The Masked Man's Penetrating Ability

Following the optimal route pointed out by Qiuyang, the group encountered almost no enemy resistance along the way, save for the difficult terrain.

Even the few they did encounter were nothing more than small-fry with no real skill, dispatched in two or three moves.

"Pervy Sage, do you think the person the Akatsuki sent this time could be that Explosion Release ninja Sakura and I ran into before?"

Naruto asked with some concern, worried because Kakashi was not with them this time; if that person used their clay birds to take to the skies again, it would be difficult to handle.

"I don't know either. Regardless, once we enter the village, our only mission is to help them hold off the invaders. There are no tactical arrangements."

Sakura and Yamato echoed their agreement, while Naruto expressed great enthusiasm, rolling up his sleeves and declaring he would definitely give the Akatsuki member a taste of his power.

Even if it was that flying Explosion Release ninja, he was certain he would find a way to take him down when the time came.

At the front, Jiraiya glanced back at Naruto, who was currently in the throes of his adolescent delusions, a faint, imperceptible smile tugging at the corner of his mouth.

This kid... he was certainly good at livening up the atmosphere.

Nadeshiko Village was a small ninja village, several times smaller than Konoha, which had always lived a leisurely life, removed from the world's disputes.

However, misfortune is unpredictable; as Iwagakure expanded in secret over the past few years, they had set their sights on this village.

Holding the philosophy that even a mosquito's leg is meat, they sought to forcibly absorb this force into their own.

When successive negotiations failed, Iwagakure grew ashamed and angry, joining forces with the Akatsuki, with whom they had a cooperative relationship, to launch a brutal war against the village.

They intended to kill the chicken to scare the monkey, wiping the village off the map to intimidate other villages that might refuse to cooperate now or in the future.

Such is the law of the Ninja World—the weak are prey to the strong.

The result was as one might expect; the masked man sent by the Akatsuki alone had nearly wiped out the village single-handedly.

The entire village was ablaze from the masked man's wide-range Fire Release, and even the Iwagakure forces who arrived were so chilled by the strength he displayed that they silently took to cleaning up the scattered resistance in other parts of the village.

Here, Nadeshiko had fled into the ancestral shrine with a few clansmen and her master, who was down to her last breath, already on the verge of despair.

Her exposed face, arms, and calves were covered in shocking wounds, and her clothes were tattered from the recent resistance.

Combined with her naturally peerless beauty, she appeared utterly heart-wrenching in her state of being bullied...

But the Ninja World is cruel; enemies will not spare you simply because you are beautiful.

Of the five strongest elders in their village, three had already been cut down by the enemy, and the remaining two were currently outside, fighting to the death against the mysterious masked man.

If those two were killed as well, then this village... would have no hope left.

"Nadeshiko... don't be afraid. I... I have already sent a distress signal to Konoha."

Hearing this, Nadeshiko covered her face and sobbed:

"Wuu... Master, we only just sent the distress message; there is no way they could arrive in such a short time."

She did not fear death; she only hated that she lacked the ability to protect her master and her clansmen.

Hearing screams from outside, Nadeshiko's gaze sharpened. She pulled out a kunai, gripped it in a reverse hold, and stood firm by the door, telling her trembling clansmen to quickly take her master and leave through the back exit.

Creak—

A sharp sound that seemed to pierce her eardrums rang out, and then the person with the orange Uzumaki mask, who had slaughtered so many of her kin, appeared at the doorway.

A breeze swept through the hall from the entrance, and Nadeshiko could clearly smell the blood of her clansmen, nearly causing her to vomit from grief.

"For the future of the Ninja World, give up your resistance! I will end your suffering quickly."

Just as the masked man prepared to enter and slaughter them, a voice suddenly came from above the shrine: "Rasengan."

The white-glowing Rasengan struck the top of the masked man's head directly, and then... passed right through?

A Konoha ninja?

Nadeshiko was overjoyed, never expecting that they could truly send reinforcements in the few hours since their distress signal was sent.

"What is going on with this guy?"

Naruto, who had slammed the Rasengan into the ground, was completely bewildered and jumped back to put some distance between them.

His attack just now... had it really passed through him? How was that possible?

To verify his hypothesis, he created several Shadow Clone and whipped up two more Rasengans, charging forward again at the masked man who had just turned around.

"Nine-Tails brat, I didn't expect you to appear here."

The masked man said emotionlessly, seemingly not even seeing the incoming Rasengans.

Naruto and his Shadow Clone passed right through the masked man's body with their Rasengans, nearly causing the two spheres to collide with each other.

"Damn it, why can't I hit him?"

Refusing to believe it, Naruto turned around and continued to attack other parts of the masked man's body with his Rasengans, attempting to find a single opening.

The masked man ignored Naruto for the moment, looking up at the other person standing on the roof of the shrine observing them—Jiraiya.

"Did you notice me?"

Jiraiya keenly noted the eyes hidden beneath that mask, which seemed to shimmer with a blood-red light...

He jumped down, and as the masked man kicked away a Shadow Clone after it passed through him, he dodged the Rasengan Naruto's main body had aimed at him.

It was too bizarre; he hurriedly called for Naruto to return at once.

"Pervy Sage, what kind of jutsu did this guy use? Why is it that none of my attacks work?"

Naruto asked, staring vigilantly at the masked man in the black cloak patterned with red clouds.

The knowledgeable Jiraiya had roughly discerned the pattern of the masked man's techniques from his recent offensive maneuvers:

"This person can turn his body intangible when attacked, but he must return to a solid state to launch an attack; otherwise, he wouldn't have needed to specifically dodge your Rasengan just now."

In other words, to land a hit on this masked man, one must aim for the split second he materializes to attack; otherwise, all offensive measures are completely useless.

However, with his ability to shift between reality and illusion, the masked man could easily use feints to prevent being ambushed.

What a truly troublesome ability! It was a pity he wasn't skilled in genjutsu, or he could have tried to see if it would have any effect.

Could it be... that he had to summon the two Great Toad Sages and enter Sage Mode?

"As expected of Jiraiya, one of the Konoha Sannin, to have analyzed my ability in such a short time."

In truth, Obito, beneath the mask, did not fear Jiraiya's strength; he was only holding back because he was considering whether to seize the opportunity to capture the Nine-Tails now.

But considering he was still hiding his identity, he ultimately decided that the task of capturing the Nine-Tails was better left to Nagato.

As for what he had to do now... it was simply to eliminate everyone in Nadeshiko Village.

"My mission today is not to fight you, so..."

As he spoke, Obito quickly formed hand seals, suddenly turning his head to unleash a distorted torrent of flames capable of incinerating all things toward Nadeshiko and her clansmen:

Fire Release: Blast Wave Wild Dance

"Oh no!"

Jiraiya had not expected the enemy to be so devoid of honor; there was no time to use Body Flicker to reach them in time for a rescue.

He watched helplessly as the spiral-shaped flames, twisted by Kamui, surged toward Nadeshiko at incredible speed.

There was no dodging it!

The girl helplessly closed her eyes, and the final image to surface in her mind was that of Uchiha Qiu Yang asking to cuddle with her when he felt cold at night.

"You bastard Uchiha Qiu Yang, you bullied me... in the next life, I will definitely make you pay back the interest."

"Wood Release: Wood Locking Wall!"