Earth-Shattering

"Is... is that Genye's voice?"

Obito snapped his eyes open, only to see a slender figure standing before him, throwing a punch toward the massive boulder crashing down from above.

Damn it, I'm about to die, why am I hallucinating a brat like Genye!

Human thought is incredibly fast; in the face of death, Obito's brain speed reached its limit, and the world before him seemed to grind to a halt.

Could it be that the person I truly like in my heart is actually...?

No!

Obito realized in an instant that the Genye before him was no hallucination.

Though he didn't know how it was possible, the boy was truly, physically standing right in front of him!

You idiot, forget about me, run! Obito roared frantically in his mind.

"You're actually charging at a boulder that big, are you a moron, Genye?!"

At the thought of this stupid idiot about to die because of him, Obito's eyes felt as if they were splitting, the blood-red color in them so thick it threatened to spill over.

BOOM!

The next instant, the paused world resumed its motion. A deafening, sky-shattering roar exploded, leaving Obito's ears ringing and his mind a complete blank.

The boulder, which had been seven or eight meters wide, shattered instantly, turning into rubble and even fine dust that collapsed everywhere.

...No, it wasn't just the boulder!

After Genye pulverized the rock with a single punch, the terrifying force of his strike remained undiminished, piercing straight through the entire mountain cave and leaving a circular hole in its wake.

The sky, it was bright.

A ray of sunlight broke into the dim cave, flowing across Genye's flawless profile.

At this moment, he was! Absolutely! Stunning!

Genye maintained his post-punch stance, looking incredibly cool, though his cheek was actually twitching uncontrollably.

Damn it, it still hurts so much. My left hand is useless for the time being. But it doesn't matter; the pain is temporary, but looking cool is forever.

At most, I won't be able to "reward myself" for two days. Small price to pay.

With this punch, Genye had severed the chakra conduction Kakkō was using to collapse the cave, and the cavern, which had been on the verge of total destruction, returned to silence.

It wasn't very scientific, but the ninja world had never been about science; as long as you were strong, that was all that mattered. Who cared who Newton was?

"Genye!"

The moment Genye turned around, he was tackled by a tearful, snot-nosed Obito.

"(ÒωÓױ) What the hell? Three-tomoe?!"

Glancing at Obito's eyes, Genye was stunned: "Obito, don't tell me you're actually into me?"

"You moron! I thought I was going to die! I thought you were going to die! Damn it!"

Obito cried and cursed at the same time, his face a mess of tears and snot.

"Alright, alright, it's okay, don't cry."

Genye patted Obito's head, secretly letting out a sigh of relief.

Thank goodness I made it in time!

Genye didn't know how the three of them had managed to penetrate so deep into enemy territory.

But he had been running with both "wall-hack" and "teleport" cheats enabled, and even then, he had been forced to take out several Rock Village squads along the way just to reach them.

"Genye-kun, how did you get here?!" Nohara Rin asked, both surprised and delighted.

"Well, it's a long story. Let's deal with the guy outside first," Genye said, waving his hand and "looking" toward Kakkō.

Kakashi, standing to the side, hadn't said a word the entire time.

He stared silently at the massive "fist print" in the ceiling of the cave, a complex expression on his face.

Back then, when Genye claimed to have severely wounded two of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen, Kakashi had scoffed, believing it to be nothing more than a tall tale.

Because he believed that even he couldn't handle two elite jonin at once, he had arrogantly concluded that Genye couldn't either.

But now, it was clear that Genye had been telling the truth all along, while he had self-righteously accused him and spoken such arrogant words!

At the memory of that scene, Kakashi felt like dying of embarrassment. His face beneath his mask turned a terrifying shade of red, and he temporarily lost the ability to communicate with Genye.

Outside the cave, Kakkō looked at the completely buried entrance with a smug smile.

"Even though you were a rare source of intelligence, it can't be helped. Killing you is just easier."

BOOM!

Just as Kakkō turned to leave, a deafening roar erupted from behind him. His expression darkened as he spun around.

