"Bang!"
"Bang!"
"Bang!"
Figures fell one by one.
Soon, all the Mist Ninja were killed by Obito.
Obito arrived in front of Kakashi and Rin. Rin's body had begun to grow cold.
"Kakashi, you've disappointed me greatly."
"You didn't protect Rin."
Obito lowered his body, reaching out to touch Rin's face.
The icy touch made Obito's heart grow colder.
"Hidden Mist Village! I will never forgive you! And Konoha, you're too unfair."
"Why should Rin and I die? Why does Asuma have protection? Minato sensei, do you know about all of this?"
"The whole world is rotten."
Suddenly.
"Boom!"
A roar of thunder echoed.
Dark clouds gathered in the sky.
Rain drizzled down. Obito didn't take cover, letting his body get wet.
The scent of blood permeated the air. Rainwater mixed with blood, forming crimson streams.
Footsteps approached.
Obito stood up, feeling slightly relieved seeing Konoha's ninjas.
Then, he glanced deeply at Rin's corpse on the ground.
"Rin! Wait for me. I will avenge you!"
Before the Konoha ninjas arrived, Obito left.
Initially, Obito had planned to return to Konoha and continue serving as a ninja. Despite feeling somewhat inferior due to his deformed appearance, he believed that Kakashi and Rin would accept him. But now, everything was gone.
Obito could only return to the dark underground for now.
The news of the Three-Tails incident spread rapidly back to the two ninja villages.
Danzo arrived at the Hokage Building promptly.
"Hiruzen, I was right, wasn't I? Hidden Mist Village is the biggest enemy we should be concerned about next. It's fortunate their plan failed. If it had succeeded, the consequences would have been unimaginable."
Hiruzen's expression was also solemn.
"Minato will be responsible for Hidden Rock Village, and as for Hidden Mist Village, let Orochimaru handle it."
Danzo nodded.
"Orochimaru is a good choice."
Currently, Konoha was facing a succession issue.
Hiruzen was already very old. His energy was not as it used to be.
In this situation, it was necessary to choose the next Hokage.
Currently, there were three popular candidates: Minato, Orochimaru, and Jiraiya.
But Jiraiya himself isn't interested, so it's just Minato and Orochimaru.
Orochimaru, as Hiruzen's disciple, is actually closer to Danzo.
After Danzo left, an ANBU ninja walked in.
"How is Kakashi doing now?"
"Back to you, Hokage-sama, Kakashi seems to have been quite shaken and is not in a good state."
"Then let him come back to the village."
"Hokage-sama, Kakashi probably doesn't want to return to the village now."
Hiruzen raised an eyebrow.
"He wants to kill the Mist Village ninja, to avenge Rin?"
"Yes."
"Then let him stay on the battlefield, but arrange it a bit, don't let him go to too dangerous areas."
"Yes, Hokage-sama."
The ANBU ninja left.
Hiruzen sighed.
"For Kakashi, this is indeed quite a blow."
"But, who hasn't experience this in war?"
"I also witnessed the sacrifices of Kagami and Tobirama-sensei back then."
"That's what it means to be a ninja."
"It's fortunate I chose the route of becoming bodyguard for the Land of Fire Daimyo for Asuma, otherwise, the Hidden Mist Village might have captured not Rin, but Asuma.
That way, it would have caused greater harm to Konoha. The Hidden Mist Village actually made such a move."
"Very well."
"If you want to fight, then fight. Is Konoha afraid of just one Hidden Mist Village?"
When the news reached the Hidden Mist Village,
some Mist Ninja were excited when they heard the first half, and sighed with regret when they heard about the failure.
However, many Mist Ninja found it suspicious.
Such a plan seems a bit too crude.
"Like taking a chance."
The possibility of success was never considered.
An ANBU Ninja entered the Mizukage's Office to report to the Third Mizukage.
"Mizukage-sama, the plan to release the three tails in Konoha has failed."
The Third Mizukage raised his head, showing a hint of confusion in his eyes.
"What plan?"
The ANBU Ninja hesitated for a moment.
