I've Got Two Packages Here. Which One Do You Want?

Obito suddenly exclaimed, "Huh? Deidara, this guy looks like Uchiha Yi!"

Deidara immediately perked up, raising an eyebrow at Uchiha Yi. "Oh? You're Uchiha Yi?"

Deidara laughed. "Hey, you actually know me! Looks like you've been keeping tabs on me!"

Uchiha Yi turned his gaze to Obito. That single look made Obito's skin crawl, as though everything about him had been laid bare. He felt uncomfortable all over, even a little unsafe.

Deidara laughed, flung out both hands, and shouted, "Explosive Clay: Little Flying Bird!"

Several birds molded from white clay shot forward at tremendous speed, reaching Uchiha Yi in an instant.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

The explosions swallowed Uchiha Yi completely.

Deidara looked thrilled. "Art is an Explosion, all right! What a beautiful sight!"

But Obito suddenly frowned and pointed to one side. "But, Deidara, look..."

Deidara followed his gaze and saw Uchiha Yi standing there without a scratch. He raised an eyebrow. "Dodged it? Well, that just makes things more interesting."

Deidara swept both hands out, unleashing a swarm of Clay Grasshoppers that leaped toward Uchiha Yi.

But at that very moment, Uchiha Yi suddenly lifted his right hand.

A force barely visible to the naked eye touched the Clay Grasshoppers. Instead of exploding against Yi, the lively little things caught Deidara and Obito in their blasts.

Obito scrambled in a panic, while Yi had already used Kamui to become intangible and avoid the shock waves.

Yi nodded, a trace of satisfaction flashing through his eyes. Looks like the Rinnegan's gestation has progressed far enough to support Shinra Tensei.

Deidara cursed, "Tobi, you're getting in my way! You're throwing me off! Get lost!"

Obito had wanted to leave anyway. Itachi and Sasuke's battlefield was still waiting for him. Although Yi's strength had surprised him a little, he hadn't taken it too seriously.

Obito gave an awkward chuckle. "Sure. I'll leave you to it, then."

As soon as he finished speaking, Obito activated Kamui and vanished.

Deidara grinned. "Hmph, nobody's holding me back now. Kid, let's see what you're made of!"

Yi frowned slightly, an odd look in his eyes.

He said nothing, but his expression made it clear he couldn't be bothered to waste words.

Seeing this, Deidara's temper flared.

Deidara swore, "Damn it! I hate that smug look you Uchiha always wear! Who do you think you're impressing? Just die!"

He clapped his hands together. "C2 Dragon!"

An enormous clay dragon appeared out of thin air, opening its huge jaws to spit out a dense barrage of small Clay Bombs.

Yi shook his head. "That junk won't work on me."

But just as he raised his hand to act, a deafening thunderclap rang out in the distance. Yi looked up and saw an enormous Lightning Kirin charging in this direction.

Surprise flickered in Yi's eyes. Already?

Seeing Yi staring into the distance, Deidara shouted, "Hey! What are you looking at?"

Then he detonated every small Clay Bomb.

But just as the blasts were about to reach Yi, powerful chakra surged from his body. An enormous Susanoo materialized and blocked every explosion head-on.

Deidara's pupils contracted in shock. What is that?

He had never seen anything capable of blocking explosions like that.

Yi looked at Deidara and said evenly, "Time to end this. I don't have time to play around with you."

Deidara flew into a rage. "Play around? Kid! Do you have any idea who you're messing with?"

An icy voice suddenly sounded behind him. Deidara stiffened, and before he could react, Yi kicked him flying.

Deidara spat blood in midair, disbelief filling his eyes. Damn it! How is he so fast?

He reacted quickly, reaching out to summon a giant clay bird and barely steadying himself. But the moment he found his footing, he saw Yi standing behind him.

Deidara didn't even get a chance to speak before another kick struck his back, smashing him into the ground and leaving a huge crater.

Deidara lay in the crater and cursed, "Damn you!"

He was gravely wounded, but still alive.

Yi crouched at the edge of the crater and looked down at Deidara, sounding faintly exasperated. "You can really take a beating."

Furious and bitter, Deidara roared, "Uchiha Yi! Don't push your luck!"

Suddenly, a crazed smile spread across Deidara's face.

He screamed, "Hee-hee! This is my ultimate art! You're dead, Uchiha Yi! I'm going to blow myself up!"

Yi's expression shifted slightly. He had actually forgotten Deidara's ultimate move-self-destruction.

Seeing Yi's expression, Deidara assumed he was afraid and gloated, "It's too late to be scared! My explosion has a radius of a thousand kilometers! Even killing me won't stop it. It'll only make it happen sooner!"

Yi scoffed. "Tch, ten kilometers? What's that supposed to mean to someone who can use the Flying Thunder God Technique?"

At the words "Flying Thunder God Technique," Deidara's expression changed instantly, filling with disbelief.

Yi raised his head and extended his right hand.

Deidara's pupils contracted as he saw space warping in front of Yi's hand. Isn't that Tobi's technique?

Before Deidara could react, that world-shattering explosive force was forcibly compressed inside the crater by the spatial distortion. A black vortex formed, swallowing all the energy of the explosion.

The corners of Yi's mouth rose slightly. This was the ability he had just mastered-Kamui: Space-Time Vortex!

