Kakashi debated his next move and ultimately decided that the best course of action was to remain on standby. He could not predict how the battle would unfold, and his assistance may be required at a pivotal moment down the line. Rushing back now would force him to withdraw completely and become useless for the remainder of the battle. Even though he knew it was the best tactical decision, it was difficult to sit back and watch as Konoha ninja fell in the skirmishes ahead. He clenched his hands and bit his lower lip in frustration as one of the Special Tactics squads up lost one of their teammates and were pushed back to a defensive position.
Fortunately, all in all, Konoha was forging forward. The Iwa ninja were falling faster. Nara Shikaku and Uchiha Noburu's tactics were overwhelming the Stone's higher numbers. In fact, Kakashi saw that Konoha was near to the Grass Gate, and soon they could start the battle to destroy the outpost. Unlike after his fight with Gou, where the Konoha forces where pyramiding towards the Gate, Konoha had now managed to capture a front line and were advancing as a singular unit.
Kakashi was able to spot Minato even from a distance, the distinctive yellow hair a beacon to his location. The man was leading the frontal attack with Uchiha Jiren by his side. Kakashi smiled knowing that the man was alright. Minato and Jiren were joined by other Special Tactics squads, whereby the remaining squad members merged into new impromptu units.
It was interesting that his sensei wasn't taking down the most ninja, rather, was using his presence as a "Flee on Sight Ninja" as a decoy to capture the Iwa ninja's attention with flashy jutsu and moves. In doing so, the enemy were becoming distracted by his sensei, allowing Minato's teammates to attack them from blind spots and at unexpected moments. Who would expect that the strongest ninja on the battlefield would be used as a decoy? I bet this is another strategy devised by Shikaku san, Kakashi smirked.
The Konoha ninja steadily moved in on the Grass Gate and the fighting near the backlines came to an end. The enemy ninja were either defeated or falling back to support against the main forces. Katsu, Banri and Taiki should remain safe; the only thing they had to contend with now was transferring the injured.
The main force was now close enough to the Gate that enemy ninja in the towers began actively supporting the retreat of the Stone ninja. Arrows and sharp earth spears flew towards the Konoha ninja leading the frontlines. It was in that moment that Chouza Akimichi and two others of his clan expanded in size, looming over the Gate a few meters ahead of them. With their staves, they began knocking away the incoming arrows and earth spears. Hyuga ninja were also using the famed Kaiten to defend against any projections missed by the Akimichi. Living up to its claim as one of the most impressive defensive jutsu, the Kaiten, or Eight Trigrams Palms Revolving Heaven, was able to ensure that Iwa's tower defense barely delayed the advancing force.
Iwa did not panic and quickly switched to explosive jutsu and kunai. In response, Konoha was forced to halt their advance as multiple Water Formation Walls rose in front of them, catching the explosions. Booms reverberated as water, steam, smoke and fire covered the area. Kakashi intuitively stood up, anxiously waiting to determine the result of the exchange. It was only a few seconds before the effects of the explosion cleared away enough for Kakashi to see that the Konoha ninja were mostly unscathed, albeit drenched in water.
After fire, affinity for water was the most common in Konoha. The prevalence of water affinity ninja was fortunate as together, they could combine their chakra to create water ninjutsu even with a lack of water source nearby. Appreciation of Konoha's water users could not be made without a nod to the Nidaime Hokage. As a master of all nature elements, Senju Tobirama left behind numerous elemental ninjutsu, but none more so than water release as it was his main nature affinity.
Although the Konoha ninja were proficient in water ninjutsu, they were not skilled enough to call forth water walls that were high enough to protect the three now-giant Akimichi. This is where the Aburame had made their presence known again. There were seas of insects falling from the sky which had acted as barriers to take the brunt of the explosions. As such, while the Akimichi were visibly signed by the onslaught of explosions, they were still able to press on. It's been a while since I saw large groups of Konoha ninja fighting together. Sometimes I forget to appreciate how versatile and unique our techniques are, Kakashi mused.
With that thought, a deep resonant sound broke through the din and chaos of battle, the low-pitched echoing carrying all the way over to the medical backlines. A Horogai, Kakashi noted in surprise.
