Seeing Veigar instantly capture an Iwa-nin lurking nearby, even if Minato didn't want to admit it, his heart had already acknowledged one fact.
Veigar's strength now surpassed his own.
"When did that happen?"
Magiri never expected that with his stealth abilities, he would be so easily discovered, and before he could even react, he was in the enemy's hands.
The next second, Magiri, realizing what he was about to face, hardened his resolve.
"For the village!"
He simultaneously thrust the kunai in his hand at Veigar.
However, his actions were detected by Veigar the moment he moved.
A flash of a blade, and blood instantly splattered.
Thud.
The deceased Magiri toppled to the ground, his chakra completely plundered by the Shinigami Blade.
"Sensei, let's leave quickly!"
Minato took a deep breath, regained his composure, and then said to Veigar:
"Yes, let's go."
Minato leaped in the original direction, with Kakashi and Rin following closely behind. Veigar brought up the rear of the group.
'His movements are decisive and clean, without any hesitation.'
'Veigar, your growth has completely exceeded my expectations.'
Minato genuinely sighed in his heart, marveling at Veigar's strength.
At this moment, Veigar finally had a reason to examine the situation with the Shinigami Blade.
Essentially, the Shinigami Blade was now a product of Veigar's chakra materialized by fusing the soul of Samehada with the original Shinigami Blade.
While Veigar knew it had inherited all of Samehada's abilities and was usually used by Veigar to generate senjutsu chakra for activating Death God Mode.
However, Veigar only discovered after using it to kill someone that the current Shinigami Blade also inherited the abilities of the original Shinigami Blade:
Soul cutting and soul sealing.
Furthermore, since it was created by Veigar's chakra materialization, it also possessed the Phenomenal Evil Power ability, allowing it to absorb Life Essence.
The souls that were cut down and sealed by it weren't just sealed like with the Reaper Death Seal; instead, they would be absorbed by it, causing it to become increasingly sturdy and increasing its maximum chakra storage capacity.
After examining the Shinigami Blade's condition, Veigar couldn't help but grin.
'The bane of the Impure World Reincarnation Jutsu?'
The Impure World Reincarnation Jutsu, one of the forbidden jutsu developed by the Second Hokage, Tobirama Senju, was originally intended for suicide attacks. However, because Impure World Reincarnation manipulates the souls of the dead, it was recorded in Konoha's Forbidden Scroll and also listed as a kinjutsu.
Souls summoned back from the Pure Land cannot be killed, only sealed?
At this moment, Veigar just wanted to say:
"You'll have to ask the blade in my hand if it agrees first!"
The fiery red morning sun slowly rose. Minato, Veigar, Kakashi, and Rin sat together, resting briefly in the cave.
Before this, Minato had also learned about Obito's act of gifting his Sharingan to Kakashi.
Although Minato was saddened by Obito's death, he also understood the principle that the dead are gone.
"Sigh."
At that time, Minato let out a helpless sigh, expressing the profound grief brought by the war.
"Kakashi, Rin."
"You two rest here. The rest is up to me and Veigar."
From the intelligence they gathered, Minato knew when the Iwa-nin's supplies would arrive at the Kannabi Bridge. So, at this moment, he intended to set out.
"Sensei, I want to go too."
At this point, Kakashi had already covered his Sharingan in his left eye with his Konoha forehead protector, creating the iconic image.
Regarding Kakashi's request, Minato simply shook his head and said:
"No."
"Your body needs rest right now. The Sharingan is too much of a burden on your current body."
Without a second thought, Minato flatly refused Kakashi's request.
If Veigar hadn't been here at this moment, Minato might have agreed to Kakashi's request, but now, he absolutely wouldn't.
Setting aside whether Kakashi would actually go with him to carry out the mission of destroying the Kannabi Bridge, what about Rin?
Minato was well aware of how dangerous and important this mission was.
At that time, he might be able to protect one of Kakashi or Rin, but what about the other?
Minato did not want to experience the pain of losing a student again.
