But because it was so sudden, Obito and Lin could only hook their fingers together, linked by fingertips.
The invisible suction of the swamp was extremely fierce—no matter how hard he pulled, Obito couldn't drag Lin out of there.
"Don't let go! Lin!"
Obito used every ounce of strength he had, his face flushed bright red, but Lin's body kept sinking, unstoppable.
Obito had no choice. He pressed forward, getting closer to the edge of the swamp, trying to grab Lin's wrist, to get a better hold on her body.
Lin, trapped in the swamp, knew exactly whose jutsu this was. The pull was so strong, there was no way Obito alone could save her from this overwhelming force.
If this went on, Obito would get dragged down with her, both being captured by the enemy.
Lin steeled herself and released her fingers, letting the swamp devour her body.
The last thing she saw was Obito's face, tormented with desperation.
Then she lost consciousness, her whole body sinking beneath the swamp.
Obito, ignoring everything, followed right after her, willingly letting the swamp engulf him as well.
He couldn't let Lin face this alone. That was the only thought in Obito's mind.
"Lin, wait for me!"
In the end, when his body sank to his waist, the swamp vanished.
So did Lin.
The entire forest was empty except for him.
Obito stared blankly, the lingering warmth on his fingers left behind by Lin.
And now, Lin was gone, taken away by some unknown ninja technique.
Whether she was alive or dead, he didn't know.
"What happened?"
With two sharp whooshes, two Konoha Anbu Ninja wearing animal masks arrived by Instantaneous Body Jutsu.
They'd heard the commotion, and seemed to catch rescue cries, so they hurried here without delay.
Obito's half-body was buried in the earth, but he didn't care about his situation—he pleaded to the two Konoha Anbu Ninja:
"Hurry! Hurry and save Lin! Lin has been taken!"
"What?"
The two Konoha Anbu Ninja were totally confused.
Lin has been taken?
Who's Lin?
Obito's answer left them at a loss; the Anbu had no clue what to do.
"You're from the Uchiha Clan, right? Come with us to report to Jiraiya-sama. If your companion's been captured by the enemy, Jiraiya-sama will handle it."
"Right, right, we need to find Jiraiya-sama."
Obito's eyes lit up with hope.
He was Minato's student, and Minato was one of Sannin Jiraiya's disciples—even if Minato wasn't at camp, with this connection, Sannin Jiraiya would never abandon Lin.
◎
Nohara Rin was taken.
This incident didn't cause much stir in the camp, since this little girl on the frontlines wasn't anyone of note—just an ordinary medical ninja from Konoha.
The only worrying thing is, this unknown enemy was able to bypass the camp's defenses and directly infiltrate and abduct a ninja, showing extremely high stealth capabilities.
And this was clearly related to Hidden Rock's Earth Style Stealth Jutsu.
The swamp jutsu used to capture Nohara Rin was also very similar to 'Earth Style: Swamp of the Underworld.'
Meaning, the enemy who took Nohara Rin was a Hidden Rock Ninja.
Although they had no solid proof and could only analyze based on jutsu traits, the intelligence team at Konoha believed Hidden Rock Ninjas were most likely responsible.
It wasn't surprising that one or two Hidden Rock Ninjas could master Earth Style Stealth Jutsu to an extraordinary level.
But why kidnap a little medical ninja and not the Sharingan-wielding Uchiha Obito… Whether for intelligence or ninja value, this was baffling.
Maybe they wanted a unique talent in medical ninjutsu?
But what could abducting just one medical ninja possibly accomplish?
If they took ten or twenty, maybe Konoha would really be in trouble.
But just one… It didn't make sense.
Even so, Jiraiya still immediately deployed search teams to look for Nohara Rin.
Whether out of duty or personal feelings, Jiraiya had to try, to see if he could catch the cunning enemy and get Nohara Rin back.
"Still no luck finding her? What a shame."
Days passed—still no progress in searching for Nohara Rin.
Jiraiya knew the search squad had done their best, so he didn't blame them.
And with so many days gone and not a shred of information, she was either dead somewhere unseen, or taken to some secret place… In short, if they wanted to keep searching, they'd need to send at least five more search squads.
During such a critical battle with Hidden Rock, Jiraiya decided to give up.
He wanted to help Obito, but he had thousands of Konoha ninja lives in his hands—he couldn't afford to dedicate more search squads for someone whose fate was unknown.
After all, Lin was just a medical ninja—even if the enemy wanted intelligence from her, there wasn't much she could tell.
All in all, the chances of getting her back were extremely slim.
"What? Give up?"
Jiraiya's order left Obito frozen where he stood.
"Yes, after so many days without a word, that girl Lin is most likely already…"
The Chunin delivering the message hadn't finished before Obito shouted at him: "Lin won't die!"
His Double-Tomoe Sharingan stared fiercely at the Chunin.
The Chunin couldn't help but feel his heart race.
What terrifying eyes.
"Anyway, that's the end of it, searching further is pointless. Plus, Jiraiya-sama is in a meeting now—even if you go, it's useless. Just be careful in the future and don't make the same mistake again."
The Chunin left, somewhat impatient.
"Such annoying eyes—Uchiha guys must have something messed up in their heads. Otherwise, they wouldn't ever betray the village."
He muttered quietly, making sure Obito couldn't hear.
After the Chunin left, Obito clenched his teeth and walked outside.
"I'm going to beg Jiraiya-sama for help!"
No matter what, he must bring Lin back.
As long as he could get her back, he wouldn't hesitate to kneel and beg if needed.
"Didn't you hear what that guy said? Jiraiya-sama is in a meeting, and Lin isn't anyone important. It's normal not to waste more manpower—this is wartime. Death and disappearance, they're inevitable."
Kakashi, now recovered, stood behind Obito and spoke.
He'd already seen far too much life and death on the battlefield.
"But Lin… she's our comrade! How can you just give up so easily? Even if I'm alone, I'll bring Lin back!"
Obito clenched his fists, the red Sharingan in his eyes reflecting unprecedented determination.
If the village wouldn't help, he'd do it himself and save Lin.
Alive or dead, he'd bring her back, whatever it took.