"Damn you, you little brat..."
As his chest was completely slashed open, blood spurted out violently, and the voice of the Cloud elite jōnin grew weaker and weaker. Finally, he collapsed to the ground, lifeless.
Hyuga Kagami staggered a few steps, then dropped to the ground and began panting heavily.
Around him lay the corpses of over a dozen Cloud ninja, their bodies sprawled in chaotic disarray. The battlefield was a mess, a clear sign of the intense clash that had just taken place.
After catching his breath slightly, Hyuga Kagami looked down and inspected his body. He sighed in relief.
He had several injuries, but none were fatal. Only the deep puncture wound in his left shoulder was serious, though it didn't hinder his ability to wield his sword with his right hand.
"Thanks to you."
He muttered to himself as he sheathed the Kusanagi blade.
Being able to take down more than a dozen Cloud ninja at such a low cost was largely due to the Kusanagi sword and the paralyzing toxin he had coated it with.
One of the Cloud jōnin had underestimated the blade and tried to block it with an ordinary kunai—only to be slain in a single strike, weakening the enemy's morale and strength. That set the stage for Kagami's final victory.
He quickly bandaged his wounds and didn't dare linger. This was still deep within the Land of Lightning—every extra minute spent here meant another minute of danger.
Before long, Hyuga Kagami arrived at the pre-arranged rendezvous point for Team Eleven.
Gai and Shisui, who had arrived earlier, immediately ran over when they saw him.
"You're finally here. We thought something happened to you," Gai said.
"Took a little more effort to finish them off," Kagami replied.
Shisui nodded. "I noticed earlier—you attracted the largest number of enemies."
Kagami glanced at them and asked casually, "How did things go on your end?"
Gai and Shisui each gave a quick rundown.
Gai had drawn away only eight enemies—all chūnin or genin—so after a fierce battle, he had managed to eliminate all his pursuers.
Shisui, on the other hand, had faced twelve pursuers, including one jōnin. However, that jōnin had been caught in Shisui's genjutsu early on. By the time he broke free, all his comrades had already been slain, and in a one-on-one battle, he didn't stand a chance against Shisui.
After hearing this, Kagami frowned. "So between the three of us, we only took down around fifty enemies?"
More concerning was the fact that only three of those were jōnin. The rest were mostly cannon fodder—genin used to drain chakra and wear them down.
Gai spoke with concern, "Exactly. That's why I'm really worried about Kakashi. How can he possibly deal with so many enemies alone?"
Shisui remained silent, his expression heavy.
The current situation was clear. Kakashi had no chance of survival against more than a hundred Cloud ninja. Even if he managed to destroy the secret warehouse, he wouldn't make it out alive.
Gai looked toward the valley and said firmly, "I'm going back to help him."
Shisui opened his mouth but didn't know what to say.
All three of them were injured and had burned through more than half of their chakra. Even retreating safely back to the Land of Fire would be risky, let alone turning back to fight through the valley again—that would be a death mission.
Hyuga Kagami also looked toward the valley, his expression filled with hesitation...
---
In the valley.
Kakashi crouched in a pool of blood, clutching his shoulder, a faint smile of relief spreading across his face.
Behind him, the Cloud's secret warehouse blazed brightly.
"The mission is finally complete."
"No more comrades will die because of me."
Shhh... shhh... shhh...
One after another, more and more Cloud ninja arrived via Body Flicker, surrounding Kakashi completely.
The elite jōnin leading them scowled and barked, "Konoha ninja, state your name!"
Despite his rage, the jōnin couldn't help but feel a tinge of admiration for Kakashi's suicidal assault. He wanted to know the name of this brave ninja before killing him.
Kakashi raised his head to look, but his vision was blurring from blood loss. All he could make out was the flickering firelight and the vague shapes of surrounding enemies.
At that moment, he suddenly felt dazed.
"This scene... it feels familiar..."
"Ah, right. The Battle of Kannabi Bridge. I was surrounded like this back then too..."
"Too bad Sensei is no longer here. No one will come to save me this time..."
"Obito, Rin... we'll be together again soon..."
"Heh... I guess this isn't such a bad ending..."
He felt his strength slipping away, his mind drifting, detaching from his body.
Seeing that Kakashi was on the verge of collapse, the leading Cloud jōnin sighed and signaled to one of his men to finish the job.
A Cloud chūnin approached with a kunai.
But once he got close to Kakashi, he froze, unable to act.
"What are you waiting for? Finish him! We still need to chase down the other Konoha ninja!" the elite jōnin barked.
If they couldn't kill all the invaders, even someone as senior as he was would not escape the Raikage's wrath.
The chūnin hesitated, staring at Kakashi's left eye—at the strange Sharingan within.
"But... his eye..."
Suddenly, a shadow flashed by—slashing the Cloud chūnin down in an instant. Two more figures landed beside Kakashi immediately after.
Wiping the blood from the Kusanagi blade, Hyuga Kagami stood protectively in front of Kakashi and said calmly, "Gai, carry him out of here."
Gai hesitated briefly, but upon seeing that Kakashi was semi-conscious and couldn't retreat on his own, he finally hoisted Kakashi onto his back and said, "I'll get him to safety and be right back!"
Shisui shook his head with a smile. "No need. You get him back to the village. Kagami-senpai and I can handle this."
"But—" Gai began.
Kagami growled with a dark expression, "Get out while I'm still letting you. Now!"