Kakashi wanted to refuse, but after a moment's thought, he realized that each battle offered another chance to prove himself.
He didn't need military merit right now; what he craved was a stage to showcase his abilities.
He felt more than capable of participating in missions, rather than languishing in camp like a salted fish, spending his days either training or sleeping.
Truthfully, this salted fish existence was exactly what Raj had always dreamed of.
It longed to spend its days lounging at home, sleeping, but reality wouldn't allow it.
Without striving or working hard, it would reach its peak in just a few years, then begin to decline.
In barely twenty years, it would become a dead cat, buried and at peace.
If it couldn't return home, fine.
But having finally arrived in the Ninja World, to not even see the sky twenty years from now?
Would that make it a worthy transmigrator?
Even a cat couldn't be so pathetic.
In the next instant, Raj used the Flying Thunder God Technique, teleporting Kakashi and itself away using Minato's spatial coordinates as its destination.
The thirty-odd ninjas left behind exchanged bewildered glances.
The Root members present exchanged glances, their thoughts mirroring those of Yusuke Hozuki and his group.
'Flying Thunder God Technique, Ice Release, Superhuman Strength, and the ability to grow larger - this cat's combat prowess surpasses that of many Jonin.'
'Even Special Jonin status seems an understatement.'
'And Root didn't know any of this. Flying Thunder God Technique? Isn't that Minato's signature move? Since when could a cat master such an impossible-to-learn ninjutsu? This is utterly absurd.'
"Seal Team, please work quickly to seal them all before they escape," the Aburame Clan Jonin in his peculiar attire instructed.
This was no time for reflection.
Raj had already left, and while the two remaining figures were still encased in Ice Release Chakra, there was no guarantee they wouldn't break free like Yusuke Hozuki had, forcibly shattering the ice to revert to their human forms.
Meanwhile, on the other side of the battlefield, Raj had teleported Kakashi to Minato's side using the Flying Thunder God Technique.
The overwhelming stench of blood hit them immediately.
Before Kakashi could react, a Kiri Ninja lunged at him with a katana.
Raj enlarged its tail using a partial Expansion Jutsu, sweeping it across the battlefield and instantly knocking the Kiri Ninja to the ground.
'Not from the Hozuki Clan. One hit and they're down. So weak.'
Minato, having just teleported back after finishing off the last enemy, greeted them.
"You're here too? Did you take care of your side? You were quick!"
"Meow~ Of course! After all, I was the one who handled it," Raj replied without a hint of modesty.
'When I'm involved, nothing remains unresolved. If I couldn't even handle a simple Water Transformation Technique, what was the point of spending ten thousand Points? Ice Release truly proves its worth.'
"Hahaha, we're done here too. There were quite a few of them, so it took some effort."
Minato reached up to scratch his head, but stopped when he saw the blood on his hand.
The Kiri Ninja had deployed three groups: the Hozuki Clan, an assassination squad from the north, and the eight old acquaintances Raj had encountered earlier.
Minato's group had been dealing with the assassination squad.
As for the other group of Kiri Ninja from the Hozuki Clan, there was even less to worry about.
Tsunade's forces were overwhelming, with over thirty Lightning Release users alone, including three or four Jonin-level ninja.
With such a lineup, even if more Hozuki clan members arrived, they wouldn't stand a chance.
In the Ninja War, unless an individual's strength reached the elite jonin level, relying solely on special constitutions or Secret Techniques to rampage through enemies was a gross underestimation of their opponents.
"Do you still have any chakra left?" Minato asked, looking down at Raj.
"Meow?"
Raj tilted his head, confused by the question.
Minato quickly explained, "Our intelligence division extracted some information from Ao. Shikuro Aburame has already led a team to investigate.
My kunai are there. If you have chakra remaining, we can go support them together."
"Meow!"
Raj nodded vigorously without hesitation.
"Teacher, I want to go too."
"No, you don't, meow."
Raj unceremoniously pressed his paw against Kakashi's head.
Despite his small size, perching on Kakashi's shoulder made it easy to keep him pinned down.
Kakashi turned his head away in annoyance.
Minato smiled brightly and patted Kakashi's hair.
"I'll..."
"I'll take you next time," he said. "Raj and I both had a rough time in combat this time..."
"..."
Kakashi clenched his fists, secretly resolving to become stronger.
He vowed to create his own unique techniques, develop his own fighting style, and become a Jonin as soon as possible.
Without becoming a Jonin, he wouldn't even qualify for missions.
The feeling of being excluded was unbearable.
Of course, Kakashi was overthinking things.
Tsunade and Minato hadn't excluded him and Obito because they thought they were weak.
On the contrary, it was precisely because of their exceptional talent that they needed to be protected, allowing them ample time to grow.
One could only lament: Why, after creating Kakashi, did fate deem it necessary to create Raj as well...?
Why could Raj do it? Because he was growing too fast.
Kakashi knew perfectly well that he could never compete with this cat, not in a lifetime.
It was best not to even try to compare himself, or he'd end up spitting blood in frustration sooner or later.
Fortunately, when Kakashi returned to the camp, he found a teammate who shared his misery: Obito Uchiha.
No, to be precise, Obito was even worse off than Kakashi.
At least Kakashi had gone out with Raj, participated in the battle, and even managed to snag a few kills.
But judging by Obito's sullen expression, he hadn't even left the camp.
That longing look in his eyes...
"Kakashi, where's Raj? How did you get out? I've been trying to leave, but they won't let me go anywhere."
When Obito saw Kakashi return from the beautiful outside world, his eyes nearly popped out of envy.
Fighting might not be fun, but it was still better than being stuck in camp all day.
"Hmm, Raj had other matters to attend to, so I came back first," Kakashi said, settling down to ponder how to fuse swordsmanship and ninjutsu.
"Damn it! This isn't fair!"
Obito gritted his teeth so hard his gums nearly bled.
What made it even worse was that Rin was learning medical techniques from Tsunade, Kakashi was busy figuring out how to combine ninjutsu and swordsmanship, while he felt like the forgotten child...
'This is too miserable!'
The thought brought tears to poor Obito's eyes.
Kakashi glanced back.
'What the hell?'