Despite ninja mostly communicating covertly, large scale battles sometimes required instruments to help convey orders to all units. To prevent an enemy using the same instrument to confuse the forces, it was followed with a wide-scale elemental ninjutsu to prove validity. The sound captures the attention, the jutsu confirms the origin. In all his years of service as a ninja, Kakashi only wintessed the instruemnts being used a handful of times. As the trumpet sound reverbaerated, Kakashi saw a large slab of earth rise; a large number of Iwa ninja were clearly using the S-ranked Great Moving Earth Core Jutsu. The Iwa ninja began a retreat.
Around him, Kakashi could see that others were similarly confused by the sound. The conch shell trumpet, the Horogai, was the favored instrument of the Hidden Mist. Iwa usually used Kakko drums, the sharp and enduring beat matching the sturdiness of Stone. Konoha, for example, relied upon the Shakuhachi, which was often used in meditation and relfected a deep connection with natural elements. Despite it's soothing sound, the sound also had penetrative qualities. The choice of instrument signfiyied the Leaf's tie to nature, as well as Konoha's startegic and reflective qualities. Iwa probably doesn't want the sound of their drums associted with retreat, Kakashi guessed.
The ninja in the tower sent forth more explosions and earth spears then disappeared from their posts. As the Konoha ninja had to deal with the next wave of defense, the enemy on the ground used the Earth Mud Wave in tandem and the Konoha ninja were driven to jump back to avoid the attack. The high-chakra combination was not deadly but was successul in delaying them. The around thirty seconds lost to coutner the annoying combination allowed the Iwa ninja to make a headstart in running away.
As the Stone ninja fled, Sarutobi Shigeru called off on following them. The outpost leaders had decided that chasing down a retreat runs the risk of taking too long and allowing a jinchuriki enough time to come to their aid. The objective of this mission wasn't to kill as many Iwa ninja as possible, rather, destroy one of Iwa's key outposts.
Regardless, Kakashi saw a handful of squads rush after the enemy from the sides of the outpost. Leaving the enemy to their own devices would allow the Stone ninja to regroup and counter, or worse yet, buy some time to unite with reinforcements. Hence, some squads were assigned to push them further away, keep an eye out for any reinforcements and send an early warning if need be. In foresight of these possibilities, the squads chasing down the runaways consisted of a high number of Hyuga, Aburame, Inuzuka and Uchiha ninja, ensuring that a surprise counter was off the table.
As that was happening, Kakashi spotted Minato at the front of the five slabs of the Grass Gate. He knew his sensei would now spend his time dismantling the protective seals and destroying the outpost. It would take some time as they had to proceed with caution to avoid any traps once they made it inside.
Satisfied with the trajectory of battle, Kakashi slightly lifted his shirt and tore off the spiritual energy drain seal. He felt the rush of spiritual chakra fill his body and was filled with mixed emotions. On the one hand, his body was no longer fatigued, and he welcomed the new energy. On the other, the imbalance towards spiritual energy made his head spin. Maybe I should've taken a soldier pill instead, Kakashi groaned.
Knowing that expelling most of his spiritual energy to rebalance would make removing the seal pointless, Kakashi expelled just enough to prevent him from falling over in dizziness. He then spotted a rock that served well as a focal point and trained his eyes on it. From previous experiences, Kakashi knew that stabilizing his vision by focusing on a signal point would help reduce the sensory inputs and allow his brain to regulate his balance. The anchoring, along with deep breathing, pushed the nausea away until the world was no longer spinning. Kakashi tested this by looking around and was grateful that he wasn't overwhelmed with nausea. Now ready, he went to rejoin his squad. With Iwa retreating, he would focus on providing emergency first aid.
As he approached his team, he found them transfixed on their tasks to the point that they didn't acknowledge his presence. Banri and Katsu were both aiding a ninja with what appeared to be a back injury while Taiki was trying to stop another's bleeding. A kunoichi was grasping her chest in pain as she anxiously observed the first aid treatment. Kakashi walked up to the kunoichi and examined her symptoms, concluding that the woman had a broken ribcage.
"This is going to hurt a bit, shinobi-san," Kakashi informed his first patient as he took out a roll of bandages, planning to tighten them around the woman's broken ribcage to prevent further damage.
"Sure," the woman nodded distractedly while her eyes remained fixed upon the ninja Taiki was trying to save.
