Yamanaka Masato led the team to intercept the Iwagakure ninjas. Meanwhile, Kisuke, with Aya and Kenta, broke off from the main force to rescue Kakashi. The roles were clear, and there was no room left for debate.
Still, Kisuke didn't miss the way Aya and Kenta looked at him. Neither of them said anything, but the silence said enough—they didn't like this plan. Not that he blamed them. If the situation were reversed, he wouldn't trust himself either.
But they didn't argue, because even if they didn't trust him, they respected his instincts. He was the one who had figured out the truth of the mission from the start. In war, instinct was survival.
Soon, they caught up. Under Masato's command, the Konoha ninjas launched a surprise attack on the Rock ninja. The Iwa group had been moving fast, distracted, but not completely off guard. A couple of them dropped in the first clash, but their counterattack came fast and hard. Within moments, the two sides were fully engaged.
Kisuke didn't waste time. He moved out, skirting the fight and heading straight for Kakashi at full speed.
Once they'd put some distance between themselves and the battlefield, Aya finally spoke.
"Why did you choose this mission?" she asked. "Kakashi's situation is bad."
"Is that so?" Kisuke didn't look at her. "How many Rock ninjas are over there now?"
"close to twenty," she said. "Also, Obito's been buried by a rockslide. He's not dead, but barely alive. Only Kakashi and Nohara Rin are left. And Namikaze Jonin's whereabouts are still unknown."
"Good. Let's move faster," Kisuke said, increasing his speed.
That threw them both for a second. Did he even hear how many enemies were over there?
For a moment, the three of them looked like teammates only because circumstance forced them to be. They didn't like each other, didn't trust each other, and probably wouldn't even mourn each other—but they were in this together, and they knew it. That forced a kind of uneasy cooperation.
"Shouldn't we be hiding instead?" Aya frowned. "If one of us gets caught, the rest of us won't last long either."
"I think we should be more cautious, Captain," Kenta added.
"What an idiot," Kisuke muttered. "You remember what the Eight-Tails Jinchūriki and his brother said about Namikaze Jonin on the kumo battlefield? And you know what jutsu he's famous for. If he's anywhere near the front—"
"You think he's still on the frontlines?" Aya interrupted. "The Flying Thunder God... is it even capable of covering that kind of distance?"
Kisuke didn't answer directly. He didn't need to. He remembered what happened during the Fourth War. Even an incomplete version of the technique could teleport the Kages across battlefields. And the Fourth Hokage—well, he'd once teleported the Nine-Tails out of Konoha entirely.
Distance wasn't the problem.
"If nothing's gone wrong, Namikaze should be back soon," Kisuke said.
"You're betting on it," Aya replied. "You don't even know what's happening up there."
"I'm betting he gives a damn about his team," Kisuke said flatly. "One of them's named Uchiha. The other, Hatake."
"But White Fang is already gone. And Obito doesn't even have a Sharingan—he's just like you," Aya shot back. But then her face changed. "Wait."
Her Byakugan had picked something up.
Kakashi's left eye had chakra that didn't belong to him.
"Obito awakened his Sharingan?" Her voice was low, almost disbelieving. "But why is it in Kakashi's eye?"
And then she noticed something else—Kakashi was carrying a special kunai.
"I get it now," she said slowly. "That kunai is marked. Namikaze can teleport to it."
Kisuke didn't reply.
"But how did you know Obito would awaken the Sharingan?"
"My last name is Uchiha," he said with a dry tone. "And there's only one real way to awaken it. Pretty sure Lord Hokage knows that too. So yeah, I know."
"Still," Aya said, "if you know how it works, why haven't you awakened yours?"
"Yeah, Captain," Kenta chimed in. "It'd help if you had it right now."
Kisuke didn't respond. He didn't feel like explaining that he already had it, but couldn't risk using it. They didn't understand how bad things were for the Uchiha. Not yet.
If he told them that in a few years the entire clan would be gone except for one kid, they'd just assume he'd lost it.
They moved forward quietly after that. With Aya scouting ahead and feeding them information, there was little risk of walking into an ambush.
Then they heard it.
That sound—sharp, grating, violent. Chidori.
No need for confirmation. Kisuke knew what that meant.
The Iwa team had found Kakashi and Rin.
He gave a quick signal. Weapons drawn. No speeches.
This wasn't about heroics. Their job was to survive and delay. Maybe stall the enemy long enough for Minato to arrive. Maybe get Kakashi and Rin out. The second option was a long shot and barely worth considering.
"Let's finish this fast," Kisuke thought. Then added, completely deadpan, "But if Madara shows up and captures me, maybe I should just unplug his oxygen tank while I'm at it."
Or should he just kill the dying Obito and get it over with.
***
While Kisuke was mentally preparing for the fight, Kakashi was running on empty.
The repeated use of the Sharingan and Chidori had drained nearly all of his chakra. His body felt heavy, his vision slightly blurred, and the edges of his awareness had begun to dull. But stopping wasn't an option—not for him. Not now.
The weight of guilt pressed harder than exhaustion ever could. Obito was gone. Rin was still behind him. That was all that mattered.
