Forcibly Seizing the First Hokage's Remains, Blood Crow's Message to Meet an Old Acquaintance!
The underground mine fell into a deathly silence.
As soon as Hinata finished speaking, Kakashi's crimson Sharingan suddenly contracted, his perpetually deadpan expression vanishing instantly. The face of the First Hokage, Hashirama Senju, was located on the heart of a White Zetsu body?
This intelligence carries more weight than the combined information of the five hundred wandering ninjas mentioned above. It directly reveals a corner of Obito's so-called "Madara Uchiha" identity and exposes the core source of the Akatsuki's war foundation.
"Snap."
The Control Array, shattering from the ground, emitted a piercing screeching sound. Just as Naruto released one of the chains of the Adamantine Sealing Chains, several prisoners hanging on the rock wall suddenly convulsed, dark red streaks of blood appearing on their ashen skin, and they let out painful roars.
"Naruto! Don't withdraw your Chakra!" Karin shouted, pressing her hands firmly to the ground, her sensory network fully deployed. "The core of the array is shattered, but their Chakra was just forcibly drained, making their meridians as fragile as noodles. Now that the external pressure is gone, the remaining dark Chakra is backfiring on their hearts!"
Naruto frowned deeply and immediately increased his Yang Release Chakra output. A dazzling golden halo spread across the ground, transforming into more than five hundred extremely fine light threads that precisely pierced into the bodies of each prisoner, forcibly stabilizing their collapsing heart meridians.
"Kakashi-sensei, take Kurotsuchi to the outer perimeter." Naruto's forehead was beaded with sweat, but his tone was extremely calm. "This broken formation is destroyed, Obito definitely left more than just these. Clear out all the physical traps, poison gas, and remaining Explosive Tag. I'm going to create Shadow Clone and seal each of them with the Meridian-Securing Seal."
"Understood. Kurotsuchi, let's go." Kakashi didn't waste any words and turned to leap into the darkness. Although Kurotsuchi was eager to see the "First's face" Kurotsuchi, she knew the priorities and gritted her teeth to follow.
Bang bang bang! Dozens of Naruto's Shadow Clone appeared in mid-air, darting across the rock walls, their hands flashing as they formed hand Hand Seals, slamming Uzumaki imbued with life force into the prisoners' chests.
Meanwhile, Sasuke, standing at the edge of the pit, had his eyes transformed into six-pointed stars. His Mangekyō Sharingan was fixed on the crack in the earth that Naruto had just smashed through.
"Naruto," Sasuke's voice was icy cold, "Obito is playing a series of tricks. The Control Array may be broken, but the thickest Chakra circuit hasn't been severed, leading all the way to the bottom."
Naruto, while controlling his clone, turned his head and asked, "With that face too?"
"Yes. There's not only that monster there, but also a spatial teleportation array that's heating up at full speed." Sasuke gripped the hilt of his Kusanagi Sword. "This guy is using these five hundred people as bait; his real purpose is to buy time and teleport away the mother body containing the Hashirama Cells."
This is also a classic trolley problem. If you try to save people, you can only watch helplessly as the crucial supplies are transported away; if you try to seize the supplies, the five hundred people on board will immediately die from the backlash of their Chakra.
Hearing this, Kurotsuchi, who had just finished clearing the traps at the entrance and was returning, instantly flew into a rage. "Then what are we waiting for? Obito is clearly trying to disgust us. I'm going to smash that damn formation down there!"
"Back off!" Naruto shouted, stopping her. "Your Earth Release technique is too noisy. It's connected to the Leyline. If it collapses, all five hundred of us will be buried alive. Besides, the tearing force of the spatial array can grind you into mincemeat."
Kurotsuchi gritted his teeth. "So we just watch him run away?"
Sasuke a thumbs-up, Kusanagi Sword was drawn half an inch from its sheath, the gleaming blade reflecting his crimson eyes.
"I'll go!"
Naruto turned to look at Sasuke, their eyes meeting in the dim light of the mine. Without much exchange, just two seconds later, Naruto nodded.
"Go. Don't try to fight through spatial turbulence. Come back alive." Naruto grinned, revealing his signature arrogance. "If the intelligence is lost, I'll just turn the Land of Iron upside down and look for it again. But if the person is gone, I can't ask the Five Great Nations for a body collection fee."
Sasuke's lips curled into a mocking smile, "Mind your bunch of useless batteries. Stop babbling."
Before he finished speaking, Sasuke transformed into a streak of lightning and leaped into the deep, dark rift without hesitation.
The wind howled in his ears. The temperature plummeted in the area seventy meters below ground. Sasuke fell a full thirty meters before the view suddenly opened up before him.
This is a huge, man-made circular stone chamber. In the very center, a massive nutrient tank filled with murky green liquid stands. Inside the tank, a pale, gigantic body floats silently, and at its heart, there is none other Hashirama Senju with his eyes closed.
Beneath the nutrient tank, a complex spatial magic spell was emitting a blinding blue light, and distorted ripples had begun to appear in the surrounding space. Obito had clearly timed it perfectly; the teleportation was about to complete.