Although his Rinnegan had yet to finish its gestation, the abilities Yi displayed were already astonishing.

He looked toward Itachi and Sasuke's distant battlefield and murmured, "I'd better deal with the trouble over there."

Upon reaching the battlefield, Yi surveyed the devastated terrain. Itachi and Sasuke both lay amid the rubble beside the enormous crater. Obito was already there, but Black Zetsu had only just emerged when Yi spoke first.

Obito turned toward the newly arrived Black Zetsu and couldn't help complaining, "You're way too slow."

Black Zetsu curled his lip and grumbled, "How am I supposed to compete with you? My movement speed isn't as ridiculous as yours."

Obito said nothing more. He turned to stare at Yi, his voice ice-cold. "Who are you, really?"

Yi glanced at Black Zetsu, then looked back at Obito and laughed. "Me? Uchiha Yi."

He paused and added, "By the way, this Tobi getup of yours is pretty distinctive."

Obito's expression darkened, his eyes full of wariness. He immediately activated his Mangekyō Sharingan and raised his hand to attack Yi with Kamui.

But the spatial attack he expected never came. Everything around them remained calm. Obito's Kamui had actually failed.

His pupils contracted, and he clenched his fists. This was his best Space-Time Ninjutsu. How could it fail?

Yi couldn't help laughing at Obito's stunned expression.

He took two steps forward, and Obito instinctively backed away. Unwilling to accept defeat, Obito used Kamui again, only to get the same result.

Now Obito didn't dare move recklessly. He could only stare at Yi, afraid he would attack again.

Yi walked over to Itachi, plucked out his eyes, and casually tossed them to Obito. "Keep these. Consider it fulfilling Itachi's wish to give them to Sasuke."

He shook his head and said casually, "Itachi's eyes don't interest me, and Sasuke's Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan interests me even less."

With that, his figure flickered and disappeared, leaving Obito and Black Zetsu behind.

Obito stared at the eyes in his hand, his fist clenched tight, barely able to contain his shock. Yi seemed to possess Flying Thunder God, along with a version of Kamui superior to his own. Otherwise, how could Yi have suppressed his Ninjutsu?

Only then did Black Zetsu breathe a sigh of relief, his voice still shaken. "Obito, that man is terrifying. When he looked at me just now, I felt as though he saw right through me. It was like being crushed under Kaguya Ōtsutsuki's pressure."

Obito frowned and shook his head. "I don't know. But he's definitely no ordinary Uchiha."

The two left with Sasuke and Itachi's eyes. Although Yi was gone, the shadow he had cast over Obito and Black Zetsu's hearts lingered.

In a small courtyard at the Moon Palace, Yi stood beside a large bed. Itachi lay on it. Contrary to what Yi had thought, Itachi wasn't dead; when Yi arrived, he had detected a faint spark of life in him.

Yi said nothing and simply waited beside the bed for Itachi to wake.

Suddenly, Itachi stirred, and Yi immediately spoke. "Hey, awake?"

Itachi opened his eyes, his voice calm and unafraid. "Uchiha Yi?"

Itachi sat up, his voice perfectly calm. "Uchiha Yi?"

Yi leaned against the bed and raised an eyebrow. "You're not surprised?"

Itachi threw back the covers, climbed out of bed, and moved his arms and legs. "I wouldn't say I'm all that surprised. But... why did you save me?"

Yi waved a hand. "We settled our score over the Night of the Uchiha Massacre long ago. I didn't save you for old times' sake."

Itachi frowned and pressed him. "Then what do you want?"

Yi got straight to the point. "My place needs a gatekeeper. Room and board included, no wages. I think you'd be a good fit."

Itachi froze for a moment, then realized Yi had no intention of harming Sasuke. He breathed a sigh of relief. "Just guarding the gate?"

Yi scoffed. "Of course. If you don't believe me, once your eyes recover, feel your way over to the gate and see for yourself."

Itachi paused, then his expression changed. "Did you do something to Sasuke?"

Yi rolled his eyes. "I can't be bothered with that idiot brother of yours. Every day, he's going on about killing his brother for revenge. Then, after learning the truth, he wants to destroy Konoha. If not for Naruto's absurd gift of persuasion, he'd have become a full-blown supervillain."

Itachi relaxed, but couldn't help asking curiously, "How do you know all that?"

Yi shrugged. "I know a lot more than you do. Want to hear it?"

Itachi shook his head and said evenly, "No. I'm not interested."

Yi said no more. He took out two objects and gave them a shake. "I've got two packages here. Which one do you want?"

Itachi leaned closer to look. "What do you mean?"

Yi explained, "When I dealt with Danzo, I preserved one of Shisui's eyes. I'm guessing you have the other? The second one came from Orochimaru."

Itachi's expression darkened slightly. "What does Orochimaru have to do with this?"

Yi raised an eyebrow. "Let me ask you something. How much do you know about your father, Fugaku?"

Itachi froze, clearly not expecting the conversation to turn abruptly to his father.

Yi continued, "Fugaku awakened the Mangekyō Sharingan too. Nobody knew about it, not even Danzo. Orochimaru discovered it by accident, stole his eyes, and transplanted them into himself. A while back, that guy came to show off in front of me. I sent him flying with a slap and took the eyes back."