"Can you remove your vest, I'll help you," Kakashi instructed her. With careful movements, Kakashi stood behind her, grabbed the Konoha vest from the shoulders and slowly pulled it down. The movement caused the woman's chest to move slightly, and she flinched but made no noise of complaint. Kakashi threw the vest to the side and grabbed the bandages. He secured the end of the bandage to the uninjured side and began rolling clockwise.
"Sorry," Kakashi muttered as the woman gasped in pain, but she still wouldn't respond to him. Methodically, Kakashi began to wrap the bandages around and around.
"No!" The kunoichi suddenly wailed and jerked forward. The bandages loosened as the woman fell forward, the pain in her chest preventing her from getting to her teammate.
Kakashi held onto her shoulder and pulled her back gently, he would now have to reapply the bandages. That's when the woman's anguished shout turned into flowing tears, "Daisuke-kun…. Daisuke no…"
Kakashi looked up towards Taiki, whose head was bowed. The teen had failed to save the ninja. As Kakashi began to reapply the bandages, he watched as Taiki took out a scroll.
"Don't!" the kunoichi called out.
Taiki gave her a mournful look but moved to seal the body away until they could give him a proper burial.
Daisuke was considered lucky, in the sense that he could rest in Konoha. It wasn't often that ninja in war were able to be returned to their villages. Often, ninja bodies were either burned or left behind. We could never bring Obito's body back, Kakashi thought sorrowfully.
Instead of voicing his opinion, Kakashi tried to calm the woman down. "I'm sorry about your teammate, but Taiki-san is storing his body so we can help him rest back home," Kakashi spoke softly.
"Shut up, this is all your fault!" the kunoichi didn't appreciate his words. "If it wasn't for your father abandoning the mission like a coward, none of this would be happening. I'll bandage my own chest, go away."
Kakashi startled to a pause. He knew the woman was distraught but couldn't help but feel a stab of annoyance at her words. Glares from afar where one thing, but outright insulting his father boiled his blood. He debated helping her versus leaving.
The woman moved her arms to reach out for the bandages, "That's dangerous and unnecessarily painful," he replied in annoyance and moved to grab the bandages back.
"I told you to go," she growled, glaring at him with hate-filled eyes.
Kakashi was about to retort but Taiki spoke up before he could, "I got this," the teen said as he kneeled in front of the woman and stuck his hand out in an unspoken command to hand over the bandages. The woman sniffed as she agreed, dropping the bandages in Taiki's hand.
Now that the woman was being treated, Kakashi stood up angrily. You're crying over your teammate because you care for him like my dad did his teammates, you hypocrite. Kakashi fumed internally as he stepped away.
He turned to Banri and Katsu and saw them lifting the unconscious comrade onto a stretcher; his back injury making it risky to carry him to the medics in the traditional manner. Both teens would be needed to carry him and ensure a stable transport.
"I'm going ahead," Kakashi informed them stoically, making sure not to convey any of his rage. Taiki gave him a sympathetic look and nodded in understanding.
"Ah, leave it to us," Katsu replied without looking up from his task. The other two did not hear the exchange and continued as normal.
A quick scan made him spot a Konoha ninja resting his back on a pillar and breathing heavily. He quickly made his way over, glad to avoid the kunoichi. "What are your injuries?" he asked with concern once the man spotted him coming.
"I'm fine… just some… chakra exhaustion," the man breathed out, sweat dripping down his forehead. "Go help… someone who needs… needs it more." Kakashi couldn't help but wince in sympathy. Low chakra was one thing, chakra exhaustion was another.
Kakashi ripped some cloth from the man's shredded pants and tied it to a kunai. He then threw the kunai into the pillar above, letting the makeshift upside-down flag act as a marker of the man's location. "Someone will come pick you up once the emergent cases are dealt with," Kakashi explained.
"Ah, thanks," the man smiled shakily.
This was how Kakashi found himself monotonously scurrying around the battlefield and aiding any he could. In most cases, he couldn't provide much assistance beyond first aid. The majority of the forces were larger than him, and he couldn't use the Transformation Jutsu to change heights and carry them back. The jutsu was simply an illusion after all. As such, he mainly helped bandage wounds, splint broken appendages and mark locations with kunai for transport, be it injured or dead Konoha ninja. He wasn't provided with sealing scrolls for the dead, thus, Kakashi would simply bow in respect for their fallen ninja and tag their location for the others.
