Naruto: Puppet Master Undercover in Konoha

Kakashi and Obito were fighting alongside other Konoha ninja against the alliance of Sand ninja and Cloud ninja, while Shindai was engaged in one-on-one combat with Pakura.

Right now, Konoha was gradually starting to gain the upper hand. Because of the traps they'd set, part of the Sand and Cloud forces had been eliminated.

Actually, merely losing some troops wasn't that big of a problem. The bigger issue was that these traps scrambled their formations.

Initially, the enemy had kept separate units—one of Sand ninja, one of Cloud ninja—but the traps caused them to intermingle. That became a major issue.

The Sand and Cloud ninja were only cooperating because of orders from above. They didn't truly trust each other. This led to situations like when a Sand ninja was in danger, a nearby Cloud ninja who could've helped instead chose to stand by, completely lacking team spirit.

On Konoha's side, all the ninja moved as one unit. When one was in trouble, five or six would immediately rush in to pull him from danger.

Because of this contrast, the numerical advantage of the Sand-Cloud alliance had vanished. Now, at a rather quick pace, they began falling into disadvantage.

Just because Konoha had the upper hand didn't mean Shindai did too.

Kakashi and Obito glanced in Shindai's direction—and the moment they did, they couldn't tear their eyes away.

Shindai now wore a black-eyed and swollen-faced appearance, almost unrecognizable.

Obito watched as Pakura landed another punch straight to Shindai's left eye, letting out a sharp breath through his teeth, "She hits this hard?"

Kakashi, watching too, drew in a sharp breath, "That idiot—did he provoke her? Last time they seemed close; there's no way he should've ended up this beat up."

Kakashi's guess wasn't far off. Shindai really had provoked Pakura. And not just once—he provoked her without pause.

"Hey, doesn't hurt!"

"You skip breakfast or something?"

"What's the point of being tall anyway?"

"You call that real Taijutsu? I could bring in any old grandma and she'd look more like a true Taijutsu expert than you."

Shindai clung stubbornly to his defiance until the very end. He refused to admit he was weaker than Pakura!

As long as he didn't admit it, he and Pakura were still evenly matched!

Pakura was at a loss facing Shindai. If only he begged for mercy just a little, she'd go easy on him.

But Shindai was so stubborn—even when his legs trembled violently from the pummeling, he kept shouting defiantly.

Pakura looked around. Their allied forces had already shown signs of defeat. The battle was nearing its end.

Pakura charged at Shindai again.

Seeing Pakura charging toward him, Shindai's trembling legs shook even harder.

Shindai desperately wanted to yell at Pakura, "Don't come any closer!"

"But what came out of her mouth was: 'Are you going to give me another massage with those soft, masseuse punches of yours?'"

This time, instead of punching Shindai, Pakura met him head-on in a taijutsu duel, matching his strength blow for blow.

In the midst of combat, Pakura called out to Shindai: "Shindai, this decision by Sunagakure to ally with Kumogakure is definitely a major mistake by Rasa. My previous efforts to gain achievements by killing Mist ninja weren't in vain. I'll pursue the position of Kazekage afterward. Wait for me. Once I become Kazekage, I'll bring you back to the village!"

When Shindai heard Pakura's words, his spine chilled instantly. He anxiously said, "Hey, don't do anything reckless! Rasa has Chiyo and Ebizō supporting him. You can't do it!"

Pakura replied firmly: "No! I will definitely succeed! Sunagakure isn't only run by Chiyo and Ebizō—I'll gain support from other high-ups too. Believe me! See you later!"

"I don't believe you at all, you—"

Before Shindai could finish speaking, Pakura kicked him straight toward Kakashi and Obito.

Kakashi and Obito hurriedly helped Shindai up: "You okay, Shindai?!"

After one final glance at Shindai, Pakura left.

Looking in the direction Pakura had gone, Shindai muttered with a slight headache: "No wonder they want to sacrifice her. This idiot clearly threatens their interests directly!"

Indeed, there were many high-ranking officials in Sunagakure besides Chiyo and Ebizō—but none of them combined could match the influence of either one alone.

And Rasa was someone supported and absolutely loyal to both Chiyo and Ebizō.

Therefore, Pakura's plan had absolutely no chance of succeeding.

Obito frowned in confusion: "Shindai, what are you muttering about? Sacrificial pawn? Whose interests?"

Wiping some blood from his nose, Shindai shook his head: "Nothing."

Suddenly,

From within the Konoha ninja ranks, voices began chanting in unison: "Counterattack! Counterattack!"

Shindai, Kakashi, and Obito looked forward and saw that the combined Sand and Cloud ninja forces had already begun retreating in large numbers, while the Konoha ninjas started pursuing them.

Shindai exhaled deeply: "Looks like it's finally ending."

A smile unconsciously appeared on both Kakashi's and Obito's faces: "Yeah, as long as we drive them out of the Land of Fire, then we've won!"

Carrying Shindai between them, Obito and Kakashi joined the pursuit of the Sand and Cloud ninjas.

Shindai, meanwhile, was enduring a living hell—being carried around was pure torment.

Look at him—this wretched mess! Do they really have to carry him? Can't they just leave him behind?!

The Sand and Cloud ninjas were now completely defeated, unable to mount any counterattacks, simply being chased away by the Konoha ninja.

As dawn broke and sunlight stretched across the land.

Everyone burst into cheers.

They had driven the combined Sand and Cloud ninja forces out of the Land of Fire's border.

In this war, they had finally won!

"Shindai! Did you see that? Did you see it? We won, we really won!"

Obito shook Shindai frantically.

Shindai, being shaken senseless, snapped, "Alright already! Stop shaking me! I'm not blind or deaf! I can see and hear just fine!"

Shindai flopped straight onto the ground. He barely had enough chakra left to maintain basic bodily functions. After getting beaten up by Pakura, his entire body ached. As soon as he relaxed, the pain made him glare with clenched teeth.

"Pakura really didn't hold back—couldn't she have just faked it a little? Whoever ends up marrying her will have bad luck!"

Obito and Kakashi plopped down on the ground as well.

Both of them were nearly drained too, and although they had no major wounds, their bodies were riddled with countless minor injuries they couldn't even bother to count.

The supply unit arrived shortly after.

Rin Nohara was among them and immediately spotted Shindai, Obito, and Kakashi, rushing toward them without hesitation.

"Rin!"

Obito saw Rin running toward them and happily waved at her.

Rin sprinted forward and threw herself at all three, hugging Shindai, Obito, and Kakashi tightly as tears streamed down her face: "I'm so glad none of you got hurt..."

As Rin embraced him, Obito felt like he was walking on air, all the pain suddenly vanishing from his body.

Unfortunately, Shindai and Kakashi were still there, hugging along with him.

He really wished he could kick both of them away and be the only one in Rin's warm embrace.

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