A pale white hand shot up from the ground, clamping tightly around the ankles of two unsuspecting figures.
Up until that moment, Kakashi's full attention had been on guarding their surroundings. He never anticipated that the enemy's attack would come from beneath them. But just as the cold palm was about to grasp him, a flicker of instinct kicked in.
"What!?"
Kakashi's eyes darted downward, his pupils narrowing sharply.
Clang!
In an instant, he swung the white dagger in his hand, slashing fiercely at the ghostly pale hands reaching for them. The enemy's grip tightened, trying to seize him, but Kakashi's swift strike severed the grasping hands.
Swish!
Kakashi leapt backward, retreating swiftly. A piercing scream rang out behind him.
"Ah!!"
Rin hadn't reacted as quickly. One of the white hands had latched onto her ankle, its grip unyielding. Seeing this, Kakashi's heart skipped a beat. Without hesitation, he hurled his dagger towards her.
The blade sliced clean through the hand clutching Rin, severing it at the wrist. In the next heartbeat, Kakashi was at her side, scooping her into his arms before bolting away from the danger.
As they gained some distance, Kakashi shot a glance over his shoulder. From the ground behind them, a figure emerged, its features unmistakable.
A ninja from Kirigakure.
"Rin, send the signal!" Kakashi barked, his breath quickening. He had no intention of staying to fight. Clutching Rin tightly, he dashed through the lingering smoke, desperate to flee.
"Okay!" Rin responded, fumbling to ignite the flare in her hand. But before she could activate it, an overwhelming wave of exhaustion washed over her. Her limbs went limp, and her eyelids grew impossibly heavy.
"Rin?" Kakashi's voice softened, sensing something was wrong. His concern deepened when he felt an odd sensation on his shoulder—like flesh wriggling against his skin.
Before he could react, a grotesque, pale face emerged from his shoulder, its twisted grin sending a chill down his spine.
"What the—!?"
Kakashi's eyes widened in horror. The White Zetsu that had possessed him exhaled a thick, purple mist directly into his face.
Poison mist…? Kakashi thought, realizing it too late. He had already inhaled the noxious fumes, and there was no time to cover his mouth or nose.
His vision blurred, and darkness began to creep into the edges of his sight. His eyes flickered weakly towards Rin, who lay unconscious in his arms.
"Rin…" he murmured, his voice fading.
A moment later, Kakashi succumbed to the poison, collapsing beside her.
From the shadows, more White Zetsu emerged, disguised as Kirigakure shinobi. One of them, whose hand had been severed by Kakashi's blade, watched as his limb regenerated swiftly, the flesh knitting itself back together.
"This kid's got skills," one of the White Zetsu muttered, frowning at the unconscious Kakashi. "But even he couldn't escape my Spore Jutsu."
"Let's move. Konoha reinforcements will be here soon," another White Zetsu warned, glancing nervously into the forest.
In this dense forest, Kakashi, Obito, and Rin weren't the only members of Konoha's reconnaissance team. The others would have heard the commotion and were likely on their way.
Nodding in agreement, the two White Zetsu each grabbed Kakashi and Rin. With a sickening squelch, they sank into the ground like phantoms, vanishing without a trace.
"Damn it!" Obito cursed under his breath, standing at the edge of the forest.
"Why did they suddenly disappear?"
Obito had tracked the enemy ninjas to this location, but as he broke through the treeline, they had vanished into thin air, as if swallowed by the earth itself.
The sensation was eerily familiar. His teacher, Minato, used the Flying Thunder God Technique to traverse time and space effortlessly, appearing and disappearing at will. But the idea of someone from Kirigakure mastering such a technique was absurd.
They must have used some other kind of secret jutsu.
Kakashi… Rin… The thought of his teammates jolted him back to reality.
Swish!
Without hesitation, Obito turned on his heel and sprinted back into the forest. But before he could get far, a shadow materialized in front of him.
A kunai with a dark, menacing gleam hovered inches from his nose.
Obito's reflexes kicked in instantly, his fingers poised just centimeters from the figure's throat.
"Shisui?" Obito exclaimed, his voice filled with surprise.
"Obito-senpai?" Shisui responded, equally startled.
For a tense moment, their crimson Sharingan eyes locked, the tomoe spinning in perfect sync. Then, recognizing each other, they simultaneously withdrew their attacks.
Shisui's gaze lingered on Obito's eyes, noting the two tomoe in his pupils. While Shisui was technically stronger in raw skill, his Sharingan only had a single tomoe. With the enhanced perception granted by Obito's dual tomoe, their movements were nearly equal.
"What happened?" Shisui asked urgently, sensing something was amiss. The area Obito had come from was supposed to be under his team's watch.
Obito's expression darkened. "We were ambushed by Kirigakure ninjas."
"What!?" Shisui's eyes widened in disbelief. The defensive perimeter established by Konoha, bolstered by the Byakugan, was nearly impenetrable. How had the Kirigakure shinobi infiltrated so deeply?
"Kakashi and Rin are still in the forest," Obito added, his voice strained with worry.
Without waiting for another word, he dashed deeper into the woods, his heart pounding in his chest. Shisui frowned but followed closely behind, pulling a flare from his pouch.
Flick!
A streak of light shot into the sky, piercing the darkness before exploding with a sharp bang.
Miles away, in the Konoha camp, the sudden flare lit up the night sky.
"Enemy attack!" someone shouted.
Ninjas spilled out of their tents, weapons drawn, their eyes scanning the sky. But it wasn't just the flare that caught their attention.
The mist outside the camp thickened ominously, reducing visibility to mere feet. The already hazy environment became suffocatingly dense.
Crash!
From the shrouded fog came the roar of surging water. A massive wave, like a tsunami, barreled toward the camp, threatening to engulf everything in its path.
"Water Style: Great Waterfall Technique!" someone shouted from within the camp.
A towering curtain of water erupted from the ground, transforming into a torrent that surged forward to meet the oncoming wave.
Boom!
The two colossal forces collided violently. The gate of the Konoha camp shattered under the pressure, but the seemingly fragile water barrier managed to hold back the advancing deluge.
For a moment, the two water jutsus were locked in a stalemate, the upstream and downstream currents canceling each other out.
Seizing the opportunity, Konoha shinobi poured out of the camp. They sprinted across the surface of the water barrier, weaving hand signs as they launched their own jutsu into the fray.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Explosions rocked the battlefield as ninjutsu attacks rained down on the surging wave, gradually weakening its momentum.
Snort!
At the heart of the defensive line stood Senju Nawaki, his hands flashing through a series of seals. He inhaled deeply before releasing a massive torrent of water from his mouth.
Boom!
The powerful stream overwhelmed the wave, pushing it back with sheer force. The once-unstoppable wall of water began to recede.
"Water Style: Water Array Wall!"
From within the thick fog, more water walls sprang up, creating barriers that shifted and pulsed with the flow of battle.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
The sounds of water bursting under pressure echoed through the mist.
Fugaku, Kato Dan, and other prominent Konoha ninjas arrived beside Nawaki, their expressions tense.
Fugaku's face was especially grim, his eyes narrowing in confusion.
"How did Kirigakure infiltrate so close to our camp without detection?"
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