Obito sneered at him. "Serves you right for always being so sharp-tongued."
Sakura sighed and complained to Rin, "These two remind me of Naruto and Sasuke-kun—only worse."
Rin gave an apologetic smile and continued her tireless task of preventing Obito and Young Kakashi from arguing.
Naruto nudged Sasuke and whispered, "You remind me of Kakashi-sensei when he was younger. Same sharp tongue, acting all superior, like some unattainable flower."
"Tsk! You're such an idiot! Don't use idioms if you don't understand them! Who's the unattainable flower?!"
"You are."
"You want to fight?!"
"Sure, why not? Scared of me?"
Sakura slapped her hand against her forehead and dragged it down to cover her eyes.
Seriously, this was unbearable to watch.
Since they couldn't rely on the kids to analyze the intel, Minato and Kakashi carefully reviewed the B-rank mission and its completion requirements over and over.
"If we don't inform Zabuza and the boy beside him, executing this mission will likely require a full-scale fight," Adult Kakashi said.
Minato replied, "Right. And since we can't intervene, the strategy essentially boils down to you facing Zabuza while Naruto and the others distract the boy named Haku."
Adult Kakashi nodded.
He suddenly remembered, "We'll also need you to seal Obito's Sharingan eye during the operation."
Obito: "Huh? Why?"
Young Kakashi turned his head to look at him.
Adult Kakashi explained, "This eye was given to me by you in this world. During my last battle with Zabuza, I discovered that whenever we get close, the eyeball in my left eye automatically absorbs your chakra. I'm worried that this might be mistaken for an outsider intervening. To be safe, you should either stay far from us or have your Sharingan sealed temporarily."
"Oh, I don't mind," Obito said. "But can you defeat Zabuza alone? Actually, I've always wanted to ask—what about the ninja blade White Fang left you?"
"The sword... it broke."
"Huh?!" Young Kakashi protested, standing up and grabbing his future self by the collar. "That was Dad's!! How did it break?!"
Adult Kakashi: "It broke during the Kannabi Bridge mission." To save Obito and Rin.
Seeing Young Kakashi's agitation, Obito quickly stopped him. "Your sword isn't broken now. Keep it safe and don't ruin it on missions." Perhaps he didn't even realize it himself, but seeing the Adult Kakashi's appearance always made him feel a tinge of unreality, mixed with heartache and regret.
After calming Young Kakashi down, Obito turned to Adult Kakashi and handed him a bottle of his own eye drops. "Here. These are the clan's eye drops for after opening your Sharingan. I was so desperate when mine wouldn't open, I begged Fugaku-san for two bottles."
He apologized to Sasuke: "I only brought one bottle for myself on this mission. There's another at home. If we ever get the chance to return to our time in Konoha, I'll bring it to you."
Young Kakashi reminded him, "Idiot, if we really could go back to Konoha with us, wouldn't it be better to have Sasuke go directly to Fugaku-san? Explain the situation and ask for a larger supply all at once."
Sasuke remained silent, but if they truly could return to the past...
Minato said, "Guiding Zabuza to eliminate Gatō shouldn't be too difficult. Gatō sold his intelligence on the Land of Waves to the black market. If it weren't for our current mission, Zabuza would've definitely sought out Gatō before leaving."
Naruto tilted his head. "Zabuza was planning to leave the Land of Waves?"
"Zabuza is a Missing-nin from Kirigakure. Their methods for dealing with Missing-nin seem brutal. He was preparing to lie low, waiting for his next chance to strike back at the Fourth Mizukage. Originally, the Land of Waves was a decent refuge due to its sparse population and lack of ninja villages. But unfortunately, Gatō is too treacherous—he cut off Zabuza's escape route."
"The Kirigakure pursuers will likely arrive within four days at most," Kakashi said. "That's why we need to complete this B-rank mission within these two days."
Recalling the youth named Haku, Naruto remembered what the Fourth Hokage had said about Zabuza's motives for the coup. The thought of helping them escape by sacrificing themselves began to take root.
Kakashi said, "We don't know when the Kirigakure people will arrive. We should arrange a duel with Zabuza and Haku tomorrow."
He glanced at the final requirement on the mission scroll.
"Looks like this scroll even picked our mission location for us—the Bridge of the Land of Waves: Pure White Snow."
Sakura asked, "But will it even snow tomorrow?"
Sasuke replied, "We don't have time. If the Kirigakure forces arrive and kill Zabuza and Haku first, our mission will fail."
Obito raised his hand. "I can impersonate Yagura Karatachi and stall the Kirigakure pursuers on their inevitable route!"
The others froze—could that actually work?!
Obito, sensing their disbelief, added, "My Yagura Karatachi disguise is so convincing that even Zabuza didn't notice! He still thinks the person who visited them this morning was the real Yagura Karatachi!"
Minato, processing this, came up with a plan. "Obito, you impersonate Yagura Karatachi and draw Zabuza into confronting Kakashi. I'll find a way to lure Gatō to the location where Kakashi and his group are fighting."
"That's a good plan!"
Obito accepted the order and glanced up at the sky. After dinner, everyone got busy preparing.
When Zabuza saw Yagura Karatachi again, he clicked his tongue, planning to redirect the firepower toward Minato Namikaze. He didn't expect that the other had come for precisely that purpose.
"Leave Minato Namikaze to me. You two handle killing Kakashi and those three brats."
Facing the unpredictable Fourth Mizukage, Zabuza had to proceed with extreme caution.
"You... have a grudge against Minato Namikaze?"