"Mizukage-sama, it's the plan you previously formulated, to seal the Three-Tails in the Konoha Ninja Nohara Rin, and then send Rin to Konoha to incite a tailed beast riot."
"When did I..."
Suddenly, the ANBU Ninja's words seemed to trigger something.
The Third Mizukage's gaze became vacant for a moment.
"It was indeed my plan. Has it failed?"
"Yes, Rin chose to sacrifice herself, deliberately colliding with Kakashi, ending her own life. With Rin's death, the Three-Tails also disappeared."
"The death of a Jinchuriki will lead to the death of the tailed beast. However, tailed beasts are beings of chakra and generally do not die permanently. Instead, they will revive after a certain period of time."
"I understand."
The Rin incident escalated the hatred of many Konoha ninjas towards the Hidden Mist Village. Compared to before, the attacks became fiercer, and some were even more reckless.
Facing Konoha's counterattack, the frontlines of the Mist ninjas had to retreat somewhat.
"Hiramekarei, release!"
Just as Mangetsu sent a Konoha ninja flying, he suddenly felt an extremely dangerous aura and instinctively turned to block with Hiramekarei.
"Ding!"
Kakashi's short sword fell on Hiramekarei.
The immense force pushed back Mangetsu, but it didn't end there.
Kakashi's strength far surpassed Mangetsu's.
Both of them are geniuses. However, Mangetsu has several years less experience than Kakashi, and they were crucial years.
"Puchi!"
Kakashi's kunai from his other hand sliced across Mangetsu's arm. Immediately, his clothes were torn, revealing skin and flesh beneath, blood flowing profusely.
"Hatake Kakashi!"
Mangetsu's expression turned grave.
Kakashi's name was familiar to Mangetsu. As a Konoha genius who had clashed with Kisame several times, though inferior to Kisame, Kakashi's strength surpassed even Zabuza, a top talent in the Hidden Mist Village.
Mangetsu didn't think his own talent was inferior, but his current strength was indeed lacking compared to Kakashi's.
Kakashi showed no signs of hesitation. At this moment, the image of Rin's death kept replaying in his mind.
Kakashi had only one thought for all of the Hidden Mist Village: "Kill!"
His attacks grew faster and faster. Mangetsu fell into an absolute disadvantage, only able to retreat.
But soon, there was nowhere to retreat.
"Ding!"
Hiramekarei in Mangetsu's hand was knocked away.
In Kakashi's hand, lightning flickered, stabbing straight towards Mangetsu.
Mangetsu's pupils shrank sharply.
"I can't dodge it!"
"I can't stop it!"
"Am I going to die here? No, I can't. I haven't fulfilled my family's expectations yet!"
At this moment, Kakashi suddenly felt a strong wind behind him.
He turned around only to see an axe, in a very smooth state, chopping towards him.
Sharp and heavy.
Kakashi had to abandon Mangetsu for now, dodging the axe's attack by shrinking his stature.
"Bang!"
The axe blade fell to the ground, creating a huge crack.
Mangetsu showed a look of relief, taking deep breaths as he quickly moved to the side of the newly arrived Mist Village ninja.
Kakashi's gaze fell on the huge axe.
"Is that a new Zanpakuto from the Hidden Mist Village?"
"Are you also a member of the Shinigami Squad?"
The spread of the terms "Zanpakuto" and "Shinigami Squad" by the Third Mizukage had reached Konoha, and everyone now was familiar with these terms.
Jinin Daiga shook his head.
"No, this isn't at the level of a Zanpakuto."
"But it's indeed an excellent Ninjato."
"Hatake Kakashi of Konoha, let me be your opponent next."
With one hand, Jinin Daiga lifted the axe, bringing it to shoulder level, pointing it at Kakashi.
"My name is Jinin Daiga!"
Kakashi's expression remained cold.
"I don't care about your name. To me, you and him are no different. I just want to wipe out all of you Mist Village ninjas, that's all."
Kakashi added silently in his mind.
—For Rin's revenge.
Mangetsu stepped back to the side.
Both Daiga and Kakashi had their strengths and weaknesses.
