At that moment, Shimura Danzō was overcome with despair.
He was almost afraid to push open the door, but quickly regained his composure. He immediately used the Body Flicker Technique and hurried deeper into the Root Base.
The sounds of battle came from the depths of the Root Base.
Shimura Danzō knew that his two most outstanding subordinates, Torune Aburame and Fu Yamanaka, had joined forces. Surely, they could...
"Obito Uchiha, stop! I accept your terms."
Shimura Danzō shouted at the top of his lungs, finally stopping Obito Uchiha from snapping Fu Yamanaka's arm.
On the other side, Torune Aburame, in whom Shimura Danzō had placed such great hopes, was already lying on the ground, utterly silent.
"Looks like you aren't as heartless as I thought."
"To be honest, I'm a little disappointed!"
As he spoke, Obito Uchiha tossed the barely conscious Fu Yamanaka down in front of Shimura Danzō.
"You have half a day. If I don't see Rin's body..."
Obito Uchiha gradually vanished, leaving only those words behind.
Shimura Danzō stood where he was, looking at the destruction Obito Uchiha had caused. He nearly ground his teeth to dust. His fury threatened to swallow his reason, but he had no choice but to calm down.
Space-Time Ninjutsu was far too powerful. There was no Sealing Jutsu in the entire Shinobi World capable of sealing Space-Time Ninjutsu. There were only a few sensory techniques that could detect fluctuations when it was activated.
With those, capturing Obito Uchiha was practically impossible.
Moreover, from what Shimura Danzō had observed, even if he really did use Impure World Reincarnation on Rin Nohara, Obito Uchiha would likely be difficult to control. It might even have the opposite effect.
"Damn Fourth Hokage! Why didn't you kill him back then?!"
Shimura Danzō spat out the words bitterly, then turned and left.
He had preparations to make. He couldn't let Obito Uchiha lead him around by the nose. Even Space-Time Ninjutsu had its limits.
Inside the Kamui Dimension, Obito Uchiha had just returned when he could no longer hold himself up and collapsed to the ground.
White Zetsu, who had attached himself to Obito Uchiha with the Spore Technique, was already tending to him with practiced ease.
Shimura Danzō had guessed correctly: Obito Uchiha's Kamui did have its limits. How could he have rampaged through the Root Base and killed Danzō's most capable subordinate without getting hurt?
Not only that, but the Mangekyō Sharingan nourished by Hashirama Cells had also lost some of its sight.
After several hours of treatment, Obito Uchiha finally regained consciousness.
But when he awoke, he felt as if he were in hell, tormented by endless anguish.
"Rin..."
"I'm sorry!"
Once fully conscious, Obito Uchiha left the Kamui Dimension and found Black Zetsu, who had been wandering outside. He asked him to help deal with Danzō.
During the Nine-Tails' Rampage, Obito Uchiha had nearly died because of Ensei Uchiha.
If Black Zetsu hadn't suddenly unleashed his power and taken control of Minato Namikaze, Obito Uchiha would have been dead long ago.
It was only then that Obito Uchiha understood how powerful Black Zetsu was—a strength of an entirely different order.
"Obito, I've gathered two very interesting pieces of information."
"The first is about Danzō's arrangements and Rin's body."
Hearing that, Obito Uchiha spoke impatiently:
"We can talk about the rest later. First, help me get Rin's body back."
"Even if I have to create a new world, I can't stand the thought of someone desecrating Rin's body."
At Obito Uchiha's urging, Black Zetsu continued unhurriedly, "The second piece of information concerns Ensei Uchiha."
"According to the Third and his subordinates, Ensei Uchiha seems to have the ability to see the future."
"And it was Ensei Uchiha who leaked information about you."
At that, a murderous glint flashed in Obito Uchiha's eyes.
If it weren't for him, Rin's body wouldn't have...
"Leak what you know about him to Pain. He'll take care of this problem."
Obito Uchiha spoke coldly. Black Zetsu didn't argue; he simply agreed, then followed Obito Uchiha to Danzō's location.
"Use Impure World Reincarnation to bring Rin Nohara back, but don't wake her."
In another hidden Root Base, Shimura Danzō had regained both his hands and his eyes. He was giving orders to his subordinates.
"Lord Danzō, this jutsu requires a living person as a sacrifice. At this base, we..."
The Anbu operative hadn't finished speaking when Danzō pointed without hesitation at someone else.
"Use him as the sacrifice."
At Shimura Danzō's words, a blue-haired boy slowly stepped forward, calmly awaiting his end.
The Root shinobi who knew Impure World Reincarnation hesitated at the sight. But under Shimura Danzō's coercion, he had no choice but to form the Hand Seals.
As the blue-haired boy screamed, Rin was brought back into this world through Impure World Reincarnation.
"Danzō!!!"
"What have you done? What have you done...?"
Obito Uchiha had just arrived and, by sheer misfortune, witnessed everything.
For an instant, he considered fleeing to the Kamui Dimension. But when he saw that Rin, brought back through Impure World Reincarnation, hadn't opened her eyes, he managed to hold on to a shred of reason.
Shimura Danzō wasn't surprised to see Obito Uchiha suddenly appear beside him. He had known from their past dealings that Obito Uchiha was exceptionally skilled at gathering information.
"Rin Nohara's body is over there..."
Shimura Danzō pointed to a coffin nearby, as though Rin Nohara's reincarnated body didn't exist at all.
By then, Obito Uchiha was completely focused on Rin's reincarnated body.
Because of his Space-Time Dōjutsu, Kamui, Obito Uchiha could clearly sense Rin's soul inside the reincarnated body.
"Black Zetsu! Help me..."
Obito Uchiha murmured. A strange black-and-white figure slowly emerged from the ground.
"I'm sorry, Obito. I can't help you... Her soul is bound."
Black Zetsu's words finally drove Obito Uchiha out of his mind.
Before Shimura Danzō could react, Obito Uchiha unleashed the full power of his Mangekyō Sharingan and pulled Rin Nohara's reincarnated body into the Kamui Dimension.
Next, he took the coffin in the corner of the room.
When he had finished, Obito Uchiha raised a hand and aimed it at the Root shinobi who had performed Impure World Reincarnation. A wooden spike shot out at high speed, striking the man in the chest.
As soon as the spike hit, it began splitting and growing. Dozens of wooden spikes sprouted across the Root shinobi's back.
Not even Tsunade could have saved him from that.
But Shimura Danzō paid no attention to the dead Root shinobi. He stared fixedly at Obito Uchiha.
"Wood Release. Where did you get it?"
Before you continue