Having witnessed his students' resilience on the battlefield, he believed they were ready for this mission.
Though Kakashi was sowhat difficult to control, with Raj present, he was confident Obito and Rin would be safe.
The mission officially began.
The group sprinted forward, their focus razor-sharp.
No one wanted to end up as another na on the morial stone.
For Raj, the stakes were even higher; it doubted it would even make the morial stone if it died in battle, at best earning a place on the Nohara family's ancestral altar.
Reaching the edge of a dense forest, Minato suddenly stopped and spoke a few words.
The group halted, scanned their surroundings, and turned to look at Raj.
The others followed suit.
The dense jungle ahead narrowed into a precarious rope bridge, making it an ideal ambush point.
"Raj, wake up!" Rin, noticing its prolonged stillness, assud it had fallen asleep.
She crouched down and poked it gently with her finger.
"ow?" Raj stared at them in confusion before glancing at the dense jungle ahead.
'Life has finally co for this little kitty!'
Filled with grief and indignation, it cautiously ventured into the jungle, its senses heightened to their peak.
Any rustle of leaves or whisper of wind would send it darting for cover.
Halfway through, Raj caught a faint scent - human, though faint.
"ow!" It let out a wary cry, but there was no response.
Raj knew its opponent wouldn't reveal themselves easily.
'To pinpoint their location, it needed to get closer... No problem!'
Taking a deep breath, it crept forward step by step.
The scent grew stronger, but it was also entering the enemy's attack range.
Just as it got close enough, a flurry of shuriken erupted from the foliage, accompanied by a kunai bearing an Exploding Tag.
'Damn it! Using an Exploding Tag - such extravagance - on a cat?!'
Raj wanted to curse.
Needle Jizo couldn't block this; it had to dodge!
With lightning speed, Raj kicked off the ground, dodging sideways as his fur erupted wildly in mid-air.
He hurled the kunai with the Exploding Tag back at its owner with all his might.
"Watch out!"
"We're exposed! Retreat!"
As Raj returned the shuriken with the Exploding Tag, three or four ninja swiftly leaped to new positions.
Whoosh!
Minato and Kakashi imdiately launched their attack.
Obito, kunai in hand, shielded Rin and their mission target.
As two of the ninja leaped away, they glanced at Raj and casually tossed over a dozen shuriken...
"Hell Viewing Technique!"
The Illusion Technique Raj had just acquired less than a day ago activated.
He hadn't expected to use it in combat so soon.
The two affected ninja landed stiffly on tree branches, standing motionless like statues.
A mont later, black cat fur bound them tightly.
"Eight down, ow~"
"Great job, Raj!" Minato arrived first, kicking each of the illusion-bound ninja toward Raj and Kakashi.
Kakashi's blade slashed across one ninja's throat without hesitation.
'Damn it! Headshot stolen!'
Raj was furious but helpless, secretly vowing revenge as he focused on his next target.
The ninja "sent" his way wasn't dead.
The kick had damaged his internal organs, but it wasn't a critical injury - Minato could have done worse, but he held back deliberately.
"ow~ You're too weak to be my opponent, Obito, you're up!"
"Damn it! Don't underestimate !" the enemy ninja roared in anger, rising to his feet and charging at Raj with a kunai.
As a Chunin, his taijutsu was decent, but against a cat's reaction speed and explosive power, he stood no chance.
A gash quickly appeared on his arm as the cat darted behind him, leaping up to slash at his leg.
This wasn't a fight; it was pure play.
"Your Konoha Ninja Cats..." The Agakure ninja trailed off, at a loss for words.
The cat looked small, but its strength was undeniable - far more reliable than the green-clad, goggles-wearing boy beside him.
"Of course! Everyone on our team is amazing," Obito said proudly.
"..."
'Whatever makes you happy.'
The Agakure ninja remained silent for a long mont, ultimately refraining from arguing.
He simply tightened his grip on his weapon and maintained his guard.
"What are you doing?" Kakashi asked, his eyes widening in surprise as he returned to find the Little Black Cat's enemy still alive.
"Please, just kill ! Kill !" the headbandless ninja scread in agony.
His body was covered in wounds, and he lay motionless on the ground, completely at the rcy of his torntor.
It was clear he had been tortured for quite so ti.
The three figures in the distance wore expressions that were difficult to describe.
'This cat's really enjoying this.'
Rin and Obito had initially tried to stop it, suggesting they just kill the ninja outright.
But then a ninja ambushed them from the nearby bushes, and after a fierce battle, they were too exhausted to intervene with the Little Black Cat.
"ow~" Raj crouched, his interest waning.
After torturing the ninja for so long, the man had beco completely numb. Killing him now would yield no further Points.
'Fine, this is boring...'
It turned and padded toward Rin.
Kakashi glanced down at the enemy who had given up struggling, then leaped to his side.
"Don't bother asking," Obito said weakly, still sitting on the ground.
"He's already told us everything. He knew about five squads involved in this operation. Two are here, so there might be three more ninja squads lurking nearby."
Kakashi glanced sideways at the Little Black Cat and Obito, then lowered his gaze to the Iwa-nin.
He couldn't help but feel a pang of pity.
The man was covered not only in claw marks but also in traces of having been dragged back by cat fur.
'Konoha's interrogation thods probably aren't much better than this,' he thought.
With a swift strike, Kakashi ended the man's life.
Raj collapsed wearily, then opened the System Panel.
His eyes lit up with renewed energy and excitent.
'Over fourteen hundred Points! Playing with prey is definitely the way to go...'
But Raj had paid a heavy price.
Large patches of his fur were stained crimson.
If he encountered a river later, he'd need a thorough wash.
'Next ti, I'll stick to the Wild Lion's Mane Technique and Illusion Techniques. No, better to use the Wild Lion's Mane Technique sparingly. My once smooth and silky fur is now all bumpy and uneven!'
Raj felt dejected, but when it noticed the chunk of hair missing from Kakashi's head, it imdiately perked up.
'Serves him right! He's even worse off than !'
Obito clearly noticed too, and unlike Raj's subtle amusent, he burst out laughing.
"What's so funny?" Kakashi asked, still oblivious to his hair.
He looked puzzled at Obito's laughter.
"Kakashi, your hair..." Rin pointed at his head.
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