He slowly worked his way up the battlefield and towards the Grass Gate. He noted that with the battle over, other Konoha ninja had joined the rescue efforts. With the influx of more ninja to transport the injured, the work went a lot faster than usual. In fact, in most instances where Kakashi spotted someone in need of assistance, someone was already there or on their way.
"This one is already dead too," Kakashi heard a Konoha to his left say.
"Most would have already committed suicide to avoid capture as per usual, rookie," his teammate said. "Look for unconscious enemy and seal the rest."
Some teams have switched to capture and disposal units. Mercifully, because his squad were teenagers, Inuzuka Genji hadn't assigned them to the disposal teams.
Killing enemy that could no longer fight was a necessary reality of ninja life, but one that left a bitter taste in his mouth. He had been responsible for such work numerous times in ANBU. He recalled the moment he and Itachi had followed Gai knowing a mission would end with betrayal. The look of horror on Gai's face as he and Itachi methodically disposed of the downed ninja and felt his heart constrict. It was not at the thought of his actions, rather, about what message he had probably sent Itachi during those days as his junior in ANBU. Kakashi had taught Itachi that protecting Konoha form the shadows was unpleasant but crucial work to protect future generations. Was it partly my fault that Itachi ended up committing the massacre… Did Itachi just see it as another unpleasant but necessary mission to prevent a civil war? Kakashi wondered.
"Over here!" the shout of a ninja cut off Kakashi's thoughts. He saw one man bent over another, hand grasping onto his stomach to prevent further bleeding from the earth spear currently lodged in his stomach as the shadow of the Grass Gate loomed over them. The man wasn't shouting at Kakashi, rather at a group of ninja placing exploding tags around the base of the defensive wall.
Before they could reply, Kakashi joined the man and analyzed the situation, "He's going to bleed out at this rate." The man's teammate was unconscious but was already deathly pale, his breathing shallow.
The unit at the gate saw Kakashi and decided to leave it to him so they could continue their mission. Without another glance, they returned to their task, running along the wall and placing tag after tag. The sooner they could bring down the fort, the sooner they could evacuate the area before reinforcements showed up. Their message was clear, the life of one man was not worth delaying their task.
"Call someone, hurry!" the man bit back in frustration at the situation. He had believed that help from the unit would come and instead, the only one helping him was a child.
"Even if I do, they won't make it in time," Kakashi didn't take the bark personally. Kakashi quickly took out the remaining bandages he had and cursed when he found only a measly roll left. He quickly removed his t-shirt and bundled it up, merging the cloth with the bandages, "Let's try to package the wound," he informed him. Kakashi was still wearing an undershirt attached to the mask and hoped that the bundle of cloth in hands would be enough to control the bleeding.
With a mutual nod, the man lifted his hands and Kakashi packaged the wound with the cloth. He pressed down as hard as he could, grateful that the man was unconscious as he would have undoubtedly be in a lot of pain otherwise.
"Damn it," the man cursed as he and Kakashi saw the blood begin to seep through Kakashi's shirt. "Keep pressing," he ordered as removed his hands. The man hastily removed his own shirt, bunched it up clumsily and added more volume to their makeshift padding.
Even before the man's frustrated exclamation Kakashi could tell, the wound wouldn't stop bleeding. "What do we do now?" he asked.
"We could signal the medics; they should be able to come to the battlefield now that Iwa retreated. Otherwise, we can try cauterizing the wound," Kakashi mumbled his trailing thoughts as he tried to think of solutions.
"Ca… cauterize," the man's eyes widened in panic, "I'm not going to cauterize the wound! I'll kill him! I don't have that kind of control. I'll signal the medics."
Without waiting for Kakashi to reply, the man stood up and ran through the hand seals of a basic fire jutsu then released it into the air above them. A breath of fire shot up into the sky. The area around Kakashi lit up in a hue of orange before the fire slowly faded away. The man ran through the seals again, "I'll keep going for as long as it takes," he said. Another pillar of fire shot into the sky.
Kakashi was about to tell the man that they didn't have for 'as long as it takes' before they heard a voice call out to them, "What do we have?"
The man was wearing the signature uniform of a medic; Konoha's medics had gotten the green light to leave the backlines and provide aid to critical cases on the battlefield as Kakashi expected. Kakashi sighed in relief, Thank Konoha I don't have to cauterize the wound.
