Obito's Shock

The air in the corridor seemed to freeze.

Minato Namikaze stood behind Obito, the kunai in his hand pressed against the spot over Obito's heart. At the same time, Uchiha Xuanshi's shadow clone stood on the other side, forming a pincer attack.

"If you dare move, I'll sever your spine." There was no warmth in Minato's voice.

Obito did not move. He turned his head slightly, the lone eye beneath his mask sweeping over the golden figure behind him before looking at the Uchiha in the Asura mask before him.

The situation looked like a dead end.

In front of him was a clansman who understood space-time ninjutsu inside and out. Behind him was the "Yellow Flash," the fastest man in the shinobi world.

"Hmph."

Obito let out a soft laugh.

The sound echoed between the narrow rock walls, especially grating.

"Fourth Hokage, do you think you've won?"

Before his words had even fallen, the kunai in Minato's hand stabbed down hard.

There was no hesitation at all. Against an enemy who threatened his family, Minato never held back.

The sharp tip pierced the black robe and pierced Obito's body, yet met no resistance at all. The kunai passed straight through Obito's chest as if it had gone through smoke.

Minato's body rushed forward from the momentum.

In that instant, Obito abruptly turned around.

Materialization.

A black chain whipped out from his sleeve, coiling toward Minato's neck like a venomous snake.

"Die!"

Minato's figure vanished into thin air.

The chain lashed through empty space and smashed a deep groove into the rock wall.

The next second, golden light flashed at the other end of the corridor. Minato appeared beside Xuanshi, his gaze grave.

"Physical attacks are ineffective," Minato said in a low voice. "His body can phase through them."

"That's a form of space-time ninjutsu." Xuanshi stared at Obito. "He has to materialize the instant he attacks. That's his only opening."

Obito withdrew the chain, his gaze cold as he stared at Xuanshi.

This man in the Asura mask was far too troublesome.

Not only had he predicted his movements, he had also revealed the details of his ability to Minato. If he did not get rid of this man, tonight's plan would go nowhere.

But Obito quickly calmed down.

His target was not killing people, but the Nine-Tails.

As long as he obtained the Nine-Tails, both of these men would die.

Obito's gaze passed over the two of them and landed on the tightly shut delivery room door.

Kushina was inside.

"Since you want to play, I'll play with you."

Obito formed hand seals with both hands.

His figure began to twist, and a black spiral rapidly spread outward with his right eye as the center.

"Not good!" Minato reacted instantly. "He's going straight into the delivery room!"

Minato threw out a kunai, his body turning into golden light as he gave chase.

But Obito was faster. Or rather, his method of movement was even harder to counter.

His body completely spiraled into the Kamui Dimension and vanished from where he stood.

Almost at the same time, the space inside the delivery room door began to twist.

"Stop him!"

Xuanshi roared.

As a shadow clone, his chakra was limited, but he had to buy even a single second.

Xuanshi slammed both hands onto the ground.

"Uchiha Flame Formation: Modified!"

Purple flames did not rise at the doorway. Instead, they directly covered the walls, floor, and ceiling of the entire corridor, forming a sealed flame barrier.

At the same time, Xuanshi pulled four specially made kunai from his ninja tool pouch and flung them at the empty space in front of the delivery room door.

The spatial spiral had just taken shape, and Obito's body had only just emerged halfway.

He saw those kunai.

"Things like that can't hurt me."

Obito ignored the kunai. His body remained phased as he prepared to pass through the door.

However, those kunai did not explode.

The instant they drew close to Obito's mask, they suddenly burst apart.

They were not explosive tags.

They were bright light.

They were flash bombs specially made by Xuanshi, filled with magnesium powder and chakra.

"Bzz—"

Blinding white light instantly filled the entire dim corridor.

Even in a phased state, light could still pass through the retina. Obito had originally been preparing to focus his vision and lock onto Kushina inside the delivery room, but the sudden glare sent a sharp pain through his right eye, and his vision instantly turned pure white.

"Damn it!"

Obito instinctively shut his eye, and his body's movements froze for an instant.

"Now, Fourth!" Xuanshi shouted.

Minato did not need Xuanshi's reminder. He had already moved.

Using the Flying Thunder God Technique, he jumped straight into the delivery room.

Inside the delivery room.

Kushina lay on the bed, her face as pale as paper. The reinforcement of the seal just now had succeeded, but because of the birth, her body was extremely weak.

"Minato!" Kushina saw Minato suddenly appear.

"Don't be afraid." Minato picked Kushina up in one arm, while his other hand scooped up Naruto from the cradle beside her.

Just then, the door shattered with a crash.

Countless sharp wooden spikes shot in from outside the door like a downpour.

That was Obito's furious counterattack while blinded.

"Wood Release: Cutting Technique!"

