"Huff... Huff... I-I'm not going to stoop to your level..."
Unable to even touch the hem of Kakashi's clothes despite giving it his all, Obito gave up the chase and plopped down onto the grassy training field, glaring furiously at Kakashi, who hadn't even broken a sweat.
"It's already this late. Why isn't our new captain here yet? Did something happen?"
Rin, who had been watching the chase the whole time, finally spoke up now that the two had calmed down, voicing her concern.
"Who knows? Maybe he's Obito's relative or something. That would explain the complete lack of time awareness."
Kakashi squinted as he looked up at the high-rising sun, shielding his eyes from the harsh glare with his hand.
"I still don't even know who our new captain is supposed to be. Don't tell me they're just sending a random Chūnin..."
Obito muttered under his breath.
"Yo, everyone's here, huh?"
Just as the three of them sat in awkward silence amid the long wait, a mirror of ice suddenly materialized between them. From within, Takeshi's voice echoed out.
Kakashi & Obito & Rin: "???"
Stepping out from the ice mirror, Takeshi saw the stunned expressions on their faces and gave himself a mental thumbs-up for the stylish entrance he had spent time carefully planning.
That's right—Takeshi was intentionally late.
Once he found out Obito, the infamous king of tardiness, was one of his new teammates, Takeshi decided to fight fire with fire. You're always late? Then I'll show up even later than you!
"Eh? Takeshi? What are you doing here?"
Seeing Takeshi in standard Konoha Jōnin attire, Obito hadn't caught on yet and excitedly scrambled up from the ground to ask why he was there.
"You idiot, Obito. Isn't it obvious? Takeshi's our new captain."
Kakashi stepped off the wooden training post and walked toward Takeshi.
"Huh? Seriously?!"
Obito's face lit up with a beaming grin, eager to hear confirmation straight from Takeshi.
Watching Obito's enthusiasm, Takeshi twitched at the corner of his mouth.
Why does this kid look so thrilled to be on my team?
I'm not thrilled at all, okay? What if you get crushed by falling rocks again?
But...
Takeshi's gaze passed over Kakashi, Rin, and Obito, finally settling on the distant Konoha village gates. He pulled out the scroll entrusted to him by Hiruzen.
"Well, Kakashi's right. Starting today, I'll be taking over for Minato-san as the captain of Team 7. That's all."
...
Iwagakure's sudden assault had forced Hiruzen to recall Jiraiya, who had been assisting Orochimaru, and appoint him as the commander to counter the invasion.
This left Jiraiya feeling rather gloomy.
Fighting Kirigakure had been much easier—Hokage's councilor Mitokado Homura handled strategy, Orochimaru handled tactics, and Jiraiya just acted as the spearhead. He even had free time to plot out the third volume of The Tale of the Snow Woman.
Speaking of which, The Tale of the Snow Woman had been a massive hit. The revenue from one volume alone rivaled the sum of all his previous works.
But now? He had to deal with leading the war effort against Iwagakure. Forget gathering writing material—he'd be lucky if the enemy didn't gather him.
These days, Jiraiya even went to the bathroom with a sense of dread, afraid that an Iwa-nin might burst out of the ground and attack him from below. That would be a true "flower bloom" moment.
Thankfully, his top disciple Minato had been sent over by Hiruzen. Even Uchiha Fugaku had brought his four-year-old son to the battlefield. That eased some of Jiraiya's burden.
"Getting dragged into a war of attrition clearly puts us at a disadvantage. After all, the enemy outnumbers us by a wide margin."
Fugaku's voice interrupted Jiraiya's thoughts.
Standing in front of a map, Fugaku pointed toward Amegakure.
"The Iwa-nin are attacking us from both the Land of Rain and the Land of Grass. Our already limited forces are stretched thinner than ever. Trying to resist a two-front assault with our current manpower is completely unrealistic. I propose we concentrate our forces and eliminate one of the invading armies."
Fugaku was much more outspoken now compared to how reserved he had been in Konoha.
Back in the village, as the head of the Uchiha Clan, all Fugaku could do during high-level meetings with Hiruzen and Danzō was nod and say "yes."
But Jiraiya had no strong bias against the Uchiha, so Fugaku could voice his opinions freely.
After all, Jiraiya had a secret he didn't want Fugaku to expose.
"We don't have to worry too much about the Amegakure route. Hanzō the Salamander isn't the type to just let Iwagakure troops march through his land."
Jiraiya, knowing Hanzō's temperament, gestured for Fugaku to relax. It was only a matter of time before the warlord would strike back against the encroaching Iwa forces.
Of course, if Hanzō decided to collaborate with Ōnoki, then... well, forget everything he just said.
"The Iwa-nin passing through the Land of Rain aren't numerous. Fugaku, I'll leave them to you and your clansmen."
Based on current intelligence, Jiraiya assigned the smaller of the two Iwa units to the Uchiha.
"Understood." Fugaku didn't seem discouraged by the rejection of his proposal. He simply nodded as usual.
Seeing no further objections, Jiraiya stood up from his seat.
"Alright then, let's begin today's war."
There was one detail Jiraiya hadn't shared with anyone.
Hiruzen had secretly dispatched a squad to destroy Kannabi Bridge, a critical supply route for Iwagakure.
...
Across the entire Iwa front, only Jiraiya knew of this plan.
A few days later...
Takeshi led his squad in a covert infiltration mission deep into the war zone.
To avoid detection, the team deliberately chose a rugged and hidden path.
"Konoha shinobi? Only four brats? Looks like Iwa's being underestimated."
Hidden in the trees, the Iwa-nin Mogera was conducting a solo reconnaissance mission and had just spotted Takeshi's group.
"Hey, Takeshi."
Walking at the front of the team, Kakashi suddenly halted.
"Hmm?"
Catching Kakashi's signal, Takeshi immediately ordered the others to hide, then began sensing how many enemies were nearby.
"Detected already? Doesn't matter. They've stepped right into my trap."
Mogera, who had already set up shadow clones around the area, grinned with confidence. He prepared to strike first and wipe out the kids.
"Leave the girl alive—we might get some intel out of her. Huh? Where's this cold wind coming from?"
Before Mogera could act, information from his shadow clones flooded into his brain—many of them had been instantly destroyed.
So fast—how is that possible?
In a flash, the ten clones positioned on the outer perimeter were taken down one after another.
Seeing that Takeshi had already made his move, Kakashi leapt from hiding and dashed toward Mogera, a ball of lightning chirping in his hand.
"Let's test out my new jutsu on this guy!"
"So fast!"
Drawing the ninja sword from his back, Mogera tried to exploit the brief opening caused by Kakashi's high-speed charge and swung down at him.
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Pls Drop some Power Stones
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