Rotten Wood and Old Debts

"Boom!"

A water column tens of meters high exploded on the sea surface. Nine golden chains, with dazzling tails of light, pierced through the heavy rain and tightly bound the neck and limbs of the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path.

The chains were taut and straight, making a harsh, teeth-grinding sound as they rubbed together.

Obito stood atop the Golem's head, one hand raised in front of his chest in Hand Seals. Without uttering a word, the Golem roared, its ten tightly closed eyes oozing dark red Chakra, and its massive body was suddenly thrown backward.

The ram of the armored ship beneath Naruto's feet shattered instantly. He bent his knees slightly, his heels slamming through half a meter of armor plate, his entire body like a nail driven into the bow, forcefully holding back the overwhelming pulling force.

"A tug-of-war?" Naruto grinned, his Pure Yang Chakra rising like tangible golden flames from his body, instantly evaporating the icy seawater rushing towards him. "I eat three big bowls of ramen Tenten just for this tug-of-war!"

Thunder roared in mid-air. Without pausing, Sasuke drew his Kusanagi Sword, moving with the sword, transforming into a streak of blue and white lightning that shot straight toward the top of the Golem's head.

Obito didn't even lift his eyelids, letting the sword blade, crackling with high-voltage electricity, slash into his shoulder.

Blurring.

The blade pierced through the black robe without any resistance. The moment Sasuke missed his attack, he twisted his waist forcefully in mid-air, and as he landed, he pulled out the dark red scroll stained with dried blood from his ninja tool pouch and threw it directly into the crack of the dead wood at Obito's feet.

"The Danzo Danzo's collusion with you." Sasuke sheathed his sword, his dark eyes coldly fixed on Obito. "That old dog is already a pile of mangled flesh at the gates of Hidden Leaf. This is the paper money he left for you."

Obito glanced down at the scroll, and the spatial vortex in his right eye paused for half a second.

"You think you can leave safely after cutting off Danzo's hand?" Obito's voice was deep, carrying a hint of condescending mockery. "Judging by the time, the elite of Root have already surrounded the Hokage Building. That stubborn woman Tsunade can't protect the empty shell you left behind."

Sasuke's lips curled into a cold smile.

"Don't embarrass yourself if your intelligence is outdated." Sasuke brushed the water droplets off his shoulder. "Before leaving, Shikamaru set up four layers of strangulation traps outside the Hokage Tower. Shizune is usually so polite, but her deadly needles can take down eight people in a second. As for Tsunade..."

Sasuke raised his eyes, his gaze full of mockery. "You expect a bunch of spineless dogs to bite a tiger that can smash a city wall through with its bare hands?"

Obito paused almost imperceptibly.

It wasn't pleasant to be outmaneuvered by these brats. He suddenly raised his hand, Golem mouth, its purplish-black Chakra being compressed wildly within it, causing the surrounding space to distort under the immense pressure.

Karin clutched her chest tightly at the bow of the ship. Mind's Eye of the Kagura's Eye senses sent chills down her spine. "Naruto! That's an extremely high density of Chakra! This ship can't withstand it!"

"Then don't let it vomit!"

Naruto released the chain from his left hand and Hand Seals with one hand.

Kakashi had already circled around to the bottom of the Golem on the ice, pulled down his Forehead Protector, and his Three-Tomoe Sharingan spun wildly. A thunderous roar echoed as azure lightning stretched across his palm.

"Chidori - Double Penetrating Light!"

Two lightning blades descended from below, precisely severing the main vine on the left side that supported the Golem's body.

The Golem's massive body suddenly lurched to the left, and the Tailed Beast Ball, which was only half-compressed in its mouth, instantly veered off course, whizzing past the speedboat's mast with a "boom" and flying high into the sky, blasting a huge hole in the thick thunderclouds.

In the very second that the Golem lost its balance, Naruto moved.

The deck shattered, Naruto transformed into a golden streak of light, rushing up the chains to the top of the Golem's head and instantly appearing before Obito. His right fist clenched, his Chakra compressed to its limit, causing the surrounding air to crackle.

Obito's right eye vortex reappeared, preparing to suck Naruto's attack into another dimension.

"Obito! What are you trying to do, wearing that lousy mask and acting all high and mighty!"

Naruto didn't slow down; instead, he roared.

The moment those two words were uttered, it was as if the air had been sucked out.

