"Obito, you answered me just now, didn't you?"
"Huh?"
Before Obito could act, a powerful suction came from the jar in Naruto's hands, dragging him toward it. The sudden turn of events stunned everyone present.
Obito in particular could feel the powerful pull. He had intended to escape the terrifying suction with his intangibility, only to discover, to his astonishment, that it had stopped working.
Now it was Obito's turn to panic. He wasn't scared-he just knew he was in trouble.
Beneath his mask, Obito's face began to pale. Was he going to fall here? He still had dreams to fulfill. Rin hadn't been resurrected, and he hadn't created a world with only Rin in it. Was he going to fall now? He couldn't accept it!
Finally, Obito was sucked into the jar in Naruto's hands.
Only then did Sasuke and Itachi come closer, examining the object in Naruto's hands with curiosity.
"Naruto, what is that thing?"
Sasuke touched it here and looked at it there, intensely curious about just what Naruto was holding. It could actually suck people inside. How amazing.
"Oh, this? It's called the Amber Purifying Pot. I guess it counts as a divine artifact?"
"A divine artifact? Sounds really powerful."
Seeing Sasuke's foolish expression, Naruto shook his head and chuckled. Sasuke really did look pretty silly like this, but it was genuinely entertaining. If he hadn't intervened, the entire Uchiha Clan might already have been wiped out by now, and Sasuke might have awakened his single tomoe in a rage again.
"Pfft."
"Naruto, what are you laughing at?"
"Nothing. I thought of something funny."
Naruto wasn't about to tell Sasuke about sacrificing his whole clan to awaken a single tomoe in a rage. As for Itachi beside them, once he heard that the object in Naruto's hands was a divine artifact, he simply stood there, thinking who knew what.
Somewhere out of their sight stood a fellow shaped like an aloe plant, except that his center was black and white. It was none other than Black and White Zetsu. When they saw Obito get sucked into the object in Naruto's hands, neither could stay calm.
White Zetsu might not recognize that thing, but Black Zetsu did.
"Wow, who would've thought, who would've thought! Obito came to Konoha to slaughter a clan! Who could've guessed, who could've guessed! Obito got sealed away instead!"
"Shut up, White Zetsu. You're disturbing me."
Black Zetsu looked terrible just then, though it was impossible to tell what looked terrible about him. But when he saw a divine artifact belonging to the Sage of Six Paths appear in Naruto's hands, a chill ran through him. It was an instinctive fear. He didn't want to be sealed by something like that either.
"Black Zetsu, do you know what that thing in Naruto's hands is? Why do you seem so scared of it?"
"Shut your mouth, White Zetsu. That thing is called the Amber Purifying Pot. It belongs to the Sage of Six Paths. It's a divine artifact used for sealing. Damn it, Obito was far too careless, getting sealed so easily."
"Let's leave for now. Obito's been sealed, and we don't even know whether he can get out."
Just like that, Black and White Zetsu left, not bothering about whether Obito could get out.
As for Obito, whom they had abandoned, he was now somewhere particularly desolate, surrounded by an endless desert without even a trace of an animal.
"Where the hell is this? Why can't I use my Kamui? Damn it! You damned brat, just you wait. If I get out, I'll kill you with my own hands next time."
Trapped in the desert, Obito kept roaring, but soon shut his mouth. He realized that this impotent rage accomplished nothing except making him use up his body's water and stamina faster.
Meanwhile, not much time had passed for Naruto before the Amber Purifying Pot in his hands burst into a cloud of white smoke and vanished. He could only summon one divine artifact a day, and it had a time limit of just fifteen minutes. It was still too weak.
"Ah, is it over already?"
"Naruto, where's that divine artifact you had? Why did it disappear?"
"It said it missed home, so I let it go back."
Naruto's words made both Sasuke's and Itachi's mouths twitch. Even a three-year-old might not believe such a flimsy excuse.
When the divine artifact's time ran out, Naruto could feel that the seal on Obito's space ability had disappeared. He just didn't know when that fellow would return.
Speak of the devil. He had barely thought of Obito when a spatial vortex appeared the next second, and Obito tumbled out of it. None of his initial confidence and composure remained. His clothes were in tatters, and even his orange mask had cracked, exposing just a corner of his forehead. His hair was a mess too, making him look like a beggar who had spent ages begging.
"Damn it, you damned brat! You deserve to die!"
If Obito had needed to deliberately alter his voice at first to mislead others, he had now succeeded perfectly. A cracked, grating voice emerged from beneath his mask. He could no longer remember how long he had spent in the desert. Whenever his thirst became unbearable, he used Water Release Ninjutsu to replenish his water, but what about food? That wasn't something Ninjutsu could solve.
And so, after spending several days inside, Obito had rushed out the moment he discovered he could use Kamui again.
Naruto had noticed it too: time flowed differently inside this divine artifact than it did outside.
"Well, if it isn't Obito. What's wrong? Haven't seen you for a few days, and you've gotten this pathetic?"
As for Obito, exhaustion weighed on his entire body. He wanted nothing more than to kill Naruto on the spot, but then he remembered that strange object in Naruto's hands. He didn't dare gamble on whether Naruto had another one. If he really couldn't get out next time, wouldn't he be screwed?
"Hmph, a brat who's all talk. We'll see about this."
After saying that, Obito activated Kamui and tried to leave. Perhaps he had spent too long in the Amber Purifying Pot, or perhaps he had been careless, but this time his Kamui teleportation was much slower than before. How could Naruto let such a good opportunity slip away? Without a divine artifact, couldn't he use a secret scroll or a skill?
"Lightning Release: Lightning Strike."
As Naruto clapped his hands together, a bolt of blue lightning fell from the sky, striking Obito directly as he teleported.
"Aah!"
Obito only felt a fierce surge of high-voltage electricity course through his entire body, and smoke even rose from his mouth. He had never imagined that Kamui, the divine skill he had always wielded with such ease, would prove so inadequate today, actually letting a mere Lightning Release hit him.
All three people present could even smell repeated wafts of scorching, showing just how terrifying Naruto's strike had been.
Obito didn't dare spout any more arrogant words. He feared that if he didn't run now, he might not be able to escape later.
But just because Obito wasn't throwing out threats didn't mean Naruto wouldn't. Naruto looked every bit like a petty villain.
"Hmph, Obito Uchiha, remember this. Consider today a little interest collected in advance. The next time you see me, you'd better keep your tail between your legs. At meals, you can sit at the kids' table."
Hearing Naruto's mockery, Obito, who had already entered the Kamui Dimension, couldn't hold back and spat out a mouthful of blood.
Seeing Naruto drive off Obito Uchiha so easily, Sasuke and Itachi both looked at him in a new light. Sasuke in particular coveted that Lightning Release Ninjutsu Naruto had just used.
"Naruto, that Lightning Release you just used was so cool! Can you teach me?"
But Itachi interrupted Sasuke. He had recognized how extraordinary that Ninjutsu was. How much time had passed between forming the hand seals and releasing it? It had been extremely brief. Even he couldn't guarantee that he could dodge it.
"Sasuke, don't be rude. That's someone else's Ninjutsu."
Hearing that, Sasuke lowered his head in disappointment. Naruto laughed it off, indicating that teaching him would be fine.