Furthermore, now that Kakashi had gained Obito's Sharingan, his body simply couldn't fully bear the burden of the transplanted Sharingan.
While the future Kakashi became known as the man who copied thousands of jutsu, his inherent talent was suppressed by this Sharingan and never fully developed.
Veigar was the most qualified to speak on this matter.
The future Kakashi Hatake was called "Kakashi the Copy Ninja" because he always ran out of chakra during fights, definitely due to the Sharingan in his eye.
If anyone else had a Sharingan transplanted like Kakashi, and their strength didn't decline, it would be a miracle worthy of offering incense to the gods.
As for someone like Kakashi, whose strength increased instead of decreasing, it was absolutely due to his inherently powerful talent.
For Kakashi without the Sharingan, crossing the Kage-level boundary would have posed no obstacle whatsoever.
The record for the youngest graduate of the Konoha Ninja Academy—his talent was no joke!
"Sensei..."
Kakashi still wanted to argue, to make Minato agree to let him participate in the mission, but he was interrupted by Veigar.
"Kakashi, stay."
"Rin, she needs you right now."
Veigar looked at Rin, and Kakashi also looked at Rin. The worried expression in Rin's eyes swayed Kakashi's desire to fight.
One option was to complete the mission and kill the Iwa-nin to avenge Obito.
The other was to choose to protect Rin.
If this had been before today, Kakashi would have definitely chosen the former.
But after the drastic changes of yesterday, Kakashi remembered Obito's words:
"In the ninja world, those who break the rules are called trash, but those who don't value their comrades are even worse than trash."
"Obito..."
Kakashi sighed deeply in his heart. Seeing the worry and plea in Rin's eyes, he quietly nodded.
"I understand."
Seeing Kakashi's choice, Rin's eyes filled with surprise and joy.
As a medical ninja, Rin was well aware of how much rest Kakashi's current physical condition truly needed.
"Veigar, thank you."
Suddenly, Rin turned and thanked Veigar.
Facing Rin's thanks, Veigar simply shook his head and said:
"Don't thank me."
"I merely did what I could."
Last night, after the four arrived at the cave, Veigar had used the Ultra-Fast Regeneration Technique to heal Kakashi.
Not only that, he used the senjutsu chakra from the Shinigami Blade.
While Veigar's actions healed Kakashi's body and allowed the Sharingan to integrate with Kakashi without needing a long fusion process, it also increased the burden of the Sharingan on Kakashi.
Although Veigar's senjutsu chakra in his body suppressed it, this was only a temporary measure.
Veigar's senjutsu chakra would eventually be depleted, and then...
Looking at Kakashi's appearance, Veigar sighed internally. He could heal Kakashi's body and restore his chakra, but he couldn't heal Kakashi's emotional wounds or his exhausted soul.
'I won't let your talent be buried.'
In addition to physical treatment, Veigar also thought of a way to resolve the Sharingan's suppression of Kakashi's talent.
"Kakashi, I'm entrusting Rin's safety to you."
Kakashi nodded to Minato.
Then, Minato looked at Rin and said:
"Rin, I'm entrusting Kakashi to you as well."
Rin also nodded.
After arranging for Kakashi and Rin, Minato and Veigar exited the cave and immediately headed towards the Kannabi Bridge at top speed.
Minato was known as the "Yellow Flash," so his speed was, naturally, beyond words.
However, this didn't mean Veigar's speed was slower than Minato's. Keeping pace with Minato was very easy for Veigar.
Along the way, Veigar and Minato sped along. Looking at Minato beside him, Veigar suddenly asked:
"Sensei, are you worried about Kakashi?"
Minato gazed straight ahead, not stopping his hurried pace. Both his face and eyes revealed a faint worry.
"Yes!"
Veigar remained noncommittal.
Then, Veigar spoke again:
"If you're worried about the Uchiha clan, then leave it to me to resolve."
Veigar's words startled Minato instantly. He looked at Veigar in surprise.
"Veigar, you..."
