Chapter 77: This isn't fair!

Kakashi, who returned to kill again, seemed to unleash the power hidden within his body after the Ninjato inherited from his father, Konoha's White Fang, was shattered by the ninja from the Hidden Rock Village.

"Chidori."

"Sizzle!"

It sounded like countless sharp birds chirping.

Kakko's pupils contracted.

"You little devil!"

Kakko tried its best to react.

But Kakashi's speed was too fast.

Not only was there lightning flashing in his hand.

There was also lightning flashing on Kakashi's body.

Kakashi seemed to hear a voice roaring.

"I absolutely, absolutely cannot lose to people like you!"

"Sneak attack!"

"Trap!"

"Taking advantage of numerical superiority."

"But, I won't lose!"

Kakashi's hand pierced into the body of Kakko.

"Puff!"

Withdraw.

Along with half of Kakko's heart.

Kakko's eyes widened, showing an expression of disbelief, and fell to the ground.

"Is this Hatake Kakashi, the genius ninja of Konoha?"

"At such a young age, being this strong, how much trouble will he bring to the Hidden Rock Village in the future?"

"And what about that bloodthirsty shark, said to have firmly suppressed Hatake Kakashi? What kind of strength does he possess?"

"It seems that Iwagakure has never had such a powerful young ninja..."

Kakashi glanced casually at the corpse of Kakko.

"You're far inferior to that guy!"

In Kakashi's mind, the image of Hoshigaki Kisame appeared.

"Obito!"

In the next moment, Kakashi rushed towards Uchiha Obito.

But at this moment, the situation of Uchiha Obito was indeed quite bad.

His whole body was crushed by rocks.

Only a head and a small part of his limbs were exposed.

"Obito!"

Nohara Rin cried out in tears.

Tears involuntarily overflowed from her eyes and fell onto Uchiha Obito.

Nohara Rin tried her best to pull out Uchiha Obito for treatment.

"Rin, it's no use. I know my situation myself. I'm beyond saving."

"Kakashi!"

Suddenly, Uchiha Obito turned his gaze to Kakashi.

"Kakashi, I have only one request, that is, to safely take Rin back, back to the village."

"I will."

Kakashi glanced at Nohara Rin with sadness in his eyes and nodded.

"Rin, we can't stay much longer"

Uchiha Obito said in a calm voice, "The situation is very urgent now."

"Almost all the ninjas from Konoha are almost dead, leaving only a few of us, while there are still many ninjas from the Hidden Rock Village. They are here to kill us all."

"I'm beyond saving, but you must survive."

"Transplant my eye to Kakashi."

"This way, it might increase your chance of escape a little."

"And also, this way, at least I can still continue to be with you all, even if it's just one eye. Please forgive my selfishness. I hope that when you see that eye, you can remember me."

"That's enough for me."

"Rin, hurry."

Uchiha Obito's body had indeed reached its limit.

With a slight emotional outburst, blood would overflow from his mouth.

"Alright, I promise you."

Kakashi stepped forward with his heart growing heavy.

Soon, Rin completed the transplant.

For medical ninjas, this wasn't a very difficult surgery.

And Rin's talent in Medical Ninjutsu was already quite impressive.

However, such surgery placed a heavy psychological burden on Rin.

To forcibly give up one's comrade.

And in the process, to remove the eye of this comrade and transplant it to another comrade.

At the moment the surgery was completed, Rin couldn't control herself anymore and ran to the other side, vomiting continuously.

"Kakashi."

"Hmm?"

Uchiha Obito looked up at the sky, his expression neither sad nor happy, as if he had resigned himself to his fate.

"I heard that when you faced the Hidden Mist Village ninja before, you encountered two very formidable young ninjas, right?"

Kakashi nodded.

"Yes, Hoshigaki Kisame, Momochi Zabuza, both of them are strong."

"Are they stronger than you?"

"One lost to me, the other defeated me."

"Really, there are ninjas your age even stronger than you, Kakashi. I would have liked to meet such geniuses if I had the chance, but unfortunately, I no longer have that opportunity."

Uchiha Obito gave a bitter smile.

"I also heard that when Sarutobi Asuma was about to be killed, a ninja suddenly appeared to protect him in secret, driving away the Hidden Mist Village ninja, is that true?"

Kakashi hesitated for a moment.

"Yes."

"Tsk..."

