The Battle of Kannabi Bridge

As he spoke, Kabuto took out three neatly bound documents from his ninja tool pouch.

He laid the three documents flat on the desk, gently pushing them towards Kotobukura and Yagura with his fingertips, and introduced them in a calm tone:

"This is the relevant information regarding the three Akatsuki members mentioned above."

"Hopefully, this will be helpful for Mist Village's subsequent investigation into the Akatsuki."

Kou looked at the documents in front of him with some surprise, and then reached out and picked up the document on top with his name printed on it.

Turning to the title page, a headshot of him taken five years ago comes into view.

The black-haired boy in the photo looks at the camera with a signature roguish smile on his lips, his eyes and brows full of youthful vigor and handsomeness.

"Me at seventeen? Wow... so handsome!"

He silently admired it for a moment, and the subtle feeling of nostalgia that had just arisen was skillfully suppressed back into his heart.

He lowered his eyelids, turning the pages of the documents one by one, his brows furrowing slightly, adopting a focused expression as if he were studying them intently.

However, Dou's next sentence made the fingers that were turning the page pause imperceptibly.

"Konoha hopes that Mist Village Uchiha Kuro among these three during the upcoming investigation."

Dou's tone remained businesslike and steady, but his enunciation was a few degrees heavier than before:

"If Mist Village gathers any information related to Uchiha Kuro, please convey it to Konoha as quickly as possible."

This is one of Konoha's most important demands in this collaboration.

Knock:...(||๐_๐)

"No? Let's leave aside that Uchiha Itachi who's utterly useless to Konoha, for now,"

"Orochimaru, that dangerous individual who conducts illegal experiments throughout the Ninja World and has countless lives on his hands, is far more threatening to Konoha than I am Konoha, isn't he?"

He stared at the documents in his hand, muttering through gritted teeth:

"I haven't made any move against anyone from Konoha during the five years I've been a defector, so why are you targeting me first?"

"Isn't this bullying honest people?!"

He roared indignantly from the bottom of his heart, but his face still maintained that gentle yet professional interrogation-like expression.

He gently placed the documents back on the table, tilted his head slightly, and asked Dou with a hint of confusion:

"Uchiha Kuro... I know something about this person."

"As far as I know, he wasn't particularly active in missions outside of Akatsuki."

Compared to Orochimaru and Uchiha Itachi, he doesn't seem to have done anything that harmed Konoha's interests.

Why should we pay special attention to such a person?

As he spoke, his peripheral vision subtly swept past his pocket, landing on Kakashi and Guy.

At the same time, Yagura also looked up from the spread-out documents on the table, a smile of interest appearing on his stiff face.

Kabuto was silent for a moment, then turned his head to look at Kakashi beside him.

His gaze held both inquiry and a request for instructions.

Kakashi raised his eyes, met his gaze, and then nodded very slightly.

After receiving Kakashi's permission, Kabuto withdrew his gaze and looked back at the two high-ranking officials of Mist Village in front of him.

He took a deep breath, and all the emotions on his face were completely suppressed in that moment.

Kabuto looked at Kotori and Yagura opposite him and introduced them in a deep voice:

"Uchiha Kou, 22 years old, male, from the Uchiha clan of Konoha."

He defected from Konoha five years ago, and the reason for his defection remains unknown.

His Kekkei Genkai is the Three Tomoe Sharingan, and he is proficient in all five elemental esoteric techniques, especially the nature transformation and form transformation of fire and lightning Chakra.

Even before his defection, his Swordsmanship, Genjutsu, Taijutsu had already reached a level far exceeding that of ordinary Jonin.

He glanced at the pocket in front of him that was displaying his information, a hint of surprise flashing in his eyes.

Kabuto, oblivious to Kou's thoughts, continued earnestly:

"During the Third Ninja World War, on the battlefield in the Land of Earth, while his entire squad had been killed and no reinforcements had arrived, he single-handedly killed two Sand Village Jonin and seven Chunin members of the same squad."

After this battle, he and Kakashi Hatake, who had become famous in the Iwagakure battlefield, were collectively known as the "Konoha Twin Blades."

Kabuto's voice paused slightly here:

"During the later stages of the Third Ninja World War, he independently developed an A-rank Ninjutsu — Lightning Release Swift Thunder."

He then fought on various battlefields, and in the Battle of Iwagakure Kannabi Bridge Battle in the Iwagakure region, he single-handedly killed an elite Jonin, five Iwagakure Jonin, and an entire force including dozens of Chunin and Genin.

After this battle, it was given the name "Black Lightning" by the Iwagakure forces, and played a decisive role in Konoha's final victory on the battlefield.