Around the nutrient tank stood a dozen or so White Zetsu, their bodies deathly pale and devoid of facial features. Sensing Sasuke's intrusion, they immediately twisted their limbs and pounced along the wall like spiders.
"Trash blocking the way."
Sasuke's eyes were icy cold. He raised his left hand, and the piercing cry of Chidori instantly echoed throughout the stone chamber. But instead of engaging in close combat, he compressed his Lightning Release Chakra to its extreme.
"Chidori Sharp Spear - Star Shatter!"
The blue and white lightning spear instantly grew to over ten meters in length, sweeping through the air like cutting tofu. The five White Zetsu at the forefront didn't even have time to scream before being sliced in two by the raging Lightning Release Chakra, their cut surfaces charred black.
The remaining White Zetsu, undaunted by death, sprouted sharp wooden spikes from their wrists, aiming for Sasuke's vitals from a blind spot.
"Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique!"
As Sasuke plummeted, he formed a hand Hand Seals, unleashing a blazing fireball that slammed into the wall. Using the recoil from the explosion, he forcefully swerved in mid-air and landed steadily on the edge of the teleportation array.
At this moment, the blue light from the teleportation array had already enveloped half of the enormous nutrient tank, creating immense spatial pulling force; any ordinary Ninjutsu thrown in would be directly swallowed up.
"Want to take it? Have you asked my sword first?"
Sasuke's right Mangekyou Mangekyo Sharingan spun wildly. He saw through the weakest point in the entire spatial technique 'Chakra flow—a flaw left by Obito's forced activation of the formation.
The Kusanagi Sword was crackling with black lightning. This was not only Chidori, but also mixed with Sasuke's awakened and rampaging Yin Release Chakra.
"Break it off!"
Sasuke a step forward, facing the spatial storm that almost tore people apart, and thrust his sword with perfect precision into a rune groove in the southwest corner of the teleportation array.
Lightning burst forth along the blade.
Click!
The entire spatial teleportation array flashed suddenly, followed by a grating wail. The blue light instantly became chaotic, and the spatial power that had been enveloping the nutrient tank began to indiscriminately cut through everything around it, like a runaway horse.
Pfft!
The massive nutrient tank shattered directly amidst the spatial turbulence. The mother body bearing the face of the First was torn apart by the violent force; one half was sucked into the alternate dimension, while the other half was forcibly severed with a muffled thud, crashing heavily onto the floor of the stone chamber.
Green liquid spilled all over the ground.
Sasuke drew his Kusanagi Sword and retreated several steps to avoid the aftershocks of the spatial turbulence. Only when the broken teleportation array completely went out did he breathe a sigh of relief, his gaze fixed on the half-section of the mother body's remains on the ground.
Although they couldn't keep everything, cutting off this half was enough for Hidden Leaf's medical team to research the White Zetsu's weaknesses, effectively thwarting half of Obito's plan.
Just as Sasuke was about to turn around and inform Naruto, his Mangekyō Sharingan suddenly detected something unusual.
At the very center where the teleportation array had completely disappeared, there was no trace of Obito's signature Kamui distortion. Instead, there was an extremely faint Chakra fluctuation that did not belong to this place.
Sasuke stepped forward and used the tip of his sword to clear away a pile of rubble.
Beneath the rubble, a feather lay quietly.
It was a Crow's feather, with a striking blood-red edge.
Sasuke's breath hitched. He would never forget the scent of that Chakra.
The moment his gaze fell upon the blood-red raven feathers, the surrounding environment suddenly became illusory. The sound of dripping water rang out, and a dark red sky enveloped the entire underground stone chamber.
It's not Kamui, it's the echo of Tsukuyomi!
A voice so familiar it sent chills down his spine suddenly echoed in the depths of Sasuke's mind.
"You've grown up, Sasuke. But you've also gotten closer to the abyss."
In the illusion, the man dressed in the Akatsuki's red cloud black robe stood with his back to him, his voice calm and utterly devoid of emotion, "Obito's plan is merely a facade. If you wish to know the full truth behind the Night of the Massacre, at the Lightning Cloud Gorge ruins, I'll only wait one day for you."
The illusion shattered instantly, like Utakata.
Sasuke stood there, the Blood Crow feather on the ground had already turned into a wisp of black smoke and dissipated. The veins on the back of his hand, which was gripping the Kusanagi Sword, stood out prominently.
Itachi Uchiha!
He was indeed still secretly watching all of this! Moreover, he actually managed to leave Genjutsu gate in this spatial teleportation array before Obito.
"Sasuke! Are you done yet? Has the ground collapsed?" Naruto's piercing shout came from above.
Sasuke took a deep breath, completely suppressing the complex emotions in his eyes, and the crimson six-pointed star gradually faded. He kicked the half of the White Zetsu's remains with the First's face aside and coldly replied.
"The formation is destroyed. Half of the supplies remain."
He paused, looked up at the slit through which a faint light shone, and a resolute look appeared in his eyes.
"By the way, I need to ask for a day off. There's an old personal score I need to settle."