Succeeded? It... succeeded?
Through his Mangekyō Sharingan, Uchiha Obito could tell that Minato Namikaze's lightning-fast grab had not even brushed Kushina Uzumaki's clothes. Then he looked at Taki Chiba, whose sinking body had crushed half a meter of ground beneath his feet, and an incredulous thought could not help surfacing in his heart.
He had expected Minato Namikaze to fail to make it in time. He had planned for it long ago, waiting for the instant Heavenly Domain vanished before suddenly making his move.
Minato Namikaze was still caught in the not-entirely-rational state brought on by Chiba's return. Moreover, because of Hirohiko's death, Minato Namikaze was deeply worried about Chiba, the only person on the field capable of threatening Uchiha Nobuhiko. He had already been distracted, so when Obito suddenly struck, he would naturally be a beat too slow.
He had calculated all of that.
But he had not expected Taki Chiba to be a beat too slow as well. By his estimate, under normal circumstances, Taki Chiba should already have vanished from his spot and probably reached for his back.
Was my estimate too pessimistic?
At that moment, that thought flashed through his mind.
"Tap!"
At that instant, he landed on one foot. With that pull, he had already dragged Kushina several meters away.
"Tap!"
At the same time, Minato Namikaze landed in a half-crouch. His body turned slightly, leaving two trails in the ground before he came to a steady stop.
As he landed, his body sank again. Two fingers on his hand had already risen into a hand seal, as if he were about to charge forward once more.
"Wait!"
At that very instant, the Masked Man's icy shout suddenly rang out.
"Kushina!"
Upon hearing that cry, Minato Namikaze's expression changed drastically almost at once. His body