The Empress briefly told Shisui what had happened, then added reluctantly,
"Too bad. That guy wasn't much of a fighter, but he could run. He vanished in the blink of an eye."
"Vanished?" Shisui frowned.
"Her Majesty must mean Obito. How did he get here too?"
Uchiha Yoru's voice rang out.
A moment later, Yoru, Fugaku, and the others appeared before them with the Body Flicker.
An Orange Spiral Mask, a Sharingan, and a habit of stirring up trouble.
It had to be Obito.
"Can Obito's Space-Time ability let him travel freely between worlds too?"
Fugaku's brow furrowed.
He was more than satisfied with the Uchiha Clan's current situation. No outside enemies watching them, no suspicion within the clan—everyone was thriving. This was the Uchiha he had always dreamed of.
Fugaku was terrified that someone would ruin it.
"Probably not. If I remember right, Obito's Space-Time ability isn't that powerful," Uchiha Yoru said, thinking back.
Most likely, Obito had followed the passage opened by his Amenomikado.
Imagine each world as a separate room, each one draped in black cloth.
Obito's Space-Time ability let him pass through the cloth into his own Kamui Dimension beyond it.
But behind the cloth stood a solid brick wall. Obito couldn't breach the barrier between rooms; he would only slam straight into the bricks.
The Amenomikado in Yoru's left eye, on the other hand, opened a direct passage between rooms. It pierced both the cloth and the bricks behind it.
When Yoru brought the Uchiha Clan to the Pirate World, he had briefly left such a passage open at Naka Shrine.
Obito could have slipped through the cloth with his own ability, then followed the passage Yoru left behind to the Pirate World.
But the boundaries between worlds repaired themselves.
Without Amenomikado sustaining it, the passage would gradually shrink until it disappeared entirely.
If I'm right, don't tell me Obito can't get back now?!
And what's he playing at?
He was quiet for months, then suddenly popped up today?
"Did you fight him?" Yoru asked the Empress.
"Hmph. He was after Shisui's eyes. Of course I had to teach him a lesson."
The Empress spoke bitterly. "I turned one of his arms to stone. He must be badly hurt!"
At once, Yoru ordered elite squads to sweep Kuja Island from end to end. He also asked the Empress to have the Kuja Warriors watch for unfamiliar faces.
Those were only the search efforts conducted in the open.
Yoru knew that if Obito hid in the Kamui Dimension, the others could turn Kuja Island upside down and find nothing.
So Yoru worked in secret too, following the search parties and using his Space-Time ability to scour Kuja Island inch by inch.
Yet several days passed without a single lead.
Neither the Uchiha elites nor the Kuja Warriors, who knew the terrain, found any trace of Obito.
Uchiha Yoru stood by the shore, gazing out across the vast sea.
"Don't tell me Obito got so scared he fled out to sea?"
No way. Is he really that timid?
But thinking about Obito's personality, perhaps he was.
In the original story, he had an incredibly powerful Mangekyo, no need to fear going blind from overuse, and a trove of things Madara Uchiha had left behind.
Yet Itachi kept him in check. He hadn't dared make a move while Itachi was alive.
What a coward!
Yoru had spoken harshly to Obito on the night of the clan's destruction and kept exposing his secrets.
But the situation had been urgent, and Yoru had been too agitated to spend time persuading him.
Thinking about it now, Obito hadn't actually done anything unforgivable yet.
Well, killing his teacher didn't count. What did the Fourth Hokage's death have to do with the Uchiha?
The night of the clan's destruction hadn't happened now. Madara had manipulated Obito into turning dark, and the poor fool still had no idea.
As clan head, Yoru was willing to give Obito a chance.
He could tell Obito the truth about Rin's death and see what he chose.
Even if you don't want to return to the Uchiha, just admit you were wrong and give me something for my trouble.
I might even let you go back to the Hokage World.
So why run?
How strange!
While the Uchiha Clan tightened its defenses after Obito's appearance, a Marine warship flying the seagull flag slowly approached the waters off Kuja Island.
Vice Admiral Momonga stood on its deck, his expression stern and a cigar between his teeth.
The World Government had sent him to deliver a new summons to Boa Hancock, one of the Shichibukai.
But when the warship came within roughly five kilometers of Kuja Island's coast, a lookout suddenly shouted,
"Vice Admiral! There's someone in the water ahead!"
"This is the Calm Belt. How could there be a ship out here? Are you sure you saw it right?" Rear Admiral Shark challenged before Vice Admiral Momonga could speak.
Sea Kings roamed the Calm Belt. Apart from Marine warships fitted with the latest Seastone Technology, ordinary vessels could hardly operate here.
"No, it's not a ship! It's a person! Someone's standing on the sea—standing right on the water!"
The lookout rubbed his eyes hard and checked again, his voice rising with shock.
"What?!"
Even Vice Admiral Momonga frowned at that. He strode to the rail, raised his binoculars, and looked where the soldier was pointing.
On the mirror-smooth waters of the Calm Belt stood a young man in a short black outfit. A strange clan emblem shaped like a table-tennis paddle marked his back.
His feet rested firmly on the surface, rising and falling with the faintest swell.
It was as though he stood not on a sea that had swallowed countless lives, but on solid ground.
He looked young, with delicate features that still held a trace of boyishness.
But his eyes were unnaturally still. No emotion showed in them as he stared straight at the warship.
"He's really... standing on the sea?"
Rear Admiral Shark saw it too and sucked in a sharp breath.
Was he a Devil Fruit User? Or was this some new technology?
Vice Admiral Momonga lowered his binoculars, his face grave.
He sensed at once that this young man was no ordinary person—and that he might be here for trouble.
Just then, the young man on the water moved.
Without any equipment, he stepped across the sea as casually as though strolling on level ground, heading toward the warship at an unhurried pace.
He did not seem to be moving fast, yet within a few breaths, he had closed much of the distance.
"On guard!"
Vice Admiral Momonga gave the order, and every Marine rushed to a battle station.
Rifles and cannons swung toward the approaching figure.
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