Am I Late? (Seeking Follow-up Reads)

"Haori? And Might Guy and Yamashiro Aoba."

The crows continued to circle the forest, though they dispersed slightly under the control of Yamashiro Aoba.

Although Kakashi and Nohara Rin had some inkling of what was happening after witnessing that signature combat style, they only truly breathed a sigh of relief once they saw the faces of the newcomers.

"Are you all alright?"

Seeing Might Guy and Yamashiro Aoba arrive with Nohara Rin, Haori asked in a low voice.

"Haori, we're fine, but..."

Nohara Rin turned her head to glance at the collapsed cave not far away, her eyes reddening as she found herself unable to continue.

Kakashi also stood up in silence, electric arcs flickering across his hand once more, before he finally spoke.

"I'm fine. I'll hold them off; you take Nohara Rin and leave quickly."

"Seeking death isn't on the agenda right now; recover as best you can."

Haori shook his head; he could guess exactly what was going through Kakashi's mind.

Having suffered so many emotional blows, he was likely looking for a way to die.

"It's you three?!"

The appearance of Haori and his companions caused the Iwagakure Ninja to falter in surprise, but as well-trained shinobi, they quickly regained their composure.

However, once these Iwagakure Ninja recognized the faces of the three, their surprise quickly turned into a towering rage!

They were surprised that these three had walked right into a trap, but furious that they weren't afraid of being captured and had actually come to reinforce the others.

"Surprised?"

Though Haori was incredibly cautious on the inside, he still wore a smile.

"I wonder, did you enjoy the explosion last night?"

An explosion?

Kakashi and Nohara Rin were slightly stunned upon hearing this, immediately recalling the massive blast from the previous night.

They truly hadn't expected that the culprits behind it were Haori and his team!

"Attack! Watch out for that brat's eyes!"

Perhaps driven by shame and anger, the Iwagakure captain roared and quickly formed hand seals.

"Earth Style: Earth Dragon Spear!"

"Scatter! Yamashiro Aoba, Might Guy, cover those two!"

Seeing this, Haori leaped into the air while issuing his orders.

These Iwagakure Ninja had begun using ninjutsu, which meant they no longer intended to hold back.

"Die!"

Just as Haori landed after dodging the earth spikes, two Iwagakure Ninja rushed behind him, their kunai thrusting directly toward his back.

However, as their blades pierced through Haori's back, they immediately realized something was wrong!

Poof—

Haori's body instantly transformed into a mass of electricity, which quickly surged into the two men, leaving them paralyzed.

"Lightning Clone? When?"

The faces of the two Iwagakure Ninja changed drastically, but their bodies were completely immobilized, and at that moment, Haori lunged out from the shadows.

The ninja blade in his hand turned into a cold flash, instantly slicing across the throats of the two Iwagakure Ninja.

But no sooner had he sheathed his blade than he was forced to leap into the air again, as another Iwagakure Ninja appeared behind him.

"Earth Style: Earth Dragon Bullet!"

The bloodthirsty Iwagakure Ninja had no intention of letting him go; seeing him leap, the captain immediately formed more hand seals.

"Fire Style: Great Fireball Technique!"

Caught in mid-air with no room to maneuver, Haori could only hurl his ninja blade at an Iwagakure Ninja on the ground.

At the same time, he quickly formed hand seals, and in an instant, a massive fireball erupted from his mouth.

Boom—

The fireball and the Earth Dragon Bullet collided in the air with a muffled thud, and just as he landed, the Iwagakure captain and several other ninja surrounded him.

Clang, clang, clang.

Haori immediately drew his kunai, and a series of harsh metallic clashing sounds rang out through the forest!

Engaging in taijutsu was certainly not a disadvantage for Haori, though these Iwagakure Ninja were no fools; they knew exactly what to do when facing an Uchiha.

They ensured they always faced Haori from the front while keeping others positioned to launch sneak attacks from behind.

If their tactics were used against an ordinary Uchiha, even one with a Three Tomoe Sharingan, the results would likely be devastating.

