Bad Luck

Kisuke didn't dare activate his Sharingan unless he was in a life threatening situation. Without Mangekyō, exposing it would draw attention he didn't want. Unless he awakened that advanced form, he had no interest in being dissected by Danzo's paranoia.

He risked a glance toward Rin. Fortunately Aya and Kenta—though not exactly reliable—were doing their job. Their presence relieved some of the pressure on him; several Rock Ninjas had turned toward them.

"Still somewhat useful," Kisuke muttered to himself before refocusing.

This fight was worse than he'd expected. Not because these enemies were all elite—but because there were too many. Without his Sharingan, Kisuke had to rely on raw skill. He knew Minato should be arriving soon. Hopefully.

Kakashi, meanwhile, had regained some strength. Thanks to Kisuke drawing attention, he'd managed a few critical minutes of rest. It didn't recover chakra, but it gave his lungs room to breathe.

Soon, he jumped back into the fight. His body was a mess, but he still fought. It was enough to give Kisuke breathing space. He couldn't handle the pressure alone much longer.

"Pick it up," Kisuke said quietly, back-to-back with Kakashi. "We're not holding this line. Break through. Support's just a small distance away. Got it?"

"Got it," Kakashi replied with a low voice. "What unit are you with? Why are you here?"

"We'll talk later," Kisuke muttered, eyes sweeping the area. "Right side—Aya's over there. We regroup with them and move."

"Understood."

Now wasn't the time for conversation. Kakashi moved slower, his body heavy with blood loss. But he didn't hold back. He even helped Kisuke ambush one of the Iwa ninjas, letting Kisuke finish the job with a clean throat slash.

Unfortunately, the Rock Ninjas weren't letting up. Their fighting spirit felt endless. Some twisted version of a "Will of Earth," maybe.

Kisuke noticed something else—they were no longer holding back. Their coordination had sharpened. Clearly, they weren't aiming for capture anymore.

It made things worse for both him and Kakashi. The latter's limbs were slowing. His sight blurred. The constant blood loss was catching up. He might be at his limit.

Damn it, Kisuke thought, watching one ninja creep up behind Kakashi.

Dodging a strike, Kisuke yanked smoke bombs from his pouch and hurled them toward Kakashi.

Smoke exploded around them. Kisuke flickered into the haze using the Body Flicker Technique and immediately opened his Sharingan.

The moment he did, the Iwa ninja slowed—at least from Kisuke's perspective. Every movement became readable.

Kisuke tilted his body just enough and shoved Kakashi aside. Both avoided the lethal strike by inches.

At the same time, Kisuke grabbed the enemy's arm—and closed his Sharingan again.

Kakashi stumbled to the ground but scrambled up quickly. His normal eye saw nothing through the smoke, but his Sharingan tracked everything. He saw Kisuke subtly transform the enemy into Kisuke's own image, then deliver a kick that sent the ninja flying.

Then Kisuke transformed into the Rock ninja and calmly ran toward two more.

Kakashi stared, stunned. Can the Transformation Technique even be used like that?

Kisuke didn't have time to explain. The ninja he kicked was too dazed to recognize his allies—he turned for just a second and got a kunai through the heart.

His body reverted, face still frozen in disbelief. He tried to speak but died before a word escaped.

Kisuke, knowing his window was shrinking, struck again. He whipped out two kunai and drove them cleanly into the backs of the stunned Rock Ninjas who just killed their comrade.

Before Kisuke could feel even a sliver of pride, a yellow blur appeared in front of him.

A kunai tore through the air, whistling toward his throat.

Kisuke's eyes went wide.

"Oh, fuck!!"

He instinctively activated his Sharingan. It wasn't worth thinking about the consequences—staying alive came first.

The two-tomoe Sharingan caught the motion—but barely. His body locked up. His brain screamed to move, dodge, do anything—but nothing responded. His limbs turned to stone.

He saw the attack, the angle, the speed, the kill intent—but he was frozen. Years of training meant nothing against this level of speed. He was going to die—not because he didn't see it coming, but because he couldn't keep up.

Fear hit first. Then panic. Then something else—resentment. Resentment at being weak. At dying without ever mattering. At being another wasted name. That emotion boiled inside him and turned black.

His vision sharpened—The third tomoe snapped into place.

The world slowed even more. He saw every fold in Minato's sleeve, the twitch in his knuckles gripping the kunai, the subtle pull of muscle across his shoulder. He knew the exact second he would die.

But his body still wouldn't move.

His heartbeat slowed—not from calm, but resignation. Death wasn't coming; it was already here, sliding toward his throat on cold steel.

And then, something cracked open inside him.

It wasn't chakra anymore. His energy twisted. Fear, hatred, regret—they didn't vanish; they compressed into something sharp and violent. His chakra blackened, thickened. His body moved—not by conscious will as if someone was controlling his body.

His hand clenched and drove itself forward.

The space distorted as The Black Flash split the space just as Minato's blade neared contact.

Minato's eyes widened. He felt it instantly—the shift, the rupture in space. His kunai halted mid-thrust. Every instinct screamed danger. He vanished in a flicker of yellow light.

Kisuke's legs buckled. His eyes, still glowing with three-tomoe Sharingan, lost focus. The cursed energy that saved him vanished as fast as it came.

His breath caught. His body shook—no longer from fear, but exhaustion. That single moment, that raw instinctive flash, had taken everything. Chakra drained. Cursed energy burned out.

He collapsed, knees slamming into the dirt, then his side. His hand—the one that triggered the Black Flash—twitched once.

The Sharingan faded. His eyes shut. He didn't even feel the ground as it caught him.

Kisuke passed out cold.

