He caught a fleeting glimpse of Uchiha Shisui lurking in the shadows with his peripheral vision.
Those who walk different paths cannot plan together.
If their convictions clashed, there was no point in further involvement.
Kakashi couldn't sway him, and Shisui could never bend Kakashi's resolve... wait... Kotoamatsukami...
Slipping into his tent beneath the snowy night, darkness swallowed the silver-haired youth whole, a faint chill creeping into his previously composed expression.
That eye technique was far too dangerous.
It had to be dealt with.
For now, though, his priority remained studying this Wind Release...
The oil lamp's flame danced unsteadily, lending the dim tent a fragile touch of warmth.
Kakashi leaned back against the bedding, unrolling the scroll in his hands and poring over it by the faint light...
The next morning, at the Hidden Leaf camp, patrolling shinobi were handing off their shifts, while many others in the encampment began lighting fires to cook.
Though they seldom risked open flames on missions, this was a full camp—concealment was impossible out in the open, just as Konoha had located the Hidden Cloud camp.
It was a rare clear day in the Land of Frost; sunlight sliced through the clouds, glancing off the snow and stinging the eyes if stared at too long.
As the scent of rice drifted from the iron pot over the bonfire, shinobi clustered in small groups around the flames pulled out pickled vegetables they'd brought from home, eager for a hot meal to chase away the cold.
At that moment, one shinobi seated by the fire twitched an ear, catching an odd sound. His easygoing smile, mid-conversation with his comrades, froze solid.
It was the same roar he'd heard last night during the raid on the Hidden Cloud camp with Lord Jiraiya...
Instinct took over; he snapped his gaze skyward.
A black speck hurtled toward the Hidden Leaf camp at blinding speed!
That was— "Enemy attack!"
The shinobi leaped to his feet without a second thought, bellowing the warning.
Nearly every Hidden Leaf shinobi whipped around at the chakra-laced shout, eyes locking on the black sphere streaking across the sky.
Tailed Beast Ball!
Jiraiya burst from the camp's heart, face grim as he tracked the incoming projectile.
As expected!
Hidden Cloud shinobi never let a slight go unanswered.
After scrambling to regroup overnight from the water assault, they'd wasted no time launching a dawn counterstrike!
And they'd opened with a Tailed Beast Ball, no less!
Jiraiya could already picture the burly Raikage at the head of thousands of shinobi, storming their position.
Classic Hidden Cloud bravado.
A cold smirk tugged at Jiraiya's lips as he bit his finger and wove hand signs.
He planned to summon the gullet of Mount Myōboku's Great Toad Dweller the instant the Tailed Beast Ball struck the camp, swallowing it whole.
The Great Toad that devoured lava wouldn't even flinch at a Tailed Beast Ball.
Just as Jiraiya completed the final seal, ready to summon, a voice cut through the chaos.
"Summoning Jutsu: Fivefold Rashōmon."
The young man with a ninja sword at his hip had materialized beside him unnoticed. Palms slammed into the snow, and a thunderous roar erupted as massive shadows surged from the earth!
Five colossal iron gates, each bearing a demonic face, rose to shield the front of the Hidden Leaf camp!
Jiraiya's eyes narrowed at the sight.
Fivefold Rashōmon.
A summoning technique only the First Hokage, Senju Hashirama, had ever mastered.
Calling forth all five demanded an ocean of chakra.
Even Orochimaru could manage only three.
And this kid, Kakashi... "The Tailed Beast Ball's coming from above—if the angle's wrong, it'll punch straight through the gates and land in the camp."
Jiraiya released his seals.
"So I adjusted the Rashōmon's tilt."
Kakashi answered calmly.
As the words left his mouth, the black sphere slammed into the first gate with a shrieking grind of tortured metal and a deafening boom. The initial Rashōmon crumpled like paper.
Then the second, the third... up to the fourth!
The Tailed Beast Ball skimmed perilously close to the camp before rocketing toward the distant pine forest!
"Only four gates down...?"
Kakashi murmured, watching the sphere vanish from view.
Uchiha Madara, wielding Susanoo alongside the Nine-Tails, had shattered all five and still reached the sea beyond.
An Eight-Tails Tailed Beast Ball should have done the same, yet only four had fallen—the final demon-faced gate stood unscathed.
"Looks like the Two-Tails' doing."
Jiraiya eyed the fading projectile and pinpointed the tailed beast responsible.
No sooner had he spoken than a fiery explosion erupted in the pine forest!
Countless towering trees splintered, hurled skyward, uprooted by the blast's fury!
Snow that had piled for who-knew-how-long melted in an instant, flash-boiled by the searing heat!
Roiling flames and a devastating shockwave razed everything in their path!
"Just a stray cat."
"Watch this, everyone—I'll bag it and take it home to chase mice!"
Jiraiya threw his head back and laughed, spirits blazing, showing no trace of fear at the Tailed Beast Ball's might!
The shinobi who'd instinctively rallied behind him saw their commander's fearless grin, and the dread inspired by the attack evaporated.
As Kakashi dismissed the Rashōmon, Jiraiya charged forward, leading the rush toward the Tailed Beast Ball's origin!
Kakashi tightened the strap of White Fang at his waist and followed close behind!
"Kakashi!"
"Youth never retreats! With you and me side by side, who dares stand in our way?!"
A booming cry rang out as Might Guy, clad in his green jumpsuit, barreled to Kakashi's flank without a moment's hesitation.
Just as Jiraiya had anticipated, beyond the snowy ridge ahead loomed a sea of Hidden Cloud shinobi surging toward the Hidden Leaf camp!
At their forefront blazed the most electrifying figure in the Hidden Cloud—the Raikage himself!
Yet every eye, as if by unspoken accord, dropped to the Raikage's feet.
A cat.
A two-tailed cat wreathed in black-and-blue flames, towering dozens of meters high!
The Two-Tails, Matatabi!
"Jiraiya, you're dead!"
The instant Jiraiya appeared, the Raikage's gaze ignited with murderous rage. He launched forward alone, breaking from his forces to close the distance!
"Hahahaha!"
"Bring it!"
Jiraiya's wild laugh answered, and he met the charge head-on without flinching!
With their leaders already locked in combat, both armies roared in unison—like two unstoppable beasts, they collided in a furious clash!
————
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