The Final Line of Defense

"Trouble?"

Uchiha Kei furrowed his brow. If Namikaze Minato called something trouble, it was probably a truly monumental problem.

Minato's strength spoke for itself. His position determined the heights from which he viewed the world, so it was easy to imagine just how troublesome their enemy this time would be.

Uchiha Kei swallowed. Could that guy Kitsuchi have already made it back to defend the bridge?

No, if it was Kitsuchi, he probably wouldn't count as trouble to Minato. Could it be the Third Tsuchikage?

That was impossible, too. The Third Tsuchikage still had to defend against the Land of Clouds' surprise attack. He couldn't have come to the Land of Grass.

So what sort of person could give Minato trouble?

Uchiha Kei racked his brain but couldn't figure it out. All he could do was look to Minato, hoping he would tell them.

"We don't know the exact number of the final defensive squad, but I saw two people," Minato said, his voice low. He didn't keep them in suspense. "Neither of them is ordinary. One is Shū, and the other... is Han."

Imai Kenta took the names in stride, since he had no idea who either of them were.

Uchiha Kei, on the other hand, looked uneasy. He couldn't remember who this Shū was, but he definitely remembered Han!

If nothing had changed, Han was the Five-Tails' Jinchuriki. He hadn't appeared much in the story, and he'd been taken down by Akatsuki right at the start.

But Han was definitely no pushover. Uchiha Kei remembered him kicking Naruto out of Nine-Tails Chakra Mode.

The amount of chakra and explosive power that implied was beyond anything Uchiha Kei wanted to imagine. He just couldn't understand why Han was here.

The situation in the Land of Earth was already like this, and the Third Tsuchikage had still sent the Five-Tails Jinchuriki to the Land of Grass. The Third Tsuchikage's ambitions were truly immense.

As for the unknown number of troops, that answer was far too vague.

If they were lucky, there wouldn't be many. If they weren't, they were in real trouble.

Uchiha Kei and Imai Kenta exchanged a glance. They both knew this was the final moment. They hadn't been as lucky as Hyuga Aya, but they had an opportunity she didn't.

The opportunity might not seem worth much to them, but they'd come this far. They could only grit their teeth and press on.

"I'll take on Shū," Uchiha Kei said after a moment's thought. "Kenta, go plant the Explosive Tags beneath the bridge. I'll give you all of mine. Too bad Hyuga Aya isn't here..."

"I'll take on Han." Minato nodded without dwelling on Aya. Then he looked at Kenta. "Kenta, go plant the Explosive Tags. Be careful, though. If there are too many enemies beneath the bridge, do your best to hold them off and wait for Kei and me to support you. Understood?"

"Yes." Imai Kenta nodded and accepted the assignment without complaint.

The mission was certainly unpredictable, but Kenta knew it was better than having to face the Five-Tails Jinchuriki or the man called Shū.

One was on a level he couldn't possibly handle, while they had no information on the other. Well, it wasn't that they had no information at all, but anyone standing alongside a Jinchuriki couldn't be ordinary.

If there were no one beneath the bridge, Kenta would be the safest of them all. But he knew that was impossible.

"Kei, Kenta, take these." Just then, Minato seemed to remember something. He took two pills from his ninja pouch and handed them to the pair.

"These were developed by the Akimichi Clan. They restore chakra very quickly, with few side effects. Once they wear off, though, you might feel unusually tired."

Uchiha Kei nodded, took the yellow pill, and swallowed it. Imai Kenta shook his head and refused.

Kenta recovered his chakra quickly. Who knew what was going on with his physique? Uchiha Kei was different.

Since fighting Kitsuchi, Kei hadn't truly recovered. Even after taking Ration Pills, the results had been mediocre.

Now they were at the most crucial moment. Besides, he'd already taken plenty of these, so he didn't mind taking another pill from the Akimichi Clan.

Uchiha Kei vaguely remembered that with the Akimichi Clan's pills, all you had to do was avoid the red one.

None of the pills Minato had taken out were red, which put Kei at ease. Before long, he could clearly feel his chakra recovering at an astonishing rate.

"Now, I'll tell you what I know about Shū." Seeing Kei begin to recover, Minato nodded and continued. "Shū is a member of the Explosion Corps. I've heard he also possesses a Kekkei Genkai. He's young, but don't underestimate him."

"A Kekkei Genkai?" Uchiha Kei nodded. "Looks like I picked the right opponent. It takes a Kekkei Genkai to counter a Kekkei Genkai."

Uchiha Kei knew about Iwa's Explosion Corps. That kid named Deidara in the future had apparently been part of the unit before he defected.

But Deidara was luckier than most. He was a comrade of the future Fourth Tsuchikage and a student of the Third Tsuchikage. It was just a shame he had such a strange personality.

Still, setting his personality aside, his abilities were impressive. He'd even defeated—and could have killed—the Fifth Kazekage.

The Iwa Explosion Corps was a famous unit, too. It went without saying that Shū was no ordinary shinobi.

If he were really weak, the Third Tsuchikage wouldn't have let him join the unit, let alone assigned him to guard Kannabi Bridge alongside the Five-Tails Jinchuriki.

Uchiha Kei rubbed his chin. Could Shū have a mouth on his hand like Deidara, and be another clay user?

If so, Kei would have to be careful.

I remember Deidara was taken down by a Genjutsu from Uchiha Itachi. I wonder if I could try that, too. Uchiha Kei felt his chakra returning.

He was pretty good at Genjutsu. Otherwise, he never would have managed to use it on himself to force his Sharingan to awaken.

Uchiha Kei's expression suddenly turned odd. He realized he'd hardly ever used Genjutsu. Before, it had been inconvenient without the Sharingan, but now he could use it openly.

But soon his expression returned to normal. His first opponent after "awakening" his Sharingan had been Kitsuchi, who might not even have been afraid of his Genjutsu. Besides, Kitsuchi had looked him in the eye without hesitation.

And after fighting Kitsuchi, Uchiha Kei had practically entered a "half-life" state. To conserve chakra, he hadn't dared use Ninjutsu carelessly, and his opponents hadn't been worthy of it anyway.

Still, Kei had seen his own weaknesses. He'd obtained a treasure but hadn't developed it properly, and he couldn't help sighing.

I hope this war ends soon. There's still so much I need to work on.