Hand-Seal-less Flying Thunder God, Crushing Kamui's Terror

Step by step, Izumi Uchiha retreated toward the cold blue-brick wall until her heels pressed against its base. There was nowhere left to retreat in this dark alley, which reeked of blood.

Her legs trembled uncontrollably. Her once-bright eyes had lost focus, and her strength had long since run out.

They had not even held out for a moment. The two Security Department members who had tried to protect Izumi lay at her feet.

The man in the patterned mask slowly approached her, stepping through the blood.

Three black tomoe spun in his eyes, and red light shone from Obito's right eye through the mask's opening.

There was no fluctuation of chakra. A long black wooden rod extended from his palm as he raised his right hand without hesitation.

"D-Don't kill me! Please!"

But her exhausted body would not obey her at all. Izumi tried to gather chakra, her voice trembling.

Konoha ANBU had yet to appear. All that came from every direction were the screams of the dying.

The wooden rod was already raised over his head, yet Obito did not stop walking.

"Die. Sleep to death in this falsehood."

The tip of the Black Rod shot for Izumi's throat. Obito swung his arm down, his low voice falling with it.

There was no sound of hand seals in the alley, nor the whistle of incoming shuriken, when the Black Rod was just about to touch her skin.

His right eye caught the sudden emergence of immense chakra, and the three tomoe in Obito's eye spun rapidly.

Ye stood directly in front of Izumi.

Three dark-red patterns on his clothes reflected the moonlight. His loose black robe fluttered in the wind, the red and black standing out sharply.

His right palm struck the descending Black Rod with perfect precision, sweeping upward. He did not even turn his head, his left hand still tucked in his pocket. It was merely a casual blow.

At the same time, a dull crack of bone breaking and the sharp snap of wood rang out.

Overwhelming force surged up his arm as Ye's Yang Release chakra poured into his wrist. Obito's sturdy wooden Black Rod was severed by a single chop of Ye's hand.

His entire right arm bent at an unnatural angle on the spot. Obito could not withstand that force at all.

"What the hell? Who are you?!"

Before the thought had fully formed, Ye struck again, and Obito felt his chest tighten.

His right hand flipped with the momentum and grabbed for the patterned mask. He had no intention of giving Obito the chance to activate his space-time ninjutsu.

Just as spatial distortion began to form around Obito's right eye, Ye's eyes had already transformed into Mangekyo Sharingan.

The vitality brought by his body continued to flow, pushing the power of those eyes to a new peak. Immense Yin Release chakra burst forth.

The right-eye ocular technique, Yomotsu Hirasaka, activated.

The spatial distortion could no longer expand. Another force forcibly locked it at a critical point in its operation, and everything in Obito's vision immediately slowed.

What tightly gripped his mask were Ye's five fingers.

With a heavy crash, Ye lifted Obito one-handed and smashed him into the blue-stone ground beside them.

Rubble and dirt blasted into the air. Intersecting cracks spread in every direction across the ground as the blue stone caved in, leaving a pit several meters wide in the alley.

Before hitting the ground, Obito forcibly activated the Hashirama Cells to repair his body, though his back had still been smashed into a bloody mess. Cracks spread across his mask as well.

Blood continuously poured from his mouth, quickly staining the broken stones beneath him red.

"You dodged pretty fast. Heh, just as expected of Madara Uchiha's good grandson."

Every word in Ye's low, cold voice carried undisguised mockery.

He held the chunk of mask he had casually torn off between his fingers, gazing idly over the edge of the pit at Obito as he slowly withdrew his hand.

To Ye, Obito at the bottom of the pit was no different from the dirt beneath his feet. There was not the slightest ripple in those red eyes.

The skin covered in cracks and old wounds twitched constantly. With the right half of his face exposed to the air, Obito lay at the bottom of the pit, gasping violently.

His taijutsu, once a source of pride, was useless before this black-clad youth. His intangibility had been interrupted, his space-time ninjutsu shattered on the spot, and his mind was in complete chaos.

Just who was this bastard?

"Minato's Flying Thunder God... cough... who the hell are you?!"

He endured the agony of broken bones throughout his body, ready to forcibly activate his ninjutsu and flee at any moment.

"Don't compare me to that half-baked trash, Minato Namikaze, who throws kunai around everywhere."

Ye's tone was filled with utter disdain.

His figure vanished from where he stood. There were no hand seals and no process of gathering chakra.

Yet Obito could not catch the slightest trace of movement, even as his eyes spun wildly.

Ye's sole was already on his back, and a chill rose from the back of his neck in the next instant.

Obito finally screamed. A crack rang out as his bones broke.

Blood sprayed from his mouth again, splattering into the dirt before him.

Phase through it. Phase through it! Obito frantically urged himself from within.

His body finally began to turn transparent, spatial distortion reappearing as he poured all his remaining strength into his right eye.

Sensing the solid body beneath his foot gradually disappearing, Ye withdrew his force instead of continuing to stomp on him, allowing Obito to activate his ninjutsu.

"Run. While your head is still on your neck."

Ye spoke coldly as he watched that broken body gradually be drawn into the spatial vortex.

"And while you're at it, deliver a message to Black Zetsu. Tell that black coal ball this lousy chessboard is under my control now."

Obito vanished, leaving behind only half a shattered mask and a pool of red blood at the bottom of the pit. The space then closed completely.

The massacre was not over. The only reminder was the screams still echoing in the distance; the alley itself had fallen silent.

Izumi stared at everything before her, slumped against the wall.

She had even forgotten to breathe. Her mind could no longer think of anything. Only a brief moment had passed between waiting for death and being saved.

The black-clad youth who had defeated the masked man in a single blow stood before her, his back blocking the blood and corpses in the alley from her sight.

The patterns in Ye's eyes gradually faded, returning them to black. He turned around and looked down at the limp Izumi.

Kabuto emerged from the shadows. Not far away, the air rippled slightly as he wore ordinary white clothes.

He held a scroll used for recording in his other hand and habitually adjusted his glasses.

"Lord Ye, those Anbu people probably caught the scent. Looks like two squads are closing in."

His tone barely changed. With the reflection on his lenses concealing his eyes, Kabuto casually swept his gaze over the bloodstains on the ground.

Ye casually pointed in Izumi's direction.

"Knock her out and take her back to the base for that woman Nonō."

The lights there still shone through the night as his gaze shifted toward the Hokage Building.

"This girl still has some use. Letting her die in this shitty alley would be a waste."

Medical chakra lit up in Kabuto's hands as he quickly walked forward.

His fingers were already pressed against her neck before Izumi could react at all.

She completely lost consciousness, her body going limp as the girl closed her eyes.

Kabuto casually sealed her into a scroll and tucked it into his robes. He was thoroughly practiced at such work.

"So, my lord, where are we heading next?"

He stood where he was, waiting for Ye to speak as he adjusted his glasses again.

Ye casually twisted his neck, bones cracking one after another. His expression changed as he looked toward the Hokage Building.

"Isn't it obvious? We're going to meet our senile Third Hokage."

Ye gave a cold laugh and brushed the dust from his sleeve.

"The Uchiha being wiped out is such a fine show. If I don't personally go applaud those old bones, I'd feel sorry for all the nights they stayed up planning it."

Chakra immediately covered both of them as Ye placed a hand directly on Kabuto's shoulder.

Leaving behind no trace whatsoever, the two figures vanished from the alley in the next second.

When the distant Anbu squad finally arrived, all they saw were shattered blue bricks covering the ground and blood that was still flowing.

They would never know that a dangerous man had just left this place, heading straight for the village's administrative building.