"Yomotsu Hirasaka!"
As Izumi's voice rang out,
all the surrounding buildings vanished, replaced by a desolate wilderness she had never seen before.
Raindrops fell from the sky.
Obito was forcibly pushed back several meters.
It felt as though the very dimensions of space had been stretched apart.
"Don't think you can get away—"
Obito refused to give up. The instant he was forcibly "pushed away," he flicked his hand and threw a piece of wood.
Its tip was razor-sharp, aimed straight at Uchiha Arashi's right eye.
Arashi neither dodged nor flinched. His right eye remained fixed on Obito.
Izumi gritted her teeth and summoned all her strength, trying to stop the attack.
But she was clearly too slow.
"Faster, faster!"
A fierce wish surged through her. The Eye of God hanging at her waist finally began to glow, and within less than a second, the symbol of lightning took shape.
KRA-KOOM—
A thunderclap exploded.
Wrapped in lightning, Uchiha Izumi appeared in front of Arashi as if she had teleported, knocking the piece of wood away with a Kunai.
At the same time, Arashi finally finished preparing.
"Kotoamatsukami!"
His powerful ocular prowess pierced the void, slipped through a gap in the lightning, and struck Obito head-on.
Obito grunted. His body swayed, then he fell backward into the void and disappeared.
It all seemed to take a long time, but less than three seconds passed from the moment Obito appeared to the moment he vanished.
The air grew still again. Izumi remained in front of Arashi.
"Are you all right?"
"Leave now. Root's ninjas are coming!"
"Can you hold on...?"
"I'm fine. Give me your hand, quick!"
Izumi didn't hesitate. She grabbed Arashi's hand.
Shadows covered them both and carried them back to Shadow Space.
Several seconds later, a few figures arrived at the site of the battle.
"Someone fought here."
"There are footprints!"
"There's a tingling sensation in the air. Lightning Release Ninjutsu."
"There's a piece of wood here."
"No other traces."
"Collect everything and report to Lord Danzo!"
The group divided up their tasks and quickly got to work.
Inside Shadow Space,
"Arashi, your eyes..."
As soon as they returned, Uchiha Arashi dropped onto the ground.
Izumi paled and hurriedly crouched to check on him.
Their younger siblings, who had been doing their homework nearby, were startled. They stood hesitantly at a distance, afraid to come closer.
"I'm fine... I just overused my eyes, and I'm a little drained."
Arashi took a deep breath, and his complexion improved.
With his physical constitution, using Kotoamatsukami wasn't much of a problem. And as an Uchiha, he didn't have an absurdly long cooldown for it; he could use it several times in quick succession. Of course, that depended on which eye he used. He could still do this with his right eye, but if he switched to his left, it probably wouldn't be so simple.
In any case, using an ocular technique once or twice shouldn't have put this much strain on him.
The only reason was that Obito had shown up so suddenly, and the danger had been so great.
To drive Obito back in one decisive strike, Arashi had to push Kotoamatsukami to its limit. The price was a massive chakra drain in a short time. If he could rest, it wouldn't be a problem, but if he had to keep fighting, things could get dangerous.
"That person just now..."
Once she was sure he was all right, Izumi breathed a sigh of relief. Then she thought back to the unforgettable mask and couldn't help shuddering.
"That was the accomplice who helped Itachi slaughter our clan."
"He's still in Konoha? Could he be from Konoha too?"
Izumi was shocked.
"Probably not... And didn't you notice? He appeared and disappeared suddenly. He's clearly skilled in space-time powers. Maybe, like me, he has an independent space where he can hide..."
Arashi spoke quietly.
He couldn't just tell Izumi all the details about Kamui, so he could only lead her to think along those lines.
"That's a terrifying ability. Now that he's been driven off, he shouldn't come back for a while, right?"
"Not necessarily."
Arashi shook his head. "I don't know if you noticed, but before he left, a phantom appeared in front of him."
"I did. It didn't look like the Clone Technique."
Izumi nodded. With the Sharingan's powers of observation, it wasn't hard to catch that detail.
"It wasn't the Clone Technique. If I'm not mistaken, that was Izanagi."
"Izanagi? The ocular technique mentioned in the books?"
"Right. It can turn reality that's unfavorable to its user into an illusion. It's one of the most powerful genjutsu. He must have used Izanagi to negate one use of Kotoamatsukami."
Even Arashi hadn't expected this.
He'd thought he could leave something in Obito's mind while he had the chance. But Obito reacted faster than he'd expected and used Izanagi to nullify the genjutsu.
"But doesn't using Izanagi blind the eye? Would he really pay such a heavy price? And only the Sharingan can use Izanagi, so you mean..."
"That makes sense. If he weren't an Uchiha, how could he have killed all the on-duty ninjas in the Police Force so easily? Only an Uchiha could know our clan so well. And losing one eye isn't that big a price. Don't forget, he was one of the people who took part in the slaughter."
"..."
Izumi fell silent.
It was true. An Uchiha would find it much easier to attack another Uchiha than an outsider would.
And as one of the perpetrators of the massacre, he must have had a large stockpile of Sharingan. Losing one eye would hurt, but it wasn't an unacceptable price.
"So this place isn't safe anymore?"
The enemy was skilled in space-time Ninjutsu. Finding Shadow Space was only a matter of time.
"Right. And it's not just that man. Root has noticed what's happening here too. If we stay, we'll eventually be found. We have to relocate as soon as possible. But this time, I'm going to appear in Konoha openly."
"Can we really do that?"
"Don't worry. There's still a risk, but it's manageable."
"All right. I'll do whatever you say."
Izumi nodded.
She turned and beckoned to the children, calling her younger siblings over.
She told them what had just happened outside and what Arashi had decided.
"Big Brother Arashi, don't worry. We'll all listen to you. Whatever you tell us to do, we'll do it. We definitely won't cause you any trouble!"
Uchiha Shizuka said loudly.
The other children nodded again and again.
Arashi smiled and reached out to pat Shizuka on the head.
"You really have grown up. All right, get ready. We might leave at any moment."
Before you continue