His right hand sparked with concentrated chakra, the Chidori's sharp screech cutting through the noise of the battlefield. In his left, he gripped the kunai given to him by Minato, a thin stream of chakra feeding into it—barely enough to make a difference, but he did it anyway.
As the enemy closed in, Kakashi didn't hesitate. His body moved before his thoughts could catch up, throwing himself into the clash with nothing left to protect except his promise.
At that moment, Kisuke and the others reached the edge of the battlefield.
Kisuke's eyes narrowed as he scanned the situation. "He's really pushing it."
Kakashi was barely holding on—his movement sharp but unsustainable. He was taking hits that should've dropped him but hadn't. Not yet. The Rock ninjas clearly weren't going all in on killing him, either. They were holding back—aiming to capture, not eliminate.
Kisuke could guess why. A ninja like Kakashi, even this young, was already well known. Taking him alive would mean valuable intel. That kind of target always drew attention.
"What now?" Aya asked, eyes fixed on Kakashi's desperate clash. "They're not going to hold back much longer."
"If they stop playing careful, he's finished," Kenta added. "We should grab Rin and pull back."
Kisuke didn't waste time. "You two protect Nohara Rin. Keep anyone off her. I'll support Kakashi directly."
Aya frowned. "You still think Minato's coming?"
Kisuke didn't answer. He didn't need to. His sudden movement said everything. Aya and Kenta exchanged a glance before moving out. Neither liked it, but they weren't going to argue in the middle of this.
Kakashi pinned one of the Rock ninjas against a tree and lunged in with his Chidori, fully exposing his back to another attacker. The enemy moved to trade blows, raising his kunai to intercept.
But Kakashi wasn't distracted. With the Sharingan active, he could see the counter coming and adjusted mid-strike. His Chidori slammed into the Rock ninja's chest, punching straight through. Blood sprayed across the bark behind them. One down.
But he was already surrounded again. More enemies. No chakra. No space. No chance.
"This is it?" Kakashi thought. His body screamed for rest, his arms shook with every breath. He wanted to let go. But Obito's face appeared again. Rin, still behind him. And that was enough.
He pulled his hand free, blood slick across his fingers, and turned around—
Only to see a new figure drop in behind the enemy.
There was no delay, no hesitation. The figure's kunai slashed across one ninja's throat, then flicked forward and pinned a second before the others could react.
Then, he landed in front of Kakashi.
Kakashi saw the Uchiha symbol on his flak vest and let out a shaky breath. The guilt only deepened.
"You alright?" Kisuke asked without looking back. "Where's Minato?"
"He went to the front lines," Kakashi said, voice strained. "You should leave. I'll hold them off. Get Rin out."
"No need. They've got her." Kisuke paused, scanning the field. "You need to pull yourself together. We'll fight through and regroup. Staying here's not an option."
Kakashi didn't answer. He just nodded.
The Rock ninja were already reorganizing. They weren't hesitating now.
Kisuke exhaled slowly. He didn't know how long they needed to hold out—maybe seconds, maybe minutes. Minato's timing was unknown, and that made everything harder.
But that was the gamble.
"Fire Style: Great Fireball Jutsu!"
Kisuke formed seals and unleashed the jutsu, But as the fire hit, one of the targets vanished in a puff of smoke.
Clone.
Kisuke tensed. No time to confirm. He moved instantly—but not fast enough. A kunai came in from behind, straight toward his back. His body shimmered, then dispersed into cloud.
Not the real one.
A split-second later, the real Kisuke appeared behind the attacker and drove his kunai into the Rock ninja's back. But something was off. The resistance wasn't right.
More enemies were coming.
Without hesitation, Kisuke swapped out again—another substitution. He reappeared several meters away, already drawing another kunai.
The Rock Ninja in front of him broke apart into smoke. Shadow Clone. Predictable.
The Shadow Clone Jutsu may have been a Konoha invention—Second Hokage's work—but that was decades ago. By now, anyone worth their forehead protector had either stolen it, copied it, or reverse-engineered it. No mystery how it spread. Probably some unlucky Konoha shinobi got caught, cracked open like a melon, and the jutsu pulled straight from their brain.
So much for keeping village secrets.
In any case, these days, any competent shinobi—regardless of village—likely knew it.
Just as Kisuke used the Substitution Jutsu, his clone was sliced cleanly, splitting into two broken branches.
A cold sweat ran down his back. These guys were relentless.
Even with his fast reactions, he took a light hit. Blood seeped from his left shoulder—not serious, but he didn't have the luxury to worry about it. The enemy's senior ninja pressed hard, keeping him fully occupied. He didn't even have time to form hand seals.
Kisuke couldn't help thinking back to the comics. Some genin-level brat could crush a Jonin like swatting a fly—and when angry, even kill Kage-level enemies. Meanwhile, he was at least Chunin strength without using his Sharingan, and he was getting dragged around by some no-name Rock ninja. If he slipped up, one of their teammates could flank him and kill him in a heartbeat.
The difference in life experience was staggering.