The First Godspeed That Always Arrives a Step Too Late

Kakashi felt as if some kind of shackle had been severed.

Father, you were right.

If one cannot protect their comrades, then they are the scum of the scum.

Kakashi leaped back a step and began weaving hand signs.

Crackle, crackle, crackle!

A sharp, piercing sound rang out incessantly, like the mournful cries of a thousand birds gathered together.

Renegade Kiyohara watched from behind, observing the process of Kakashi gathering the Chidori.

"Chidori, huh? If I could learn that, I could use it all the way to the series finale."

Kiyohara watched the erupting pale blue electric arcs without blinking.

If he possessed the Sharingan, he could have stolen the technique.

Unfortunately, he did not.

I will avenge Obito.

Kakashi thought to himself.

His left eye opened, revealing two slowly rotating tomoe.

The powerful kinetic vision provided by the Sharingan allowed Kakashi to clearly track the movements of Kakkō's blade.

He could also perceive the movement speed of the Chidori in his hand.

From this moment on, the greatest flaw of this technique was compensated for by the Sharingan.

Or rather, the technique known as Chidori was tailor-made for the Uchiha clan from the very moment of its inception.

"This brat's speed!"

Kakkō frowned.

He intended to strike first with his blade.

As long as he could land a blow on Kakashi's neck before Kakashi struck him, the chakra gathered in Kakashi's hand would dissipate, thereby neutralizing the threat.

It was at this very moment that Kiyohara threw a Shuriken wreathed in currents of wind!

The Shuriken tore through the air, moving much faster than an ordinary Shuriken thanks to the propulsion of the wind.

"Kiyohara..."

Kakashi did not turn his head, but the only person who liked to infuse wind-style chakra into Shuriken was Kiyohara.

He was the only one among them who used such methods.

His heart warmed.

He hadn't expected that the guy he initially paid little attention to would help him time and time again.

"Damn it!"

Kakkō also realized that someone was creating a diversion for Kakashi.

But Kakashi's speed was too fast; he couldn't escape, and the best option was to kill Kakashi first.

However, if he did that, he would be killed by the Shuriken!

In the end, Kakkō decided to shift his stance, allowing the Shuriken to strike his arm to avoid a fatal blow.

He then swung his blade down toward Kakashi with all his might.

Squelch!

Kakkō had underestimated the speed of the Chidori; the blade in his hand was shattered by the blue electric arcs, which then pierced through his chest.

At the same time, Kiyohara's Shuriken embedded itself in his forehead.

With both attacks landing, Kakkō was dead before he hit the ground.

"Huff... huff..."

Kakashi panted heavily; that last strike had nearly drained all of his chakra.

He estimated that he couldn't use the Chidori again; if he forced it, he would pass out on the spot.

However...

Kakashi forced his body to stand and went to Nohara Rin's side, looking at Obito, who was buried under the giant boulder.

Kiyohara, meanwhile, went to loot the bodies.

According to Renegade Kiyohara, there were more and more Iwagakure ninjas outside.

If he didn't loot them now, there wouldn't be anything left to loot later.

"Holy crap, is this Chakra Metal?"

Kiyohara looked at a broken fragment of Kakkō's blade, feeling surprised.

Chakra Metal was a rare type of metal.

Although chakra can theoretically be imbued into anything, even a pencil could be reinforced to have the effect of a hidden weapon.

However, there is a distinction between good and bad results when it comes to imbuing.

Chakra Metal can assist the flow of chakra, allowing it to exert a much stronger effect.

He then gathered the blade that had snapped in two on the ground, the remaining piece tied to Kakkō's wrist, and the other intact blade.

"Can these be forged into ninja tools?"

Kiyohara asked Renegade Kiyohara.

To be honest, Kiyohara had only ever seen such precious material as Chakra Metal on that rich kid, Sarutobi Asuma.

That peculiar ninja tool that looked like a cross between a punch dagger and a blade.

As for Kiyohara himself, he had never seen or touched such expensive metal before.

That prince of the village was arguably the wealthiest person in their class.

Back in the Ninja Academy, he had written an essay titled My Hokage Father, which reportedly even alarmed the headmaster of the Ninja Academy.

This made Kiyohara sigh at the fact that Konoha, or rather the entire ninja world, was just one massive society built on connections.

"It should be enough; if we smelt it down, we should be able to forge a blade."

Renegade Kiyohara nodded.

The two blades Kakkō used had no hilts and were tied directly to his wrists with bandages, much like sleeve arrows.

Kiyohara could smelt these two blades into a longer blade and simply attach a standard hilt later.

"However, hiring someone to smelt and reforge them will cost quite a bit of money."

Renegade Kiyohara said.

A ninja's training requires money, inside and out.

Therefore, for civilian ninjas, aside from the limitations of their own physical hardware, the more significant constraint is resources.

Without channels to acquire ninjutsu or enough money to purchase suitable ninja tools, they fall behind.

When using ninja tools, a ninja can exert much greater ability.

Some ninjas who specialize in swordsmanship lose more than half of their strength if they are without their tools.

"Good thing I have the habit of looting bodies."

Hearing this, Kiyohara sped up his looting.

He pondered that he should go trade for a better Sealing Scroll; otherwise, wouldn't it hinder his money-making speed?

One must know that during wartime, a ninja's biggest side income comes from these spoils of war.

If he just honestly performed missions for the reward, who knows how many years it would take to pay off his loans?

"Kiyohara, there's movement outside."

Kurenai Yuhi suddenly said.

Even she had sensed someone approaching from the outside.

"I know."

Kiyohara nodded and put everything into the Sealing Scroll.

"Say what you need to say quickly; we have to retreat."

Kiyohara looked at Kakashi.

Unless someone present was proficient in Earth Release ninjutsu or could open the Eight Inner Gates, it was nearly impossible to move the giant boulder without harming Obito.

"Kakashi, take Rin and leave here quickly; the enemy's... reinforcements are arriving."

Obito looked at Kakashi.

His sense of pain was gradually returning, and his brain had reacted to the loss of his body, sending out warnings.

Especially in his lower half; Obito was in so much pain he could barely keep his expression steady.

"Earth Release: Earth Trencher!"

Just then, an Iwagakure unit arrived, forming hand seals to unleash an Earth Release ninjutsu.

Rumble.

The ground split open instantly, and dust filled the air.

With no other choice, Kakashi took one last look at Obito and followed the others as they retreated.

"Kakashi, I entrust Rin to you."

Obito spoke his final words.

His body was gradually covered by rubble, and he fell into the crevice created by the Earth Release ninjutsu.

Everything seemed to be buried.

On the front lines, the expression of Namikaze Minato shifted slightly.

Namikaze Minato had a coordinate sense for every special Kunai on which he had carved a Flying Thunder God mark.

Right now, he could feel that something had happened over there.

He had to go.