Veigar smiled slightly at Minato, then continued:
"Kakashi is my comrade too."
"I respect his choices."
"Whether he chooses to give up the Sharingan or keep it, I will support him unconditionally."
Veigar's sudden declaration greatly surprised Minato, while also filling him with relief.
"Thank you. If Kakashi knew..."
Minato's words were cut short by Veigar:
"Sensei, there's no need for thanks."
"If Kakashi insists on keeping the Sharingan, I hope you can teach him the Mount Myōboku Summoning Jutsu."
Veigar's request instantly enlightened Minato, who then promised Veigar:
"I will."
As soon as Minato's words fell, the Kannabi Bridge came into their view.
Whoosh, whoosh.
Instantly, Veigar and Minato concealed themselves, quietly observing the situation on the bridge.
At this time, there was less than half an hour until the Iwa-nin Village's supplies were due to arrive. Veigar and Minato Namikaze were ready to act at any moment.
On and around the Kannabi Bridge, at least sixty elite ninjas were secretly deployed.
For them, whether this batch of supplies could successfully pass through the Kannabi Bridge was crucial, determining the outcome of this war with Konoha.
With this batch of supplies, they might be able to turn the tide and win.
Because there was an open secret in the Iwagakure: they were discussing an alliance with the Kumogakure . If they could drag out the war until the alliance treaty with the Kumogakure was signed, Konoha would then face a combined attack from them and the Kumogakure.
Therefore, this batch of supplies.
Must not suffer any losses; it must be delivered safely and on time to the battlefield.
The fact that the Iwagakure and the Kumogakure were discussing an alliance was an open secret, so Konoha naturally knew about it.
This was also what caused Hiruzen's anxiety and immense headache.
The battlefield commander, Jiraiya, understood this matter even more clearly than Hiruzen, who was stationed in Konoha.
If he couldn't defeat and force the Iwagakure to surrender before they signed the alliance treaty with the Kumogakure, the end of this war would become indefinitely postponed.
At that point, even more ninjas would die on the battlefield, and the war would once again escalate.
Therefore, this mission to destroy the Kannabi Bridge was also crucial for Konoha.
Since both sides were determined to succeed, one side was bound to end in failure.
Now, it depended on whether Veigar and Minato could complete this mission.
Time passed by, and the Iwagakure's war supplies gradually approached the Kannabi Bridge.
The Iwa-nin on the Kannabi Bridge wore extremely serious expressions.
The deaths of over thirty comrades last night put immense pressure on them, and they also knew that the person coming was the "Yellow Flash," Minato Namikaze.
Although their village had a system where they could abandon a mission if they encountered Minato without punishment, this time, it concerned the war, and countless comrades who were fighting for the village on the battlefield, countless who had sacrificed their lives for this war.
How could they give up?
They simply had no choice.
Therefore, even if they had to pay the greatest price, they had to complete this mission.
Death was not terrifying.
They had already prepared themselves for death.
However, they didn't know.
This time, they were not only facing Minato, but also Veigar, who was no weaker than Minato.
"They're here!"
"They're here!"
"They're here!"
Whether it was the Iwa-nin on the Kannabi Bridge, or the Iwa-nin lurking around the Kannabi Bridge, or Veigar and Minato hidden in the shadows.
At this moment, the words "They're here" resonated in their hearts.
Minato pulled out his Flying Raijin kunai, and Veigar gripped the Shinigami Blade in his hand.
Veigar looked at the Kannabi Bridge. At this moment, he had only one thought: the Kannabi Bridge had to be blown up, but he also had to kill these elite Iwa-nin.
"Maintain vigilance."
"Maintain vigilance."
"Maintain vigilance."
Akatsuchi, the newly promoted Kage-level strongman of the Iwa-nin Village, guarding the bridge, looked at the rapidly approaching transport unit, his eyes filled with a cold glint.
"Come on!"
"You're definitely not leaving here alive."
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TN: This fanfic has been fully translated and is available on my Patreon —— patreon(.)com/PrimalDemon [remove the parentheses ( )]