But at this moment, the only thing she could do was pray.
Pray that someone would come to help stop all of this from happening.
Only this way could Konoha be spared from disaster.
Konoha at this moment could no longer bear any more turmoil.
"Found her!"
"She's here!"
"Don't let her get away!"
Shouts rang out from behind her, one after another.
Lin knew these were the Hidden Waterfall Ninja in pursuit of her.
After discovering their Jinchuriki had been killed and the Tailed Beast taken away, they would surely chase her like mad dogs, then bring her back to the Hidden Waterfall Village, extract the Tailed Beast, and seal it again.
If this happened, it would actually be what Lin wished for.
But that was impossible—her body was moving on its own accord, obviously someone was using a Jutsu to control her remotely, preventing her from being caught by the Hidden Waterfall Ninja.
The other side wanted to use her to destroy Konoha, so naturally wouldn't let her be captured by the Hidden Waterfall Ninja.
However, many more questions followed.
If that was the case, why didn't they just send her directly to Konoha and detonate the Tailed Beast inside her?
Instead, they let her escape from the Hidden Waterfall Village, moving all the way toward Konoha.
The fact that they could abduct her from the Konoha Camp without a sound proved that these mysterious enemies had very advanced infiltration abilities.
Smuggling her to the outskirts of Konoha Village without anyone noticing would be a piece of cake for them.
But still, having her escape starting from the Hidden Waterfall Village—it really didn't make sense.
It was so strange that Lin felt there was some unknown conspiracy behind it all.
Therefore, the plan to use the Tailed Beast inside her to destroy Konoha also became suspicious.
Lin began to suspect that those White Zetsus' real purpose wasn't to destroy Konoha, but to make her complete some other mission.
"Water Style: Water Turbulence!"
A Hidden Waterfall Ninja in pursuit behind her formed Seals with both hands, creating a surging stream of water that crashed into Lin.
Lin had no time to defend, was swept away by the water, swallowed a mouthful, and rolled on the ground in utter misery. By the time the attack was over, she barely managed to stand up, coughing violently.
While Lin was under attack by the water, the Hidden Waterfall Ninja accelerated their steps and surrounded Lin. There were a total of eleven, each one looking grim and serious.
"Don't think just because you're a Konoha ninja, you can get away with this without paying any price."
The leading Hidden Waterfall Ninja said this to Lin.
He didn't want to waste time; the Seven-tailed was the Hidden Waterfall Village's most precious weapon, so it was best to finish the fight quickly.
No one knew if any Konoha Ninja would come to provide backup.
After all, this was such a valuable weapon—there's no way Konoha would send just one little girl.
If they did, they'd be seriously underestimating the Hidden Waterfall Village's strength.
Lin struggled to dodge the Hidden Waterfall Ninja's attacks. She knew very well that these men weren't trying to kill her, but to capture her alive and bring her back to the Hidden Waterfall Village to extract the Seven-tailed from her body.
Until then, they had to make sure this Jinchuriki survived.
If anything happened to their Jinchuriki, the Seven-tailed inside would die as well.
Hit again and again by powerful but non-lethal Ninja Techniques, Lin tried to evade as best as she could, but not being good at combat, there was no way she could dodge all the attacks. Soon she was battered and bruised, leaning against a tree behind her, struggling to catch her breath.
Next, she could only let the Hidden Waterfall Ninja take her back to the Hidden Waterfall Village to extract the Tailed Beast.
But would everything go smoothly?
Those mysterious enemies calling themselves White Zetsu must be somewhere nearby, watching, and would never allow her to be taken back by the Hidden Waterfall Ninja, ruining their plan for Konoha.
Lin's heart was filled with anger, but she could do nothing.
Because of the curse placed inside her, she couldn't hurt herself.
And those Hidden Waterfall Ninja, because of the Seven-tailed, would only injure her, not kill her.
"Now you can't even pick up a weapon to fight."
The Hidden Waterfall Ninja was breathing steadily. He hadn't used his full strength in the previous fight, he just needed to make sure he could capture Lin alive.
