Flying Thunder God Activates!

Time seemed to stretch.

Obito's fingers were only a few millimeters from Kushina's neck.

He could see the fine fuzz on Kushina's neck, could smell the scent that belonged to a mother on her, mingled with sweat and blood.

It was the smell of victory.

As long as his fingertips touched her skin, Kamui would activate. Even if it was only for an instant, as long as he sucked her into the other dimension—even just part of her—he would win this game.

Minato's pupils shrank to pinpoints.

He did not reach for his kunai.

In this instant, any attacking move would be unnecessary. Attacking meant spending time, meant exposing an opening.

His only choice was to flee.

But he could not flee alone.

His left arm locked tightly around Kushina's shoulders, while his right arm held Naruto's swaddling clothes close.

Chakra surged wildly through his meridians, as if it were about to burst through his blood vessels.

Flying Thunder God!

This was not the name of the technique, but a silent roar in his heart.

Obito's fingers touched.

Warmth came from his fingertips.

The spatial vortex of Kamui began to spin at his fingertips.

Yet in that very instant.

Whoosh!

An extremely faint sound of air being torn rang out.

It was not the sound of an object moving. It was the sound of space being ripped apart.

Obito's fingers passed through Kushina's neck.

No blood.

No resistance.

It was like passing through a layer of golden illusion.

His palm slammed hard into the bedsheet.

Bang!

The solid-wood delivery bed instantly shattered into pieces, wood chips flying everywhere. The tremendous force punched straight through the floor, leaving a deep pit in the ground.

Obito remained frozen there, holding the downward strike posture.

Empty.

Empty again.

That warm sensation still lingered at his fingertips, but the person was already gone.

Only drifting dust and shattered planks remained in the entire room.

Hidden Leaf Village, a hidden base beneath Hokage Rock.

This was a safe house Minato had specially prepared for emergencies, with barriers all around it that cut off sensory detection.

Golden light flashed.

Minato appeared on the tatami with Kushina and Naruto in his arms.

The instant he landed, Minato staggered and nearly fell to his knees.

That Flying Thunder God just now was the most extreme one of his life. Carrying two people in a long-distance spatial jump placed an enormous burden on both chakra and mental strength.

"Wah—"

Naruto's crying broke the silence.

That cry let Minato's taut nerves relax slightly.

He was still alive. Kushina was still alive.

Minato gently placed mother and son on the bed.

"It's all right now." Minato panted, reaching out to wipe the cold sweat from Kushina's forehead. "This place is safe."

Kushina's face was as pale as paper, but her eyes were exceptionally clear.

She grabbed Minato's wrist, her strength shockingly great.

"Minato... that Masked Man..." Kushina's voice trembled. "His target is the Nine-Tails... he wants to release the Nine-Tails..."

"I know." Minato clasped Kushina's hand in return, his gaze turning incomparably firm. "That is why I have to stop him."

He took a white sacred robe from his ninja tool pouch and draped it over himself.

The five large characters on the back, "Fourth Hokage," shone brilliantly in the candlelight.

"Take care of Naruto."

Minato lowered his head and gently kissed Kushina on the forehead.

"Wait for me to come back."

With that, golden light flashed again.

Minato's figure vanished from the safe house.

The delivery room ruins.

Obito slowly straightened up.

He looked at his empty palm, the expression beneath his mask twisted to the extreme.

The rage of being toyed with gnawed at his heart like a venomous snake.

First, that damned Uchiha Shadow Clone had used a flashbang to disrupt his vision.

Then Minato Namikaze had escaped his grasp with that unreasonable speed.

"So this is... the Yellow Flash?"

Obito's voice was hoarse, carrying a chilling coldness.

"Cough, cough..."

A weak cough came from the doorway.

Obito abruptly turned his head.

That Uchiha Shadow Clone whose body had been pierced through by Wood Release had actually not disappeared yet.

Xuanshi's Shadow Clone leaned against the broken doorframe, three wooden spikes as thick as wrists lodged in his chest. His body had already become translucent, chakra rapidly draining away.

But he was still smiling.

