There was nothing left in midair.
As Yahiko searched for Obito Uchiha, he suddenly felt a surge of heat behind him.
Yahiko reacted at once. His hands flew through the signs, and a Water Wall rose behind him, blocking Obito Uchiha's Great Fireball Technique.
Yahiko seized the chance to leap away. Twisting sharply in midair, he saw a vast cloud of white mist billow up where the water and fire met.
In an instant, it engulfed everything within two hundred meters.
Yahiko tensed. The child was still somewhere in that mist. If Obito Uchiha went after her, she would be in danger.
With that thought, Yahiko rushed toward where he remembered her standing.
He reached out and pulled someone into his arms.
Only when he heard a girl's startled cry did Yahiko relax.
"Let's go!"
Holding the little girl, he dashed toward the edge of the mist.
The mist was thick, but Yahiko was used to living in conditions like these. It posed no great obstacle to him.
He carried the girl toward safety, but things did not go as he hoped.
Just as Yahiko activated the Body Flicker Technique, he heard a low shout behind him. "Fire Release: Blast Wave Wild Dance!"
The mist behind him vanished before his eyes, replaced by a vast sea of flames surging through it.
Scarlet fire covered nearly everything Yahiko could see.
Escape was all but impossible.
Yahiko was about to unleash the Great Waterfall Technique when Obito Uchiha withdrew his Ninjutsu.
Obito Uchiha had never intended to finish Yahiko with Fire Release.
Nagato was too sharp. If Obito Uchiha used Fire Release, Nagato would surely pick up on the clues.
That was why Obito Uchiha had withdrawn the technique in time.
Yahiko looked baffled, but he did not dare lower his guard.