Chapter 303: Swinging the Blade to Protect

"The strongest one on their side should be that shark-face guy. He uses Water Release with his massive strength, so your Fire Release will be countered by him. That's why I'll handle him. For the remaining two, you start with a few probing attacks. If it's really not working, have Rin help out. Don't be reckless." Kakashi quickly laid out the battle plan to Obito.

Although Nara Enshi and the others were badly injured, the frontal battle was equally important—if they couldn't win, everyone would die together.

"I got it." Obito nodded and shifted his gaze to Zabuza and Kurosawa.

After a brief taijutsu exchange, Kurosawa judged that the opponent was inferior in hand-to-hand combat, while Zabuza seemed highly skilled with a sword.

Even though Kakashi intended to fight Kisame, Zabuza seemed provoked by Kakashi's words. Ignoring Obito, he charged straight at Kakashi with his sword.

Kakashi's expression remained unchanged. The battle plan was only a rough outline; actual combat required adapting on the fly. In this situation, he would need to rely on his coordination with Obito to steer the fight into the scenario they wanted.

Clang!

Kakashi quickly drew his White Fang Short Blade and clashed with the oncoming Zabuza.

Kakashi wore a black mask, and Zabuza had bandages covering the lower half of his face. Each strike aimed at the opponent's vital points, showcasing a certain traditional ninja combat aesthetic.

Both Kakashi and Zabuza displayed exceptional skill, deftly deflecting attacks and countering.

Just when Zabuza thought Kakashi's strength was about equal to his own, Kakashi, having finished probing, increased his Lightning Breathing concentration, boosting his speed and power, instantly putting heavy pressure on Zabuza.

With Kakashi's sudden burst, a gash oozing blood appeared on Zabuza's arm.

This small result didn't satisfy Kakashi, because while he was having an easy time, Obito was struggling—Kisame and Kurosawa were both on Obito's side.

"Fire Style: Great Fireball Jutsu!"

Obito quickly formed hand seals, gathering chakra in his throat and spewing a large amount of flame into a towering fireball.

Without detailed intelligence on the enemy, the low-consumption, high-power Great Fireball was undoubtedly the best choice.

"Water Style: Exploding Water Collision Wave!"

Kisame lightly leaped, formed hand seals, amassed a huge amount of chakra in his mouth, and spat out a massive torrent of water that crashed toward Obito.

Obito's three-meter-tall Great Fireball was instantly extinguished by the enormous volume of Kisame's Exploding Water Collision Wave, and the sheer amount of water even splashed Rin and the others.

Fortunately, the jutsu wasn't very destructive—it was just a lot of water, soaking Obito and his teammates.

"Water Style: Water Dragon Bullet Jutsu!" While Kisame used his technique, Kurosawa immediately formed hand seals and cast his own jutsu. Because the seals were longer, he activated it just as the large amount of water hit the ground.

Using the massive water flow from Kisame's Exploding Water Collision Wave, Kurosawa produced an exceptionally thick and long Water Dragon Bullet. The water dragon roared and charged toward Obito.

Obito saw that the Earth Style Wall Kakashi had used earlier was still there, so he ducked behind it. Although he could vaporize the water dragon with a Fire Dragon Flame Bullet empowered by Fire Breathing, that would consume a lot of his chakra.

Hiding behind the Earth Style Wall was different—with the same chakra, water beats fire, but water beats earth? Actually, earth beats water.

Boom!

The massive water dragon slammed into the Earth Style Wall, covering it with cracks, but failed to breach its defense.

Bam!

Kisame used Water Body Flicker to instantly appear in front of the Earth Style Wall and shattered the spiderweb-cracked wall, while Kurosawa used ninja tools to seal off Obito's position.

Even though Obito was prepared, he struggled greatly under the combined assault of the two enemies.

"That shark-face guy is really strong. Probably only Gai can surpass him in raw power," Obito thought, somewhat surprised.

Thanks to his Breathing Technique, Obito was considerably stronger than an ordinary ninja, so he hadn't paid much attention to Kisame's monstrous strength intel at first. Only after actually fighting did he realize how freakishly strong that shark-face was.

His Fire Release was countered by their Water Release, he had no advantage in taijutsu, and both Kisame and Kurosawa were fighting to kill—all of this put Obito under immense pressure.

Faced with such a dangerous situation, Obito could no longer hold back. He gathered chakra and activated his two-tomoe Sharingan.

The reason he had managed to defeat Kakashi before was also thanks to the Sharingan; without it, he probably couldn't beat Kakashi.

When his eyes turned blood-red, the world in Obito's vision changed. Everything became clearer, allowing him to see things ordinary eyes couldn't, and Kisame and Kurosawa's movements slowed down in his sight.

With the Sharingan active, Obito's pressure immediately lessened. Though Kisame's attacks were fierce, they were useless if they couldn't hit him.

Of course, Obito could only protect himself and maintain a stalemate; he couldn't mount an effective offense. Being countered and outnumbered, he was having a very tough time.

"He's already awakened the Sharingan." Watching Obito use the Sharingan on the monitor, Hiruzen Sarutobi was a bit surprised. If he remembered correctly, Obito was only nine years old this year—awakening the Sharingan at that age showed considerable talent.

