He watched the few "special" actors among the Kirigakure Anbu.
And he watched...
The figure who had just come scrambling out from the far side of the forest, dragging half a grotesque body behind him.
Obito Uchiha.
"Just in time," Liuyu said softly, his eyes utterly calm.
"The show..."
"Can begin."
"Hah... hah..."
Obito gasped for breath, his lungs burning.
He had all but crawled through that strange "door," then used every last ounce of strength to struggle several hundred meters through the mud.
The left half of his body was unbearably stiff and almost impossible to control. He could only drag it along the ground, leaving a deep trail smeared with mud and white flakes.
Rain mixed with sweat, blurring his vision.
But he did not care.
Only one thought filled his mind.
Rin.
Kakashi.
Save them.
The instant he struggled up a low slope and finally caught sight of the battlefield-
Time seemed to stretch endlessly, then freeze.
He saw Kakashi with his back to him, covered in blood, roaring as he thrust forward with blinding lightning blazing along the White Fang Short Blade.
He saw Rin standing a short distance behind Kakashi, her face filled with bewilderment, sorrow, and a trace of... confusion and pain he could not begin to describe.
He saw Kakashi's Chidori tear through the air, thrusting straight ahead with relentless resolve and anguish.
Its target was...
Rin's chest.
"No-!!!!"
Obito's scream caught in his throat, unable to escape.
He could only watch.
Watch that dazzling lightning he had once envied so deeply.
As it pierced, precisely and without resistance...
Into Rin's chest.
Schlk.
The muffled sound of flesh being pierced.
So faint.
Yet so deafening.
Time began to flow again.
The expression froze on Rin's face. Her pupils dilated instantly. She looked down