Uchiha Obito said somewhat self-mockingly, "Maybe, people like us are just different from others from the start."

"Why is it that we don't have someone protecting us in secret?"

"Kakashi, do you think that's fair?"

Kakashi fell into silence.

Fair?

Of course not.

Kakashi admitted that after seeing such a situation, he felt somewhat uncomfortable.

But Kakashi didn't pay too much attention to it.

Kakashi thought he didn't need it.

But now, the situation was different.

Faced with the ambush of Iwagakure ninjas, the three of them were in dire straits.

He lost one eye.

Rin nearly lost her life.

Obito stepped forward to protect himself and Nohara Rin, but sacrificed himself.

He survived only because of Obito's protection.

Who will protect Obito?

At this moment, when Obito asked this question, Kakashi suddenly felt that the uncomfortable feeling in his heart became much stronger.

"Kakashi, run!"

Obito heard someone approaching.

And it came from the direction of the previous ambush by the Hidden Rock Village ninjas, so he quickly shouted to warn.

Kakashi's expression changed.

"Rin, let's go!"

The figures of over a dozen Iwagakure ninjas appeared, glancing at Obito on the ground.

Obito shouted desperately, trying to attract the attention of the Iwagakure ninjas.

But the Iwagakure ninjas ignored him and all chased after Kakashi and Rin.

"Don't let them escape!"

"Kill them!"

A golden light rushed at an extremely fast speed.

"Kakashi!"

"Rin!"

Rin looked up at Minato Namikaze, her eyes bloodshot.

"Minato-sensei, Obito, he's dead."

Minato was taken aback.

But he quickly noticed the Iwagakure ninjas chasing after them.

"First, let's leave. We'll talk later in a safe place."

...

...

Uehara Soma stepped back, effortlessly conjuring Water Release.

"Water Release: Water Dragon Bullet Jutsu!"

Biwa Juzo raised the Blue Rose Sword.

With a single thrust, he froze and shattered the water dragon into countless ice block fragments.

Then, Biwa Juzo charged towards Uehara Soma.

"Ding!"

The ninjatos of the two clashed.

Uehara Soma felt a powerful recoil force, causing him to involuntarily step back. However, he quickly stabilized his posture with the body control ability brought by Taijutsu.

Ameyuri Ringo watched in astonishment.

"Is Soma-senpai's strength really this strong?"

Ameyuri Ringo put herself in Biwa Juzo's shoes and compared herself to Uehara Soma, only to realize that if Uehara Soma were her opponent, she would have already lost.

"His Taijutsu is very strong."

"His Kenjutsu is even stronger."

"But what's even stronger is his Water Release."

"I don't know if it's just my imagination, but I feel like when Soma-senpai uses Water Release, it seems even smoother than Juzo-sensei."

Ao glanced at Ameyuri Ringo.

"It's not your imagination. Soma's Water Release is indeed very well executed."

"Excluding the Chakra factor, both Juzo and I are not as skilled as Soma in Water Release."

"Soma has top-tier talent in Water Release."

Ameyuri Ringo's eyes widened.

"So, Soma-senpai is a Water Release genius. Why doesn't he focus more on this direction?"

Subconsciously uttering this sentence, Ameyuri Ringo realized that she had forgotten about Uehara Soma's identity.

Uehara Soma is a blacksmith.

"Yes, Soma-senpai's talent in Forging Technique is probably even stronger than his Water Release. Otherwise, it would be impossible for him to craft such powerful ninjatos."

"Even his secondary expertise is so formidable."

"He's too strong."

Ameyuri Ringo looked at Uehara Soma, with a hint of envy in her eyes.

"Soma's talent is indeed enviable."

Ao said, "But Ameyuri, you're also very good. Don't feel unbalanced just because you've seen Soma's performance. Compared to your peers, you're already doing very well."

"You've made great progress in such a short time since switching from a medical ninja to a combat ninja."

"In the future, you may well become one of the village's elite ninjas."

Ameyuri Ringo nodded.

"Mm-hmm, I'll do my best!"

With a single strike, Biwa Juzo pushed back Uehara Soma, then instead of pursuing further, he leaped backward.

"Soma, let's end it here for today."

"Alright, Juzo-senpai."

Uehara Soma breathed heavily.

It had to be said that fighting against elite jonin like Biwa Juzo was very tiring and stressful.

Even though Biwa Juzo didn't use his full strength, even though he had no intention of killing.