In the corridor, Xuanshi's shadow clone had no way to dodge this kind of wide-range indiscriminate attack. Several wooden spikes pierced through his body, and the shadow clone dispersed into white smoke with a soft pop.

The wooden spikes smashed through the door and filled the walls and floor of the delivery room.

Obito's figure crashed through the smoke and dust and charged inside.

His right eye was bloodshot, and the expression beneath his mask was hideously savage.

Although he could not see clearly, he locked onto Kushina's position through his senses.

"Leave her behind!"

Obito reached out, his fingertips only a few centimeters from the hem of Kushina's clothes.

He had to seize her in that instant and suck her into the Kamui Dimension.

Minato's eyes were cold.

He did not counterattack, because he held the two most important people in his arms.

He activated the Flying Thunder God.

"Whoosh."

Golden light flashed.

Obito's hand closed on empty air.

His fingertips swept through the air, even stirring up a faint whistle of wind.

The bed where Kushina had originally lain was now completely empty.

Only a few wooden spikes were stuck in the bedboard, their ends still trembling slightly.

The whole room fell silent in an instant.

Only the clock on the wall was still ticking.

Obito remained frozen in place, still in the posture of grabbing.

They ran?

Right under his nose, within his domain, that man had escaped with the jinchuriki?

Obito slowly withdrew his hand.

He turned around, looked at the empty room, then looked at the smoke outside the door left after the shadow clone had dispersed.

A sense of humiliation unlike anything he had ever felt before surged into his heart.

"Uchiha... Xuanshi."

Obito said the name, his teeth grinding audibly.

If not for that shadow clone's flash bomb, if not for that damn obstruction, he would have succeeded long ago.

The Fourth Hokage's Flying Thunder God was indeed fast, but he still needed time to react.

It was that Uchiha who had forcibly bought him that one second.

"Very good."

Obito took a deep breath, forcefully suppressing the rage in his heart.

Since the capture plan had failed, he would execute Plan B.

He walked to the center of the room.

Kushina's aura still lingered here, as did the scent of the Nine-Tails' leaking chakra.

The childbirth just now had left the seal in an extremely unstable state.

Although the person had fled, the connection between the Nine-Tails and the present world had not yet been completely severed.

Obito crouched down and pressed one hand to the ground.

Since he could not capture the jinchuriki and extract it slowly, he would use the crudest method.

Use the Sharingan's ocular power and forcefully summon it through the link of the contract!

Even across space, even with the seal still present, as long as there was a single crack in that seal, he could drag that monster out.

Even if it meant dragging the jinchuriki back with it!

"Summoning Technique: Nine-Tails!"

Black curse marks instantly spread across the ground.

In Obito's pupil, three tomoe spun wildly, linking into one.

Outside the Hidden Leaf Village, in a hidden safe house.

Golden light flashed, and Minato appeared on the tatami with Kushina and Naruto in his arms.

"We're safe." Minato placed Kushina on the bed and let out a long breath.

However, before he could let go, Kushina suddenly screamed.

"Ah!"

Kushina clutched her abdomen, her whole body curling up like a shrimp.

On her abdomen, the sealing formula that had originally been suppressed suddenly lit up with a blinding red glow.

"What's going on?" Minato was shocked.

"It... it's being summoned..." Kushina gritted her teeth, cold sweat streaming down her face. "There's a force... forcibly pulling at the Nine-Tails..."

Minato's expression changed drastically.

That Masked Man!

Even from this far away, even after they had already escaped, he could still control the Nine-Tails through the contract?

"Minato... hurry..." Kushina painfully grabbed Minato's sleeve. "I can't suppress it... it's coming out!"

A terrifying red chakra erupted from Kushina's body and instantly blasted through the roof.

It was chakra filled with hatred and destruction.

In the night sky, an earth-shaking beast roar rang out.

The roar spread through the entire Hidden Leaf Village.

In the village that had been quiet a moment ago, countless lights instantly came on.

Uchiha Fugaku, who was patrolling the streets, abruptly raised his head and looked in the direction outside the village.

"It's here," Fugaku said in a low voice.

At that moment, underground at Naka River Shrine.

Uchiha Xuanshi's main body stood up.

He could feel the earth trembling and feel the nauseating, evil chakra in the air.

Although Obito had failed to capture the person, he had still dragged the Nine-Tails out.

And even more insanely than in the original story, he had forcefully summoned it right beside Minato.

"The inertia of the plot really is powerful."

Xuanshi put on the Asura mask and picked up the long blade leaning against the wall.

"However, this is exactly what I wanted."

He walked out of the secret chamber and looked at the three hundred clansmen assembled outside.

Three hundred pairs of Sharingan flashed red in the night.

Xuanshi drew his long blade and pointed at the red chakra soaring into the sky.

"All personnel, listen to my command."

"Target: Nine-Tails."

"Operation codename: Hunt the Gods."

"Move out!"