Kakashi, who was preparing to jump to support, found his feet firmly planted on the ice. The lingering lightning in his palm instantly dissipated, his lifeless, dead-fish eye contracted violently, and his Adam's apple bobbed up and down with difficulty. His breathing completely stopped at that moment.

Obito's single pupil beneath his mask suddenly contracted. His hand Hand Seals froze in mid-air, and the previously smooth-running Kamui Space experienced a fatal glitch.

Naruto seized that one-tenth of a second opening, his fist grazing the edge of the spatial vortex before slamming hard into the orange tiger-skin mask.

Click.

Three spiderweb-like cracks appeared on the surface of the mask. Obito flying, crashing heavily into the spikes on the back of the Golem, coughing up a mouthful of blood.

"What nonsense are you talking about..." Obito clutched his chest, his heavy breathing coming through his nostrils, his voice completely out of rhythm.

"I'm talking nonsense?" Naruto walked closer, looking down at him. "If Rin Nohara saw you looking like this, neither human nor ghost, she would definitely smash your head with a first-aid kit."

Obito a sudden tightness in his back as his fingers dug deep scratches into the splinter.

Naruto sneered, revealing his trump card without hesitation. "The Divine Tree? The Ten-Tails? Don't flatter yourself. That's nothing but a pile of black sludge concocting a ridiculous script to resurrect his alien mother and fool Madara Uchiha. And you, you're not even fit to be a player; at best, you're just a secondhand tool, sold out and then helping to count the money."

Every sentence hits the nail on the head.

Obito's breathing became rapid, and blood vessels quickly filled his one eye. Decades of faith and hatred seemed ridiculous and absurd in the face of these few plain words.

"Shut up!!"

Obito let out a trapped beast's roar, his Chakra completely out of control. The Demonic Statue of the Outer Path beneath his feet sensed the caster's chaos and unleashed a terrifying scream. Its broken vines began to lash the sea indiscriminately, creating a raging tsunami.

"That's enough. His Dao heart has collapsed. If we continue to stimulate him, his Ten-Tails body will break free of control."

A hoarse, eerie voice came from the shadows beneath Obito's feet. Black Zetsu transformed into a thick, black slime, which quickly climbed up Obito's trouser leg and forcibly enveloped him.

"Turtle Island has absorbed enough chakra from its Chakra Leyline. This kid's Yang Release is too wicked. Retreat!" Black Zetsu, with only one yellow eye showing, stared intently at Naruto.

Obito gritted his teeth, the vortex in his right eye spinning wildly.

"Naruto Uzumaki... I will collect this debt with interest."

Space distorted, and Obito and the enormous Demonic Statue of the Outer Path rapidly shrank within a vortex.

"You run away when you can't win? Is that your attitude?" Naruto sneered, then drew his Flying Thunder God Kunai and hurled it.

The Kunai only cut off a section of Obito's black sleeve; the Golem and the man had completely disappeared from the sea.

The wind was still howling, but the suffocating feeling that had been pressing down on everyone's hearts finally dissipated.

Kakashi's legs buckled, and he knelt on one knee on the ice. Rain dripped from his chin, his eyes were terrifyingly empty, and his lips trembled incessantly, yet he couldn't utter a single syllable.

Naruto landed on the ice without helping Kakashi. He knew that he could only overcome this collapse of decades of understanding on his own.

"Boom!"

A series of muffled explosions suddenly came from underwater. The giant turtle, which had been quiet, let out a mournful cry a hundred times more piercing than before.

Bai quickly crouched down, pressing his hands onto the ice. "The water temperature is rising rapidly! The earth's crust structure underneath has been destroyed!"

Karin collapsed onto the deck, her face deathly pale. Pointing to the area where the Golem had vanished, she cried out, "Naruto! That black guy severed one of the Golem's blood vessels before he left it on the seabed! It's sucking the flesh of those dead White Zetsu!"

The seawater was churning violently.

A dark red, barbed growth, about the thickness of a bucket, broke through the surface of the sea. Its surface was covered with grayish-white blood vessels, and like a heart, it made a chilling "thump, thump" sound.

With each jump, the surrounding seawater becomes even more murky and black.

Sasuke gripped the sword hilt tightly, his Lightning Release Chakra igniting once more. "What the hell is that thing?"

Naruto stared at the ever-expanding tumor, the golden Chakra on his body slowly receding and turning into an extremely dangerous deep red.

"That's a 'return gift' for us." Naruto cracked his neck, his knuckles popping. "Looks like we'll have to work as lumberjacks today."