Sunagakure Ninja Appear!

"You don't look as weak as you should, and he doesn't look as strong as he should."

Standing beside the corpse that had been sliced in two, Kakashi looked at Qi and remarked in a somewhat strange, mocking tone.

"But your method was good, even if it was a bit risky."

"Thanks for the compliment. Want to have a 'spar' between the two of us later?"

Qi was nearly choked by Kakashi's sarcastic jab. He shot a disgruntled look at the White Fang Short Blade in Kakashi's hand.

Although he had rarely seen Kakashi use a blade in the manga from his past life, he was now certain that Kakashi was indeed a master of the blade. The claim that he hadn't inherited the White Fang's skills due to his young age was clearly unreliable.

He hadn't forgotten that he himself had started training at age six. In the ninja world, while it was rare to reach the level of a Jonin at such a young age, it wasn't impossible. The Kakashi before him was one such anomaly; the village would likely promote him to Jonin very soon.

Even with his own high level of confidence, Qi had to admit that the current Kakashi was indeed a cut above him.

"Where are Obito and Rin?"

Kakashi asked this while glancing toward the other side, where the sounds of battle were constant. Clearly, Obito and the others were still in the thick of it.

Qi's response was to pull several Kunai from his ninja pouch and fling them out. Immediately, a few screams rang out, and the noise over there was silenced instantly.

The mist hadn't cleared yet. Aside from Qi, who understood the Hidden Mist Technique, the visibility for everyone else was pitifully low.

"Can you dispel the jutsu now?"

Kakashi sheathed his short blade.

"Sensei has already made his move, and I've taken care of the ones left outside. It's time to set the fire."

"Mm."

Nodding, Qi knew it was time to get down to business. He formed a seal, and the thick fog around them thinned rapidly. Within a few breaths, it had almost completely dissipated.

"Kakashi! Qi! Are you two okay?"

As the mist cleared, the figures of Obito and Rin were revealed. Around them, several Rock Ninja lay scattered; some had been killed by Qi's earlier Kunai, while others had fallen to Obito and Rin.

The granary was large, but limited in size. Since Qi and that Chunin had been fighting so "enthusiastically," there was no way Obito and Rin wouldn't have heard, so they were naturally worried.

"We're fine. Let's execute the mission; no one is going to disturb us now."

Qi gave a sly grin and pointed Obito toward the mountains of grain piled around them. He then turned to leave with Kakashi, pulling Rin along as well.

"Alright!"

A loud laugh came from behind—it was Obito. He could finally start the fire without any worries. Truly a cause for celebration.

This supply station consisted of four granaries and three armories. Considering that the Rock Ninja might have reinforcements, the four of them had limited time, so they naturally focused only on the granaries. As for the armories, they couldn't be bothered.

Once they left the granary, they charged toward the other three, one for each.

They didn't know Fire Release, but they had Explosive Tags. These things were essentially portable fire. Grain had always been highly flammable; it caught fire at the slightest touch. In less than half a quarter of an hour, the four granaries at the supply station were engulfed in towering flames, crackling loudly.

"Mission... accomplished..."

Standing on the cliff from before, the four of them watched the supply station below in silence. By now, it had completely fallen into a sea of fire. The entire sky was dyed a deep red by the blaze. Even if the Rock Ninja wanted to put it out, it would be meaningless; at most, they could only save the armories.

"Let's go. Time to rendezvous with Sensei."

Kakashi's eyes were as calm as an ancient well. He had killed the most people this time. Among the high-level Rock Ninja stationed there, the Jonin had been handled by Minato, while the remaining experts had been lured into the granaries by Qi and died inside. The ordinary Genin were almost all wiped out by Kakashi alone.

Kakashi was truly formidable. Although there was an element of elemental advantage involved, this efficiency in killing was terrifying! Qi doubted he could match that speed.