As Dou finished speaking, the atmosphere in the entire office seemed to become somewhat oppressive.

Kakashi's hands, resting on his knees, clenched silently. His left eye, hidden by his Forehead Protector, glowed faintly in the darkness, as if reminding him not to forget the name of the person who owned that eye.

Kou placed the documents on the table, his eyes slightly lowered, and the deliberately maintained calm in his eyes quietly loosened a little in the shadows.

In the shadows by the door, Obito leaned against the cold wall, his single eye, protruding from his mask, peering over Yagura.

First, it landed on the half of Kakashi's face covered by his Forehead Protector, then slowly moved to Koko's lowered eyelashes.

"Kannabi Bridge..."

He silently repeated the name in his heart, a mix of emotions welling up inside him.

The Kannabi Bridge Battle was a scenario he had rehearsed countless times in his mind since he came to this world.

It was a battle he believed he was best prepared for and that should have been foolproof!

Regardless of Kakashi's complete swordsmanship inheritance from his father, the White Fang of Konoha, whose strength is already approaching that of an elite Jonin.

Obito that idiot Obito, through years of relentless and frantic training, has far surpassed the level of the original timeline in terms of strength.

Including himself, who participated in that mission with them, Jonin and one Chunin whose strength was close to the Jonin threshold.

Combined with his precise grasp of the enemy's deployment intelligence, that mission should have been a complete success!

However... things took a far greater turn than he had anticipated.

In the canyon leading to Kannabi Bridge, they did not Jonin the two Iwagakure they had expected.

It was an entire elite Iwagakure unit, including one elite Jonin and five other Jonin!

Kou still remembers the chill that surged through his heart when he faced that Iwagakure squad.

At that time, although he had already awakened the Three Tomoe Sharingan and his strength had reached the level of an elite Jonin,

But faced with this completely unexpected situation and such a huge gap in combat strength, he couldn't help but feel flustered.

But at that time, I still made a judgment that seemed absolutely correct at the time:

Using his speed advantage, he tied down most of the enemy forces, allowing Kakashi and Obito to take Rin and withdraw from the battle first, temporarily abandoning their mission to seek reinforcements.

In his original plan, with the absolute speed advantage brought by Swift Thunder, he could leave the battlefield at any time;

As long as Kakashi and his group find reinforcements, regardless of whether the mission can be completed smoothly, Minato's presence alone is enough to guarantee Obito and the others' safety.

With Minato by his side, and Obito himself and Kakashi by his side, he naturally wouldn't fall into Madara's hands like in the original timeline.

Finally, after much persuasion, Kakashi and Obito, who had awakened their Two-Tomoe Sharingan in that critical moment and insisted on staying to Obito alongside him, reluctantly accepted the proposal.

With Lin in tow, they retreated at full speed towards the direction of the Minato.

While waiting for Kakashi and the others to provide support, he single-handedly held off the entire Iwagakure pursuit force in a desperate battle against overwhelming odds.

However, even though he had done his best to stall for enough time, Kakashi and his team still did not arrive with reinforcements.

As time passed, his Chakra was depleted to the point of near exhaustion in round after round of battles.

And the ominous premonition in his heart continued to grow as the number of wounds increased.

With reinforcements failing to arrive and his Chakra nearly depleted, he was almost in dire straits.

Driven by immense negative emotions and the instinct for survival, he, Uchiha Kuro, experienced the second brief surge of power in his life!

He opened the sixth gate of the Eight Inner Gates, which he had been unable to break through at the time, and with overwhelming power, he killed all the enemies present!

But in the end, before he could even get to Kakashi and the others, he fell into a coma due to the immense physical strain of forcibly opening the Sixth Gate.

Before his consciousness sank into darkness, only two things were on his mind.

One thing is to feel grateful that I survived.

The other thing was praying that Obito and the others would be safe and sound...

"I think I changed Obito's fate, didn't I?"

Before I completely lost consciousness, this is probably what I was thinking.

But when he finally opened his eyes on his sickbed at the Konoha battlefield stronghold...

The first thing I saw was Kakashi, who had already acquired Sharingan Obito, and Rin, who was sitting by the hospital bed with her eyes red from crying.

According to Kakashi, who looked grave at the time, they encountered another Iwagakure squad on their way to find Minato-sensei's support.

The strength of that Iwagakure squad "just happened" to put them in a tough fight.

And what happened to them afterward...

Rin's silence, Kakashi's right eye socket stained with blood, and that name left beneath the collapsed rock face...

At that point, I couldn't listen to anything anymore.

At that moment, only one thought was echoing wildly in my mind.

"I haven't changed anything..."