He had been forced to do so a few times in ANBU, and not all those he had tried to save survived. His attempts to save them only resulted in increased pain during their last moments. Their final groans of agony haunted Kakashi's dreams on occasion. Cauterization was always a last resort because makeshift stitches and tightly wound bandages were safer. The burns, if not treated swiftly and properly, could easily get infected and lead to death.
"Massive puncture wound to the lower abdomen," Kakashi replied.
The medic's hands began to glow green as they hovered over the stomach, "You can move your hands now," he ordered Kakashi.
"How can we help?" the man asked as Kakashi dropped his hands to the side.
"Standby for transfer once I stabilize him," the medic said.
Kakashi stood silently next to the man, and both looked down as the medic worked his magic. In less than a minute, the bleeding began to slow down. Reassured that the situation was now under control, Kakashi spoke up, "I need to go help the next person, shinobi-san," he informed the man.
"Thanks for your help," the man gave Kakashi a shaky smile, "I've got it from here."
Leaving it to the two, Kakashi shifted his body so that he could see across the battlefield.
Indeed, the area between the Grass Gate and medical bay was filled with Konoha ninja rushing back and forth with the injured. Kakashi could also spot some medics treating the critically injured. The clearing was covered. Decision made; he moved closer to the main entrance to see if he could find any more injured.
"Transport Teams, start taking the injured back to the main outpost. Frontlines, protect the medics still treating the injured!" Inuzuka Genji's voice barked orders.
Kakashi turned to the direction of his captain's voice. He found him standing in the middle of the battlefield, giving orders and assigning roles to the uninjured. At the backlines, Kakashi noticed that some teams had already started transporting the injured back to the main outpost. It would be a day's travel.
Instead of falling back with the Transport Teams, Kakashi ignored the orders and continued towards the Grass Gate entrance to linger back and observe. It's not like he could carry anybody back anyway.
When he arrived a few meters away from the Gate's main entrance, he smiled at the sight of the main entrance already collapsed. The remnants of the five earth slabs that guarded the outpost littered the ground, sealing kanji crisscrossing across their surface. Minato sensei has already countered the seals, Kakashi was impressed. Then again, Iwa wasn't well-known for their sealing arts. In fact, if Kakashi were to rank the main villages in terms of sealing knowledge, he would place Iwa at the bottom of the list. It shouldn't have been a surprise that one of Konoha's best fuinjutsu users would be able to rapidly bypass the Stone's defenses, especially one trained in the Uzumaki sealing arts.
Even with that, Konoha was approaching with caution. Only sensory ninja and those with ocular techniques were entering the outpost and keeping an eye out for traps. Kakashi was sure they were trying to find any useful information before demolishing the outpost. He doubted Iwa left anything of value behind. If anything, he bet that the Stone bought as much time as possible to destroy any valuable information before retreating. However, that won't stop Konoha from trying to find anything Iwa missed.
Kakashi inched closer to the entrance to where Sarutobi Shigeru was discussing next steps with some of the captains and squad leaders.
"We've finished setting the explosives are set around the entire perimeter," one was informing them.
"Good, the teams inside have scouted most of the outpost, we should be ready to detonate soon," Shigeru said.
"The outpost is smaller than I expected," another said, her blonde ash hair marking her as a Yamanaka.
"From what I've observed, the accommodations are very efficient," someone explained, rubbing his chin in thought.
"Another way of saying they were packed in like sardines," another chimed in with a laugh.
"With their large numbers, they sure have found a way to make most of a space," the Yamanaka seemed vaguely impressed.
"You can discuss construction marvels later," Shigeru cut them off sharply.
"Of course, Captain," they intoned together. Despite the high level of death around them, they seemed to be in high spirits for securing a big win for Konoha. Kakashi figured this day will go down in the history books for future generations to study.
"Shigeru-san, we have a problem," a Hyuga landed in front of them.
Aaaaaaand he spoke to soon.
"One of the jinchuriki is on the way," the man continued. Despite the urgency, he was calm as he delivered his report. "Our sensors estimate thirty minutes before his arrival. We can't tell which of the jinchuriki though. The squads switched from chasing the enemy away to setting up traps to slow them down. They'll turn back in five minutes to avoid getting caught."