Soon, the four of them left the area. They didn't want to be surrounded by furious Rock Ninja reinforcements. This wasn't like the surprise attack from before; on flat ground, fighting a full-strength battalion of Rock Ninja head-on would surely lead to their deaths.

As for Qi, he had realized one thing: the Land of Water was not as closed off as he had imagined. To clans with Bloodline Limits, his Ice Release was hardly a secret. His assumption that he could fight by exploiting the enemy's lack of familiarity with Yuki clan abilities seemed to have been wishful thinking.

A lesson learned... That Rock Ninja seemed very familiar with the Yuki clan's Ice Release; he had me pinned down for a moment. I can't be this careless next time.

Touching the lock of hair that had been shorn off near his ear, Qi felt a chill in his heart. He had practically walked through the gates of hell today.

"Wait! There's someone ahead!"

Suddenly, a thick wave of chakra surged from the front. Qi's expression changed instantly, and he let out a low growl. In the blink of an eye, all four of them dove into the tall grass.

"Can you tell who they are?"

Hiding his figure completely in the grass, Kakashi rested his hand lightly on his sword hilt. He scanned the surroundings vigilantly. They had been very careful not to leave tracks on their way here, even leaving misleading information, so it shouldn't be Rock Ninja pursuers; they couldn't have arrived this quickly.

The Rock Ninja excelled at large-scale frontal combat, but in terms of tracking ability, they were likely the weakest among the Five Great Nations.

"Doesn't look like Rock Ninja, but they definitely aren't our people!"

Qi was categorical. Who were "their people"? At the moment, their only "own person" was Minato! This chakra was definitely not Minato's!

"Rustle..."

The area was covered in dense, waist-high grass. For Qi and the others, seeing the enemy wasn't easy, especially if the others were also moving stealthily.

Most importantly, this was neither the Land of Fire nor the Land of Earth, but a small country situated between the two. It was a chosen battlefield for the great nations during the ninja wars, and also an excellent place for murder, robbery, and disposing of bodies.

In short, too many lives were lost here; if someone died, no one would ever know.

Finally, as the four of them waited in anticipation, the newcomers revealed themselves. But while Qi was puzzled, the other three were shocked.

Qi was confused because he had no idea who these people were. Kakashi and the others were shocked because they recognized them—not only did they recognize them, but in the early stages of the Third Great Ninja War, this group had been Konoha's enemies: the Sunagakure Ninja!

The fuse for the Third Great Ninja War had been the disappearance of the Kazekage. The Sunagakure Ninja had concluded that Konoha was the culprit, which triggered the war. After the battle at Kikyo Castle, the Sunagakure Ninja suffered heavy casualties, and with the Rock Ninja taking the opportunity to invade, they had been forced to sign a ceasefire agreement with Konoha and form an alliance to resist the Rock Ninja together.

Therefore, this so-called ally was effectively half an enemy... An alliance was an alliance, but they were absolutely not friends! One had to know that Sunagakure hated the Rock Ninja, but they hated Konoha just as much! The number of people within Sunagakure who opposed the alliance with Konoha was quite considerable.

"It's the Sunagakure ninja! Damn it, how could they appear here!?"

Cold light flickered in the eyes of Kakashi as he hissed in a low voice, "Something is wrong! There is a huge problem! These people are up to no good!"

Kakashi desperately suppressed his aura. This time, his hand was not just resting on the hilt of his blade, but was firmly gripping it.

His old man and the Sunagakure ninja were "old friends." The White Fang Short Blade in his hand had even cut down several Sunagakure jonin. If this group of Sunagakure ninja discovered that the son of their former "old friend" was right here, the outcome would certainly be highly unpredictable...

"I know there's a problem, can you keep your voice down..."

Qi was startled by Kakashi's series of roars and almost couldn't resist knocking him unconscious with a punch, "If you know there's a problem, why the hell are you shouting... Do you want to get us discovered!? Just watch first and see what they are planning to do..."

And it was at this very moment that this group of dust-covered Sunagakure ninja finally came to a halt...