***

Kisuke felt a splitting headache. But as his sense of touch returned fully, he immediately confirmed one thing—he wasn't dead.

With that realization, Kisuke exhaled in relief. If he had actually died like that, he'd probably go down as the most pathetic reincarnation in history.

Still, his eyes felt swollen, and his body was sore all over.

"Are you awake?"

A gentle voice reached his ears. There was a softness to it, maybe even a hint of apology.

Kisuke looked up slightly, and the moment he saw who was speaking, his whole body tensed. He couldn't forget that face—the man who had just given him a near-death experience.

Yet now, this same man wore a calm, gentle expression that made him seem completely approachable. There was something infectious about his presence—an innate charisma that made people instinctively trust him.

Minato Namikaze.

Kisuke had the sudden urge to groan. Or punch him. Or both.

"You didn't finish the job," he muttered hoarsely.

Minato gave a sheepish smile. "Didn't intend to kill you."

"Could've fooled me."

Kisuke rubbed his aching head and looked around. "Looks like we're safe."

"Yes. But I'm sorry about what happened earlier," Minato said, scratching his head. "The situation was urgent. I didn't have time to say check."

"Forget it. It's over." Kisuke shook his head. "Your timing just happened to clash with my tactics."

He didn't want to dwell on it. Sometimes, bad luck was just bad luck—and clearly, he had plenty of it.

Kisuke turned to look at Kakashi. The boy was still unconscious. Rin had already woken up and was quietly staring at the stars. Nearby, Yamanaka Masato was directing the surviving Konoha ninjas to rest and stay on alert.

Kisuke did a quick count. Of the group he'd rescued, only about ten Konoha ninjas were still alive—not even counting his own team.

"Looks like the casualties were pretty heavy," Kisuke said quietly.

"Yeah. It's not great," Minato admitted. "But at least all the Rock ninjas are dead, and there's no major fallout—at least not yet."

Then he turned to Kisuke with a serious expression. "Thank you. For saving them—and for saving Kakashi. Without you, it would've been a disaster."

"I just wanted to complete the mission," Kisuke said bluntly, clearly uncomfortable. He waved a hand to dismiss the praise. "Don't bring it up again. Please."

"I understand," Minato replied, then gave a soft smile. "I'll write up the report. There won't be any issues. But thank you anyway. And—congratulations. You finally awakened your Sharingan, Kisuke-kun."

Hearing Minato's respectful tone and the way he addressed him made Kisuke feel oddly at ease. Whatever Minato's true motives were, it meant something that the future Fourth Hokage acknowledged him. That was enough for now.

As for the Sharingan…

Kisuke just smiled and said nothing.

He finally felt himself relax. The gains from this mission were massive—enough to ease the pressure that had been building inside him. It had been a gamble, but the payoff was worth it.

As he noticed Kakashi starting to stir, Kisuke excused himself. Clearly, teacher and student had things to talk about.

As for the Sharingan in Kakashi's eye, Kisuke didn't ask. Minato didn't explain. They both pretended the issue didn't exist—for now. Once they were back in the village, it would be up to others to deal with it. With the Third Hokage still in charge, it wasn't something either of them had real authority over.

Kisuke also didn't mention the fact that Obito wasn't dead, because he had no way to prove otherwise, and doing so would prove to be more troublesome which he wanted to avoid.

Besides, whith holding such information could prove to be beneficial in the future in case he wanted to strike a deal.

***

"Awake?"

Kisuke found Aya and Kenta nearby. Aya didn't bother hiding her annoyance.

"I thought you were dead."

"You really are something, Captain," Kenta added with a grin. "Killed that many Rock ninjas and survived an attack from the Yellow Flash. That's insane."

Kisuke sat down on a nearby rock, exhausted. "Don't tell me you two were hoping I'd die. That would've ended your mission, huh? Too bad. With all these ninja around, you couldn't have slipped away even if I did die. Sorry to disappoint. I'm still alive."

"Hmph." Aya snorted but then narrowed her eyes. "You awakened your Sharingan, didn't you? No way you dodged Minato's attack otherwise."

She wasn't the only one suspicious—Kenta looked at Kisuke the same way.

Kisuke didn't bother denying it. He closed his eyes briefly, then opened them again. His irises were now blood red, with three tomoe spinning slowly in each one.

There was a heavy silence.

Kisuke felt slightly embarrassed. Using a move like that, knowing Minato could show up at any moment? It had been reckless. Maybe even suicidal. But in the heat of battle, you didn't stop to second-guess.

Of course, Minato had shown up—just his luck.

"It's kind of pathetic, really," Kisuke muttered, deactivating his Sharingan. "Most people awaken it after losing someone they love. I awakened mine because I didn't want to die. Typical."

Ignoring their stunned faces, he rested his head in his hands and silently opened his system window.

[Achievement: Congratulations on using Black Flash independently for the first time. Reward: 200 CP]

His eyes narrowed slightly. This was the first time he'd received an achievement reward. He hadn't even known they existed—and the amount was staggering. It was like killing two elite jonin.

Genin: 5–10 CP

Chunin: 20–40 CP

Jonin: 50–100 CP

Elite Jonin: 100 -200 CP

Kage: 1000 CP

Not bad.

As he was thinking, Aya suddenly spoke again.

"So… you really awakened the Sharingan just like that? And with three tomoe?"

"That's right," Kisuke sighed. "I don't know how either. Didn't Obito awaken two tomoe under pressure?"

"You Uchiha really do awaken your Sharingan whenever you're near death, huh?" Aya said with a strange look. "Is it trauma? Or just raw desperation for power?"

Kisuke's expression hardened. "None of your business."

"Or maybe you awakened it just because you were scared of dying? Coward."

"Shut up."