However, in terms of overall strength, the current Biwa Juzo was completely superior to Uehara Soma.

"Juzo-senpai, what aspects do I need to improve?"

Biwa Juzo thought for a moment.

"Mainly, it's a matter of strategic experience. The process of ninja combat is essentially a game, where different moves counter each other."

"So, it's important to anticipate what kind of attacks the opponent will use."

Uehara Soma said, "Like playing rock-paper-scissors?"

"Yes, exactly like that, rock-paper-scissors."

Biwa Juzo nodded.

"But it's much more complex than rock-paper-scissors because ninja abilities, the elements of combat, add many more factors, resulting in a myriad of possible situations."

"However, your performance this time, Soma, has exceeded my expectations."

"Your progress in Taijutsu is remarkable."

"But what's even more surprising is your Kenjutsu."

Uehara Soma found a reason for himself.

"Perhaps it's because I've forged many ninjatos, so I have a better understanding of them than most people. Once I pick one up, I naturally develop a sense for it."

Biwa Juzo accepted this reason from Uehara Soma.

For the next half month, Uehara Soma had been engaged in practical combat training.

His opponents were either Biwa Juzo or Ao.

After half a month, Uehara Soma gradually adapted, passed through the period of rapid improvement, and lowered his insistence.

After dinner, Uehara Soma returned to his room.

"Almost time to enter the Dungeon Instance."

Uehara Soma took out the Blueprint and had a thought.

[Dungeon Instance opening.]

[Opening successful.]

[Currently teleporting.]

Uehara Soma's figure disappeared on Forging Island.

...

Land of Fire, Konoha.

Kakashi and Nohara Rin were taken to the medical department for treatment.

Kakashi's condition was more severe and he spent more time in the medical department.

When Kakashi came out of the medical department, Rin had been resting at home for several days, adjusting her mindset. She came to the entrance of the medical department, waiting for Kakashi to come out.

"Kakashi, over here."

Rin forced a smile.

Kakashi walked towards Rin.

The two walked side by side.

Rin couldn't help but glance at Kakashi's left eye.

It was covered by an eye patch.

"Kakashi."

"Yeah?"

"How's your eye?"

"It's Obito's eye."

As Kakashi said this, silence fell between them, and the atmosphere grew heavy.

Kakashi glanced at Rin and pursed his lips.

"Rin, let's go eat barbecue. Obito said before that after the war, we should have a hearty barbecue without any reservations. I think that's the only thing we can do for him now."

"Okay."

Suddenly, a figure approached from the opposite direction.

"Kakashi."

Asuma greeted Kakashi proactively.

Kakashi nodded in response.

But in the next moment, Kakashi couldn't help but recall Obito's last words before his death.

"Why does Asuma have Ninja secretly protecting him, while we have nothing?"

"Is that fair?"

Kakashi's expression underwent some changes involuntarily.

Asuma noticed this and subconsciously felt uncomfortable.

Watching Kakashi and Rin enter the barbecue restaurant, a voice entered Asuma's ears.

"Did you hear? Obito died."

Asuma's pupils contracted.

Soon, Asuma realized why Kakashi's gaze had changed when he looked at him.

"Because Obito died..."

"But when I was dying, there was a Ninja secretly protecting me..."

Asuma clenched his fists and gritted his teeth.

"But this wasn't something I arranged."

"Why blame me?"

"I didn't cause Obito's death!"

The look Kakashi gave him lingered in Asuma's mind.

Asuma felt deeply stung.

Back in the village, Asuma heard plenty of related remarks.

They said he was useless, that as a Ninja, needing covert protection on the battlefield was childish, and it even implicated Third Hokage, his father.

Kakashi's gaze was like the last straw that broke the camel's back.

Asuma's mindset crumbled.

With his head down, Asuma walked towards the Hokage Building.

"Perhaps I'm just not cut out to stay in Konoha."

...

Uehara Soma surveyed the pure white palace in front of him.

It looked magnificent on the outside.

But inside and out, there was a hint of decay, as if it had been abandoned for a long time, with no one living there.

Outside the palace is a white desert.

Some scattered dry branches lie on the ground.

[Instance Mission: Baraggan's Obsession.]

[Mission Reward: Skeleton Emperor's Materials.]

[Do you want to accept the mission?]

---

You can read up to 50 Advanced chapters and support me at patreon.com/Lookar