"Careful! The enemy is the White Reaper, Shimura Takeshi—he specializes in large-scale offensive ninjutsu!"
Facing the raging glacier ahead, Hanami immediately deduced Takeshi's identity from the Ice Release alone and shared intel about the opponent.
"Earth Style: Multiple Earth-Style Walls!"
The Iwa-nin present quickly regrouped into formation and performed the same hand signs. With the advantage of numbers, they constructed a layered earth wall to block the glacier's onslaught.
"Compared to the Kumo-nin, these guys coordinate even better."
Seeing his glacier blocked before it could even approach, Takeshi decided not to waste chakra on more Ice Explosions. Instead, he created Ice Mirrors to prepare for close combat.
"He can move freely between Ice Mirrors—destroy them as soon as they appear!"
As Takeshi conjured his Ice Mirrors, Hanami once again reported what he knew.
"Damn it, I only have a handful of moves, and you know all of them already? Kumo-nin have been way too generous to you bastards!"
Takeshi cursed aloud as he suddenly appeared beside Hanami. However, having been prepared, Hanami kicked him away, and Takeshi smoothly slipped into a newly formed Ice Mirror.
Just as Hanami was about to destroy the two nearby Ice Mirrors, another one formed above him. Takeshi leapt from it and drove a flurry of senbon deep into Hanami's shoulder before retreating again through the mirrors and reappearing beside an Iwa-nin locked in battle with Kakashi.
Working with Kakashi, they quickly dispatched that Iwa-nin, but Takeshi didn't stop—he immediately moved on to the next target.
Every time the Iwa-nin attempted to destroy a newly formed Ice Mirror, Kakashi and Obito would intervene and disrupt them. As a result, more and more mirrors appeared across the battlefield, and Takeshi's attacks grew faster and more relentless.
"Dammit!"
Hanami gritted his teeth, his shoulder already riddled with seven or eight senbon.
Most of the shinobi in his squad were only Chūnin, and even he himself was just a Speacial Jōnin. Even with intel on Takeshi, going up against someone who now fought at a true Jōnin level left him overwhelmed.
No—this wasn't just overwhelming.
It was despair.
If he couldn't find a way to counter Takeshi's teleportation technique, his squad would be annihilated.
There was only one choice: gamble everything!
Watching yet another comrade fall, Hanami steeled himself.
When an Ice Mirror appeared next to him again, Hanami didn't dodge. Instead, he charged forward, picked an ideal angle, and took Takeshi's senbon attack head-on—then seized Takeshi's arm.
"Die!"
He swung a kunai that he had long prepared. Hanami knew this was his only chance. He had to kill or seriously wound the enemy in this strike, or the battle would be lost.
"Too naïve."
Feeling his arm caught in a powerful grip, Takeshi showed no panic—after all, he still had Flying Thunder God as a backup for escape.
Takeshi wasn't worried.
But Obito was.
Seeing Takeshi in real danger, Obito kicked aside the Iwa-nin in front of him. His intense emotion activated his Mangekyō Sharingan, and he stared dead-on at Hanami.
"What the hell—why can't I sense my Flying Thunder God kunai?!"
Just as the kunai closed in, Takeshi suddenly felt something shift in the space around him. The Flying Thunder God mark that should've been clearly perceptible had completely vanished.
Now he was the one panicking.
And seeing Takeshi panic, Kakashi began to panic too.
And seeing all three of them flustered, Rin could no longer sit still in her hiding place, itching to jump out.
Obito's panic set off a chain reaction, throwing a veil of uncertainty over the battlefield.
Fortunately, the chaos didn't last long.
With a twist of space, Hanami's head abruptly vanished, and the kunai aimed at Takeshi lost its target—brushing past Takeshi's cheek harmlessly.
"That was way too intense!"
Staring at Hanami's headless corpse, Takeshi quickly understood what had happened—Obito, that dumbass, must've used Kamui upon seeing him in danger.
Damn it! Flying Thunder God requires full concentration to detect the markers. That idiot warped space right next to me—of course it threw off my sensing!
I seriously need to keep training Flying Thunder God when I get back!
Resolving himself, Takeshi immediately moved away from Hanami's corpse.
...
Elsewhere, the Iwa-nin Obito had kicked aside noticed the commotion and realized something was off with that Uchiha. He grabbed his sword and rushed forward, roaring as he prepared to stab Obito to death.
"Huh?"
Having just relaxed after seeing Takeshi was safe, Obito stared dumbly as the blade neared him. His brain lagged for a moment, watching as the blade passed cleanly through his body.
"Huh?"
Now it was the Iwa-nin's turn to be confused.
Not just the blade—but his whole body passed through Obito.
Yes, his entire self phased right through him—not just the weapon—
Anyway, the Iwa-nin was stunned, and so was Obito.
Then realization dawned on Obito.
"Fire Style: Fire Dragon Bullet!"
...
With Hanami dead, the remaining Iwa-nin could no longer form a solid formation. One by one, they were picked off cleanly by Takeshi and the others.
After killing the last Iwa-nin who tried to approach Rin, Takeshi immediately smacked Obito on the head.
"Why'd you hit me again?!"
Obito, expecting praise, looked wounded and wronged.
"You idiot—don't just randomly use your Mangekyō Sharingan!"
Takeshi rolled his eyes and gave him another kick.
"You know overusing that thing can make you go blind!"
Obito froze at the warning. He didn't even ask how Takeshi knew about the Mangekyō's side effects. Instead, he clutched his eye nervously.
"Wait—so that's why it hurts so much after I use it?!"
No one had ever explained the dangers of the Mangekyō Sharingan to Obito. After all, no one in the Uchiha clan had ever expected this so-called loser to awaken it.
"I can't let anything happen to my eyes! But... but you really were in danger back there..."
Deactivating his Mangekyō, Obito suddenly looked aggrieved.
His words stirred a rare flicker of guilt in Takeshi's heart.
Right... this dumb kid only did it to save me. Even if his 'rescue' nearly got me killed.
Sighing, Takeshi awkwardly expressed his thanks.
"...Tch. Idiot Obito, I'm not so weak that I need you to protect me. Still... thanks."
Obito looked downcast at first—but the moment Takeshi said "thanks," his eyes lit up once again.
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Pls Drop some Power Stones
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