shadow Clones to attack one location on purpose, forcing them to rush back. Then, while they're caught in that time gap and distracted by Kakashi's solo attack, we strike hard. Hmph."

Uchiha Kei smiled. Although he thoroughly disliked these two smart people, he had to admit that having clever teammates made working together on a mission much easier.

Just look at Nohara Rin, who still hadn't figured out what was going on. Uchiha Kei shook his head and decided not to explain. She might be a capable Ninja with enough "mettle," but she certainly wasn't clever.

Once they understood the situation, Uchiha Kei and the others each created several Shadow Clones, then sent them running in different directions.

Their real bodies followed directly behind Kakashi. Creating several Shadow Clones with chakra equal to their own took a heavy toll on all of them.

But Uchiha Kei could clearly see that Imai Kenta and Hyuga Aya had both taken Ration Pills right away, and were doing their best to recover their chakra as they moved.

Uchiha Kei had done the same. He was a "veteran" of the battlefield too. How could he not know what to do?

It was hardly enough to make a difference, but even a little chakra was better than having none at a critical moment.

The Iwa Ninja must have counted on this. They just hadn't expected gamblers like them to take such a risk!

After taking a Ration Pill, Uchiha Kei set off first. He controlled his breathing and footsteps as best he could, keeping up with Kakashi while trying to recover as much chakra as possible.

"Try not to get us killed." Hyuga Aya caught up, speaking without a care for the others around them. "I've been on the battlefield for seven years. I don't want all that to go to waste."

"I've been on the battlefield for six years," Uchiha Kei replied calmly. "Imai Kenta's been at it the longest—eight years, right? We wouldn't have lasted this long if we didn't share the same conviction. We wouldn't have ended up together, either. I hate you because we're alike, but right now we have to cooperate. Otherwise, none of us will make it back."

Imai Kenta silently nodded. For once, he didn't wear his trademark fake smile.

After thinking for a moment, Hyuga Aya nodded too, evidently agreeing with Uchiha Kei.

Only Nohara Rin, who was extremely weak, had no idea what was going on. She couldn't understand what the three of them were saying, or what their relationship with one another was.

The night was bleak. Five figures raced through the woods, one after another.