Even through the mask, Obito could feel that he was smiling.

"Looks like... your speed was still one step too slow... Lord 'Madara.'"

Xuanshi's voice came in broken bursts, carrying obvious mockery.

"Shut up!"

Obito raised his hand and swung it.

A sharp wooden spike shot out from the floor, instantly piercing through the Shadow Clone's skull.

"Poof."

White smoke dispersed.

The Shadow Clone completely disappeared.

But that mocking sentence stabbed into Obito's mind like a nail.

One step too slow.

One step too slow again.

Obito took a deep breath and forced himself to calm down.

Rage would not solve the problem.

Since he could not capture the jinchuriki, he would execute Plan B.

Although he had not fully extracted the Nine-Tails, he had taken advantage of the chaos earlier to leave a chakra fissure on the seal on Kushina's abdomen.

As long as that fissure existed, combined with the ocular power of the Sharingan, he could forcefully summon the Nine-Tails.

Even if what he summoned was only the Nine-Tails' physical form, rather than its complete body, it would still be enough to destroy this village.

"Uchiha Xuanshi... Minato Namikaze..."

Obito's figure began to twist, and a black vortex swallowed him.

"Tonight, the Hidden Leaf must be destroyed."

The center of Hidden Leaf Village.

The streets at night were still bustling. Although it was already late at night, the lanterns of the izakaya were still lit, and the occasional drunken shout could be heard.

No one knew that disaster was already hanging over their heads.

A spatial vortex appeared silently above the street.

Obito's figure landed on the roof of a tall tower.

He looked down at the sleeping village beneath his feet, without a trace of pity in his eyes.

This was the village where Rin had died.

This was the miniature of that hypocritical ninja world.

Then let it be destroyed.

Obito bit his finger and formed seals with both hands.

Boar—Dog—Bird—Monkey—Ram.

Every seal was formed with incomparable force, as if he meant to pour all his hatred into them.

Summoning Technique!

He slammed his palm onto the tiles at the top of the tower.

Black runes spread instantly like a spiderweb, covering the entire tower.

Boom!

A tremendous crash rang out.

A massive cloud of white smoke exploded in the center of the village, instantly swallowing several surrounding streets.

A fierce wind howled, blowing roof tiles away and extinguishing the lights along the streets.

A suffocating chakra pressure erupted from the center of the smoke.

It was chakra filled with brutality, hatred, and the aura of destruction.

The smoke dispersed.

Two scarlet vertical pupils lit up in the darkness, like two enormous blood-red lanterns.

Immediately afterward, nine orange-red tails thrashed wildly through the air like nine giant pythons, each sweep bringing up a hurricane.

"Roar—!!!"

The Nine-Tails Fox raised its head and howled at the sky.

The wave of sound became a tangible shockwave, instantly shattering every pane of glass within a kilometer.

Houses collapsed, and the earth cracked open.

The once-peaceful Hidden Leaf Village turned into hell in an instant.

The rooftop of Naka River Shrine.

Uchiha Xuanshi stood above the upturned eaves, the night wind stirring his black combat uniform.

He looked at the rampaging giant beast in the distance, at the flames soaring into the sky.

There was no fear.

On the contrary, a nearly fanatical light flickered in his eyes.

It was the look of a hunter seeing prey.

"It finally came."

Xuanshi slowly drew the long blade from his back.

The blade was pitch-black, without the slightest reflection.

Behind him, dense black shadows filled the treetops and rooftops.

Three hundred Uchiha elites.

Three hundred pairs of Sharingan.

Not a single person spoke, and not a single person retreated.

They were all waiting for that order.

Xuanshi raised the long blade, its tip pointing toward the Nine-Tails.

"Everyone of the Uchiha."

His voice was not loud, but with chakra supporting it, it reached every clansman's ears clearly.

"The time has come to wash away our disgrace."

"Tonight, we will not be spectators."

"We will be—"

The long blade slashed down fiercely.

"Butchers who hunt a god!"

"Everyone, move out!"

"Kill!"

Three hundred figures shot forward like arrows leaving the string, charging toward that burning hell.