"The Masked Man?!!"
The eight members of Team Minato and Team Kakashi immediately tensed. They all remembered that both Obito and Naruto had been given mission scrolls, each containing an SSS-rank mission. Only the objectives differed: Obito's mission was to kill the Masked Man... while Naruto's mission was to save the Masked Man...
"Biwako-sama! Taji!!"
Standing beside Kushina, Minato Namikaze looked toward the two women collapsed on the ground, the ones helping deliver her child.
The Minato who from the Kannabi Bridge mission crouched beside them, pressing his fingers to their necks to check their pulses. A moment later, he shook his head at his counterpart from this era. They were already gone.
The entrance to the chamber was narrow, with Minato Namikaze and the young Kakashi almost completely blocking the students behind them. The masked man glanced at the two Minatos, then let his gaze linger briefly on the adult Kakashi.
He was holding a newborn baby in his arms.
"Shadow Clone Technique, huh?" the masked man sneered.
"Fourth Hokage, Minato Namikaze—step away from the Jinchuriki. Otherwise, this child has maybe one minute left to live."
Both Minatos shouted at once: "No! Calm down!!"
The Minato of this timeline was completely thrown off. Forget how the masked man had gotten in here—when had he used a Shadow Clone? Was this some illusion created through the Transformation Technique? And who was that man standing beside him, the one who looked so much like the late White Fang?!
He had no time to think. Kushina's agonized scream forced his attention back to his wife.
"The Nine-Tails' seal is loosening!!" the Kannabi Bridge Minato shouted.
Beside him, the Adult Kakashi was just as rattled. He had never known that the Nine-Tails incident happened because someone chose to attack during Kushina's childbirth.
How did that information leak?! Aside from Minato-sensei and Kushina herself, only he, the Hokage, and a few advisors knew her due date!!
"Who are you?!" Kakashi shouted, kunai raised as he shielded the students behind him.
Once again, the masked man's gaze lingered on him. Minato felt something strange—whenever the masked man looked at the Adult Kakashi, his entire aura shifted, just slightly, but unmistakably.
"Sa... Sakumo… Hatake?"
He twisted Kakashi's name into Sakumo.
Although the masked man felt this man resembled the false Kakashi more, common sense insisted that Kakashi was just some kid two years younger than him, a useless nobody who could only mourn quietly at the Memorial Stone.
"You knew my father?!" the Adult Kakashi tried to draw him out.
The masked man let out a cold snort. "The White Fang of Konoha is known to all." But as soon as the words left his mouth, something clicked—and his expression twisted.
Hatake Sakumo's son?!!
Which meant…
Kakashi Hatake?!!!
The Minato from the Nine-Tails incident stared as well. "Kakashi?"
"Hahahahahaha! Don't let my appearance fool you. I may not know every detail about Konoha, but I've got my own ways of gathering intel. You're Kakashi Hatake? Don't be ridiculous!!"
The "You're Kakashi?" dripped with mockery—
but the following "Don't be ridiculous" exploded into a furious roar, loud enough to make the newborn in his arms burst into a piercing, heart-wrenching cry.
The Adult Kakashi had no idea what he'd done to provoke this man, only that something about the masked man's reaction felt deeply, inexplicably wrong.
But he never got the chance to press for answers. The masked man had already run out of patience for this pointless exchange...
"So you really don't care whether your own child lives or dies?"
He shot a glare at the Fourth Hokage and hurled the infant from his arms.
"!!!"
The child was caught securely.
It was Minato Namikaze from the Kannabi Bridge world?!
Szzzt—
Several explosive tags were stuck to the baby's swaddling cloths.
They couldn't explode here.
In the next instant, he used Flying Thunder God again, teleporting to an open area where he tore the swaddling off the infant and flung it aside, curling his body around the baby to shield him.
With two Minato now present, the masked man's attempt to lure them away failed.
This world's Fourth Hokage still had no idea which side the man who looked exactly like him belonged to or how he'd even gotten here. But earlier, while the masked man's attention was elsewhere, the newcomer had flashed several ANBU hand signs…
They meant: stay with Kushina, he would handle rescuing the baby.
Sensing the space-time chakra emanating from both him and the "Kakashi" beside him, even with the wild thoughts racing through his mind, the situation left him no room to think further.
