Luring the Tiger Away? No, a Two-Front Battle

"Roar—!!!"

The Nine-Tails Fox's roar struck every inch of the Hidden Leaf Village like a heavy hammer made solid.

The massive sound wave flipped roof tiles and shattered the glass along both sides of the street. Gale winds carried gravel and dust, whipping up a sandstorm through the bustling commercial district.

Obito stood atop the Nine-Tails, his black robe snapping in the raging wind.

He looked down over the village beneath him, once so familiar.

Fires blazed everywhere. Wails filled the air.

The villagers who had once looked at him coldly were now fleeing in every direction like ants. The ninjas who had once stood so high and mighty were now trembling before absolute power.

"Feel pain."

Obito's voice was cold, without the slightest ripple.

He controlled the Nine-Tails and raised one enormous claw.

"Boom!"

The claw came down, and a three-story building instantly became rubble. Smoke and dust rose, burying the people inside who had not had time to escape.

This was power.

This was the power Madara had spoken of, the power that could change the world.

Obito turned his head and looked toward Hokage Rock.

"Minato Namikaze... are you still keeping your wife and child company?"

He knew Minato would definitely come. As Hokage, that man would never sit by and watch the village be destroyed.

But that was exactly what he wanted.

As long as Minato appeared, he would use the Nine-Tails to pin him down, then wait for a chance to activate Kamui and suck Minato into the alternate dimension. As long as Minato was dealt with, no one in this village would be able to stop him anymore.

As for that Uchiha Xuanshi...

Obito narrowed his eye.

"Trying to take advantage of the chaos?" Obito sneered. "You think I'm the kind of fool who only knows how to brute-force things?"

He had long been on guard against the Uchiha Clan. In his view, that old fox Uchiha Fugaku was definitely waiting for him and the Hokage to exhaust each other, then planning to jump out and seize control of the Nine-Tails.

"Then come."

Obito formed seals with both hands.

The Nine-Tails opened its bloody maw. Black and white chakra spheres rapidly gathered in its mouth, mixing in proportion and compressing.

Tailed Beast Bomb.

The target was not the Hokage Building, but the direction of the shelter.

He was forcing the Uchiha to show themselves.

Hiruzen Sarutobi had just put on his battle armor and rushed out of his home.

He looked up at the black energy sphere condensing in the air, and his heart clenched hard.

"That direction... is the shelter!"

The Third Hokage's hands were trembling.

A large number of civilians, the elderly, the weak, women, and children had gathered there. If that Tailed Beast Bomb fell, half of Konoha would disappear.

"Where is Minato? Where is Minato?"

The Third roared and summoned Enma.

"Hiruzen! There's no time!" Enma transformed into the Adamantine Staff. "At that distance, even I can't block it!"

Despair.

A deep sense of powerlessness shrouded this "Shinobi Hero."

At this moment, Konoha had fallen into an unprecedented command vacuum.

The Fourth Hokage was settling the jinchuriki and had temporarily left the field. The Third Hokage was still on his way. The Anbu and the Police Force had been thrown into confusion by the sudden attack, each fighting on their own.

"Mommy! I'm scared!"

At the entrance to the shelter, a little girl cried out as she clung to her mother's leg.

The black energy sphere grew larger and larger, and the aura of destruction it emitted made even the air turn viscous.

Just when everyone thought the end had come.

"All units, take positions!"

A cold, steady voice suddenly rang out in the night sky.

The voice was not loud, but it pierced through the Nine-Tails' roar and spread clearly across the battlefield.

Immediately after, countless black shadows leaped out from rooftops in every direction.

They wore identical black combat uniforms, with the red-and-white fan crest printed on their backs.

They did not scream. They did not panic.

Their movements were perfectly synchronized, like a precision machine in operation.

"Barrier Squad, raise the formation!"

At that voice's command, the Uchiha jonin standing in the four directions around the Nine-Tails formed seals at the same time.

"Ninja Art: Uchiha Flame Formation!"

Boom!

Four purple pillars of flame shot into the sky.

The pillars intersected in the air, forming a massive cuboid barrier that trapped the Nine-Tails and Obito tightly within.

The newly formed Tailed Beast Bomb slammed into the purple wall of flame.

"Rumble—!!!"

A terrifying explosion erupted inside the barrier.

The purple flames trembled violently, as if they might shatter at any moment. But the four Uchiha jonin gritted their teeth, blood spilling from the corners of their mouths, and forcefully held out against the blow.

The explosion's aftermath was blocked by the barrier, without the slightest bit leaking out.

The civilians in the shelter stared blankly at the sky.

The place where death should have descended had now become a grand fireworks show.

And illuminated by that purple firelight, the figures carrying the fan crest on their backs looked especially towering.

"Is that... the Police Force?"

Someone asked in disbelief.

That Police Force that usually only wore sour faces and arrested people for littering?

Those Uchiha the villagers privately called "red-eyes"?

Obito stood atop the Nine-Tails, watching the purple barrier rise around him, a trace of shock flashing through his lone eye.

"Uchiha Flame Formation..."

A barrier of this level was not something just a few people could cast. It required extremely high chakra control and coordination.

And this timing... was too perfect.

It was as if they had drilled it countless times long ago.

"The whole clan mobilized?" Obito looked at the dense mass of figures outside the barrier. "Has Fugaku gone insane? To protect this village that shuts you out, he actually revealed all his trump cards?"

This made no sense.

In his understanding, the Uchiha Clan was selfish, arrogant, and full of resentment. They should have wished for Konoha to be destroyed. How could they possibly risk their lives to protect civilians?

Just then, a figure slowly walked onto a tall tower directly in front of the barrier.

He wore a black combat uniform, and there was no mask on his face.

The night wind lifted his black hair, revealing that young, cold face.

Uchiha Xuanshi.

He looked at Obito inside the barrier, looked at that berserk Nine-Tails, and the corners of his mouth rose slightly.

"The insane one is you, Obito."

Xuanshi's voice echoed across the entire battlefield through chakra amplification.

Obito's body jolted violently.

He had heard that name.

The name he had thought had been buried at Kannabi Bridge.

"What did you call me?" Obito's voice turned sinister and terrifying.

Xuanshi ignored his question.

He raised his hand, pointed at Obito, and his eyes were filled with contempt.

"The glory of the Uchiha does not need a stray dog like you to define it."

Xuanshi's eyes instantly transformed into the pattern of the Mangekyo.

Crimson light flowed through the night, like two blood moons.

"You think you're using the Uchiha?"

"No."

Xuanshi suddenly clenched his fist.

"Tonight, this place will be your grave!"

Following his movement, the three hundred Uchiha clansmen outside the barrier drew their blades at the same time.

"Kill!"

Their battle cries shook heaven and earth.

This was not to seize the Nine-Tails.

This was not for so-called political gain.

This was to tell the world—

When disaster descended, the ones who stood at the very front of Konoha would always be the Uchiha!