Uchiha Kai pulled back his kunai, staring silently at the corpse sprawled on the ground. He didn't move for a long time. Only after confirming the body showed no signs of life did he let out a faint sigh of relief.
No matter how powerful or insignificant a shinobi may seem, none should ever be underestimated. In this world, feigning death is a survival tactic as old as war itself. Even someone like Uchiha Madara once played dead to deceive the world.
This sort of trick isn't taught at the Academy, but it's a cruel reality every ninja must learn on the battlefield. Kai had once suffered dearly for not knowing better.
If not for sheer luck, he would've been killed during his first real mission. The enemy had feigned death, hiding for three days without food or water. When Kai finally let his guard down, the shinobi struck. Fortunately, his instincts kicked in and he dodged just in time. Had he reacted a moment later, he might've been the one lying cold on the ground.
Now, staring at the motionless body of Kari, Kai narrowed his eyes and, without hesitation, hurled his kunai again. The blade drove cleanly into Kari's left chest. Only then did Kai truly relax.
"Even if he was pretending, now he's definitely dead," Kai muttered. Some people are born with their heart on the right side, after all. He had already pierced the right side earlier — and now the left.
"It's over," he said flatly.
But just as he turned, the ground beneath him trembled violently. Dust rose in columns, and through the shaking earth, Kai caught glimpses of blue smoke rising in the distance — from the direction of the Kannabi Bridge.
He frowned. Was it Namikaze Minato… or Imai Kenta causing that kind of destructive force?
In the end, it didn't matter.
If it was Minato, he could handle it — the Yellow Flash was a shinobi feared even by the combined forces of Kumogakure's A and B. If it was Kenta, and he had triggered some trap left behind by Kari... well, then he had only himself to blame. After eight years on the battlefield, failing to recognize such a basic deception was inexcusable.
Kai formed hand seals swiftly, and a stream of fire erupted from his mouth, engulfing Kari's corpse. The flames roared briefly, reducing the body to ash. Without looking back, Kai turned and dashed toward Minato's position.
He wasn't driven by trust. He knew Minato had a technique — the Flying Thunder God — that could extract him from even the most hopeless battlefield. And right now, with enemy forces possibly regrouping, that was all he needed.
"More importantly…" Kai thought grimly as he moved, "the drug's effects have peaked. My chakra recovery is slowing, and fatigue's about to crash in. I have to finish this quickly."
Gritting his teeth, he surged forward again — only for a second explosion to erupt nearby. This one was massive. The shockwave slammed into him like a wall, nearly knocking him off his feet. Trees snapped, and earth cracked.
That kind of power… was beyond ordinary jutsu.
Kai pressed forward regardless, weaving through debris. Not long after, he reached a clearing — and saw him.
Namikaze Minato was locked in combat with a crimson, four-legged beast. The Jinchūriki of the Five-Tails… Han.
"So he's already entered Version 2 cloak…" Kai noted as he ducked behind cover. Even in that unstable state, Han's strength was monstrous. A single swipe of his claw could shred trees like paper. His punches cratered the ground.
But it didn't matter. No matter how powerful, he couldn't touch Minato.
The Yellow Flash flickered across the battlefield, teleporting effortlessly between markers, always a step ahead. His Rasengan struck true again and again — always hitting the same spot, each blow compounding the last.
"He's targeting a single weakness," Kai realized, his eyes narrowing. "That precision… he's breaking him down piece by piece."
Despite Han's brute strength and immense chakra, it was clear he was slowing. Blood seeped from the edges of his mouth. The Five-Tails' cloak began to flicker, its chakra ebbing.
"Why hasn't he finished it yet?" Kai wondered, uneasy. "He could've killed him."
But as he watched, understanding clicked. Minato had no intention of killing Han. Maybe it was because his own wife, Kushina, was a Jinchūriki. But more likely — he was thinking of the long-term interests of Konoha.
Killing a tailed beast's host outright could cause diplomatic backlash or spark retaliation. Sometimes, mercy was the sharper blade.
Kai understood. And he knew what he had to do.
Without warning, he burst from his hiding place, landing directly in front of the staggering Han. The man barely had time to raise his head.
Their eyes met — and in that moment, Kai's scarlet Mangekyō flared to life.
Its strange, spiraling pattern spun.
And then… everything stopped.