Because Obito kept interfering with Rumoda's attempt to deal with Kakashi, Rumoda decided to eliminate Obito first before turning his attention to Kakashi and Rin Nohara once his teammates arrived.
Rumoda swiftly charged toward Obito.
Though visibly tense, Obito tightly gripped a kunai, keeping his eyes locked on Rumoda the entire time.
When Rumoda was only a few steps away, he swung his blade at Obito.
"Got it!"
Obito reversed his grip on the kunai.
With a sharp *clang*, Obito blocked Rumoda's ninja sword using the kunai.
The corner of Obito's mouth twitched upward—after all, he had blocked that attack effortlessly.
However, before his smile could fully form, his expression suddenly stiffened.
[Rising Dragon Gust!]
Without warning, Rumoda slammed his elbow straight into Obito's face.
Obito flew backward and landed face-first onto the ground, rolling over several times.
"Obito!"
Rin gasped inwardly. Without hesitation, she stopped healing Kakashi and immediately pulled out a kunai tied with an explosive tag from her ninja pouch, hurling it toward Rumoda.
As Rumoda prepared to retreat and dodge, the explosive tag detonated, unleashing fierce flames.
At the same moment, Rin threw another Wind-style talisman.
The Wind-style talisman worked on the same principle as the ninjutsu scrolls used to release various elemental techniques.
The talisman summoned a whirlwind that merged with the explosion's flames, creating a fiery tornado.
The sudden expansion of the flames caught Rumoda off guard, igniting parts of his body.
Just as Rumoda tried to extinguish the fire while preparing to counterattack, he felt a sudden tightness across his body—then found himself bound tightly.
Rumoda looked at himself in disbelief; he had been wrapped up by invisible threads.
He snapped his head toward Obito.
Obito's right cheek was swollen, yet he wore a wide grin on his face.
Thin, transparent threads were now wrapped around Obito's hands.
Spitting out a mouthful of blood, Obito said, "You thought my earlier two thrown kunai missed by accident? I'm an Uchiha! How could I possibly miss? I did that on purpose, you idiot!"
The two kunai Obito had intentionally thrown wide were each tied with transparent threads at their ends.
Until now, Obito hadn't had the chance to use them—but thanks to Rin's assistance, he finally seized the opportunity to bind Rumoda with those threads.
Rin shouted toward Obito, "Great job, Obito!"
A faint smile curved the corner of Kakashi's lips beneath his mask.
Proudly puffing out his chest, Obito stood tall.
Right now, he must look super cool!
Rumoda, an elite Chunin, was overcome with shame and frustration.
He hadn't taken Kakashi and the others seriously—they were just kids—but his arrogance led to his downfall.
"It's over!"
After forming hand seals, Obito placed his hands in front of his mouth.
[Fire Release: Great Fireball Jutsu!]
Obito spat a massive fireball from his mouth toward Rumoda.
Rumoda's pupils contracted to pinpricks.
As Rumoda braced for impact, he suddenly felt the threads binding him loosen.
Reinforcements had arrived!
After one of Rumoda's comrades cut the threads restraining him, they quickly pulled Rumoda out of the fireball's range.
Seeing Rumoda and two Cloud Ninja nearby, Obito froze completely.
That devastating final blow… failed?!
Rumoda glared furiously at Obito. "Leave that brat to me! I'll kill him myself!"
One of Rumoda's men called out, "End it quickly—we're moving out in an hour. We don't have time to waste on these kids."
When Kakashi heard about the one-hour deadline, his eyes immediately sharpened.
In one hour… Earlier, when they saw the Cloud Ninja assembling at camp, it must've been because they planned to attack Konoha's base camp within the hour.
They needed to pass on this intel to Konoha's base camp immediately.
But right now...
Kakashi frowned deeply. If he ran off alone, there was no way Obito and Rin could survive.
Rumoda was far stronger than both Obito and Rin combined.
Earlier, only because Rumoda had underestimated them and Rin happened to coordinate well with Obito did Obito manage to bind Rumoda successfully.
That kind of opening only came once—there wouldn't be another.
And now there were also two other Cloud Ninja to deal with.
If either Obito or Rin tried to escape right now, Kakashi couldn't possibly hold off all three Cloud Ninja by himself.
They were still quite a distance from Konoha's base camp. The Cloud Ninja were famously fast—neither Obito nor Rin could outrun them.
Logically speaking, Kakashi should abandon Obito and Rin right now and rush back to Konoha's base camp alone—it was the most rational choice.
But Kakashi's legs felt as heavy as lead—he couldn't bring himself to move.
After a moment of internal struggle, Kakashi took a deep breath, his gaze turning resolute.
Kakashi pulled out a smoke bomb and hurled it to the ground.
Instantly, smoke engulfed Kakashi.
Inside the smokescreen, Kakashi quickly formed hand seals and slammed his hands onto the ground.
[Summoning Jutsu!]
The ninja hound Guruku appeared once more.
"Guruku, hurry back to Konoha's base camp immediately and warn them—the Cloud Ninja are about to launch a sneak attack!"
Guruku let out a fierce bark, then burst through the smoke and raced toward Konoha's base camp.
Kakashi tightened his grip on the tanto and rushed out of the smoke, launching an attack toward Rumoda and the other two Cloud Ninja.
Right now, there was no chance of simply retreating. They could only seek an opportunity to withdraw by taking the initiative in attacking.
Seeing Kakashi charge at the Cloud Ninja, Obito and Rin Nohara immediately moved to assist him, joining the attack against the three Cloud Ninja.
Meanwhile, far away from where Kakashi and the others were battling the Cloud Ninja,
Shindai stood rooted in place, his expression clearly conflicted.
"Really, should I abandon them? Kakashi is destined to become the future Sixth Hokage, Obito will eventually possess the Six Paths power, and Rin will become the Jinchuriki of Three-Tails... Surely they can easily handle such a minor crisis, right?
Yes, exactly! So there's absolutely no reason to hesitate!"
Shindai had just taken a few steps forward when he stopped again.
Because he heard sounds of the distant battle.
His expression grew even more conflicted: "But... what if something goes wrong? What if they die? To be honest, Konoha has treated me pretty well—especially Namikaze. Even after I dismantled all the appliances in his house, he never scolded me once.
Kakashi and the others treat me as their comrade. If I just abandon them like this, wouldn't that make me no better than a heartless man?
Yet if I go help them, my abilities will be exposed. I've hidden myself so well; wouldn't it be such a waste to reveal myself now?"
As Shindai hesitated, suddenly inspiration struck.
"I've got it! If I do it this way, I probably won't be discovered."
He unfurled the scroll holding Kannazuki, summoned him forth, then dashed toward Kakashi and the others.
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