Kakashi's advantages lay in his speed, his exceptional dynamic vision with the Sharingan, and the formidable power of his Lightning Release attacks.
Daiga, on the other hand, had recently transitioned from being a blacksmith to a combat ninja.
Despite having decent talent and fundamental attributes, and being proficient in most Ninjutsu, his experience in combat was relatively limited.
Thus, he inevitably showed some greenness.
However, Daiga's stamina and chakra reserves far surpassed Kakashi's.
Moreover, Daiga possessed immense strength; a swing of his axe was nearly impossible for Kakashi to block, forcing him to rely on evasion.
Kakashi's expression became solemn.
Daiga moved vigorously, more like a warrior from the samurai era than a ninja.
Mangetsu's gaze couldn't help but focus on the axe in Daiga's hand.
"This axe should be from Forging Island."
"Not a Zanpakuto, but among Ninjato, it's considered quite good."
"It doesn't seem to be worse than Bluntsword..."
Thinking of this, Mangetsu couldn't help but feel a pang in his heart.
"If Ninjato that aren't Zanpakuto can compare to Bluntsword, then how can the Hozuki Seven Ninja Swords compete with Zanpakuto?"
"Was the family's choice wrong?"
"What should the Hozuki Clan do in the future?"
Recalling the confident demeanor of his family members at the family meeting, Mangetsu couldn't help but sigh.
Kakashi kept maneuvering. While evading, he attacked Daiga with Kunai and Shuriken.
"Opportunity! Now is the time!"
Kakashi finally created an opportunity.
With a flash, he appeared in Daiga's blind spot.
"Daiga Senpai, be careful!"
Mangetsu loudly warned.
But it was already too late.
"Chidori!"
Kakashi's hand crackled with lightning as he thrust towards Daiga.
The sensation of piercing the target came.
However, Kakashi's surprise lasted only a moment; the next moment, his expression drastically changed.
Because Daiga's axe came down much faster than Kakashi had anticipated.
"Crack!"
At the critical moment, Kakashi pulled himself away.
But the massive axe blade still sliced across Kakashi's chest.
A large wound appeared.
At the same time, Kakashi's figure was sent flying backward.
Without even looking at his own wound, Daiga directly pursued Kakashi.
Kakashi was surprised.
"To be able to counterattack so quickly after such an injury?"
Kakashi didn't speak, but Daiga could see it in his eyes.
"Surprised?"
"This level of pain is nothing. When I was a blacksmith, I endured much worse injuries, and being accustomed to pain was necessary in the environment of molten lava on Forging Island."
Almost all blacksmiths on Forging Island had experienced molten lava splashing onto their bodies during the forging process.
That kind of pain was much worse than a knife cutting through the skin.
Kakashi looked deeply at Daiga.
The next moment, lightning flashed beneath his feet.
Kakashi swiftly turned and left.
While Kakashi harbored deep hatred towards the Mist Ninja and sought revenge for Rin, he wasn't foolish. In the current situation, he knew he was no match for Daiga and continuing would be futile.
"To have hope for revenge, one must stay alive."
Daiga watched Kakashi's figure disappear without pursuit.
In terms of speed, Kakashi had the advantage.
Daiga swung his axe to get rid of the blood and returned to Mangetsu's side.
"Are you alright?"
"I'm fine, Jinin Senpai, thank you."
"No problem, let's go to the others."
"Okay."
Mangetsu hesitated for a moment but couldn't help asking, "Jinin Senpai, is the axe in your hand forged by Soma-senpai?"
"Hmm?" Daiga didn't answer.
Mangetsu explained, "I've been to Forging Island before and met Soma-senpai. This Ninjato shouldn't be of the level that the Land of Iron can produce, so I thought it might be crafted by Soma-senpai."
At this moment, Daiga nodded.
"Yes, this axe is indeed crafted by Chief Uehara. It's not a Zanpakuto, but its quality surpasses ordinary ninja tools by a lot."
"It's extremely sharp and durable. There's no need to hold back when swinging it."
With this confirmation from Daiga, Mangetsu's heart sank slightly, worrying about the future of the Hozuki Clan.
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