"Traps won't slow the jinchuriki but will hinder the rest," one commented, levity in his voice replaced with the steel of urgency.
"Isn't this bad?" a ninja close to Kakashi asked his teammate in alarm. His teammate nodded back in fear.
"Good work, Chimon-san," Shigeru took the news in stride. "Aika san, communicate with the leaders inside, tell them they have ten minutes to wrap up."
"On it," she said and closed her eyes in concentration.
"In the meantime, you three go let Genji-san know and begin coordinating the retreat of all our ninja," he continued, pointing at the three in question.
"Yes sir," they nodded and left immediately.
"Arashi-san, take a few squads and set some traps around here as well. Chimon-san, go with him and help guide the returning squads through them as quickly as possible once done."
"Minato-san says he needs fifteen to twenty minutes to break into a sealed room he found, what should I tell him?" Aika Yamanaka cut in as the others left.
"Can't he do it faster?" Shigeru asked in annoyance.
She closed her eyes again and conveyed the message, "He says they're A-ranked seals, nobody else here has enough knowledge to help draw the counterseals."
"I hate fuinjutsu," Shigeru rubbed his forehead in annoyance.
Despite being the most proficient village in sealing, most jonin developed B-ranked knowledge in the sealing arts but rarely took it a step further. Otherwise, you had Chunin who were chosen to study sealing extensively. These ninja would become part of the administrative force, whereby their role shifted from combat to providing Konoha with a steady supply of the needed seals. Ninja like Jiraya, Kushina and Minato, who were well-versed in both combat and sealing were rare, even in Konoha.
"He says he'll stay behind, grab anything useful he can find, activate the explosions and simply teleport to us when done," Aika continued the message.
"I love fuinjutsu," Shigeru smirked.
That was a quick change of heart, Kakashi sweat-dropped as the rest laughed.
"Leave it to the Yellow-Flash!" one exclaimed happily.
"I guess we were wrong," the ninja next to him said, his previous alarm replaced with glee.
Reassured that his sensei would be safe, Kakashi turned back to join his squad. His sensei wasn't the impulsive type and wouldn't risk his death for a room that had probably already been cleared. Knowing Katsu's personality, the teen won't leave until they were all together. The sooner they left, the safer the teens would be. He quickly maneuvered across the battlefield and easily located the three teens sitting next to some lightly injured comrades.
Katsu was looking around, head swiveling left and right in search of something… most likely him. Used to making people wait for hours, Kakashi couldn't muster any guilt at making them wait.
As Katsu scanned the direction from which Kakashi was coming, his eyes lit up as he spotted him. "Kakashi!" Katsu waved him over, "There you are!"
"Sorry sorry," Kakashi rubbed the back of his head in a fake show of repentance as he sheepishly jogged over. "I ended up helping right by the Grass Gate."
"Now that you're all here, let's go," a man Kakashi didn't know stated in a commanding tone. He clearly wasn't in the mood for any further delays. The man had a makeshift splint on his ankle which was painted with ugly shades of purple and blue. His ankle didn't look broken, however. Whoever treated the injury healed the bones but not the bruising in order to save their chakra for other patients. It was standard field medicine: heal the bone to ensure no permanent damage was done but let the ninja deal with the pain.
"Of course, Enso-san," Taiki said. He stood up with the man, making sure to keep supporting his weight. Banri and Katsu did the same and everyone shuffled to their feet. Now that they were all standing, Kakashi noted that each pair was around the same height for the fastest and most secure transport. Kakashi felt useless as he saw them adjusting their grip until everyone was comfortable.
"Can you grab that?" Katsu jerked his heads towards a large backpack to his side.
Kakashi bent downwards, grabbed one of the straps and slung the bag over his shoulder. He felt the contents shuffle around as secured the other strap. Scrolls, Kakashi concluded.
"Be careful with those," the injured ninja being supported by Banri wheezed out. The labored speech indicating a chest injury, while the blood-tinged bandages around the thigh a clear sign of a deep stab wound.
"Those are some of the bodies we've collected," Banri verified. Unlike his usual demeanor, Banri's voice was devoid of any emotion; suppressing the sorrow till they were off duty.
"I'll keep them safe," Kakashi stated.
With nothing more to be said, Katsu signaled them to leave and the seven ninja took to the trees. It was time to get back to the outpost.