Shindai faced off against three Cloud Ninjas, going head-to-head alone.
At first, Shindai had planned to draw the attention of these three Cloud Ninjas himself, so Kakashi and the others could escape first, then he would retreat.
But seeing Kakashi's injuries, escaping wasn't even possible.
And Obito was being a reckless fool—he wouldn't leave unless Kakashi did.
As for Rin Nohara, if Kakashi and Obito stayed, she would stay too.
This complicated things. Those three enemy ninjas were clearly no easy targets, and now it was one against three—utterly outnumbered.
Kakashi noticed that Shindai, despite having already repelled Rumoda, hadn't ordered Kannazuki to pursue. Instead, he stood still, hesitating.
What else could he possibly be hesitating over, if not escaping?
Kakashi shouted at Shindai, "Shindai, they're not that strong—you can take them!"
Shindai snapped back, "Not strong? If they're not strong, how come none of you three have beaten them yet? Easy for you to say while sitting there!"
Kakashi was momentarily speechless.
And in all honesty, there was no argument he could make against that.
So Kakashi decided to push harder—if he didn't, Shindai would have no motivation to fight.
He called out again, "Shindai, those Cloud Ninjas are closing in from all sides. We need to end this quickly—take them down fast! Otherwise, once they start chasing us and reinforcements arrive, we won't stand a chance of escaping!"
Shindai turned stiffly toward Kakashi, with tears welling up, "Hey…you really expect me to just abandon you guys and run?"
Obito grumbled unhappily, "Hey Shindai, you already abandoned us once—do you plan to abandon us a second time?!"
Shindai protested, "I didn't abandon you! I was just scouting ahead earlier!"
Kakashi interrupted, "Enough chatter. Shindai, hurry—we're running out of time! Even if you tried to flee alone now, it'd already be too late. We can only retreat safely after defeating these three."
Shindai took a deep breath and muttered, "Ugh…you guys are gonna get me killed."
Yet something had changed in his eyes. He understood—the only way out was to eliminate these three ninja first.
He turned his gaze to the Cloud Ninja who had been paralyzed by his poisoned senbon.
The paralysis should still hold. Best to take him out first.
Shindai moved his fingers slightly, retracting all blades attached to Kannazuki's joints.
At the same time, an opening appeared on Kannazuki's back, and large quantities of iron sand poured out from within its body.
[Magnet Release: Iron Sand Drizzle!]
As soon as Shindai completed the hand seal, countless iron sand fragments shot forth like meteors, hurtling rapidly toward the three Cloud Ninjas.
Rumoda quickly rolled behind a tree.
The paralyzed Cloud Ninja cried out in panic to his comrade, "Karot! Help me!"
Karot wanted to help the immobilized Cloud Ninja, but Shindai and Kannazuki were already charging toward them together.
If Karot tried to save his comrade, he'd have to intercept Kannazuki's blade first.
But blocking that would leave him no way to evade the incoming iron sand storm.
Quickly weighing the risk, Karot made a decisive dash for cover behind a tree, escaping the iron sand.
There was no time to save anyone now—trying would just get him killed.
The paralyzed Cloud Ninja stared in shock as Karot vanished behind a tree—abandoned when he needed help most.
Now the iron sand and Kannazuki were closing in on him like twin death sentences.
Was he going to die...?
A fierce will to live surged through him, quickly weakening the numbness.
Just in time—the paralysis lifted seconds before the iron sand and Kannazuki struck.
Relief washed over him—he still had a chance!
[Earth Release! Earth-Style Wall!]
[Hand Seal completed], the Cloud Ninja slammed both palms onto the ground.
In an instant, an earthen wall erupted before him, stopping the iron sand dead in its tracks.
Still, some iron grains slipped past, slicing into his body—blood spilling fast.
It hurt—but better this than dying.
No time to breathe—something coiled tightly around his legs.
His eyes shot downward—his entire body froze in horror.
It was black iron sand. The particles wrapped tightly around his legs and rapidly climbed upward.
The Cloud Ninja struggled to break free, but the iron sand clung firmly to his limbs—he couldn't shake it off at all.
In moments, the iron sand reached his waist.
Even worse, Kannazuki now loomed directly above him.
Kannazuki lunged downward, slashing his blade at the Cloud Ninja.
The Cloud Ninja tried to parry with his own sword, but his upper body had already been bound by the iron sand—he was completely helpless.
Helplessly, he watched Kannazuki's blade fall, severing his head.
The Cloud Ninja's head thudded onto the ground.
As his consciousness faded, his last thought was… He wished he'd never regained movement at all—better to have died then.
At this moment, Shindai's Iron Sand Drizzle ended.
Seeing that Shindai had taken down one of the Cloud Ninjas, Kakashi and the others felt greatly encouraged.
As long as Shindai had the will to fight, they had a chance!
Rumoda and Karot remained hidden behind trees, finding Shindai's sudden appearance extremely troublesome.
At first, because they didn't know Kannazuki was a Puppet, they suffered great losses. Their companion got hit by Poison Senbon and became paralyzed.
If it were just a Puppet, things wouldn't have been so bad—they were three people total. Two could distract it while the third attacked Shindai.
But they hadn't expected that Shindai was also a Magnet Release Kekkei Genkai bearer, and this caught them completely off guard once again.
Rumoda and Karot exchanged glances. Karot gave Rumoda a slight nod before rushing out.
Rumoda's heart pounded.
What the hell were you doing?! He rushed out after only giving me a nod like that?
He had no idea what Karot meant!
Karot darted straight toward Shindai.
Shindai immediately recalled Kannazuki to face the enemy head-on.
[Lightning Release: Cutting Thunder Flash!]
Karot used his Lightning Release to attack Kannazuki.
Shindai and Kannazuki dodged together, but the moment Karot released the electricity, he immediately used the Shifting Body Technique, appearing beside Shindai and swinging his sword downward at him.
The trio including Kakashi were startled. The electric light blocked their vision, making it impossible for them to follow Karot's movements.
This electrical attack was just a feint—the real killing move was using the bright flash to conceal his use of the Shifting Body Technique, allowing him to instantly close in on Shindai for a powerful strike.
A sinister grin spread across Karot's face. "Got him!"
Karot's ninja sword slashed directly into Shindai's chest.
"Shindai!"
Kakashi and the others couldn't help but cry out.
However, Karot's sinister grin froze instantly.
The imagined scene of blood splattering didn't appear. This Shindai turned entirely black, transforming into Iron Sand that flowed onto the ground.
Karot's heartbeat violently.
An Iron Sand Body Clone?!
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