Exploding Space

The younger siblings had already departed for the new stronghold, leaving Uchiha Arashi and Uchiha Izumi sitting together within the original Shadow Space.

"Is your body truly alright?"

Although Arashi had explained it many times, Izumi remained uneasy.

"Rest assured, it's just excessive chakra consumption and overexertion of my eyes. The damage to my vision is inevitable; I can already clearly feel the sight in my left eye fading. But it's no big deal—they aren't my original eyes anyway."

Arashi spoke with complete indifference.

In truth, he cherished Kamui quite a bit, but such was his nature. Since the people of Konoha had tracked him to his very doorstep, he could not simply remain passive; he was not the type to swallow such a bitter pill.

"Is it really necessary to go this far? Aren't you effectively alerting Konoha that there are Uchiha survivors? They will stop at nothing to hunt us down."

Izumi's concern was not without merit.

Every person in the Ninja World understood the necessity of cutting weeds and eliminating the roots.

The high-ranking officials of Konoha would never turn a blind eye to such a potential threat.

"Don't worry, I have already obtained the documents from the Daimyo. We can live in Konoha under new identities; as long as we don't reveal our Sharingan, they won't be able to find us. Besides, you must have noticed that the Shadow Space can be buried even deeper, right? As long as we sink it further, even Konoha won't be able to locate our position.

Don't think I'm doing this for nothing. Keeping the Konoha high-ups in a state of constant tension is one of my primary goals.

They will fear our existence. As long as I implicate the Masked Man, Konoha will surely go mad trying to settle the score with him. As the primary culprit, he shouldn't be allowed to live too comfortably."

The reason he didn't name Obito was primarily because he couldn't be certain if the Masked Man was indeed him.

Arashi was sure, but he lacked sufficient evidence to make Izumi fully believe it.

"But how will you manage to implicate him? The Third is no fool, and those advisors are all quite cunning..."

"Haha, I naturally have my own methods. You don't need to worry about that."

For instance, there was a certain Pot Kage, whose hypnotic effect from Kyōka Suigetsu was permanently active; it was time to play that hidden card.

Furthermore, the first use of Kyōka Suigetsu had been preemptively used by Arashi on someone of great importance, which could also serve as evidence that Obito was the mastermind behind tonight's events. He had no fear that his plan would fail.

"You are always like this, always speaking in riddles..."

"I will explain in the future, or perhaps you can find clues in the stories I've told before. Regardless, you already know of my power—ah, they've arrived. It seems Konoha is faster than I imagined."

As Arashi spoke, he suddenly looked up toward the void.

Outside.

A massive ninjutsu barrier had been erected.

The Third had arrived in person, surrounded by a throng of Anbu ninjas.

Nara Shikaku and Yamanaka Inoichi, those two heavyweights, acted in unison.

Yamanaka Inoichi was responsible for pinpointing the location, while Nara Shikaku was tasked with opening the passage.

Within the barrier, chakra surged, and a vast expanse of shadows emerged from nowhere, rapidly transforming into a Vortex.

Under Nara Shikaku's control, the Vortex began to spin at high speed, quickly forming a massive void—directly beneath it lay the Shadow Space where Uchiha Arashi and the others had been hiding.

"This technique is a stroke of genius. Creating a space within shadows... I really want to study this properly."

Nara Shikaku crouched at the edge of the Vortex, extending his chakra into the space, and couldn't help but sigh in admiration.

"Let's catch him first. As long as the space remains, there will be plenty of opportunities later."

Yamanaka Inoichi shot him a glance.

"Of course, you don't need to remind me of that."

Shikaku turned to look at Hiruzen beside him. "Third, the space passage is open..."

Hiruzen nodded. "Then let the operation begin."

Before the words had even faded, several Anbu ninjas rushed out from the crowd and leaped into the space below.

Uchiha Arashi and Izumi looked up at these uninvited guests as shadows rapidly engulfed their bodies.

He raised his right hand, pinched his thumb and middle finger together, and held them high.

"Wait, don't go in! Come back!"

Shikaku seemed to sense something; his previously calm expression shifted drastically, and he couldn't help but shout.

However, Arashi would not give them another chance.

"Want to catch me? I said it before: I will make Konoha feel pain. This is the second time..."

Before he could finish, he and Izumi vanished into the pitch-black shadows. At almost the exact same moment, a crisp snapping sound echoed.

The next second, the previously stable space collapsed abruptly. Nara Shikaku, who had been struggling to maintain the passage, let out a muffled groan as blood flowed from his nose, and he collapsed directly onto the ground.

Looking at the location of the passage, it had vanished entirely.

"Shikaku!"

Yamanaka Inoichi hurriedly helped his old friend up.

"Shikaku, what exactly happened down there?"

Hiruzen stepped forward and asked in a deep voice.

"Space... the space has collapsed. That man... he intentionally detonated the space..."

Nara Shikaku gasped, struggling to get the words out.

He had channeled his chakra into the space, partly to study its structure in an attempt to unravel the technique, and partly to maintain the stability of the passage and the space itself.

As a result, Uchiha Arashi detonated the space, causing it to collapse. The backlash of chakra fluctuations surged through the shadows and into Nara Shikaku's body, wounding him severely on the spot.

"Then what about them..."

Hiruzen Sarutobi was referring to the several Anbu who had jumped in voluntarily.

"They are never coming back..."

Nara Shikaku struggled for a moment before finally telling the truth.

"Damn it!"

Hiruzen Sarutobi clenched his fists, veins throbbing on his forehead. "Can you still sense that space? If we continue the pursuit, can we still find his location?"

"I am sorry, Third, my current condition makes it impossible to continue... Furthermore, after this incident, he will certainly be even more cautious. Unless I can develop the same ninjutsu, otherwise..."

There was no need to finish the sentence; Hiruzen Sarutobi already understood what Nara Shikaku meant.

"We cannot give up; we must drag him out! However, you should rest for a while. During this time, I will have the Anbu try to track his trail."

Though he was loath to admit it, he had lost this time; Konoha had lost.

The top floor of the Hokage Building had been sliced off, the Hokage's dignity had been trampled into the dirt, and their pursuit had been turned against them, resulting in the loss of several loyal subordinates. Such a thing had never happened in his entire life.

Therefore, he would never give up; he would send people to continue the investigation to the very end.

On the other side, within the newly opened Shadow Space.

"This is our new home, and it won't be long before we can return to live under the sun."

Uchiha Arashi announced with a face full of smiles.