Gamabunta's thunderous arrival was like a boulder crashing onto the tense battlefield. Dust and shockwaves billowed out, and everyone froze for a moment.
That carefree voice, that unmistakable white hair and Forehead Protector, instantly kindled a spark of hope in the Konoha Ninja's hearts.
"It's Lord Jiraiya!"
"The Legendary Sannin... Lord Jiraiya is back!"
"That's wonderful!"
With a giant scroll slung over his shoulder, Jiraiya leaped down from Gamabunta's head and landed firmly beside Minato. He first glanced at Hinata, whom Minato was holding protectively in his arms, then looked across at the young man, battered and bloodied, with a shattered mask.
When he recognized that twisted yet familiar face, even Jiraiya, who had seen his share of storms, couldn't help narrowing his eyes.
"Minato, that kid... isn't he Obito Uchiha? From the Battle of Kannabi Bridge..."
He had seen Obito's memorial portrait. Jiraiya didn't finish, but the implication was clear.
"Teacher, it's a long story." Minato's voice carried a trace of weariness, but more than that, the relief of seeing family again. "He's the one responsible for the Nine-Tails Incident."
As Minato passed the child in his arms to Hyuga Hiashi beside him, he spoke to Jiraiya.
"What?!" Jiraiya's expression instantly turned grave.
Come, the lazy air that usually surrounded him vanished, replaced by the oppressive presence of a Kage Level fighter.
His gaze shifted from its initial surprise to a cold appraisal of Obito.
Minato ignored the commotion around him. He gently handed Hinata to the arriving Hyuga Hiashi, then took a step forward, his blue eyes fixing once more on his former student.
"Obito."
His voice was soft, yet full of strength. "I know you're carrying hatred in your heart. You hate me, Kakashi, and this village. What happened back then was my failure as your teacher. I didn't protect you."
"What good is saying all that now?" Obito laughed manically, clutching his bleeding right eye. His laughter was full of despair. "Rin is dead! She died right before my eyes! Kakashi killed her with his own hands! Are you saying all this because you want me to forgive you?!"
"I'm not asking you to forgive us." Minato's expression was utterly earnest. "I'm telling you that it isn't over yet. Come back to the village with me, and we'll investigate what happened from beginning to end. Who turned you into this? Who's using your pain? We can find out together."
"Find out?" Obito's laughter abruptly stopped. His scarlet Mangekyō Sharingan fixed on Minato. "I found the answer a long time ago! This world was wrong from the very beginning! It's full of lies, betrayal, and hypocrisy! The so-called peace is nothing but an illusion the strong give to the weak!" "This village's system has rotted to its very roots!"
His voice rose higher and higher, filled with deep-seated hatred.
"So I'm going to destroy it! I'm going to create a world where Rin exists! A world without war or pain, a truly peaceful world!"
"He's lost it... This kid's completely lost it." Jiraiya furrowed his brow, already forming Hand Seals.
He could feel the Chakra radiating from the young man called Obito. It was cold and despairing, nothing like what a normal ninja should give off.
"Minato, stop wasting your breath. Let's take him down first!"
"Obito, stop." Minato made one last attempt, anguish showing in his eyes. "You were once a hero of Konoha. Don't let yourself..."
"Hero?" Obito reacted as if he'd just heard the world's biggest joke. He pointed sharply at the right side of his face. "This is what happens to Konoha's heroes! Crushed under cold stone, waiting to die! If 'that person' hadn't saved me, I'd have rotted into a pile of bones!" "In the end, I was nothing but a cold casualty statistic in the eyes of you important people! Did you ever care about the families behind all those names on Konoha's Memorial Stone?"
His scarlet eye spun violently, and the space around him began to visibly distort.
He knew Jiraiya's arrival had cost him his last chance.
If he didn't leave now, he wouldn't get away!
"Then keep protecting this fake world of yours!"
Obito's figure began to blur, as if it were about to be sucked into an invisible vortex.
"Trying to run?!"
Jiraiya barked, slamming both hands onto the ground!
Ninja Art: Needle Jizo!
His iconic white hair instantly surged outward, turning into countless steel needles that shot toward Obito and sealed off every escape route!
At the same time, Minato moved.
Without the slightest hesitation, he vanished from where he stood!
Flying Raijin Technique!
He appeared beside a Kunai he had thrown earlier, at a spot directly in front of the space about to swallow Obito completely.
"I told you, that trick won't work on me!"
Minato's voice rang in Obito's ear like a death knell.
A rapidly spinning Rasengan had appeared in his hand. He slammed it down toward the distorted space!
A clash of Space-Time Ninjutsu!
Jiraiya's physical blockade, combined with Minato's precise strike against the space-time point using the Flying Thunder God!
A double safeguard!
Obito was as good as defeated!
Just as the Rasengan was about to touch the distorted space—
A flash of golden light appeared beside Obito out of nowhere!
It wasn't Minato!
That golden light shone brighter and more domineeringly than the light around Minato!
Time seemed to freeze in that moment.
Minato's Rasengan stopped in midair. His pupils contracted violently, and his face filled with an expression of disbelief unlike anything he'd ever shown before.
Jiraiya's surging white hair also stopped in midair. He could feel an indescribably terrifying Chakra bearing down on all of Konoha like a mountain.
A figure slowly emerged from the golden light.
He wore ancient red armor, and his long black hair stirred in a windless world. A pair of pale purple Rinnegan swept indifferently over everyone present, as if they were a bunch of ants.
Uchiha Madara!
He didn't even look at Minato and Jiraiya's attacks. He simply reached out and rested a hand on Obito's shoulder as he was about to be pulled into the vortex.
A flash of golden light, and they were instantly transported to the other side of the Hokage Building.
"Obito may be a good-for-nothing, but he's a good-for-nothing from the Uchiha Clan!"
Lin Feng's voice was as calm as still water, yet carried an unquestionable authority that rang clearly in everyone's ears.
"Who are you to lecture him?"
As soon as he finished speaking, he gave Obito's shoulder a light squeeze.
The next moment, under Minato and Jiraiya's horrified gazes, the golden light flashed again. He and Obito, whose body was already half submerged in the space-time vortex, vanished without a trace.
Flying Thunder God Technique!
It was unquestionably the Flying Thunder God Technique!
A deathly silence fell over the area in front of the Hokage Building.
Jiraiya's Needle Jizo had lost its target and drooped uselessly.
The Rasengan in Minato's hand also dissipated into the air.
He stood there in a daze, his body trembling slightly from sheer shock.
How could this be...
How could this be...
Why could that man, Uchiha Madara, use the Flying Thunder God Technique?
It was a technique developed and mastered by the Second Hokage Tobirama Senju. In this era, only he and his guards, using the Flying Thunder God Formation, could use it!
Why?! Uchiha Madara had actually mastered the technique, and used it with such skill!
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