Konoha's Clash with Obito Uchiha

"Hokage-sama, Advisors, what are your orders?"

Uchiha Itachi arrived at the Hokage's Office and knelt on one knee to receive his orders.

Sarutobi Hiruzen was very pleased by Uchiha Itachi's usual respectfulness, his face full of kindly warmth.

"Itachi, you have worked hard. No need to be so formal. I summoned you here because of an urgent matter. Just moments ago, the Root Base was infiltrated. Many Anbu comrades were killed, and important secrets and a large quantity of supplies were stolen. The attacker was the Uchiha Madara you reported last time."

The usually expressionless Uchiha Itachi was startled to hear that Masked Man Uchiha Madara had attacked Root, but he quickly regained his composure.

"I understand, Hokage-sama. Do you need me to lure him out? I will complete the mission."

Seeing how sensible Uchiha Itachi was, Shimura Danzō stepped forward.

"Next, you will cooperate with this old man to capture that audacious impostor. The time will be tomorrow night."

The next day soon arrived. Minagawa Uchiha had not slept all night, instead cultivating within the Dream Space in an effort to quickly master the power he now possessed. Early in the morning, his Chakra was no longer sufficient to maintain the Dream Space, so he prepared to come out, eat something, and adjust his condition.

The moment he emerged, he received intelligence from the Spore Technique he had placed on Shimura Danzō and learned what had happened at the Hokage Building.

"Tonight, then? Heh, as expected, Sarutobi Hiruzen will also deploy Anbu. Looks like there will be quite a show tonight. Too bad I cannot take part in such a wonderful show!"

"Heh, Uchiha Itachi really is utterly loyal to Konoha. What a pity. You are also an Uchiha, yet no matter how much you do, you will never earn their trust. Don't you find this obvious ploy of making the tiger devour the wolf rather pathetic?!"

In this grand performance he had directed himself, Minagawa Uchiha saw through every faction's role at a glance. While sneering inwardly, he could not help feeling disappointed that Uchiha Itachi refused to fight for himself.

"White Zetsu's Spore Technique really is useful. I remember that at Tenchi Bridge, Wood Style Yamato used a similar method. The spores on Shimura Danzō were created before I obtained the complete power of Wood Style, so the intelligence they transmitted was not very detailed."

"Still, I believe that the Spore Technique infused with the complete power of Wood Style will greatly enhance its intelligence-gathering capabilities. It will surely bring me surprises in the future."

Minagawa Uchiha did not dwell on it further. After hurriedly finishing breakfast, he left home. He needed to spread the enhanced Spore Technique around the Uchiha Clan Compound, to prevent the Konoha High Command from jumping the gun and launching the Night of the Uchiha Clan Downfall ahead of schedule if they lost their battle against Obito Uchiha and could no longer control the situation.

Time flowed like water, and in the blink of an eye, night had arrived.

Cold moonlight spilled through the mottled shadows of the trees. Uchiha Itachi stood quietly atop a huge boulder with his eyes closed. During the day, he had already used a special method of communication to inform the Masked Man, arranging to meet here tonight.

As the appointed time drew near, ripples suddenly spread strangely through the empty air not far behind Uchiha Itachi, and a masked figure emerged.

"Uchiha Itachi, arranging to meet at this hour—have you decided to act early?"

The Masked Man did not waste words, going straight to the point, though there was a trace of mockery in his tone.

"Madara, you have violated our agreement."

Uchiha Itachi instantly opened his eyes, his scarlet Mangekyō Sharingan staring coldly at the Masked Man.

"Violated the agreement? Heh heh, the current situation does not look like I am the one who broke our agreement!"

The Masked Man did not take Uchiha Itachi's threatening intent seriously at all. He continued to meet the other's Mangekyō Sharingan without dodging, the mockery in his eyes completely undisguised.

Seeing the Masked Man's reaction, Uchiha Itachi instantly understood that he had likely seen through this ambush long ago. He simply did not care because of his overwhelming confidence in his own strength.

That was only natural. In Obito Uchiha's view, after Konoha lost the Fourth Hokage, Namikaze Minato, no one remained who could threaten him. The fact that he had freely entered and left Konoha without ever being discovered was proof enough.

However, Uchiha Itachi was someone he had taken a liking to. He had even helped awaken his Sharingan, and had watched over him all the way until he awakened the Mangekyō Sharingan. Naturally, he did not wish to casually discard a pawn he had personally cultivated. Thus, even knowing this was a trap, he had still come to ease the tension between the two sides.

Tsukuyomi!

Uchiha Itachi had no intention of answering him. He immediately unleashed his dōjutsu, and Obito Uchiha did not resist, allowing himself to be pulled directly into the Tsukuyomi Space.

The instant Uchiha Itachi unleashed Tsukuyomi, a visible barrier rose from all around the outer perimeter, instantly enclosing the entire area.

"Did it work?"

Seeing the barrier successfully deployed, Shimura Danzō and Sarutobi Hiruzen appeared outside it. Inside, however, masked Anbu members stood everywhere. Clearly, just as with Uchiha Shisui back then, Uchiha Itachi had not concealed his dōjutsu from them at all, allowing them to coordinate so seamlessly.

Yet the moment Shimura Danzō finished speaking, the Masked Man inside the barrier suddenly shuddered. He let out a low groan and staggered back a step as though he had suffered a devastating blow, his body swaying unsteadily.

No orders were needed. The Anbu within the barrier simultaneously launched attacks at the unsteady Masked Man, while Uchiha Itachi also formed hand seals.

Fire Style: Great Fireball Technique!

Wind Style: Great Breakthrough!

Earth Style: Earth Spear!

...

In an instant, countless ninja tools and ninjutsu densely engulfed the Masked Man's figure.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

Explosions thundered throughout the barrier. Once the smoke and dust dispersed, a crater more than ten meters wide had appeared where the attacks struck.

However, when Sarutobi Hiruzen and the others looked closely inside, the Masked Man was standing at the edge of the crater. He was completely unharmed, not even his clothes damaged in the slightest. He looked exactly as he had when he first appeared. Clearly, his earlier appearance of having suffered grievous injuries had merely been him toying with them.

"My, my, what an unusual welcome ceremony, everyone of Konoha."

The Masked Man spread his hands with complete indifference, his mocking words following.

At that moment, everyone on Konoha's side—whether leaders like Sarutobi Hiruzen and Shimura Danzō or the other Anbu members—felt unprecedented fury, wishing they could unleash another barrage of ninjutsu.

But recalling the bizarre scene just now, it was clear that their attacks had been completely ineffective. Before understanding the reason, they could only hold back, unwilling to humiliate themselves further.