UCHIHA KING OF THE SOULS

Love Shows One's Hand

On the third day, at three o'clock in the afternoon, the Iwagakure forces, weary of waiting for Konoha's assault, lost patience. Their supplies were dwindling, and desperation set in. Before their rations ran out, they launched an all-out attack.

More than eight hundred Iwagakure shinobi, their numbers thinned but still formidable, surged toward the northwest—their homeland's direction—charging down the rocky terrain.

In response, Namikaze Minato, commander of the Konoha forces, immediately assessed the battlefield. The traps laid in the northwest slowed the Iwagakure advance, giving Minato the time to deploy reinforcements. He issued swift orders: jōnin, with their superior speed, would provide immediate support, while chūnin and genin completed the encirclement.

Despite the uncertainty of Iwagakure's exact approach, Minato relied on a defensive strategy that allowed him to adapt dynamically. With the battlefield compact and Konoha's mobility high, support could be rapidly deployed wherever needed.

In a golden flash, he vanished, utilizing his Flying Thunder God Technique to materialize in the northwest in an instant—his sudden arrival a beacon of hope for Konoha's forces.

Team 7, directly under Minato's command, moved to reinforce the front lines. Kakashi Hatake led the squad, and though it contained two chūnin, their elite composition ensured they were among the first to engage. However, their pace was hindered by Nohara Rin's slower movement, her role as a medical-nin limiting her mobility. By the time they arrived, the battle was already at its peak.

For Iwagakure, success was imperative. Whether they intended to annihilate Konoha's forces or break through their encirclement, they had to act before the main Konoha reinforcements closed in.

The battlefield was chaos incarnate—kunai, shuriken, and explosive tags whirled through the air as ninjutsu clashed violently. The screams of the wounded and dying merged with the thunderous explosions. Even the most skilled shinobi had no guarantee of survival. Death could come from any angle, no matter how cautious one was.

At the heart of the battlefield, Minato's yellow blur flickered across enemy lines. Each time his kunai flashed, another Iwa ninja fell, their lives extinguished before they even realized what had happened. His teleportation was relentless, a specter of death impossible to counter. The Iwa forces had learned to dread the Kiiroi Senkō, the Yellow Flash, yet they had no answer for him.

On the battlefield's edge, Kakashi barked orders.

"Triangle formation. Gen, protect Rin."

"Don't worry," Uchiha Gen replied, his voice calm amidst the carnage.

"Watch your own back," Rin said. "I may be a medical-nin, but I'm not defenseless."

"I know. I've never underestimated you."

Rin hesitated for a brief moment as her gaze landed on Gen's two-tomoe Sharingan. A flicker of memory surfaced—Obito.

In a seamless shift, their formation adjusted: Kakashi at the front, Uchiha Gen on the right, and Rin on the left—positioned for safety.

Rin was kind, gentle, and selfless. She had been willing to give her life for Konoha. Uchiha Madara was a true villain for turning her fate into a cruel manipulation.

Perhaps, one day, she could be resurrected.

Obito Uchiha, who had committed countless atrocities, did not deserve her. Not in life, not in death. Could Rin, who had sacrificed herself for Konoha, truly forgive the man who had burned it to the ground?

He doubted it.

That fleeting moment in the Fourth Shinobi War—was it truly Rin speaking to Obito, or merely his own delusion? If Obito entered the Pure Land, but Rin returned to the world of the living instead, wouldn't that be the most fitting punishment?

As a child, he had once admired Obito. But as he grew, that admiration curdled into disdain. Now, as an Uchiha himself, he loathed him.

Gen's thoughts did not slow his movements. His Sharingan spun, his blade flickered through the air, deflecting kunai and shuriken with calculated precision.

"Katon: Gōkakyū no Jutsu!"

"Fūton: Daitoppa!"

Kakashi, recognizing the sequence, adjusted immediately. His hands blurred through seals, releasing a gust of wind that merged with Gen's fire.

The orange flames swelled into a golden inferno, surging forward at over 1,200 degrees Celsius. Three Iwagakure genin attempted to evade, but the fireball expanded too quickly, consuming them. Their screams were brief before they collapsed, charred husks on the rocky ground.

No one hesitated. Death had become routine.

As they advanced deeper into the battlefield, more Iwa shinobi took notice. Konoha's rising stars were drawing attention, and stronger enemies took aim at them.

Three Iwa shinobi—a special jōnin and two chūnin—closed in swiftly. The moment they reached striking range, their hands moved in unison, transforming into weapons.

"Doton: Ganban Kyū!"

Massive stone projectiles erupted from their mouths, expanding midair to the size of boulders. Their sheer velocity made them lethal.

Kakashi reacted instantly.

"Doton: Doryūheki!"

A thick earthen wall rose before them. The impact shook the ground as the boulders shattered against the barrier, leaving deep cracks.

"Protect Rin," Kakashi ordered, before drawing his tantō and launching himself forward like a silver blur.

The three Iwa shinobi met him head-on, kunai clashing in a high-speed battle of skill and strength. Kakashi, though physically smaller, compensated with superior technique—his father's White Fang swordsmanship, enhanced by his Sharingan. Against one, he would have dominated. Against three, he was evenly matched.

"Rin, be careful of genjutsu," Uchiha Gen murmured. His fingers blurred through a hand seal.

"Nehan Shōja no Jutsu."

Phantom feathers descended like a dream.

The illusion was subtle yet devastating. The three Iwa shinobi, caught within its range, faltered. Their eyelids drooped as the unseen force dragged them into slumber.

Even Kakashi felt the pull, snapping himself out of it just in time.

"No way… an A-rank illusion?" he muttered.

Rin, unaffected due to her own chakra control, gaped at Gen in astonishment.

"Kakashi nearly fell for it too," she said.

"Expected from you, Kakashi—you're well-read," Gen smirked. "Yes, Nehan Shōja no Jutsu."

Kakashi exhaled sharply. "A chūnin using an A-rank illusion… that strong?"

More concerning, the Iwa shinobi weren't waking up. Even a special jōnin couldn't dispel it.

Rin wasted no time. She moved swiftly, severing their tendons and disabling their jaws to prevent suicide.

With the immediate threat neutralized, Team 7 refrained from pushing into the battlefield's center. Even prodigies like them would be overwhelmed in the thick of the fight. Without the Flying Thunder God, carelessness meant death.

Their battle was far from over.

And their enemies were watching.