036 The Same Choice

"Enemy attack!!"

The sudden turn of events caught the Konoha forces off guard. The barrier squad immediately halted the activation of the sealing technique, while Kakashi led three chunin to fan out and scan the surroundings warily, searching for any trace of the enemy.

But after abducting the barrier squad ninja, the enemy vanished as if into thin air.

Kakashi turned to the Hyuga in their team, who shook his head. "My sensory field covers several miles, but I can't detect any sign of the enemy. They must be using some sort of space-time ninjutsu."

Kakashi suspected as much. He adjusted the forehead protector on his brow, the tomoe in his eyes spinning as his gaze swept back and forth across the control room, hoping to find a clue.

Even the Fourth Hokage's "Flying Thunder God Technique" left traces behind; Kakashi simply couldn't believe there was anyone in the shinobi world whose space-time jutsu surpassed that of his mentor, Minato Namikaze.

Yet, even with the Sharingan's powers of observation, he found nothing amiss.

He issued a cold command to the barrier squad. "Resume activation of the fortress barrier."

He intended to force the enemy to reveal themselves once more.

Kakashi valued his comrades, but he wasn't averse to certain methods. At this moment, using the barrier squad as bait was the optimal strategy—if one hesitated over every moral concern, one might as well abandon the way of the shinobi.

The barrier squad voiced no objections. They merely slowed their movements, devoting more attention to their surroundings, their eyes wary and alert.

As they acted, the enemy indeed struck again. In Kakashi's field of vision, the air twisted into a vortex, and a hand reached out from within.

"Behind you—look out!"

Kakashi shouted a warning, his teeth clenched, inhaling deeply until his chest swelled, then roared, "Silver Fang Flash!"

Gripping his short blade, he shot forward like an arrow loosed from the string, aiming straight for the enemy.

Yet as the blade sliced through the outstretched arm, even this attack—swift as lightning, never missing its mark—struck only empty air.

"What?!"

Kakashi was dumbfounded. He was certain his blade had connected, but felt nothing—just the sensation of cutting through the void.

The enemy's silhouette passed by Kakashi, seizing a barrier squad chunin who couldn't dodge in time, and disappeared into thin air.

Before the Konoha shinobi could even vent their fury at being toyed with so easily, fire suddenly ignited in the air.

Kakashi immediately recognized a stack of explosive tags and shouted, "Fall back!"

As he gave the order, his hands flashed through a series of signs. "Earth Style: Multiple Earth Ramparts!"

Instantly, four sturdy, towering walls of earth rose in the control room, enclosing the explosive tags.

Boom! Boom! Boom...

A chain of explosions rocked the chamber. Clearly, the enemy's tags were specially prepared—far more powerful than ordinary ones.

Kakashi's hastily conjured walls barely absorbed the blast, dust and smoke billowing to fill the control room and obscure everyone's vision.

"Be careful—he's back."

The Hyuga ninja's warning came, but it was already too late.

Though the barrier squad were chunin, their talents lay in the study and practice of jutsu. Most of their time was spent in safe zones, not in battle. They were ill-prepared for sudden combat.

In the blink of an eye, another barrier squad member vanished into thin air, the enemy now targeting the final survivor.

"Damn it!!"

At the critical moment, Kakashi let out a low growl, the tomoe in his eyes spinning rapidly as brilliant lightning erupted from his sword.

The airborne dust became the perfect medium; blue arcs of electricity enveloped the last member of the barrier squad.

The enemy's arm trembled, clearly paralyzed by the lightning, and withdrew into the void, abandoning the attack.

As the lightning faded, silence returned to the control room, the Konoha shinobi grim-faced.

Without ever seeing the enemy's face, they had lost three members of the barrier squad—no, four, to be precise.

Kakashi's improvised technique hadn't just struck the enemy; the last barrier squad ninja was also nearly fried to a crisp by the electric current.

It was a blow that harmed the enemy by eight hundred, but his own side by a thousand.

And in his current state, the survivor was in no condition to continue activating the fortress defenses.

"We're leaving. Now."

After a moment's hesitation, Kakashi declared the mission a failure and ordered his squad to return to the main force.

A Hyuga ninja started to protest, "But there's still a chance—"

Abandoning a mission was anathema to a shinobi, especially one so critical to the battle between the two villages.

"No, we've already failed."

Kakashi shook his head. The barrier squad ninja needed time to recover, and time was their greatest enemy in this mission. Besides, would the enemy just give them that chance?

Kakashi doubted his ability to protect an injured comrade against such a mysterious foe.

He understood his team's feelings—shinobi should fight to the bitter end—but in this situation, pressing on would only result in another comrade's death. Nothing more.

No—perhaps there was something to be gained.

If the last member of the barrier squad died, the mission would be a complete failure, one that even others in the village could not fault them for.

But Kakashi cared only for a clear conscience.

The Hyuga opened his mouth as if to object, but, recalling Kakashi's reputation and the legend of the "White Fang of Konoha," he swallowed his words.

The group, supporting their wounded, left the control room swiftly and decisively.

Moments later, a figure stepped out from the swirling vortex, glanced in the direction Kakashi had gone, and let out a cold laugh.

...

Boom! Boom! Boom!

The crimson barrier resounded dully under the impact of feline claws.

Shisui gritted his teeth, blood trickling from the corner of his mouth.

This kind of direct confrontation was not his preferred way of fighting.

Still far from his peak due to his youth, he couldn't withstand such attrition.

Fortunately, his opponent was not at full strength either, apparently wounded before the battle began; otherwise, he would not have been able to hold out.

Suddenly, a barrier squad ninja rushed out from the fortress and reported, "Captain, Kakashi's squad has sent word—they've encountered an unknown enemy. The mission has failed."

"What?" Shisui was startled, but the situation left him no time to ponder. He immediately ordered, "Prepare to retreat."

The Uchiha jonin nodded in agreement. With the mission failed, they had no reason to continue fighting. Next time, when Yugito Nii rested, they would withdraw from the battlefield.

At that moment, a squad of Cloud jonin arrived in haste. Their leader shouted to the Two-Tails, "Lady Yugito, Lord Raikage commands you to withdraw immediately!"

"What?!" The feline eyes blazed with unwillingness, but she dared not defy the Raikage's orders. Instead, she gathered several balls of Scorch Release fire and, in a final act of frustration, hurled them at the Uchiha Flame Formation.

The already faltering barrier shattered at last.