Anyway, once back in the Hidden Waterfall Village, they'd pick a new Jinchuriki and transfer the Tailed Beast.
"With this move, you won't even be able to move a finger! Water Style: Water Iron Cannon!"
The Hidden Waterfall Ninja straightened his body and formed Seals at a speed almost invisible to the naked eye.
After completing the Seals, the Hidden Waterfall Jonin took a deep breath, then spat out a huge water cannonball from his mouth, blasting mercilessly toward Lin.
Seeing Lin about to be hit by the enormous water bullet, a fireball even larger than the water sphere erupted from the side, its flames brilliant and intense, instantly devouring the water sphere and spreading as mist all around.
"What is that?"
The Hidden Waterfall Ninja turned to look—a not terribly tall figure was charging toward him with a Kunai in hand, tracing a cold, eerie arc of metal.
No time to defend, the Hidden Waterfall Ninja ambushed retreated as fast as he could without a second thought, but his abdomen was still cut open. Fortunately, because he dodged in time, the wound was shallow and bled only a little.
"That pattern, and those eyes... Is he a Uchiha ninja?"
The Hidden Waterfall Ninja clutched his wounded stomach, looking solemnly at the newcomer.
It was a somewhat youthful face, not very old, a Konoha Ninja Headband on his forehead. On his Ninja Suit was the clan fan symbol unique to Konoha's prestigious Uchiha Clan.
And most especially, his red Sharingan eyes were wide open, making it easy to recognize him as a ninja of the Uchiha Clan.
If this clan's ninja was their enemy, he'd be much tougher to deal with than an ordinary ninja.
They'd have to avoid that Sharingan at all costs.
"O-Obito..."
Lin, seeing the familiar figure blocking in front of her, immediately recognized who it was. Her eyes widened in shock.
"Sorry, Lin, I'm late. Don't worry, this time I'll definitely protect you."
Obito's clothes were soaked by rain, but he showed a gentle smile.
Right after, he turned his gaze to the surrounding Hidden Waterfall Ninja, locking onto them with his Sharingan, his smile fading, replaced by a look of grim determination.
Eleven in total—even with his Sharingan, there was no guarantee he could beat them all.
He might even die here.
But at the very least, he had to get Lin out safely.
The Hidden Waterfall Ninja surrounding Obito and Lin were starting to get nervous, worried there might be other Konoha Ninja reinforcements besides Obito.
With the Hidden Waterfall Village's size, there was no way they could really stand against Konoha Village.
Once the Jinchuriki entered Konoha, it would be almost impossible to get her back.
That's why they wanted to take the Jinchuriki back by force before she got to Konoha, to prevent any complications.
Though they still wondered why the rest of the village forces hadn't shown up yet, now wasn't the time to worry about that—they had to snatch the Jinchuriki as soon as possible.
Each of them drew a Shuriken, then hurled them at Obito at a speed almost impossible to see.
Obito used his Sharingan to effortlessly perceive every intricate trajectory, picked up a Kunai, and after a fierce exchange, knocked down all the incoming Shuriken, coming out completely unscathed.
The Hidden Waterfall Ninja were utterly shocked, their hearts shaken.
So this is Kekkeigenkai, the power of the Sharingan?
With such a dense barrage of Shuriken, any one of them would have been turned into a pincushion in an instant—the battle would have ended for sure.
"Lin, go now! Once I take care of these guys I'll catch up with you!"
Obito blocked all the Kunai and Shuriken, shouted at Lin without looking back, telling her to leave this dangerous battlefield at once, then charged straight at the eleven Hidden Waterfall Ninja without hesitation.
Defeat these people and get Lin to safety—that was all he could think about now.
But with eleven ninja as opponents, even he couldn't guarantee he'd survive. The best result might be perishing together with them and giving Lin a chance to escape alone.
But Obito had no regrets in his heart.
Even if only Lin made it out alive, if he went down together with the enemy, it still wouldn't all be meaningless.