UTBW: Ch. 65

Naruto and Sasuke walked out of the classroom, following Kakashi down the stairs.

Along the way, a masked figure stood in the corner of the corridor, nodding slightly at Kakashi, who subtly nodded back, thinking to himself, Yamato is here too...

Yamato was the only successful case from the Wood Release experiments. Although the Wood Release he mastered wasn't even one ten-thousandth as powerful as the First Hokage's, it was still effective for suppressing tailed beasts.

To avoid the worst-case scenario, Kakashi, under the orders of the Third Hokage, had summoned Yamato to assist. As for Sasuke, he was just an incidental pawn.

If Fugaku were still the clan leader, that pawn would have been of great value. Unfortunately, the current clan leader was someone else. Thus, Sasuke's role had become rather insignificant.

"I'm so hungry," Naruto suddenly muttered as he rubbed his stomach, frowning, as the three descended the stairs.

Kakashi paused, realizing it was already very late, almost past dinnertime. After a moment's thought, he turned to the two kids and said, "I'll go buy you guys something to eat. We'll train after you finish your meal."

"Alright!" Naruto's eyes lit up excitedly. "I want ramen!"

"Ramen, huh?" Kakashi nodded, then looked at Sasuke and asked, "What about you?"

"I'm fine with anything," Sasuke replied indifferently.

"Then Ramen Ichiraku it is. You two head to the small grove first, I'll be back soon.

Hearing this, Sasuke and Naruto headed off toward the grove.

In the shadows, Yamato and three other ANBU members quietly followed them. Kakashi waited until the two disappeared into the grove before turning and leaping over the school wall, leaving the ninja academy.

---

Outside the school, Kakashi moved quickly, leaping across rooftops as he advanced through the village.

Tap tap tap!

Suddenly, from a distant street came the sound of rapid, heavy footsteps like a group of ninjas assembling.

Whose squad is that? Frowning slightly, he changed direction toward the sound.

Before long, he closed in to within fifty meters of the noise. Just as he was about to move closer, a sharp whistling sound split the air.

Whoosh!

A kunai shot out from the side, aiming straight for his head at incredible speed.

Startled, he retreated nearly ten meters in an instant, narrowly dodging the kunai, and at the same time, he lifted his forehead protector, revealing a Sharingan with three tomoe.

His expression turned cold as he glared toward the attacker, but he suddenly froze.

What he saw were other pairs of those eerie, blood-red eyes.

Not just one pair, thirteen pairs!

Thirteen Uchiha jonin with fully matured Sharingan stepped out from the alley, exuding a chilling killing intent.

"Kakashi?" The leading Uchiha frowned.

Kakashi had a complicated relationship with the Uchiha clan, after all, his left Sharingan was a gift from the late Obito.

There had been considerable controversy back then.

It was only after Minato personally intervened, along with the Third Hokage's mediation, that the clan grudgingly allowed Kakashi to keep the eye. But even so, the relationship between Kakashi and the Uchiha had always been strained.

"Why is the Uchiha clan assembling at this time?" Kakashi demanded, his voice low and cautious.

At a time like this!

When the ANBU, Root, all the village's high-level officials, and most of the jonin were away from the village, the Uchiha had gathered a large force!

He didn't even dare to imagine what they intended.

"It's just returning the favor," the lead Uchiha said. "How Hiruzen treated us, we will treat them the same way."

This was the worst-case scenario Kakashi had feared! The Uchiha were planning a reverse massacre!

"What? You thinking of interfering?" The lead Uchiha studied him with a chilling grin, baring his white teeth. "Then we'll kill you first, and reclaim Obito's eye."

"..." Kakashi fell silent.

Facing thirteen elite Uchiha jonin felt like standing on a bed of needles. And beyond them, even more Uchiha with two-tomoe and one-tomoe Sharingan lurked. Such a large force was absolutely not something he could stop alone. In fact, if the Uchiha wanted to tear him apart, it would be all too easy.

The leading Uchiha snorted coldly but didn't attack. Instead, he warned, "Hiruzen sent you back to look after the Nine-Tails' jinchūriki and Sasuke, right? Then take good care of the kids. And don't get involved in things you have no right to meddle in."

With that, he turned and left. The other Uchiha members cast cold glances at Kakashi before following their leader.

Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!

In an instant, all the Uchiha used Body Flicker Technique and vanished.

The street fell into complete silence.

"..."

Kakashi stood there, silent for a long time. He reached behind him and found that his back was soaked, his clothes drenched in cold sweat.

"Heh..." he let out a self-deprecating laugh.

In this situation, there was nothing he could do. Naruto was crucial as well. He couldn't just abandon him to try to stop the Uchiha.

Right now... He could only hope for the Sarutobi clan's good luck.

Thinking for a moment, he bit his thumb, quickly formed hand seals, and pressed his palm to the ground.

"Summoning Jutsu!"

Bang!

A cloud of white smoke exploded outward, and from within the smoke emerged a brown-furred ninja dog wearing a Konoha forehead protector.

"What is it, Kakashi?" The ninja dog spoke human language as it looked up at him.

"Pakkun, go find the Third Hokage outside the village, and tell him..." Kakashi paused, organizing his words carefully.

After hearing the message, Pakkun's doggy eyes widened.

What the heck? The Uchiha were planning to wipe out the Sarutobi clan?

Was he still dreaming?

He stared at Kakashi in disbelief.

"It's true. Go, quickly," Kakashi sighed. "Be careful to avoid the Uchiha. Don't let them notice you."

"Got it!" Pakkun didn't ask further. He nodded and took off running. Watching his figure disappear into the distance, Kakashi finally looked away.

He then used Body Flicker Technique again, rushing toward Ramen Ichiraku. Even though he was still going to buy dinner at a time like this, seeming somewhat carefree, he had already done everything he could.

The rest... would depend on the Third Hokage.

---

At the Sarutobi clan grounds, two clansmen were standing guard at the main gate.

The area was deserted. They were casually chatting to pass the time.

"The Hokage suddenly pulled a lot of people out on short notice... I wonder what's going on?"

"Probably something to do with the Uchiha... there were some strange disturbances earlier. Some even said they saw a red giant."

"A giant? What the hell is that?"

"Who knows?"

They weren't particularly strong, and they didn't know much classified information. They had no concept of things like the Mangekyō Sharingan or Susanoo.

That was why they couldn't understand why the clan's top members had turned so pale after seeing that red giant.

"Why worry about it? Once our shift's over, let's head out for some fun," one of them suggested.

His companion immediately grinned and nodded, "Sounds good."

"Hahaha, it's nice to have enough money to enjoy ourselves."

"Yeah, we owe a lot to the Hokage."

The two shared meaningful smiles.

Whoosh!

Suddenly, in the distance, a flicker of red light flashed by like a candle flame.

"Hm?" One of the guards rubbed his eyes, thinking he was seeing things, and widened his eyes to look.

In the next moment, he locked eyes with a pair of eerie, scarlet eyes.