Inside the Loulan ruins.
Kakashi, as the captain, walked at the very front, while Fu Yamanaka and Hiashi Hyuga, the two strongest sensory Ninja in the team, walked in the middle.
Asuma Sarutobi and Torune Aburame walked on both sides, protecting the two sensory Ninja.
The reason Kakashi was the captain of this team was simple.
He had previously come to Loulan for a mission, and the captain was Minato Namikaze.
At that time, he met the future Naruto team.
However, when Minato Namikaze sealed the Dragon Vein, he also sealed everyone's memories.
Revisiting the ancient city of Loulan gave Kakashi a feeling of things being different, with people changed.
Because the last time he came to the ancient city of Loulan, there were still many prosperous buildings here.
But now, it had become an ancient ruin buried by sandstorms.
When everyone arrived at the core of Loulan, Hiashi Hyuga, who was scanning with his Byakugan, looked shocked.
"This… this is such a massive Chakra!"
Under Hiashi Hyuga's Byakugan observation, there was a very deep colored Chakra river beneath the core of Loulan, and this river was like a giant dragon.
Most importantly, deeper within this Chakra giant dragon, there were many branches leading in all directions.
"Kakashi, what is the seal that the Fourth Hokage asked us to investigate?"
Hiashi Hyuga looked at Kakashi and asked, somewhat shocked.
"It's the Dragon Vein's seal!" Immediately, Kakashi recounted his experience from his last mission in the Dragon Vein.
After listening to Kakashi's narration, Fu Yamanaka frowned and asked, "So, someone is trying to unseal the Dragon Vein, right?"
Kakashi nodded and said, "The Fourth Hokage did say that, so… he sent us to investigate and see if the seal is still intact."
Just like that, the group successfully arrived at the core of Loulan, which was the source of the Dragon Vein.
A three-pronged kunai was stuck right at the source of the Dragon Vein.
This three-pronged kunai was the signature weapon of the Fourth Hokage Minato Namikaze!
Seeing the kunai still safely embedded at the source of the Dragon Vein, Kakashi frowned and said, "It seems the Fourth Hokage's intelligence was mistaken; the Dragon Vein's seal is not in any serious trouble!"
Just as Kakashi finished speaking, Fu Yamanaka, who had been on alert, shouted, "Enemy scattered!"
Upon hearing this, the group scattered in all directions without hesitation.
As they scattered, a pillar of water shot down from above.
"Hehehe, you're quite fast at dodging!"
"The enemy is above!"
As he spoke, Kakashi looked up and saw three figures, one tall and two short, staring down at them.
All three were wearing black robes that covered their bodies and masks that hid their faces, only revealing their eyes.
These three were, of course, Naruto, Itachi, and Kisame, who had been ambushing them here for a while.
Seeing these three, Kakashi knew that the Fourth Hokage's intelligence was likely correct; someone had indeed learned about the Dragon Vein and wanted to claim it for themselves.
Since the enemy had already attacked, Konoha would naturally not choose to negotiate.
"Hiashi, pay attention to the enemy's movements."
"Fu Yamanaka, stand by."
"Asuma, Torune, follow me."
As captain, Kakashi quickly deployed his team.
Asuma charged at Naruto, Kakashi charged at Itachi, and Torune charged at Kisame.
The three pairs quickly engaged in battle.
Below, Fu Yamanaka, seeing this, aimed at the three with a strange hand gesture, seemingly ready to use his Yamanaka Clan's secret technique to control them at any moment.
Our gaze now shifts to the pillars above.
Kakashi lifted his forehead protector covering his Sharingan, revealing the Sharingan that belonged to Obito.
With the enhancement of the Sharingan, Kakashi could easily see through the opponent's movements.
Coupled with Kakashi's terrifying knowledge reserve of thousands of Ninjutsu, as long as the opponent formed hand signs, he could release the same Ninjutsu at an even faster speed.
But… that was when facing ordinary people.
The person he was facing at this moment was Itachi Uchiha, one of the two contemporary geniuses of the Uchiha Clan.
To conceal his identity while still possessing strength, Itachi wore colored contact lenses that covered his Sharingan.
While colored contacts might reduce the power of the Sharingan, for Itachi, who had already awakened his Mangekyo, this slight reduction was negligible.
After several rounds of fighting, Kakashi knew that all three opponents were formidable, so… he had to end this quickly.
He directly used his signature Ninjutsu, Lightning Blade, intending to take down one first, then help his teammates capture the other two.
To extract information, two people were enough.
As Lightning Blade activated, strands of electric light condensed in Kakashi's hand.
The speed of Lightning Blade was very fast; as Kakashi charged at Itachi, the lightning of Lightning Blade also spread in all directions.
This Lightning Blade was different from before; it was an enhanced version.
This Lightning Blade was not only extremely powerful in attack, but Kakashi also increased its output, allowing the lightning to spread outwards at an extremely fast speed, and as long as the lightning touched someone, it could paralyze them.
The moment the enemy was paralyzed, Lightning Blade could pierce through their chest.
Itachi Uchiha, seeing Kakashi's decisiveness, also intended to use his own abilities.
Itachi did not use Ninjutsu, but rather his Nen Ability.
Itachi's Nen Ability was a Control System.
Itachi had always been developing his abilities, and like Shisui, Itachi also used the Sharingan as a condition for activating his Nen Ability.
Shisui used the Sharingan's Genjutsu to materialize tangible illusions.
Itachi, on the other hand, used Genjutsu to control the opponent's body.
Itachi opened his Mangekyo, but because of the colored contacts, Kakashi didn't notice it.
The Mangekyo Genjutsu activated, and a surge of ocular power, mixed with Control System Nen, instantly penetrated Kakashi's eyes.
At that moment, Kakashi's body froze in place.
Kakashi himself still had consciousness, but he couldn't control his body.
"This… how is this possible?"
Kakashi silently chanted, "Genjutsu, release."
At the same time, his Chakra also began to surge wildly within his body, but no matter what, he couldn't continue to control his body, only watching helplessly as he charged towards his two teammates, Torune Aburame and Asuma Sarutobi.
"Damn it… Torune, Asuma, get out of the way!"
Kakashi couldn't speak; he could only scream frantically in his mind.
Kakashi didn't want to pierce his comrades' bodies with Lightning Blade again. That guilt had dissipated the moment Rin was revived, and he didn't want that guilt to return to his heart.