“I need to be more careful.”
Kiyohara thought to himself.
Mahiru’s strength was formidable—a true Jonin through and through.
Kakashi wasn’t really a match for him either.
In the original story, it was only thanks to Minato Namikaze’s rescue that Kakashi survived.
Thinking about this, Kiyohara decided to keep a low profile.
He furrowed his brow, and without making a sound, positioned everyone behind him as a shield.
“Everyone, be careful.
There are twenty enemies, but most of them are likely Shadow Clones.”
Minato Namikaze spoke up.
Twenty presences had suddenly appeared.
They were most likely solid clones created by the enemy’s “Shadow Clone Technique.”
“Teacher…
we charge forward.
Please cover me.”
Kakashi spoke.
He wanted to test out the new technique he had developed himself.
“Don’t be reckless, Kakashi.
You’d better stay at the rear.”
Minato Namikaze said.
He glanced over at Kiyohara, who had retreated to the back.
He couldn’t help but nod.
Kiyohara’s wariness was excellent—Kakashi was far too impulsive.
With the situation still unclear between friend and foe, they needed to stand on full alert.
In Minato Namikaze’s view, no matter how strong a shinobi was, a single kunai to a vital spot would end them.
“Teacher…
I’m the squad leader today, right?
And I happen to want to test out the new ninjutsu I’m developing!”
Kakashi didn’t listen to Minato Namikaze’s advice.
He crouched low, letting his right hand hang down over the grass.
Crackle!
Arcs of lightning continuously flickered in Kakashi’s hand, like the chirping of a thousand birds!
Chidori!
“So that’s the ‘Chidori’?”
Kiyohara observed the Lightning Release ninjutsu Kakashi had unleashed.
At this stage, the technique was called “Chidori.” Later, after Kakashi joined the Anbu and used “Chidori” to slice through a bolt of heavenly lightning, it would be renamed “Lightning Cutter.”
“Chidori” and “Lightning Cutter” were actually the same technique, sharing identical hand seals.
Interestingly enough, though, according to the databooks, “Chidori” was ranked as an A-rank technique, while “Lightning Cutter” was ranked S-rank.
“Even if there are many enemies, this technique can take them all out in an instant!”
Kakashi wore a confident expression, and ignoring Minato Namikaze’s attempts to stop him, he charged straight forward.
Krak-krak-krak-crack!
The grating sound tore through the silent woods.
“He actually charged head-on?”
Mahiru was taken aback, not expecting Kakashi to press forward even after discovering his presence.
Seeing this, he hurled several shuriken in an attempt to intercept Kakashi.
Shk-shk-shk!
A series of whistling cutting sounds rang out, and at that very moment, Kiyohara also threw his own shuriken.
His shuriken collided midair with Mahiru’s, then clattered to the ground.
“How is Kiyohara’s Manipulated Shuriken Technique better than mine, a Uchiha’s?”
Obito had also been about to throw shuriken to create a diversion for Kakashi.
But before he could even release them, Kiyohara had already struck first.
With the obstruction gone, Kakashi’s body was dragged along by the “Chidori” in his hand, his speed boosted dramatically, rushing forward like a bolt of lightning.
Thud!
After Mahiru was pierced through, he dissolved into a puff of smoke.
A Shadow Clone!
Everyone’s hearts tightened.
Shadow Clones could not be seen through—even the Byakugan was powerless against them.
Shinobi could only rely on experience to judge which one was the real body.
Because Shadow Clones evenly distributed all of one’s chakra, it was naturally impossible to see through which was the true body.
While the others were stunned, Kiyohara kept his eyes fixed on the ground.
He knew that Mahiru’s next attack would come from beneath the earth.
Sure enough, the ground began to stir, and Mahiru emerged wielding a kunai.
Obito looked alarmed, thinking Mahiru was coming for him.
But to his surprise, Mahiru switched directions and lunged at Kiyohara instead.
Originally, he had planned to kill the shinobi embroidered with the flame-patterned fan—the symbol of the Uchiha clan.
But then he remembered that Kiyohara had been the first to detect him, so he changed his target.
Bang!
Blades clashed, and a flash of brilliant, sharp sparks flickered for an instant.
“What?!”
Mahiru was startled.
This brat had actually blocked his attack?
It was as if he had been lying in wait for him specifically!
While Mahiru was stunned, Kiyohara hurled another shuriken.
Bang!
Mahiru’s Shadow Clone dissipated.
The biggest drawback for most shinobi using Shadow Clones was that their chakra would run short!
Mahiru clearly suffered from this flaw as well.
Having split off twenty Shadow Clones meant his chakra had to be divided twenty ways—every single clone had only one twentieth of the original.
Only someone like Naruto, who could squander chakra at will, could casually split into hundreds or thousands of Shadow Clones without being affected in the slightest.
“Did the surprise attack fail?”
On the other side, Mahiru’s brow furrowed slightly.
He had intended to kill one of the brats first, but he hadn’t expected to fail.
“The eighteenth…”
Kakashi circled around, dispatching most of Mahiru’s Shadow Clones before charging straight for Mahiru himself.
“Don’t get too cocky, you little brat!”
Mahiru was starting to lose his composure.
It was one thing for that black-haired brat to sense his ambush, but now this white-haired brat was wearing that same infuriatingly calm expression!
Mahiru chose an angle and swung his blade swiftly—Kakashi was clearly already struggling to control the technique.
Mahiru noticed this.
Minato Namikaze noticed it too.
The next moment, Minato Namikaze vanished from where he stood.
When he reappeared, he was holding Kakashi and dodging Mahiru’s downward slash.
After delivering Kakashi to safety, Minato Namikaze shrugged off his field pack.
Just as he was about to hit the ground, he used the “Flying Raijin Jutsu” to teleport directly behind Mahiru, pressing a kunai against him.
“Could you be Konoha’s… ‘Yellow Flash’?”
Mahiru broke out in a cold sweat, finally understanding why his superiors had told them that even upon encountering Minato Namikaze, retreat was the better option.
Thud.
A splash of blood rose into the air, and Mahiru collapsed lifelessly to the ground.
“So this is the world of shinobi, after all.”
Kiyohara watched as Minato Namikaze—the ever-kind-hearted man—mercilessly took Mahiru’s life without hesitation.
Being a shinobi had always been a grim profession.
Killing was nothing out of the ordinary; Naruto’s adventurous tone had simply masked that truth.
“Ugh…”
Kakashi clutched his wound, and Rin Nohara hurried over to treat him.
Seeing Kakashi fail at showing off, Obito unhesitatingly began berating him for acting on his own and not listening to sensei Minato’s instructions.
“I don’t want to hear that from you.”
Kakashi shot a glance at Obito.
“You two, that’s enough.”
Minato Namikaze flicked the bloodstains off his kunai.
“This time, the only one who truly impressed me was Kiyohara alone.”
Minato Namikaze said.
With his words, everyone’s gaze shifted to Kiyohara.
“Kakashi, rules are certainly important, but I told you all before—sometimes we have to adapt to the situation at hand…”
Minato Namikaze began describing his disappointment with this mission.
Kakashi was reckless, and Obito had clearly frozen in fear.
As for the genjutsu user Kurenai Yuhi and the medical ninja Rin Nohara, neither was a combat specialist, so that was understandable.
Genma Shiranui, meanwhile, was rather average—unremarkable in every regard.
He hadn’t detected the enemy, but he also hadn’t held the group back when faced with the attack.
This time, only Kiyohara had earned Minato Namikaze’s approval!