The rumbling thunder gradually died away, and the raging purple Lightning Sea began to calm.
Like an enraged beast, it began to rein in its fury.
A moment later, only four gigantic metal pillars remained standing amid the devastated battlefield.
Sparks of electricity still crackled around the tops of the metal pillars.
The five-minute Million Volts assault had gouged depressions several meters deep into the ground. Silicon in the sand, gravel, and soil had melted under the intense heat, turning the forest into an enormous basin from which wisps of white smoke rose.
The air was filled with the unpleasant smell of ozone produced by electrolysis.
But no one cared about that insignificant anomaly. Everyone's eyes were fixed on the ruined battlefield.
Before that smoking giant basin, they felt incredibly small.
Could a human really wield such power?
And Namikaze Mirai had stopped the attack of his own accord.
If he had not stopped, how long would the attack have continued?
How much more terrifying damage would it have caused?
Sarutobi Hiruzen's pupils trembled slightly.
His gaze rested on the four smoking metal pillars.
Were those the key to activating that technique?
If those four metal pillars had been erected in the Sarutobi Clan Compound...
He did not dare imagine it, nor could he.
Namikaze Mirai, floating in the air, swept his gaze across the battlefield. After searching for a while, he descended to the ground.
Uchiha Fugaku and the others, who had been waiting all along, immediately surrounded him.
"Mirai, who was the enemy you fought?"
Fugaku asked nervously.
Anyone who had forced Namikaze Mirai to use such a terrifying attack was definitely no ordinary enemy!
"The mastermind behind that night."
Namikaze Mirai spoke calmly.
As expected!
Uchiha Fugaku's pupils contracted.
Only the culprit behind that night deserved to be treated with such power by Namikaze Mirai...
The surrounding Uchiha Clan Members immediately broke into shocked discussion.
"That night? The night of the Nine-Tails' rampage?"
"Mirai-sama actually fought an enemy like that. How terrifying. That was an enemy even the Fourth Hokage could not defeat."
Those voices reached Sarutobi Hiruzen on the other side as well, and his expression changed drastically.
The mastermind behind that night???
The one fighting Namikaze Mirai had actually been such an enemy!
"Mirai, what is the enemy's true identity?"
Sarutobi Hiruzen asked somewhat uneasily.
After all, rumors had spread through the village that the Nine-Tails Attack had been caused by Danzo's test subject escaping and seeking revenge. Those rumors sounded plausible, and he did not dare say whether they were true or false.
"The enemy wore a mask. I did not see his face clearly."
Namikaze Mirai shook his head.
The enemy had worn a Spiral Mask, and with the aid of Intangibility, Mirai had not found an opportunity to destroy it even until the final moment of the battle.
Sarutobi Hiruzen let out a sigh of relief.
That meant there was no proof this had anything to do with Danzo?
But Namikaze Mirai's next words made his expression stiffen again.
"However, one thing is certain: the enemy had nothing to do with the Uchiha Clan, and for some reason, he deeply hated Konoha."
Namikaze Mirai knew full well that the Uchiha Clan had been heavily suspected because of the Nine-Tails Attack, and that was why their compound had been relocated.
Since he had the chance now, he naturally had to clear the Uchiha Clan of suspicion.
"Exactly! I said the Nine-Tails Attack could not possibly have had anything to do with us!"
"That's right! The village's suspicion of us never made any sense!"
"Danzo's rumor, on the other hand, sounds pretty believable."
The red-eyed Uchiha were so excited they nearly went mad. All this time, they had borne the label of people who endangered the village, receiving looks of disgust whenever they walked through it.
Now that they could finally clear their names, how could they not be excited?
The Uchiha Clan was delighted, but Sarutobi Hiruzen and the Anbu behind him looked awful.
Many of those Anbu had been sent by Sarutobi Hiruzen to monitor the Uchiha Clan Compound.
The reason was that the Uchiha Clan was highly suspected of being connected to the Nine-Tails' rampage.
But now, Namikaze Mirai was telling them that there was another culprit behind it all.
Where were they supposed to put their faces? "Ahem! We can discuss this later. By the way, Mirai, did you kill that mastermind?"
After coughing a few times, Sarutobi Hiruzen immediately changed the subject.
But to his surprise, Namikaze Mirai did not answer directly after hearing the question.
The image of Obito's body exploding replayed before his eyes. Under a high-voltage current exceeding a million volts, Obito's flesh had vanished completely in less than a second.
By all reason, he should have been dead beyond doubt.
Yet Namikaze Mirai found something strange.
Obito's Biological Magnetic Field had disappeared slightly earlier than he had expected.
The difference had been tiny, almost impossible to notice.
It was as though Obito's shattered body had not been vaporized by the high-voltage current, but had simply vanished into thin air.
He looked seriously at Uchiha Fugaku and asked,
"Fugaku, does the Uchiha Clan have any technique that can bring the dead back to life?"
Bring the dead back to life? Fugaku's expression stiffened.
After pondering for a while,
"There is one, but its conditions are extremely harsh."
He glanced from the corner of his eye toward Sarutobi Hiruzen.
If the Third Hokage learned of such a secret technique, he would probably become even more wary of the Uchiha Clan.
"What technique?"
After hesitating for a moment, Fugaku still answered, "Izanagi. It is a Forbidden Jutsu that only a Three Tomoe Sharingan can use. It is an absolute taboo. It can correct any reality unfavorable to the user and turn it into a reality favorable to the user."
He paused.
"In other words, it brings the dead back to life."
The surrounding air suddenly fell silent.
Several crimson veins bulged in the whites of Sarutobi Hiruzen's eyes. It felt as though a massive boulder were pressing on his chest, making it difficult for him to breathe.
The Uchiha Clan actually possessed such a terrifying Forbidden Jutsu?? Wouldn't they be invincible with such a technique?
His wariness toward the Uchiha Clan surged without limit.
Noticing Sarutobi Hiruzen's change, Fugaku immediately added,
"Because it once caused too much slaughter, this technique had already been classified as a Forbidden Jutsu during the Warring States Period. Its inheritance was cut off within the clan. I only suddenly remembered it when Mirai asked."
Only then did Sarutobi Hiruzen's expression ease slightly.
Judging from the astonished expressions of the clan members behind Fugaku, what he said was probably true.
Namikaze Mirai paid no attention to their exchange. His eyes narrowed slightly.
Was the strange disappearance of Obito's body caused by the activation of that technique? He turned his head and scanned the surrounding battlefield, expanding his Biological Magnetic Field perception to its limit.
He found no abnormalities.
Before activating that technique, the enemy had probably already considered what to do after reviving.
Most likely, both the time and location of his revival would change.
"Hehehe, interesting."
The corners of his lips suddenly curled upward.
His azure eyes filled with intense excitement and trembling anticipation, as though he had discovered an exceptionally interesting prey.
"Now this is interesting!"
"Run! Keep running! Until I catch you again and tear off your mask with my own hands as you stare at me in fear and trembling!"
The Space-Time Dimension.
In that dim world without a trace of light, there were only endless stone slabs resembling tombstones.
Obito lay atop a cold stone slab, gasping for breath. His entire body was soaked in sweat, and he looked utterly miserable.
The Crimson Three Tomoe Sharingan in his left eye gradually faded white, forever losing its light.
His remaining right eye was filled with terror.
"So close! You almost killed me!"
"Namikaze Mirai... what a terrifying enemy..."
Before you continue