Aside from the wielders of Shibuki, the Blastsword, and Nuibari, the Needle Sword, the remaining Kirigakure shinobi posed little threat.
The combination of Kirigakure's Silent Killing technique and the Sound Killing technique proved devastatingly effective against them. Lacking wire-based sensory abilities or chakra perception, their only escape route was into the water.
But Obito, hunting beneath the waves, was no slouch either.
The battle raged until the sea surface was stained crimson with blood. Mei Terumi, her chakra reserves finally depleted, dispersed the Hidden Mist Jutsu. By then, most of the surviving Kirigakure Chunin and Genin had fled.
"Where's Sensei? Why isn't he back yet?" Obito surfaced, noting his two companions were unharmed but finding no trace of Minato Namikaze.
"He must still be fighting," Kakashi surmised.
Half an hour had passed since the battle began. It didn't make sense for the Yellow Flash, famed for his speed, to be gone this long. Even against the Three-Tails, escaping should have been simple if he couldn't win.
"Let's wait another ten minutes," Kakashi decided, his brow furrowed as he looked at his two exhausted teammates. "If Sensei hasn't returned by then, we leave first."
"We have Sensei's marker on us; he can reach us anytime."
Their small boat had been smashed beyond repair. Mei had only expended vast amounts of chakra, but Obito was covered in wounds. The saltwater stinging his cuts made him grimace constantly. In his current state, running across the sea surface back to the Land of Fire's coast was impossible. They would have to find another boat.
"There are so many small islands around here," Obito muttered. "One of them must have a boat."
The shinobi presence on the nearby islands had been decimated during the earlier clash. No reckless fools emerged to bother the trio now. Drawn by the scent of blood, schools of fish and sharks swarmed the area, feasting on the remains of the Kirigakure ninja left behind after the battle.
As the bodies were torn apart, the blood spread further. Mei couldn't bear to watch any longer and turned to follow the silver-haired boy. Among the corpses might have been people she once knew – classmates, perhaps even teachers – but they were like fleeting clouds, things of the past. Having become a missing-nin with no emotional ties left to Kirigakure, her only concern was the difference in allegiance.
All she wanted was to survive.
Just as they set foot on a small island, the Yellow Flash suddenly appeared behind Obito, startling him. Minato was no longer the pristine figure he'd been before the fight. Several noticeable gashes tore through his flak jacket, his golden hair was soaked, and like Obito, he looked as if he'd just been fished out of the sea. Kakashi sensed his chakra signature was alarmingly faint.
"Got held up a bit," Minato said, shaking his head and plucking a few large leaves from a nearby tree to wipe his face like a makeshift towel. Wincing slightly against the pain, he took out a sealed roll of bandages and tore off small strips.
"Obito, give me a hand with these bandages."
The wounds were clean cuts, like those from a sharp weapon, not the kind typically inflicted by a Tailed Beast.
Was there someone riding the Three-Tails capable of injuring the Yellow Flash?
Kakashi cast his mind back to the figures he'd seen atop the Tailed Beast but drew a blank.
"Were any of those Anbu particularly strong?" he asked.
"Two of them were," Minato replied, his gaze calm as if recounting a trivial matter. "They arrived later. They didn't seem like Mist ninja, even though they wore Kirigakure headbands."
For ordinary shinobi, facing a Tailed Beast and over a dozen enemy ninja simultaneously, especially at sea, would be a death sentence. Such a force could likely conquer smaller nations. The strategic threat of a Tailed Beast weapon was no joke, even one like the Three-Tails, ranked among the weaker ones.
"Can you describe them in more detail?" Kakashi pressed.
"They wore masks, so I couldn't see their faces clearly. They were quite tall, and very fast."
Kakashi nodded in understanding. Based on that description alone, countless shinobi across the world could fit the bill. However, the number capable of actually injuring Minato Namikaze was vanishingly small.
"There's a boat here!" Mei called out from a dilapidated pier. She had found an old fishing boat, but it was in such poor condition, looking rotten and ramshackle, that one might doubt it could travel more than a few hundred meters before sinking.
"Are there no other boats?" Kakashi asked.
"None," the orange-haired girl replied, shaking her head in disappointment. This island seemed long abandoned. Forget other boats; finding this one tucked away in a hidden corner of the pier was lucky. Its hull was covered in disgusting barnacles and shellfish, and it reeked of damp rot and mildew. If she had any choice, she definitely wouldn't set foot on it.
Her look of disgust didn't escape the others. It was normal for girls to prefer cleanliness, but this wasn't the time to be picky during an escape. Asking Minato for some spare bandages, Kakashi fashioned a simple mask for Mei and helped her put it on. The four of them then boarded the rickety vessel.
The boat lacked an engine and relied solely on a sail. Fortunately, their academy training included basic seamanship. Obito took the helm while Mei managed the sail. Kakashi and Minato moved to the stern to provide some extra propulsion.
"Watch closely, Kakashi!" Minato grinned, forming his signature technique, the Rasengan. As the spiraling sphere of chakra hit the water's surface, the powerful recoil propelled the boat forward, giving it a significant, albeit temporary, burst of speed.
"....."
Like teacher, like student. Kakashi finally understood where Obito sometimes got his eccentric and wild ideas from.
"It took me three whole years to develop the Rasengan," Minato said proudly. "It's my first ninjutsu that requires no hand seals, an A-rank technique. How about that, Kakashi? Not bad compared to your Chidori, right?"
"Huh?"
To Minato's astonishment, Kakashi raised his right hand, creating an identical pale blue sphere of swirling chakra.
"When did you learn that?!" Minato exclaimed.
"A few years ago? I forget..." Kakashi replied nonchalantly.
"A few years ago, I hadn't even developed the Rasengan yet!"
"Then the naming rights should really belong to me," Kakashi retorted, fixing his teacher with his trademark dead-fish eyes. His smug look was practically begging for a punch. Minato absolutely didn't believe him; a few years ago, his student was just a kid. Even if Kakashi was already a Chunin back then, developing a hand seal-less jutsu so quickly seemed impossible.
The inspiration for the Rasengan had come from the Tailed Beast Bomb, a technique whose form Minato had painstakingly managed to derive after learning about it from his girlfriend, Kushina. Currently, it was only A-rank because it lacked a nature transformation. Given time, he was certain he could elevate it to an S-rank technique.
After discovering Kakashi could also use the Rasengan, Minato and he took turns unleashing it at the stern. The boat's speed fluctuated, accelerating then slowing, making Obito feel almost seasick at the helm. Mei, however, was unfazed; having grown up by the sea, this level of rocking hardly bothered her.
They sailed for a full day and night. The journey was tense but uneventful, with no further encounters with pursuing Kirigakure ninja. They solved the problem of meals by using Lightning Release to catch fish three times a day. Finally, when they were just a few dozen kilometers from the coast of the Land of Fire, the battered old fishing boat could take no more and disintegrated beneath them.
"Kakashi," Minato asked as they stood on the water's surface, "are you really not planning to return to the Land of Fire?"
"Yeah," Kakashi confirmed simply.
"I will report this to the Third Hokage," Minato said seriously. "Be careful in the Land of Lightning. If you're captured by their shinobi, Konoha will not come to rescue you."
"Understood."
"You idiot!" Obito suddenly punched Kakashi lightly on the chest.
"Don't you dare die out there!"
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