Although he was a little moved, the guilt that had briefly risen in Takeshi's heart instantly vanished when he saw himself covered in Obito's tears and snot.
With a look of disgust, Takeshi shoved Obito off him and gave him a solid thump on the head before smugly blowing on his fist to vent his frustration.
"Hmph, brat, I won't charge you for unlocking the Mangekyō Sharingan this time."
Without looking at Obito's aggrieved expression, Takeshi pulled out his Flying Thunder God kunai, raised his chin, and struck a pose as if begging for praise.
"So? Letting you carry these ahead of time proved pretty useful, didn't it?"
The reason he was able to move freely between the three of them was precisely because he had given each of them a Flying Thunder God kunai in advance. This way, he wouldn't lag behind at a critical moment like Minato did.
"It really was a good idea."
Kakashi, for once, gave honest praise and acknowledged Takeshi's contribution.
If it weren't for Takeshi's foresight, Rin would have been kidnapped during Daishi's first attack.
He pulled out the Flying Thunder God kunai Takeshi had given him. Compared to Minato's version, Takeshi's kunai looked much more like an ordinary one.
"Hmph, as long as you get it."
Takeshi glanced at Obito, who was still clutching his head and groaning in place. Seeing that Obito hadn't undergone a drastic personality change after awakening the Mangekyō Sharingan, Takeshi's mood brightened considerably.
After storing away his kunai, he called out to the others to rest briefly before continuing their advance.
...
"Huff... Huff... Huff..."
Lying behind a boulder, Uchiha Yōwan gasped heavily for breath. Just as he was about to peek out and assess the situation outside, he accidentally tugged at the wound on his abdomen and bent over in pain.
"You okay?"
Noticing Yōwan's movements, Hyūga Iroha, whose right arm was wrapped in bandages, reached out to stop him. While expressing concern, he activated his Byakugan to scout the surrounding area.
"Don't move. Leave the recon to me—I've got the Byakugan, after all."
Seeing the bulging veins on Iroha's face, Yōwan let out a bitter smile and nodded.
"We've been fighting side by side for days, and I actually forgot the Byakugan could see through terrain."
"Haha, well, it's not like Hyūga and Uchiha often team up."
Shaking his head with a smile, Iroha quickly assessed their situation.
"There are still five Kirigakure ninja out there. They're closing in on us in a search formation. With just the two of us, I'm afraid there's no getting out of this."
Though it was his first time facing death this closely, and though Iroha forced himself to smile and remain calm, the tremble in his voice betrayed his true emotions to Yōwan.
"Heh... to think a Hyūga and an Uchiha would die together. I wonder what our comrades will think when they clean up the battlefield afterward."
Yōwan managed a rare joke, though his thoughts wandered to the situation of Yōmei and Yōsi.
He hoped his death wouldn't be too pathetic—otherwise, if Yōmei or Yōsi saw it, they'd definitely have something to say about it.
Mentally prepared and suppressing the urge to cry, Yōwan's trembling body slowly rose as he prepared to face the enemy.
"You go. I'll hold them off as best I can."
Seeing that Yōwan still had the will to fight, Hyūga Iroha admired his courage and was prepared to give him the chance to live.
Seeing a Hyūga willing to sacrifice himself to cover his retreat, Yōwan looked at him in shock. Finding no trace of deceit in the other's eyes, he shook his head and activated his two-tomoe Sharingan.
"You're no coward, Hyūga Iroha. And I, Uchiha Yōwan, am no weakling either. Let's go together!"
With that, Yōwan leapt out from cover and flung an explosive tag-laced kunai.
"Alright then—let the name of the Exploding Marbles Kid echo through the Shinobi World one last time!"
Seeing Yōwan take the lead, Iroha was not to be outdone. He charged straight at the nearest Kirigakure ninja.
...
Back in Konohagakure.
A new batch of casualty reports was delivered to Hiruzen's desk.
Staring at the list from the Kirigakure battlefield, Hiruzen furrowed his brows, reading through the names in silence for a long time.
"Too many of our children have died."
As more and more green leaves withered, Hiruzen leaned back in his chair, struggling to accept the losses of the younger generation.
"This is for the sake of Konoha."
Sitting nearby and handling other documents, Koharu Utatane sighed.
"Even for us, with battles on three fronts, we couldn't muster enough adult ninja to defend against the invasions. We had no choice but to send the children."
Originally assigned to logistics, even the youngest ninja had now taken up arms and marched to the frontlines as the war dragged on.
"Sigh... have their names engraved on the Memorial Stone. It's the least I can do for them as Hokage."
Taking the list from Hiruzen, Koharu nodded solemnly and agreed to handle it immediately.
Among the many names on the list, Uchiha Yōwan's appeared—small and unremarkable.
"I wonder how Takeshi is doing."
With the list handled, Hiruzen couldn't help but think of his most obedient student.
At that moment, the Takeshi in question was leading his team against a small Iwagakure unit.
"There must be more than twenty of these Iwa-nin!"
Barely dodging a rock bullet flying over his head, Takeshi sensed the pursuers behind him and realized the situation was tricky.
"Sounds about right."
After tossing out a few shuriken—regardless of whether they hit or not—Kakashi quickly switched to another cover and answered Takeshi's question half-heartedly.
"We've got no choice. Kannabi Bridge is right ahead—we must blow it up!"
After stabbing a sneaky Iwa-nin who had emerged from underground with a senbon, Takeshi spoke rapidly and laid out the plan.
"Kakashi, Obito—execute Plan C. That means—"
"Got it!"
Before Takeshi could even finish, Obito replied firmly and dashed out with a kunai.
What the hell? Is that really Obito?
Seeing Obito recall the tactical plan he'd made, Takeshi felt like this had to be a dream.
From the way he moved, it was exactly as Takeshi had outlined before the fight—attacking the enemy's flank.
Other people awaken the Mangekyō and undergo a personality change... and you, Obito, gained IQ points?
"Whatever—no time to dwell on it. Ice Release: Ice Age!"
Just like he'd done against the Kumo-nin, Takeshi seized the moment when the other two had the enemy distracted and poked his head out to unleash a wide-range Ice Release jutsu, aiming to recreate the results of his ambush on the Kumogakure supply depot.
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Pls Drop some Power Stones
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