Adult Kakashi said, "Minato-sensei, you handle sealing the Nine-Tails. I'll find a way to stall him!"
"Right." Minato Namikaze positioned his hands over the seal on Kushina's abdomen, forcing himself to remain calm as he worked to seal the Nine-Tails back into her.
Adult Kakashi lunged at the masked man with his kunai, aiming straight for the orange mask.
The blade closed in—less than a centimeter away—but the masked man didn't even try to dodge.
Adult Kakashi froze for a fraction of a second.
His hand didn't stop. The kunai thrust forward, slipping into the mask without the slightest resistance. His entire hand—and the kunai—went straight through the masked man's head.
Only when the man let out a cold, mocking laugh did Adult Kakashi realize:
He hadn't pierced the man's skull. He had passed through him?!
The masked man's fist came down hard, smashing toward Kakashi's jaw.
Caught completely off guard, Kakashi jerked back, narrowly evading the blow. He flipped back several times, landing at the entrance of the chamber.
He prepared to move in again, but the roar of a thousand birds burst beside his ear.
It was Young Kakashi's original jutsu—Raikiri.
He had not yet suffered the loss of Obito or the pain of killing Rin. At twelve years old, newly promoted to jōnin, Young Kakashi was fiercely proud—so proud it often masked the hurt buried deep inside.
After Adult Kakashi's failed strike, the younger Kakashi didn't hesitate. He formed seals and unleashed Raikiri, lightning screaming in his hand as blue arcs flickered wildly, surging straight at the masked man.
It was that very jutsu that made the masked man remember, in that instant, that this world was hell.
Raikiri pierced through his intangible body, yet the masked man extended a hand and clamped it around Young Kakashi's throat.
Boom!
Young Kakashi was slammed into the ground, the man's grip tightening around his neck.
"Kh—!!" He spat a mouthful of blood.
Kushina had all her focus locked on suppressing the Nine-Tails. Minato looked back—
"Kakashi?!"
The masked man looked possessed, pressing harder and harder on Young Kakashi's slender throat.
"Guh—cough! Cough—!"
Young Kakashi clawed at the hand around his neck, his legs kicking instinctively as pain twisted his expression.
Even though Naruto, Sakura, and Hinata had gained some experience during the Land of Waves mission, they were still too green. Watching both Kakashi-sensei and his younger self unable to deal with the masked man, they froze instinctively. Rushing over now would only make things harder for Kakashi-sensei...
Adult Kakashi was trying to figure out how to restrain an opponent who could slip into intangibility like a ghost.
But someone acted even faster than him—a young ninja who had sworn to protect his comrades no matter what: Obito Uchiha.
"Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique!"
A massive fireball roared toward the masked man.
To avoid burning the clumsy Kakashi lying on the ground, Obito aimed the fireball directly at the mask.
Adult Kakashi said, "Idiot! You can't hit him!"
But right as he spoke, to his shock, the masked man hesitated for a split second. Instead of using his phasing ability, he rolled out of the way in the most awkward manner to dodge Obito's fire jutsu?!
Both squads of students were still hiding where the tunnel bent, tucked deep in the shadows and hard to notice, which was why the masked man only now realized Obito Uchiha—and Rin Nohara beside him—were present.
The masked man stiffened. "!!!"
He froze for several seconds before reacting, and Obito's flames had even scorched the hem of his black cloak.
Obito puffed up with pride, thrilled that he'd accomplished something even Kakashi hadn't.
Rin used the opening to try pulling Young Kakashi back to safety.
"Rin—!!"
Obito grabbed her by the sleeve and yanked her behind him, then dashed forward himself to drag Young Kakashi away.
But the masked man was only a single step from Obito. He lashed out with a kick, sending Obito flying several meters across the floor.
Adult Kakashi darted behind the younger Obito and took the brunt of the impact as they slammed into the wall.
A pitch-black figure, like a living shadow, rose from the ground. "Madara, finish this quickly. The situation has changed. Prioritize acquiring the Nine-Tails."
The masked man called "Madara" let out a sharp snort.
He turned toward the darkness where Rin was tending to the injured Young Kakashi.
"......"
...
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