Madness

"Uchiha brat, you're asking for death!"

Kitsuchi had completely lost control in his fury. Both of his subordinates had been killed by this damned Uchiha brat!

If Kitsuchi had been able to hold back his anger after the first death, it was because he hadn't been especially close to that guy, and he genuinely needed to find out what Konoha was thinking.

But Genboku was different. He was a true friend—someone Kitsuchi had known since childhood and grown up with!

At that moment, Kitsuchi wasn't thinking about intelligence or anything else. He just wanted the Uchiha brat dead.

The danger Kitsuchi posed in his fury was almost unimaginable. Kakashi had planned to take advantage of the moment Kitsuchi was distracted and catch him off guard with Chidori, but Kitsuchi's reflexes far exceeded Kakashi's expectations!

The moment Chidori's tearing sound rang out, Kitsuchi had already crouched and pressed both hands against the ground. His powerful chakra immediately flowed into the earth.

In the next instant, a wall of earth at least ten meters tall surged up from the ground, perfectly blocking Kakashi's Chidori.

Earth Style: Earth Flow Wall.

In Kitsuchi's hands, this simple, basic Earth Style Ninjutsu achieved an unbelievable effect!

But Earth Style was weak against Lightning Style. Kakashi's Chidori pierced straight through the Earth Flow Wall, just as expected. Yet Kakashi had no cause to celebrate.

As his Chidori pierced the wall, Kitsuchi had already used the brief obstruction to dodge it—and almost simultaneously, he threw a punch.

The terrifying blow shattered his own Ninjutsu and struck Kakashi squarely in the chest!

The sound of bones cracking was audible. Blood pouring from him, Kakashi flew backward and crashed hard to the ground. His chest was caved in, and he looked as if he might not survive!

Uchiha Kei was stunned by the sight. Was Kakashi really going to die like this?

"Kakashi!"

Nohara Rin had noticed what happened from nearby and let out a desperate cry. But as soon as she tried to rush over, one of the Iwa Ninja holding them back kicked her away.

Her impulsive move also forced Imai Kenta into trouble, and the defense that had been holding firm collapsed in an instant.

Uchiha Kei didn't even need to look to know that, right now, Imai Kenta probably wanted to kill Nohara Rin even more than he wanted to take down that Iwa Ninja.

If he hadn't been worried Uchiha Kei might try something underhanded and summon Namikaze Minato, he might really have acted while no one was watching.

But Imai Kenta had stopped paying attention to the woman. He would have been glad if she drew the Iwa Ninja's attention and got herself killed.

After knocking Nohara Rin down, however, the Iwa Ninja turned his focus back to Imai Kenta. Aside from stopping Nohara Rin from breaking through to reach Kakashi, he spent the rest of the time attacking Imai Kenta.

Imai Kenta seemed close to his limit now, too. He was covered in more and more wounds.

Uchiha Kei silently watched it all. He had never cared much about his teammates, much less about whether characters from the Original work lived or died.

How could he care about anyone else when he might not even survive himself?

But by sheer coincidence, Uchiha Kei had already saved Kakashi twice. He had thought everything was finally back on track.

Yet in the blink of an eye, Kakashi had been punched to the brink of death by the father of the future Fourth Tsuchikage. It made Uchiha Kei reflect on how fragile life was—but more than that, it left him stunned. Was the perennially indestructible Kakashi really about to die here?

Still, Uchiha Kei had another thought. Kakashi was on the brink of death, and Hyuga Aya was badly wounded. Surely that counted as the "most critical moment" Namikaze Minato had mentioned?

Unfortunately, Uchiha Kei had no time to dwell on any of that. After dealing with Kakashi, Kitsuchi had come straight for him without pausing.

His aura, the sheer force of his chakra—it was the classic look of someone thinking, You're dying today!

I have to summon Namikaze Minato. Things are already going terribly.

Uchiha Kei thought to himself as he used the Body Flicker Technique to put some distance between himself and Kitsuchi. He took out the Kunai Kakashi had given him and channeled chakra into it.

Uchiha Kei didn't know what condition Kakashi was in, but he knew that if they didn't do something quickly, his entire squad might be wiped out!

But this time, luck didn't seem to be on Uchiha Kei's side. After channeling his chakra, he found that nothing around him had changed.

Is the distance too great? Does it need time to activate? Or is Namikaze Minato busy?

Uchiha Kei dodged Kitsuchi's attacks as he wondered to himself. Kitsuchi had made a deep impression on him in the anime and manga.

Uchiha Kei remembered that during the Fourth Shinobi World War, Kitsuchi had commanded the Second Division of the Shinobi Alliance and had once punched Tailed Beast Transformation Kinkaku flying!

He had also demonstrated powerful Earth Style Ninjutsu on the battlefield. When the Ten-Tails was revived, he had arrived at its position with the Allied Forces to fight, using Earth Style: Earth Mountain Technique to suppress the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path and then the Ten-Tails.

He might not be at his peak yet, but he was already showing signs of the man he would become.

For one thing, every time he threw a punch, the ground caved in beneath it. Uchiha Kei felt that if even one of those attacks landed, it would kill him on the spot!

Uchiha Kei felt that this time he was truly in for a disaster. If his Sharingan didn't give him such excellent kinetic vision, and if he weren't so skilled with the Body Flicker Technique, he was sure he would already have been beaten to a pulp!

Uchiha Kei had tried to counterattack, but he realized his options were far too limited.

The abilities he had at his disposal were like a tickle to the furious Kitsuchi. Earlier, Kitsuchi had still dodged Uchiha Kei's Kunai and Shuriken, but now he couldn't even be bothered.

Before, he simply hadn't wanted to get hurt or end up looking battered. But now, he didn't care at all.

Uchiha Kei's attacks had been unable to hurt this man from the very beginning!

Unless Uchiha Kei could get close and, while Kitsuchi wasn't paying attention, drive a Kunai into his heart from an unexpected angle—just as he had when he ambushed Genboku earlier.

But Kitsuchi had chakra covering his entire body now, leaving no openings at all. Uchiha Kei had no way to deal with him.

The longer the fight dragged on, the more anxious Uchiha Kei became.

With his Sharingan, Uchiha Kei could see that Kakashi was truly on his last legs. And if this went on any longer, he knew the Iwa Ninja reinforcements would arrive.

Imai Kenta's position had practically fallen, too. It was like a cat toying with a mouse—the mouse was nearly done for.

As he looked at the utterly crazed Kitsuchi before him, a hint of madness appeared in Uchiha Kei's eyes, too!

"If you're not going to let me go, then I'll make sure you lose every last one of your teammates!"