"You damn brats, why won't you just die quietly!" Kakkō hissed through gritted teeth.

"Sorry, I know this is a bit of a bully move, but I'm in a hurry."

At this moment, a gentle voice suddenly came from behind him, and Kakkō was instantly horrified.

When did the opponent get there...?!

"Eight Trigrams Vacuum Palm—Collapse!"

The gentle voice turned abruptly cold, and Kakkō's thoughts ground to a complete halt at that very instant. A force of overwhelming destruction surged into his body, instantly shattering his internal organs.

"Whew."

Watching Kakkō's corpse collapse to the ground, Genye let out a long breath and chuckled, "Nice, I managed to finish this week's meridian-shattering training while I was at it."

(Meridians: 6.)

Genye turned around, looked at Obito and the other two crawling out of the cave, and said candidly.

"As you can see, I have secrets. I've been hiding my strength because if it were ever exposed, it would bring a fatal disaster upon me."

"So, can you keep this secret for me and act as if I was never here?" Genye asked sincerely.

The three of them exchanged glances and nodded in unison: "Of course!"

Although they didn't know the full ins and outs of the situation, Genye had risked his life to save them; how could they possibly return evil for good and betray him?

"Oh no, the enemy's reinforcements are here!"

At this, Genye's expression shifted abruptly, and he said urgently, "I'll hold them off for you—hurry and go!"

"But..."

"Go! If you stay, you'll only hinder me!" Genye said anxiously. "I have a way to escape, don't worry about me!"

"Then you must be careful, Genye!"

"Right, don't worry, just go!"

Watching the three he had hoodwinked run off, Genye gave a sly laugh and activated his dōjutsu to leave the area.

The favorability had been farmed to the right level; he would leave the remaining manual labor to Namikaze Minato, who was about to arrive on the battlefield.

Time to slip away.

Thinking of Namikaze Minato, Genye was reminded of his own teacher.

I wonder how Teacher Hefeng is doing? Did he complete his mission, and when will I see him again?

Konoha, Root.

Looking at Danzo, who sat on the high platform radiating an intimidating aura, a ninja knelt on the ground, trembling, and steeled himself to speak.

"Reporting to Lord Danzo, Lord Hefeng... he sacrificed himself to cover Sarutobi Inosuke's retreat!"

Bang!

Danzo slammed his hand on his seat and rose, a fierce, murderous light flashing in his eyes.

He walked up to the ninja and asked, looking down from above.

"What did you just say? Say it to me again!"

The ninja pressed his forehead to the floor, struggling to control his trembling body, and gathered the courage to answer.

"Reporting to my Lord, Lord Hefeng has sacrificed himself!"

"Bastard!"

Danzo kicked the ninja in front of him, unable to suppress the fury in his heart, and overturned everything he could reach.

"Is the life of Sarutobi Hiruzen's son a life, but the life of my son is not?!"

"Why was my son sent to cover for that piece of trash? Why! By what right?!"

Watching Danzo, who looked like a man possessed and was roaring incessantly, all the Root ninjas were terrified, kneeling on the ground without daring to even breathe loudly.

Usually, their Lord never let his emotions show on his face.

This was the first time they had ever seen Lord Danzo so enraged, and they feared that if their breathing were too loud, they would become targets of his wrath.

"Whew..."

After venting his rage, Danzo sat back down on his high seat, eyes half-closed, returning to his usual calm and unruffled demeanor.

He tapped his knuckles against the seat and said calmly:

"Before this war ends, I want Sarutobi Inosuke to disappear from the ninja world. I don't want to hear his name ever again."

"Yes!" the Root ninja replied respectfully.

In Root, Danzo's orders were absolute; even if Danzo ordered them to assassinate the Hokage, they would execute it without a moment's hesitation.

If I were the Hokage, none of this would have happened, and my son would not have died...

After waving his hand to dismiss his subordinate, Danzo opened his eyes again, a raging fire burning within them.

"Hiruzen, I will definitely take back the position of Hokage that should have been mine from your hands!"