Chapter 12: Have I Come Too Late? (Please Keep Reading)

Yuzhi? And Akai and Aoba as well.

The flock of crows still circled the forest, but they also scattered slightly under Shancheng Qingye's control.

Although they had seen that signature fighting style before, Kakashi and Rin also had a vague premonition.

But when they truly saw the newcomer's face, they finally breathed a sigh of relief.

Are you all okay?

Yuzhi saw Akai and Aoba bringing Rin Nohara over, and he asked in a low voice.

Yuzhi, we're fine, but...

Rin turned her head to look at the collapsed cave not far away, her eyes reddening as she couldn't speak.

Kakashi also silently stood up, electric arcs appearing on his hands again before he spoke.

I'm fine; I'll hold them off—you take Rin and get out of here quickly.

Now is not the time to seek death; recover quickly.

Yuzhi shook his head; he could still guess what Kakashi was thinking.

After taking so many mental blows, he probably just wants to die now.

It's you?!

The appearance of Yuzhi and his two companions startled the Rock Ninja briefly, but they were well-trained ninjas and quickly recovered.

But when the Rock Ninja clearly saw the faces of Yuzhi and his two companions, they were instantly filled with both surprise and blazing anger!

What surprised them was that these three had actually walked into the trap themselves, while what angered them was that these three weren't afraid of capture and had come to reinforce others!

You're surprised?

Although Yuzhi was extremely cautious inside, he still showed a faint smile.

I don't know—did you like last night's explosion?

Explosion?

Kakashi and Rin both froze slightly at those words, immediately recalling last night's massive explosion.

They never imagined that the culprit would be Yuzhi and his two companions!

Attack—watch out for that brat's eyes!

Whether it was from excessive rage or not, the Rock Village Captain shouted angrily and quickly formed seals.

Earth Release: Earth Spear!

Scatter! Aoba, Akai, you two protect them!

Seeing this, Yuzhi leapt up and simultaneously gave the order.

These Rock Ninja have already begun using ninjutsu, indicating they no longer intend to hold back.

Die!

Just as Yuzhi dodged the earth spikes and landed, two Rock Ninja had already rushed to his rear, their kunai stabbing straight at his back.

However, when their kunai pierced Yuzhi's back, they immediately felt that something was off.

Bang—

Yuzhi's body instantly turned into a mass of electricity, which quickly spread to the two of them, instantly causing them to feel numb all over.

Lightning Clone? When?

The two Rock Ninja's faces changed drastically, but their bodies couldn't move at all, while Yuzhi also burst out from the shadows at that moment.

The ninja sword in his hand turned into a cold flash, instantly slicing the throats of those two Rock Ninja.

But just as he sheathed his sword, he had to leap up again because another Rock Ninja appeared behind him.

Earth Release: Earth Dragon Bullet!

The blood‑eyed Rock Ninja had no intention of letting him go; seeing him leap, the Rock Ninja Captain immediately formed seals again.

Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique!

Having just jumped into the air, Yuzhi had no room to dodge; he could only fling his ninja sword at a Rock Ninja on the ground.

At the same time he quickly formed seals with both hands, and instantly a huge fireball spewed from his mouth.

Boom—

The fireball and earth dragon bullet collided in midair, producing a muffled boom; as he landed, the Rock Ninja Captain already had several ninjas surrounding him.

Clang, clang, clang

Yuzhi instantly drew his kunai, and a series of piercing metal clangs rang out in the forest!

Engaging in taijutsu was certainly not a bad thing for Yuzhi; although these Rock Ninja weren't fools, they knew what to do when facing an Uchiha.

They consistently kept to frontal combat against Yuzhi, while someone always lurked behind him ready to ambush.

But if their tactics were used against an ordinary Uchiha, even with the Three Tomoe effect it wouldn't make much difference.

But for Yuzhi, it might only increase the danger somewhat, but it would absolutely not be fatal!

He, who was forced to develop all‑roundedly, has dabbled in all kinds of abilities.

And most importantly, the improvement of his Sharingan does not rely on mental stimulation, but on the passive ability 【Zhuo Er Extraordinary】.

This passive ability does not merely boost the Sharingan; it also enhances his bloodline to some extent!

But the Rock Ninja's fighting spirit is truly tenacious.

Watching the ninjas continuously launch attacks under the Rock Ninja Captain's command, Yuzhi couldn't help but frown slightly.

The difficulty of this battle somewhat exceeded his imagination.

Even though only a few minutes of fighting have passed, several Rock Ninja have already fallen to him, yet this bunch remains frenzied.

Is it truly the 'Stone Will,' or have they simply been enraged by their own actions?

Moreover, aside from him being relatively okay, the others' conditions are really not good.

Akai was fighting desperately; although he remained passionate, the wounds on his body kept increasing.

Kakashi had slightly recovered and also rejoined the battle, but his situation was particularly bad; his Thousand Birds could no longer be maintained.

Aoba was still using crows for cover and protecting Ye Yuanlin, but he was already heavily depleted, and his situation was not optimistic.

"Looks like we can't fully rely on Minato Namikaze; what's he doing, why hasn't he arrived yet?"

Yuzhi frowned more deeply; although the original didn't explicitly say so, it was obvious that Kakashi couldn't hold on when he launched his final attack.

He must have soon lost consciousness, and by the time he woke up, he had already been rescued by Minato Namikaze; the battle was over.

Now, with my addition, Kakashi can obviously hold out longer, but this probably isn't the reason for Minato Namikaze's delay, right?

Could it be "intelligent delay"?

"Looks like we can't count on him; we have to come up with something ourselves."

Yuzhi originally intended to hold off these Rock Ninja, waiting for Minato Namikaze to end the battle, but now he must do something.

His gaze involuntarily locked onto the Rock Ninja Captain; he knew a principle—

Capture the bandit by capturing their leader!

——

"Sorry, I have to leave!"

On the frontline battlefield, Minato Namikaze looked anxious.

He had long felt that the kunai he left for Kakashi was reacting with chakra, but he couldn't act immediately.

According to intelligence, Rock Village seemed to have a base where a massive explosion occurred.

Although no one knows exactly how much damage this explosion caused, it will definitely affect Rock Village.

This fact also proved it; perhaps aware of trouble in their rear, Rock Village's attack today began especially desperately.

This put enormous pressure on Leaf Village's defense, but when Leaf Village held firm, it also inflicted heavy casualties on Rock Village.

Rock Village's morale plummeted, giving Leaf Village's command an opportunity to pursue the advantage.

Such a battle also required Minato Namikaze to participate; although Rock Village's morale plummeted, they still had people fighting desperately.

With Minato Namikaze present, those desperately resisting would be more easily dealt with, and Rock Village's morale could be further weakened.

But this also consumed too much of his time; he is now really worried about Kakashi and the others.

But at the moment the battle ended completely, he simply greeted the nearby ninja who were cheering for him, then instantly activated the Flying Thunder God Technique.

"Kakashi, Obito, Lin, sorry I'm late; you must hold on."

Minato Namikaze silently muttered to himself; however, after the space distorted and everything around him changed.

His expression turned strange, for he saw among a group of Rock Ninja a Uchiha Clan youth holding a kunai.

He lightly slit the throat of a Rock Ninja, while the surrounding Rock Ninja shouted "Captain!"

This gave him a strange thought—

I really came late?

Newbie begs for reads; now getting reads will decide a book's fate, raising it is easy to kill it.

Thanks to all the big shots, Onz.

(End of chapter)