But for Haori, it might increase the danger level significantly, yet it would absolutely not be fatal!

Having been forced to develop in all aspects, he had dabbled in a wide variety of abilities.

And most crucially, the improvement of his Sharingan did not rely on mental stimulation, but rather on the passive skill [Zhuo Er Bu Fan].

This passive skill was not merely about enhancing his Sharingan; it had even slightly elevated his bloodline as well!

"However, the fighting spirit of these Iwagakure Ninja is truly tenacious."

Watching the ninjas who continued to launch attacks under the command of their captain, Haori could not help but frown slightly.

The difficulty of this battle was somewhat beyond his imagination.

Even though several Iwagakure Ninja had already fallen at his hands in these few short minutes of fighting, this group of guys remained crazed.

Was it truly the 'Will of Stone', or had they really been driven to a rage by him?

Furthermore, aside from his own situation being relatively stable, the conditions of the others were truly not looking good.

Might Guy was fighting bitterly; although he remained full of passion, the wounds on his body were increasing.

Kakashi had recovered slightly and rejoined the battle, but his condition was exceptionally poor, and he could no longer maintain his Chidori.

Aoba was still using his crows to provide cover and protect Nohara Rin, but he had already expended a great deal of energy, and his situation was not optimistic either.

"It seems I cannot pin all my hopes on Namikaze Minato. What on earth is he doing? Why hasn't he arrived yet?"

Haori's brows furrowed even deeper. Although the original story didn't explicitly state it, Kakashi was clearly at his limit when he launched his final attack.

Presumably, he would soon lose consciousness, and when he woke up, he would have already been saved by Namikaze Minato, with the battle having ended.

Now, because of his own intervention, Kakashi could clearly hold out longer, but that didn't seem like a reason for Namikaze Minato to be late, did it?

Could it be a 'scripted delay'?

"It seems I cannot rely on him; I must think of a way myself."

Haori's original intention was to stall these Iwagakure Ninja and wait for Namikaze Minato to end the battle, but now he had to do something.

His gaze involuntarily locked onto the Iwagakure Ninja captain. He knew one principle—

To capture the bandits, first capture the ringleader!

"I'm sorry, I have to leave!"

On the front line, Namikaze Minato wore an expression of anxiety.

He had long since sensed the chakra reaction from the kunai he had left for Kakashi, but he could not move out immediately.

According to intelligence, a massive explosion had occurred at one of the Iwagakure strongholds.

Although no one knew exactly how much damage such an explosion had caused, it would definitely have an impact on Iwagakure.

The facts proved this to be true; perhaps knowing that their rear was in trouble, the Iwagakure offensive today had been particularly desperate from the start.

This put immense pressure on the Konoha defense, but once Konoha held firm and inflicted heavy casualties on Iwagakure, the morale of these Iwagakure Ninja plummeted. Seeing an opportunity, the Konoha commanders began to press the advantage.

Namikaze Minato had to participate in such a battle. Although Iwagakure's morale had collapsed, there were still some who were resisting to the death.

With Namikaze Minato present, those resisting to the death were easier to deal with, and it could further strike at Iwagakure's morale.

However, this had consumed too much of his time, and he was now deeply worried about the situation of Kakashi and the others.

The moment the battle finally ended, he simply exchanged a brief greeting with the ninjas cheering around him, and then instantly activated the Flying Thunder God technique.

"Kakashi, Obito, Rin, I'm sorry, I'm late. You must hold on."

Namikaze Minato muttered silently in his heart. However, when the space shifted and everything around him changed, his expression turned somewhat strange.

Because he saw that amidst a group of Iwagakure Ninja, a young Uchiha was holding a kunai.

He gently swiped it across the neck of an Iwagakure Ninja, while the surrounding Iwagakure Ninja were shouting "Captain!"

This gave him a strange thought—

Am I... really late?

As a newbie, I humbly beg for your continued reading. Right now, the follow-up rate determines everything for a book; letting a book sit idle is the easiest way to kill it.

Thank you to all the big bosses. Onz