Obito Uchiha's Helper!

Boom!

Obito Uchiha's body fell from the ceiling of the Cave, rubble and dust cascading down with him.

Daiki Hyuga narrowed his eyes slightly. Seeing Chakra still flowing through the enemy's chakra pathways, he hurled the Kunai in his hand toward Obito as he hit the ground.

Beating a dog when it was down—Daiki Hyuga had no intention of holding back against an enemy.

The two Anbu behind him formed hand seals as well. Fire Style: Great Fireball, enhanced by Wind Release: Breakthrough, charged straight at Obito Uchiha. The terrifying heat even scorched the cavern floor and ceiling red.

"One after another..."

"You're all getting in my way!"

Fire Style: Storm Dance!

Perhaps the Hyuga Clan ninja had suppressed him too fiercely. Faced with the incoming Kunai and the Anbu's attack, Obito had no intention of using Kamui to evade.

He sprang to his feet and rapidly formed hand seals. As he activated Kamui, flames poured from his mouth. The spatial vortex supported the Fire Style he had unleashed, turning the flames into a spiraling torrent that blasted back against the incoming Great Fireball.

Its force and power were even greater than the combined ninjutsu unleashed by the two Anbu.

!!!

The flaming vortex released by Obito Uchiha instantly shattered the wind-enhanced Great Fireball, and the flames swept directly toward Daiki Hyuga and the two Anbu behind him.

Feeling the scorching heat rush toward him, Daiki Hyuga's expression hardened. He had no immediate countermeasure and quickly darted aside to evade it.

Unlike Hizashi Hyuga, who had received special training from Shinichi, Daiki was also a member of the Hyuga Branch Family. Some of the Hyuga Clan's Secret Techniques were simply not available to him. Hyuga ninja had always focused on taijutsu to bring out the power of the Byakugan.

Accordingly, they were somewhat weaker in ninjutsu training.

It was not that Daiki Hyuga could not use ninjutsu besides taijutsu. It was simply that, with his proficiency, the few techniques he knew were nowhere near enough to stand against Obito Uchiha's Storm Dance...

Daiki Hyuga might not have mastered any high-level ninjutsu to deal with the Fire Style attack, but the Anbu assigned to protect Kushina were experts in ninjutsu.

Those who could become Anbu often had particularly distinct strengths. The Hyuga Clan ninja had become Kushina's guards because of their Byakugan, while the ninja assigned to protect Kushina in the Delivery Room excelled at defensive ninjutsu.

Earth Release: Earth Wall!

The two Anbu formed hand seals in unison, and an earthen wall swiftly rose before Daiki Hyuga. At the same time, another Anbu completed his seals and pressed both hands to the ground.

Earth Release: Heavenly Drop Lid!

Above Obito Uchiha, within the spacious rock chamber, a massive earthen lid suddenly appeared and crashed down toward him.

While some Anbu used ninjutsu to defend against the attack, another quickly launched a counterattack against Obito.

The two Anbu worked together seamlessly. Between offense and defense, they needed hardly any communication.

The remaining force of Storm Dance was blocked by the rock wall rising from the ground. At the same time, Obito looked up at the stone lid falling toward him, a shadow passing through his eyes.

The scene stirred up a past he had buried deep within his heart, one he was unwilling to recall.

Once upon a time... he too had been buried beneath a similar Earth Release technique.

Kamui activated. Obito's body turned intangible, then slowly sank into the ground.

Boom!!!!

The earthen lid slammed into the ground with a deafening crash. As dust filled the air, none of the ninja present lowered their guard.

Daiki Hyuga and Hizashi Hyuga looked beneath the earthen lid with their Byakugan. When they found no trace of Obito's corpse, they scanned their surroundings, searching for the enemy.

"Don't let your guard down. We haven't seen that man's body."

"That Earth Release didn't hit him!"

Hizashi was the leader of this squad. While searching for Obito, he spoke up to warn the others.

"Did he retreat!?"

Seeing that Obito Uchiha had not appeared for quite some time, one Anbu asked in a low voice.

Then, white spores suddenly began growing rapidly over Daiki Hyuga and several Anbu. As they grew, the spores swiftly absorbed the Chakra from their bodies.

"Th-This... what is this!!!"

"What is that?!"

The sudden change left even battle-hardened elites like Daiki Hyuga and the Anbu unable to hide the fear in their voices before this unknown ninjutsu.

As their Chakra was drained away, they could clearly feel their strength weakening.

The spores grew at an astonishing speed. As they rapidly expanded, they also became incredibly heavy. By the time the men cried out, the spores had already tightly wrapped around them, leaving them unable to move.

The rapidly growing spores even vaguely formed faces similar to those of the parasitized ninja. However, the spores seemed to have a limit. After tightly encasing the ninja, they stopped growing.

The ninja tried every possible way to peel the spores off themselves, but it seemed they would not be able to do so anytime soon.

His clansman and subordinates had encountered a sudden crisis, yet Hizashi Hyuga showed no intention of leaving Kushina's side to help them.

"Luring the tiger from the mountain..."

"That trick won't work on me!"

Scenes and fragments of everything that had happened since Obito Uchiha's appearance flashed through Hizashi's mind.

Whether it was kidnapping the newborn infant or attacking Daiki Hyuga and the Anbu now, Hizashi had already seen through the enemy's objective.

Kidnapping the baby had been meant to lure Minato Namikaze away. The attack on the Anbu and Daiki Hyuga now was also meant to draw him away from Kushina.

The enemy's goal had been crystal clear from the very beginning: Kushina!

What was it about Kushina that had drawn the enemy here?

Most likely...

"Is the Nine-Tails the target?!"

Having reached an answer, Hizashi dared not relax in the slightest.

"Hellooo—"

At that moment, White Zetsu slowly rose from the ground behind Hizashi. The "cheerful" White Zetsu even gave Hizashi a friendly greeting.

What answered him, however, was an Eight Trigrams Vacuum Palm as Hizashi spun around at high speed.

Boom!!!

The Vacuum Palm instantly pierced through White Zetsu's head. But at the same time, Obito Uchiha suddenly appeared beside Kushina and grabbed her arm.

Kamui activated. A tremendous suction force enveloped Kushina, pulling her into the Kamui Space.

"You've got to be kidding me!"

Hizashi noticed Obito's movement and leaped toward him. But at that moment, white spores began rapidly growing over his feet as well. Their weight hindered his movements, slowing his rescue by a beat.

"Hyuga Clan ninja..."

"I'll remember you..."

"Goodbye!"

Kushina was successfully sucked into the Kamui Space. As Obito's body turned intangible, a Flying Thunder God Kunai suddenly flew toward him. But such an attack could not possibly hit Obito after he had succeeded and was preparing to leave.

As Obito Uchiha vanished from the Cave, Minato Namikaze, clad in the Hokage Robe bearing the words "Fourth Hokage," appeared before Hizashi.

His face solemn, he stared at the place where Obito had disappeared.