Obito appears

Crack!

With a sharp crack, the short sword in the leading Mist Ninja's hand snapped in two. The next second, a Black Chakra Rod drove straight through his chest.

With their leader gone, the remaining Mist Ninja posed little threat, and Douyang easily killed them in a few moves.

Boom! Boom!!

After killing them, Douyang took out more than a dozen Explosive Tags and blew up all the supplies.

With the logistical supply point destroyed, the Kirigakure army could only transport supplies from Kirigakure. Not only would this take more time and effort than before, but the shipments would also be vulnerable to attack.

Douyang carefully cleaned up the scene. After making sure he had not left too many traces of himself, he created a Shadow Clone to mislead the enemy while his real body sprinted in the opposite direction.

Not long after Douyang left, Hozuki Mangetsu arrived at the scene of the attack with an elite squad.

Everyone's expression darkened as they watched the supplies bound for the front lines being swallowed by raging flames.

A medical ninja quickly inspected the scene and told Hozuki Mangetsu, "They're all dead. Not a single survivor."

Suppressing his anger, Hozuki Mangetsu asked coldly, "Did the attacker leave any clues?"

The medical ninja said solemnly, "Everyone was killed in a single strike. Judging by the wounds, the attacker used a rod- or staff-type weapon. No such expert has appeared in Konoha before."

Hozuki Mangetsu spat. "Search the area. He couldn't have gotten far."

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!!!

As soon as he finished speaking, more than a dozen Mist Ninja streaked off toward the nearby waters, leaving afterimages in their wake.

When Douyang's Shadow Clone noticed pursuers nearby, he slowed down a little while leaving obvious tracks as he moved.

His purpose was to draw the enemy away and create an opportunity for the real body to retreat safely.

Suddenly, the space behind the Shadow Clone twisted. A hand reached out from within and dragged him straight inside.

Poof!

With a burst of white smoke, the Shadow Clone dispersed under the attack.

Space twisted again, and a man wearing a mask with a single eyehole stepped out.

"Tch!"

The Masked Man clicked his tongue and said in frustration, "A Shadow Clone? He even fooled me. How crafty."

Just then, a pitcher-plant monster emerged from underground. Between its two enormous leaves was a strange man whose face was half white and half black.

The white half of the face chuckled. "Obito, the village's supply units have been destroyed again. The army at the front only has enough provisions to last three days."

The black half said darkly, "Konoha's move to cut off their supplies was quite clever."

Obito snorted. "That's because the Mist Ninja are too stupid. Over three hundred people couldn't even guard a supply point. Useless, every last one of them."

White Zetsu continued with a laugh, "So, Obito, what should we do next?"

Obito said helplessly, "Without supplies, Kirigakure's army won't last more than a few days. What else can we do? Withdraw, of course."

Black Zetsu said in his raspy voice, "Withdraw? After going to all that trouble and gaining nothing, we're just going to withdraw?"

A sharp gleam flashed in Obito's scarlet eye.

"This campaign was meant to test Konoha in the first place. I didn't expect there to be so little internal turmoil after that old man, the Third, stepped down. That really was unexpected.

"But withdrawing isn't the end. It's the beginning..."

Meanwhile.

Douyang's real body returned safely to the team's rendezvous point.

Not long afterward, Guy returned after Douyang and asked, "Douyang, how did things go on your end?"

Douyang said, "I took out four Kirigakure supply units."

Guy smiled. "Just what I'd expect from you. I wandered around the area for ages and only took out one."

Although the Sharingan's visual range fell short of the Byakugan's, it was still considerably better for reconnaissance than the naked eye. Without an ocular Kekkei Genkai, Guy taking out even one supply unit was already commendable.

Kakashi, who had stayed at the rendezvous point to recuperate, suddenly said, "My injuries have pretty much healed. I can head out tomorrow too."

Kakashi's injuries had been too severe. He had spent the past few days recuperating and had not gone out hunting Cloud Ninja.

As the team captain, Kakashi felt somewhat guilty about that.

Hearing that Douyang and Guy had taken out five supply units between them made him even more eager to act.

"We don't need you to pitch in. Just focus on recovering."

Douyang smiled and patted Kakashi.

Before long, Shisui returned from his hunt as well.

His results were equally impressive: he had taken out three supply units.

All told, Team Kakashi had eliminated eight supply units and destroyed large quantities of supplies, causing considerable trouble for the Kirigakure army at the front.

Now, Kirigakure's supply units dared not take remote routes for the sake of a shortcut.

Thanks to the team's tireless efforts, the Kirigakure army remained stationary, and faint signs of unrest had begun to emerge.

Konoha was able to take advantage of this lull to send reinforcements and strengthen its defensive lines.

Meanwhile, the Fourth Raikage, who had been keeping a close eye on the eastern battlefield, also noticed problems with Kirigakure's logistical supplies. He eventually focused his attention on the waters around the Land of Waves, between the Land of Fire and the Land of Water, keenly realizing that the key to deciding this war lay in the Land of Waves.

Just then, Douyang, who had been chatting and laughing, suddenly froze.

It was because he discovered that the Shadow Clone he had used to draw away the pursuers had suddenly disappeared.

The Shadow Clone had been bait to lure the pursuers in the first place.

It was perfectly normal for someone to kill him.

But what surprised Douyang was that the Shadow Clone had noticed nothing unusual before disappearing.

It seemed he had been killed instantly by some unknown, powerful enemy.

Douyang's Shadow Clone had inherited roughly thirty percent of his combat strength.

His strength was about equal to that of an ordinary Jonin.

Yet he had been killed instantly by the enemy without even having time to react.

Douyang narrowed his eyes and sank into thought. Who could it have been?

Across the entire Shinobi World, ninja capable of instantly killing an ordinary Jonin were few and far between.

Among those in Kirigakure, there were even fewer.

The Six-Tails Jinchuriki, Utakata, and the Three-Tails Jinchūriki, the Fourth Mizukage.

One was stationed at the Mist Ninja camp, while the other was in Kirigakure. Neither was likely to personally pursue Team Kakashi.

Could it have been Obito?

Kirigakure's campaign against Konoha this time had to have been carried out at Obito's direction.

Obito was not particularly quick-witted, but his strength was beyond question.

Even in the later stages of the original story, Kamui was one of the few ocular techniques that had not lost its standing.

But even Obito could do nothing to reverse the situation when supplies were running short.

Unless someone was as powerful as Hashirama Senju or Madara Uchiha, it was difficult for an individual's strength to determine the outcome of a war.

As long as they kept dragging things out, Konoha had already won this war.

After pondering for a moment, Douyang said, "The Mist Ninja have been searching hard these past few days. Let's stay put for now. Kirigakure's supplies won't catch up anytime soon anyway, so we'd be better off lying low."

Shisui immediately said, "I agree."

On this outing, he had taken out three supply units and could clearly sense that the Mist Ninja's searches were growing increasingly intensive.

Kakashi sighed. He had still wanted to fight and kill the enemy, but considering how much hostility the four of them had drawn, he reluctantly nodded.