After Chiya's stylish exit, the three were still dazed.
"That senior..." Rin Nohara spoke softly, a little timid.
She had no idea who he was, or whether he was friend or foe. One strike to annihilate every Iwa-nin was too overwhelming to process. At least for now, the masked man felt non-hostile.
"Obito, do you know that senior in the white mask?"
She had noticed how he seemed to glance at Obito before leaving. Had he come specifically to save him?
"I... I don't know him. It's just... he looked a bit familiar."
"Kind of like..."
Obito faltered. A bold guess tugged at him, but it felt impossible.
"You were going to say it was Senior Chiya, right?"
Kakashi saw straight through him and said it aloud. When the masked man approached, he had studied the build closely. The frame really did match Chiya's. He had not met the man often, but curiosity had made him look carefully before. The stranger hid his face and altered his voice, yet his physique had not changed.
"Yeah. The first instant I saw him, I thought it was Big Bro Chiya too. But... could he use Wood Release?"
Obito's fingers tightened around the ruined lightning scroll that had saved his life, and he fell quiet. He pictured Chiya's easy smile. Handsome, sure, and stronger than him, but the god-of-shinobi sort of move felt out of reach. Besides, Chiya should still be back in the clan compound, not on the Rock front.
Yet the man's strange methods made doubt creep back in.
Kakashi was just as suspicious, but he had no proof. He also remembered the powerful Lightning Release scroll Chiya had crafted.
"Even if Senior Chiya wasn't that masked expert, he must be a master of Lightning Release. That strike was probably his original technique."
"No wonder he saw straight through Chidori's weakness back then."
"When we return, I need to ask him for guidance."
"For now, we ask if Sensei Minato knows any shinobi who can use Wood Release."
They tended their wounds and moved along the planned route.
Meanwhile, in another stretch of forest on the border, Minato helped finish off an Iwa squad. He did not smile. His eyes shone with worry in the direction Obito's team had gone.
"Minato, these Iwa troops were not trying to break through. They were stalling us," a Konoha captain reported. "A lot of them specialized in speed. They must have another objective."
He had not expected Iwa to be this stubborn. Even after spotting Minato, those swift fighters had not run. Across the nations, orders already allowed operatives to abandon missions and withdraw on sight of the Yellow Flash.
"Debrief later. I am going to my students. Follow after me."
Minato vanished in a Flying Thunder God flash.
Re-entering the forest, he sensed three familiar signatures. They were steady enough that he let out a breath. He accelerated, relief loosening his face.
A moment later the trio spotted him and lit up.
"Sensei..."
"Sensei Minato!"
Obito lunged forward and hugged him tight. The last few days had nearly crushed him. Without Chiya's lightning scroll and the masked man, he might have died.
"Sensei, I am going to get stronger from now on."
"I will become Hokage and protect everyone."
The memory of helplessness burned hot; he spoke from the gut. Minato nodded. The fight had changed them.
"Good. No more delay. We finish the objective. We have already taken too long."
The recent battle had thinned Iwa's ability to block them. It was the perfect window to end the mission and end the war sooner.
As they advanced, Obito recounted what had happened after Minato left, including the Wood Release.
"Wood Release?"
Minato stopped, startled. He knew exactly what that meant. It warranted investigation. Since the First, no one had used it. If such a power had resurfaced, would it be blessing or disaster for Konoha?
That would have to wait until the mission was done.