The Trap

Kakashi finally reached the area guarded by the Iwa Ninja in the middle of the night. He carefully controlled his breathing and movements, hiding among the trees as he watched the Iwa Ninja.

Kakashi knew full well how important this mission was. He also knew exactly what the consequences would be for volunteering to take it on.

Death was terrifying, but it wasn't quite so terrifying, either. His close friend, Uchiha Obito, had faced death with such calm. Why couldn't he?

Obito had entrusted him with protecting Rin, and his teacher, Namikaze Minato, had helped him see that he could use Obito's eyes to look toward the future.

But the guilt in his heart and Uchiha Kei's appearance had helped him make up his mind. Obito had been killed by the Iwa Ninja. Naturally, Kakashi had to avenge him.

Uchiha Kei had once saved Kakashi and the others. Though Kakashi's teacher had ultimately resolved the crisis, Kei, a fellow member of the Uchiha Clan, had earned Kakashi's goodwill and respect.

They had been in the same class, so Kakashi vaguely remembered him. Kei hadn't been a dead-last student, but he certainly hadn't been anything special, either.

His performance on the battlefield had been unremarkable, yet he had survived until now. That meant Uchiha Kei had real strength and skill.

Most importantly, Uchiha Kei had now awakened his Sharingan. Kakashi was willing to trust someone like that to protect Rin.

To be extra safe, he had even given Uchiha Kei one of Namikaze Minato's Kunai!

With all these safeguards in place, Kakashi believed that if he held the Iwa Ninja back and created an opportunity, his team would be able to get behind enemy lines and complete their mission. Rin would stay safe, too.

"Obito, maybe I'll be joining you soon."

Kakashi thought to himself. He took a deep breath, formed Hand Seals, and created four Shadow Clones. Then he immediately had them transform and scatter.

The four Shadow Clones each received an equal share of Kakashi's chakra. It left him feeling awful, but it made them indistinguishable from the real thing!

Even so, the slight burst of chakra immediately caught the Iwa Ninja's attention. Kakashi didn't care. Drawing them out was the whole point.

They had spotted him a little faster than expected, but that only showed that the Iwa Ninja had plenty of skilled fighters. It wasn't beyond what Kakashi had anticipated.

Before long, Kakashi noticed an Iwa Ninja using the Summoning Technique. He was probably sending a message.

"Using the Summoning Technique to call for reinforcements?"

Kakashi thought to himself. But the next moment, his face turned deathly pale. A sharp whistling sound rang past his ears, and in the next instant, a Kunai pierced straight through him!

"It's over, Imp!" A voice suddenly came from behind Kakashi. But when he looked, no one was there. "Don't worry. The others will join you soon."

The voice sounded cruel. But when its owner pulled the Kunai from Kakashi's body, the badly wounded Kakashi vanished in a puff of smoke.

"Damn! The Substitution Technique? When did he—?"

The voice's owner was clearly stunned. But when he heard another sharp whistle from behind, he immediately reacted as best he could. He leaped backward and drew a Kunai to block the direction of Kakashi's attack.

There was no denying that the man was an experienced Ninja. Although Kakashi easily saw through his block with the Sharingan, the attack still failed to deal a fatal blow. The man's timely retreat left Kakashi with nothing but a bloody gash across his chest.

"What a damn brat." The voice's owner gradually appeared. He felt the wound on his chest, then studied Kakashi. "The Sharingan? I see. So that's how you saw through my Camouflage Invisibility Technique. What an unexpected prize—a Sharingan."

Kakashi frowned. He hadn't expected to run into someone like this. The familiar feeling stirred his anger.

One of the Iwa Ninja who had killed Obito had used this same Ninjutsu.

Kakashi took a deep breath and gripped his Kunai, ready to attack at any moment. But soon, his face fell. He sensed that all of his Shadow Clones had been taken out!

One by one, the Iwa Ninja emerged from different directions. There were four of them in all, and they had Kakashi completely surrounded.

Kakashi hadn't imagined his Shadow Clones wouldn't even manage to hold them off. Just how terrifyingly strong were these people?

But he had no time to think about it. Creating the Shadow Clones had drained his chakra, and he hadn't had much to begin with. Now he had even less.

Kakashi could only figure out how to hold them off as long as possible, stopping them from passing on the information and alerting the other Iwa Ninja to fall back.

"Naive brat." One of the Iwa Ninja gave a sinister grin. "Did you think we didn't know about your little tricks? I was wondering who you'd send as bait. Never thought it'd be you, Hatake Kakashi."

Kakashi didn't answer. He'd rather use the breath to focus on recovering his chakra than waste it on an empty reply.

"Your teammates must be trying to break through somewhere else, right? Sorry, there weren't many people coming to reinforce us in the first place. And not long ago, we received word that several people had been spotted in another area."

The Iwa Ninja didn't seem to mind Kakashi's silence. He just smiled. "Trying to recover your chakra? A pointless trick. Your fate is already sealed, and so is your teammates'."

"Now, let's see what you can do—and what your plan is."

As soon as he finished speaking, all four Iwa Ninja charged at Kakashi. Kakashi immediately leaped into the air, dodging their first attack.

But Kakashi was already in turmoil. He never imagined that the sacrifice he had made would be utterly meaningless.

There was no denying that the Iwa Ninja's cunning scheme had left Kakashi with no choice but to take the bait. Now all he could do was hold them back and try to break through.

Besides, the Iwa Ninja seemed to want to capture him alive. That gave Kakashi some room to fight back.

Otherwise, Kakashi thought he probably wouldn't last more than a few exchanges. These Iwa Ninja were incredibly strong.

If he hadn't used so much chakra, Kakashi might have been able to keep them occupied for a while. But now, all he could do was try.

He took a deep breath and steeled himself. He had to try everything he could. But if he really couldn't do it—

Then he'd destroy his left eye before he died! Obito's eye absolutely could not fall into the hands of the people who had killed him!