Deep in the forest, Haori sped toward the front.
Several Kirigakure ninja were faintly visible ahead of him, also hurrying along.
After a brief exchange with Hikari, Haori had set off again.
But when he reached the spot where he'd previously judged Kakashi to be from the sounds, he found that Kakashi and Rin had disappeared. It gave him a headache.
The Hidden Mist Technique obscured his view, and he couldn't tell where the two had gone.
Nor was he sure what condition Kakashi and Rin were in now!
"In the original story, Rin was captured and taken to a cave, where the Three-Tails was sealed inside her, right?"
To be honest, Haori had never agreed with the idea that the Three-Tails was sealed inside Rin.
For one thing, not long after Rin died, the Fourth Mizukage, Karatachi Yagura, became its Jinchuriki. That didn't seem to fit the time it took for a Tailed Beast to revive after its host died.
And even if Madara had enormous influence over Kirigakure, it wasn't as if he could just take a Tailed Beast out whenever he pleased.
How could they let anyone tamper with a village's strategic weapon? And even if he took it out, where would he seal it?
"So what was actually sealed was the Tailed Beast's chakra, right?"
Haori wondered silently, but he didn't have time to keep thinking about it.
Just then, he clearly saw several Kirigakure ninja preparing to retreat in a hurry. Without hesitation, he followed them.
They were obviously going to meet up with others, so following them was bound to lead him somewhere useful.
But the farther he followed, the more he felt that something was off.
"Are these people deliberately leading me somewhere?"
It sounded ridiculous, but after Haori tried speeding up and slowing down, he noticed that the Kirigakure ninja kept the same distance from him as before.
He became increasingly certain that they were leading him on purpose!
"What the hell is going on?"
Haori was full of questions. In fact, ever since he first ran into Kisame and Zabuza, he'd felt that something had gone wrong with the script.
In the original story, those two clearly hadn't come here. Everyone who did had been killed by Obito!
But now the two of them had appeared, and even fought him. Haori couldn't make sense of it.
"Could Madara's plan really have changed?"
Haori's brow furrowed deeper and deeper, but then he suddenly stopped.
His eyes fixed on the way ahead. At that moment, a group of Iwagakure ninja burst out of the forest!
"Uchiha Haori?"
The Iwagakure ninja clearly hadn't expected to encounter someone from Konoha here, let alone Haori!
They'd noticed a disturbance and spotted Kirigakure ninja moving around, so they'd followed them.
The moment the two groups met, their expressions shifted.
"We've heard so much about you. It's our first time meeting, but we've all memorized your face."
A smile suddenly appeared on the lead Iwagakure ninja's face as he stared intently at Haori.
"You and those other brats blew up the bridge with Namikaze Minato, and you've given us no end of trouble. I wonder what Konoha will think when your head lands on the negotiating table?"
"How would I know?"
Haori inwardly cursed his bad luck. He couldn't believe he'd run into Iwagakure at a time like this.
He was starting to suspect that the Kirigakure ninja had deliberately led him here.
But one thing was clear: a fight was unavoidable!
"Though there's something I'm curious about, too."
Haori slowly raised the Ninja Sword he'd picked up from the Hozuki ninja. His eyes turned scarlet as he fixed his gaze on the Iwagakure ninja.
"If Iwagakure finds out during negotiations just how many of your people you've lost, what do you think will happen then?"
The moment he finished speaking, Haori turned into a blur and charged forward—
"Rin, hang in there! We're almost back at camp, where we can meet up with the main force!"
On the other side of the forest, Kakashi encouraged Rin as he hurried toward Konoha's camp.
But Kakashi was deeply troubled. Two or three dozen Kirigakure Anbu were chasing them from behind!
After taking down one of them, he'd quickly woken Rin, but by then the other Kirigakure ninja had returned.
That had put them in an awkward position, and he'd had no choice but to get Rin out of there as fast as possible.
The Kirigakure Anbu behind them were fast, though, and they couldn't put any distance between themselves.
It was easy to imagine what would happen if the pursuers caught up with them. They'd be in real trouble!
"I have to hold on. Even if I have to stay behind, I have to get Rin out of here."
Kakashi repeated the words to himself. It wasn't because of the promise he'd made to Obito. He'd already made up his mind.
He couldn't let what had happened before happen again right beside him!
"Don't even think about escaping!"
Just then, a Kirigakure ninja caught up with them. He drew a short sword and swung it viciously at them!
"Damn it!"
Kakashi cursed and drew his Ninja Sword. His Sharingan flickered, and he instantly blocked the strike.
At the same time, electricity danced along his blade, and he sent it hurtling toward the Kirigakure Anbu.
The Anbu reacted quickly. Instead of continuing to fight Kakashi, he took a step back.
His goal was obvious: slow Kakashi and Rin down so the others could catch up!
Watching the other Kirigakure Anbu draw closer, Kakashi grew even more anxious.
Rin remained silent, lost in thought, and didn't say a word.
She was overwhelmed by guilt and truly felt that she'd become a burden to everyone.
Obito, Kakashi—and even Haori. She had no idea what had happened to him.
"I wanted to protect everyone. Why did this happen?"
Even though she knew that, strictly speaking, this wasn't her fault, she still couldn't stop herself from thinking that way.
Boom! Boom! Boom—
Just then, a series of explosions rang out ahead of them.
The noise interrupted both Rin's and Kakashi's thoughts. They immediately looked forward.
The explosions meant there was a battle ahead. Had reinforcements arrived?
The next second, someone suddenly shot out from the trees.
The moment Kakashi and Rin recognized him, delight appeared in both their eyes!
"Haori?"
"Huh?"
Haori turned around. The moment he saw Kakashi and Rin, he froze too.
Especially when he saw the Kirigakure Anbu behind them, he fell silent for a moment.
Just then, the Iwagakure ninja chasing Haori burst out after him, one by one.
When they saw the Kirigakure Anbu facing them from a distance, both sides froze.
Neither had likely expected Konoha, Iwagakure, and Kirigakure to collide in such a small forest!
"Well, this is lively," one of the Iwagakure ninja muttered. Both Konoha and Kirigakure were their enemies!
"I didn't expect to run into these guys."
The Kirigakure Anbu were no less hostile when they saw the Iwagakure ninja. Their gazes turned dangerous.
"Send the signal! Attack! Take out the Konoha and Kirigakure ninja!"
"Attack! Capture the Konoha ninja and take out the Iwagakure ninja!"
At nearly the same moment, both sides gave their orders. The next second, they charged at each other—and at Haori's group.
"This script has really gone off the rails."
Seeing the scene descend into an all-out brawl, Haori could only curse under his breath and quickly prepare to fight.
But none of them noticed the figure rapidly approaching.