As Kakashi prepared for a life-or-death battle, Chinya and Minato Namikaze arrived at the battlefield.
Seeing the Sharingan in Kakashi's left eye, Chinya sighed inwardly.
Even though Kakashi was now more than twice as strong as in his original timeline, things would still unfold the same way—his left eye would end up injured and replaced by Obito Uchiha's Sharingan.
At first, Chinya thought that if changes occurred, maybe Obito Uchiha's Sharingan would end up with Katsuhiko Koseki instead. Now it seemed that even without his interference, future events remained unchanged.
Sumashi (Sushimi), whose shoulder Chinya was gripping, began trembling all over. "Crimson-Eyed Asura… Yellow Flash… You weren't supposed to show up at the frontlines?!"
"Yeah, we were at the frontlines, but the fifty Rock Ninjas you sent there were way too weak—they didn't even give us a decent fight. Now it's your turn."
Chinya simply reached out and snapped Sumashi's neck.
Then, with several quick movements, in less than a minute he slaughtered all the remaining Rock Ninjas.
Chinya approached Kakashi.
Kakashi bowed his head toward Chinya and said softly, "I'm sorry, Master Chinya…"
"Why are you apologizing?" Chinya asked.
Still covering his left eye, Kakashi murmured bitterly, "I'm… too weak…"
Chinya told him, "Knowing you're weak is one thing—use that as fuel to push yourself harder and become stronger. Kakashi, understand this: You never owe anyone anything—the only question is whether you've lived up to your own standards."
After taking a deep breath, Kakashi said to Chinya, "Master Chinya, I'll go find Katsuhiko Koseki."
Chinya frowned slightly. "Katsuhiko Koseki? Who is he? Oh… right, one of Minato's subordinates?"
Chinya rarely cared enough to remember names of unimportant people, so he momentarily couldn't recall who Kakashi meant by Katsuhiko Koseki.
Kakashi clenched his fists tightly and snapped, "Right! He's the one who got Obito crushed under those rocks! I told him to come apologize to Obito, but—he said he hadn't forced Obito to save him! He clearly begged for help, HE DID!"
Trembling in rage, Kakashi remembered his father, Sakumo Hatake.
Sakumo had once saved one of his subordinates who later criticized him precisely because he had been saved.
Placing his hand gently on Kakashi's head, Chinya said, "Your chakra reserves are completely drained. Take a moment to replenish your chakra. Since your Sharingan is transplanted, you can't deactivate it normally, so it constantly drains your chakra and adds to your burden.
[Sharingan] Leave Katsuhiko Koseki to me—I'll bring him before you personally."
With those final words, Chinya vanished from the spot.
Kakashi slumped where he stood, his mind flooded with memories of Obito Uchiha's final moments.
Meanwhile, Minato learned the full story from Rin Nohara.
Minato Namikaze let out a sigh, murmuring, "This is going to be troublesome…"
Chinya quickly found Katsuhiko Koseki using Kenbunshoku Haki.
The moment Katsuhiko saw Chinya, a chill shot from his spine straight up to the top of his head.
He fully understood how grave his crimes were—betraying vital information and causing his comrades' deaths.
There would certainly be no good outcome for him if he fell into Chinya's hands.
But Katsuhiko didn't even have the chance to resist.
Chinya said nothing. He kicked Katsuhiko in the head, knocking him out cold, then slung him over his shoulder and returned.
Once back at Kakashi's side, Chinya threw Katsuhiko before him.
The impact of hitting the ground brought Katsuhiko back to consciousness through pain.
Seeing Chinya and Kakashi standing before him, fear left him temporarily unable to speak—his only reaction was to stare blankly at them.
Before Chinya could speak, Minato flashed beside him and cut in, "Chinya, he's my subordinate. Leave him to me."
Without sparing Minato a glance, Chinya turned to Kakashi. "Kakashi, you're the team leader. You have full authority to deal with someone who leaked intelligence and got comrades killed. Killing him would be perfectly justified."
Frowning, Minato snapped, "Chinya! Katsuhiko Koseki is my subordinate. I'll explain everything properly to Kakashi!"
Chinya gave Minato a sidelong glance. "How so? It was your own decision to let Kakashi lead. That means Kakashi holds full command over his subordinates. Now you're overstepping!"
Coming back to his senses, tears streaming down his face, Katsuhiko begged desperately, "Sensei Minato, I was wrong. Truly wrong. Please forgive me. Don't let them kill me. Please!"
Seeing that reasoning with Chinya was impossible, Minato turned to Kakashi instead.
Kakashi stood up from the ground and stared emotionlessly at Minato. "When the cave collapsed, this guy cried for help. I wasn't going to save him—the situation was too dire. Rescuing him would've severely reduced our chances of survival.
But Obito insisted we never abandon comrades, and went anyway.
Obito cut his ropes and tried to escape with him, but he shoved Obito aside and ran off alone.
Later, when saving me, Obito threw me outward but ended up crushed beneath falling rocks himself.
I asked Obito why he still insisted on saving that bastard. He clearly could've escaped, only to push Obito down instead.
Do you know what Obito told me? He said he had no regrets saving him, because he was our comrade.
Minato Namikaze, tell me now—do you really consider such a monster your comrade?"
Minato cast a complex expression toward Katsuhiko Koseki lying on the ground.
Katsuhiko Koseki grabbed onto Minato Namikaze's pants leg, sobbing like crazy. "Sensei Minato, I really didn't mean to! I was just too scared at that moment—it wasn't on purpose! Please believe me! I'll accept any punishment you give me!"
Minato sighed and said, "Kakashi, hand Katsuhiko over to me for punishment. I promise he'll receive the harshest penalty possible."
Kakashi continued, his voice sharp, "Minato Namikaze, did you know? If he had simply apologized to Obito, I wouldn't have gone this far. But instead, he actually told Obito it wasn't his fault—no, he had the nerve to say Obito chose to save him! He didn't coerce Obito into rescuing him!
He says he didn't mean to? Fine, maybe he didn't. But someone like him—utterly selfish—is exactly the kind of person who'd stab their comrades in the back!
Obito dying in that cave because of him is unforgivable. You say you'll give him the harshest punishment possible… well then, will that punishment be enough to kill him?"
Minato's face darkened as his brows knitted together, while Katsuhiko Koseki gawked at Kakashi in shock.
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