The Yellow Flash Returns! So You're the Masked Man?

Obito's bewildered, despairing question sent ripples through the hearts of everyone gathered before the Hokage Building, like a stone tossed into a still lake.

"Is there still any hope for this world?"

The question brimmed with denial of reality and despair for the future.

Minato gazed quietly at the figure on the rooftop with his azure eyes, but did not answer the philosophical question.

He simply raised a hand and pointed at him.

"Put down the person in your arms."

His voice wasn't loud, yet it carried clearly across the entire plaza, drowning out everyone's whispers.

"I'm afraid I can't." Obito chuckled softly, tightening his arm around Hinata. "She's a grand gift I've brought for Konoha—and for you, Fourth Hokage..."

In the crowd, Hyuga Hiashi's fists were clenched so tightly his knuckles had turned white, and the veins stood out on his hands. If he hadn't still had some sense left, he would have charged forward without a second thought.

"Fourth Hokage, you've disappointed me." Obito's tone turned mocking. "During the Nine-Tails Incident, I gave you the chance to become a hero. Yet you couldn't even protect your own wife. In the end, you had to rely on that old man to step in."

The mention of "that old man" made both Fugaku and Danzo's hearts skip a beat.

Uchiha Madara!

That bastard really was connected to him!

The gentle expression vanished from Minato's face, replaced by absolute calm—the stillness before a storm.

"Looks like the lesson I taught you last time wasn't enough."

Before the words had fully left his mouth, Minato vanished from where he stood.

In the next instant, he appeared in midair, a rapidly spinning Rasengan in his hand as he aimed straight for Obito's head!

Fast! Too fast!

Most of those present didn't even see him move. They only caught a flash of yellow.

Yet the Rasengan passed through Obito's body without meeting any resistance, as though it had struck a mere illusion.

"The same trick won't work on me." Obito's voice came from behind Minato. He hadn't even moved from his spot.

Minato flipped through the air and landed steadily on another rooftop. With a flick of his hand, he hurled several Flying Thunder God Kunai engraved with special markings, fanning them out to seal off several directions around Obito.

"Is that so?" Minato's voice betrayed no emotion. "That's what you said during the Nine-Tails Incident, too."

Obito froze for a moment.

He remembered that battle.

The man before him really had struck him with the same trick. Back then, he'd been controlling the Nine-Tails at the same time and had let his guard down, distracted.

But this time was different. He was prepared now. He absolutely wouldn't be defeated by the same trick!

"This time, you don't stand a chance." Obito sneered and formed a Hand Seal with one hand.

"Wood Release: Cutting Sprigs!"

Several sharp wooden spikes shot out from his arm. Their target wasn't Minato, but the unconscious Hinata in his arms!

It was a vicious move!

If Minato went to save her, he would leave himself open. If he didn't, the Hyuga Clan's young heiress would die on the spot, and the rift between the Konoha High Command and the Hyuga Clan would become irreparable.

"Coward!" Hizashi Hyuga roared.

Minato vanished again.

He appeared in front of Hinata and used his body to shield her from the wooden spikes.

Thud! Thud!

The spikes pierced flesh with faint sounds, yet every Konoha Ninja present felt their hearts clench.

"Lord Minato!"

"Lord Hokage!"

But the Minato who had been struck vanished with a poof of white smoke.

A Shadow Clone!

The real Minato had already appeared above Obito, a Kunai crackling with lightning in his hand.

"I've figured out your weakness."

"Your intangibility has a time limit. You have to become tangible when you attack."

A flicker of shock crossed Obito's single eye, and his body immediately began to turn intangible.

But Minato was faster!

He didn't attack. Instead, he hurled the Kunai down at the roof tiles beneath Obito's feet.

The Kunai sank deep into the rooftop.

Obito's body had already turned halfway intangible.

"It's over," Minato's voice said beside him.

Obito whipped around, only to see that Minato had appeared behind him at some point. One hand rested on his shoulder, and golden markings spread across him in an instant.

Flying Thunder God Second Step!

"You!" Obito's pupil contracted sharply.

He tried to turn intangible, but Minato's palm seemed to carry a special power that briefly disrupted the flow of Chakra within him.

That fraction of a second decided the victor.

"Spiral Flash Super Round Dance Howl Style Three!"

Minato's voice held no emotion.

He hurled countless Flying Thunder God Kunai at Obito in an instant, then used a continuous series of space-time jumps to launch dazzling slashes from every direction.

Yellow light flashed wildly across the rooftop. Each flash came with the shrill whistle of blades cutting through the air and the sound of flesh being sliced.

Those gathered in the plaza could only see a golden sphere of light completely engulfing the masked man.

When the light faded,

Minato stood quietly, holding the unharmed Hinata in his arms.

Obito knelt on the ground, covered in wounds and panting heavily. His black robe had been torn to shreds, revealing skin riddled with wounds deep enough to expose bone.

The most striking thing was the mask on his face.

"Crack..."

With a sharp snap, the orange Spiral Mask split down the middle, then broke in two and fell to the ground.

A young face, marred by scars and horribly twisted on the right side, was exposed to everyone.

"That's..."

"Uchiha... Obito?"

Several old members of the Konoha Military Police Force standing behind Fugaku let out disbelieving cries.

The name was not unfamiliar to them.

A hero who had died in the Battle of Kannabi Bridge.

Kakashi's teammate.

A student of the Fourth Hokage!

Minato looked at the familiar yet unfamiliar face, a complicated emotion showing in his azure eyes.

"...Obito."

"Heh... Hahahaha!" Obito clutched his bleeding right eye and laughed maniacally. "So you recognized me? My dear... Teacher."

He slowly rose to his feet, his blood-red Mangekyō Sharingan fixed on Minato, filled with bone-deep hatred.

"Why... Why didn't you arrive at Kannabi Bridge in time? If you'd been there, Rin wouldn't have died! Why was the fastest man in the Ninja World—why were you late at the most crucial moment?"

His voice was like a cuckoo crying blood, brimming with accusation and resentment.

Minato fell silent.

He didn't know how to answer.

Rin's death was a wound that would never heal in his heart. And Obito's "death" was an even greater failure on his part as a teacher.

"Obito, stop this." Minato spoke softly. "Come back to the village with me. Tell us everything. It's not too late to make things right."

"Go back?" Obito seemed to have heard the funniest joke in the world. "Back to the village that killed Rin, the village full of hypocrisy and lies? Minato-sensei, you're still as naïve as ever."

"Obito, you shouldn't have become like this." Minato looked at his familiar yet unfamiliar student, his heart aching.

Just then,

Boom!

A giant toad appeared in the plaza before Konoha's Hokage Building.

It was a toad as big as a small mountain, with a huge pipe clenched in its mouth and a short jacket bearing the character "Oil."

Gamabunta!

On top of Gamabunta's head stood a white-haired man with a red pattern painted around his eyes and a Forehead Protector marked with "Oil." He carried a massive scroll over his shoulder and looked down at the battlefield below.

"Yo, Minato."

The man's voice was languid, with a hint of irreverence.

"Looks like I got back just in time."

"Jiraiya-sensei!" Minato looked at the familiar figure, and the tension that had kept him on edge finally eased a little.

"You're finally back!"

The legendary Sannin, Konoha's Toad Sage.

Jiraiya, reporting for duty!