Hiruzen Sarutobi mentally patted himself on the back for his foresight. Having such an excellent Uchiha taught by Minato, a carrier of the Will of Fire, was the best possible arrangement.

"Muyue, Minato, do you think Obito and Kakashi can defeat this Mist team?" Hiruzen Sarutobi turned to look at Minato and asked.

As the Hokage, he naturally wouldn't have time to pay attention to a few children under ten years old, nor would he know their specific abilities.

"If nothing unexpected happens, there shouldn't be a problem." Mu Yue thought for a moment and replied.

At this point, the battle already spoke volumes. Just Obito and Kakashi alone could hold off the three of them. If Nohara Rin joined the fray, Kisame and his group would surely lose.

"My thoughts are the same as Mu Yue's. I think they can do it." Minato replied with a smile.

Sarutobi Hiruzen wore a thoughtful expression, then continued watching the monitor screen.

At that moment, Nohara Rin had no choice but to stop her treatment and join the fight, because Kisame, realizing that Obito was merely stalling them, switched his attack strategy and went after the injured on Rin's side.

Boom!

When Kisame's fist, carrying tremendous force, collided with Nohara Rin's "Monstrous Strength" punch, a terrifying roar erupted. Both of their hair was blown backward by the shockwave from the fist clash.

Kisame was knocked back three steps, his face showing immense surprise. It wasn't that he thought his strength was unmatched in the world, but that a frail-looking girl like Nohara Rin could burst out with more power than him—that shocked him.

"Is it some kind of jutsu?" Kisame didn't believe this was Nohara Rin's natural strength.

Sensing Obito closing in, Kisame used Water Shunshin to quickly retreat.

"Rin, are you okay?" Obito broke away from Kurosawa at top speed and returned to defend, asking.

"I'm fine. Let me share some of the pressure, so you can focus on that shark-face guy." Nohara Rin shook her head and said.

"Sorry, I have to go fight now. I'll heal you all later." Then Nohara Rin turned and said to Nara Yanshui and the other two.

By this time, Nara Yanshui had recovered a bit. He nodded and said, "It's us who should be thanking you. Just focus on the fight."

Once Nohara Rin joined the battlefield, things immediately became much easier for Obito. Although he couldn't defeat Kisame, Kisame also couldn't get the better of Obito.

"Basic Breathing, Full Concentration!"

Nohara Rin changed her breathing rhythm to enhance her physical abilities and engaged in taijutsu combat with Kurosawa.

Nohara Rin was still a step behind Kurosawa in both combat experience and raw strength, but since Kurosawa had already fought two battles and expended a lot of energy, Rin, though at a disadvantage, was not in too bad a situation.

However, Nohara Rin never intended to take down Kurosawa alone. She was reluctant to use her "Monstrous Strength" punch because her chakra was already low—she had used one punch on Kisame earlier—and she needed to save chakra for medical ninjutsu.

All she had to do was stall Kurosawa until Kakashi or Obito could support her.

"Why did it suddenly get so fast?" Zabuza sensed the many scratch marks on his body, his expression growing darker and darker.

After Kakashi increased the output of Lightning Breathing, Zabuza immediately fell into a disadvantage. Even though he was using all his strength to defend, the wounds on his body kept increasing.

"You wouldn't understand this power. It represents my determination to protect my comrades." Kakashi said coldly.

Seeing Zabuza's condition deteriorating, Kakashi further increased the output of Lightning Breathing, pushing it to its limit.

The reason he hadn't unleashed his full power from the start was that Kakashi wanted to conserve some stamina. He was worried that other teams might come—if it was a Konoha team, it would be fine, but if it was Kirigakure, that would be bad.

The commotion here was too loud—with towering black smoke and the clashes of their jutsu.

When Kakashi pushed his Concentrated Breathing of Lightning Breathing to the current limit, yellow arcs of electricity began to appear around his legs.

Zzzz!!

As Kakashi focused his chakra, the yellow arcs multiplied, constantly flowing around his lower body, activating the cells in his legs.

Kakashi took a deep breath, exhaling white vapor, and arcs began to appear around his wrist as he gripped the White Fang Short Blade.

"Half Flash!"

Kakashi fully unleashed the power of Lightning Breathing, charging at Zabuza like a yellow lightning bolt.

This attack caught Zabuza off guard. He hadn't expected Kakashi to be even faster. He tried to raise his sword to block, but in the moment he lifted the blade, Kakashi had already appeared behind him.

Slash.

A yellow lightning slash flashed by. The long sword in Zabuza's hand was split in two, and blood blossomed from his chest.

Thud!

Zabuza collapsed onto the ground, now muddy from the violent waves.

"Why didn't you kill me? You could have." Zabuza asked, staring at the sky.

Although he was severely wounded, he was not yet mortally so. He was certain that Kakashi's last slash had the power to end his life.

"Because we are different. My blade is not for killing, but for protecting. I could kill you, but it's not necessary." Kakashi said calmly.

Kakashi is not a saint; on the contrary, he has always been decisive in killing when fighting enemies.

Zabuza thought they were greenhouse flowers that had never experienced storms, but Kakashi was telling Zabuza that it wasn't because they didn't know the evil of human hearts, but because they chose to become such people.

Rather than killing Zabuza, Kakashi was more inclined to strike at Zabuza's convictions.

After speaking, Kakashi immediately supported Rin without any delay.