The tiger-striped mask on Obito's face loomed larger and larger in Kushina's pupils.
His black-gloved hand reached out towards her like a demon's claw.
Is it really going to end like this...
Kushina's face was pale, her body too weak to mount any meaningful counterattack. She could only passively await the arrangements of the gods of fate.
Minato, please hurry!
Perhaps hearing Kushina's plea, the golden figure finally appeared before her.
"Sorry, I'm late," Minato's voice rang out, grave and serious.
He stared at the masked man before him, his specially crafted kunai already flying through the air without hesitation.
Seeing this, Obito's expression darkened instantly.
Faced with Minato's attack, he had no choice but to phase through the assault once more, creating distance between them.
"As expected of the Yellow Flash..."
Obito's Sharingan locked onto his former teacher, his tone complex.
"Who are you, really?"
Minato's anger had reached its peak. The losses and casualties Konoha had suffered this time were too great.
And the one responsible for it all was this masked man standing before him.
There was no way he could forgive this.
In response to Minato's question, Obito simply spread his hands calmly and declared:
"I am the man who will change the world."
With that, he shook a chain loose from his wide sleeve.
The chain was connected to iron shackles on both of his wrists.
"Enough talk. Let me experience the speed of the legendary Yellow Flash."
Obito lowered his voice, raising his hands in a stance reminiscent of sumo wrestling.
The chain in his hands was a specially crafted weapon designed to complement his Kamui ability.
By phasing through attacks when engaging with an enemy, he could then instantly solidify after passing through them, using the chain to ensnare his opponent!
This was a weapon unique to Uchiha Obito.
A tool specifically designed to deal with his former teacher.
On the other side, Minato couldn't quite figure out the nature of this weapon.
But the situation was dire.
If he couldn't deal with this man as quickly as possible, the casualties in the village would only continue to rise.
He had to act now.
With that thought, Minato cast aside all hesitation.
Several kunai flew from his hands, shooting toward the enemy like arrows.
Obito moved as well, charging straight toward the kunai.
As expected, the kunai passed right through his body.
Obito then accelerated, reaching out with his bare hand to grab Minato.
But Minato's reflexes were just as sharp.
In an instant, he teleported to one of the distant kunai using the Flying Thunder God technique.
"Just as Senior Danzo's intel suggested, this guy can switch between a phased and solid state at will."
"All attacks are ineffective against him. He only solidifies when he's about to attack."
"That means, to land a hit, I have to strike at the exact moment he's about to attack me..."
"To pull that off, I'll have to use that technique..."
Thanks to Danzo's intel, Minato quickly formulated a plan worth trying.
And this entire thought process took less than a second!
Meanwhile, Uchiha Obito maintained his strange attacking posture.
His hands swayed slightly, the chains in his grasp swinging as he prepared to seize the Yellow Flash in his next move.
In the next moment, Minato launched another kunai.
But this time, he didn't stay put.
Instead, he followed closely behind the kunai, charging straight at his enemy.
"Using the same move again?" Obito sneered as he watched the kunai fly toward him.
While his teacher's speed was impressive, his methods were too one-dimensional.
Relying solely on the Flying Thunder God technique wouldn't be enough to hit him.
With that in mind, Obito moved as well.
Once again, he used Kamui to phase through the kunai, while simultaneously reaching out to grab Minato's head.
At almost the same time, a blue light erupted from Minato's palm, forming a rapidly spinning Rasengan!
Seeing this, Obito showed no sign of panic.
After all, his speed was faster!
"Got you!"
Just before making contact with Minato, Obito solidified, his fingertips already brushing Minato's hair.
Just a little closer, and he would be able to grab Minato's head and deliver a devastating blow!
But in that instant, Minato suddenly vanished from Obito's sight.
Damn it!
Obito's heart sank.
This terrifying speed was something even his Mangekyō Sharingan couldn't track!
By the time he realized what had happened, Minato had already appeared on the kunai that had passed through Obito earlier.
The Rasengan in his hand slammed squarely into Obito's back with perfect timing.
"Boom!!"
The tremendous force pierced through Obito's body, blasting a massive crater into the ground.
"This technique is called Flying Thunder God: Second Level."
Minato's cold voice rang out.
Obito's figure reappeared on a distant rock.
He was clutching one of his arms, a white substance oozing weakly from his sleeve.
"As expected of the Yellow Flash..."
Obito's gaze shifted from disdain to deep wariness.
But soon, he let out a cold laugh.
"However, while you may have defeated me, it seems you can't protect your wife."
These words sent a chill down Minato's spine.
He quickly turned to look in Kushina's direction.
To his horror, while he had been fighting the masked man, a black substance had emerged from somewhere and enveloped Kushina's body, taking control of her!
She couldn't even cry out for help!
As for Tsunade?
She had already fallen unconscious at some point.
The black substance that had secretly taken control of Kushina during Minato and Obito's battle was none other than Zetsu, who had been hiding in the shadows all along.
Now, having taken control of Kushina's body, he immediately activated a jutsu he had learned from Madara Uchiha—
The Tailed Beast Extraction Seal!
This was a special sealing technique designed specifically for tailed beasts.
While other sealing techniques were used to seal things away—
Such as the Eight Trigrams Sealing Style or the Iron Armor Seal for tailed beasts, or the Fire Sealing Technique for flames—
The Tailed Beast Extraction Seal was different.
Its sole purpose was to release the seal binding a tailed beast!
This was one of the legacies Madara Uchiha had left for Obito.
As for how Zetsu knew it?
He was an ancient being who had lived in the ninja world for over a thousand years.
If he could forcibly take control of the Ten-Tails' jinchūriki and use the Rinne Rebirth Technique to revive Madara Uchiha, then a mere Tailed Beast Extraction Seal was child's play.
In any case, under the effect of the Tailed Beast Extraction Seal, the fiery orb within Kushina that had been suppressing the Nine-Tails quickly dissolved.
The wooden stakes and chains binding the Nine-Tails also fell away.
A massive surge of terrifying tailed beast chakra erupted from Kushina's body.
In the blink of an eye, a shadowy figure of the Nine-Tails formed in the sky above, composed entirely of tailed beast chakra!
An evil aura swept through the entire village.
"This is bad."
Minato's face turned pale as he saw this.
As the Nine-Tails let out a roar, even more chakra separated from Kushina's body and poured into the shadowy figure, rapidly filling it out.
In an incredibly short time, it transformed into a fully realized...
Tailed Beast!
The strongest tailed beast in its full form—
The Nine-Tails!
"Fourth Hokage, good luck with this," the masked man sneered before activating Kamui and disappearing.
When he reappeared, he was standing atop the Hokage Rock, overlooking the village that had been ravaged by the battle.
To him, a Konoha without Rin was as insignificant as a bubble.
"Let this fire burn even brighter."
With that, he formed a hand seal and placed his hand on the ground.
"Summoning Technique!"
As he spoke, the Nine-Tails, now freed from its jinchūriki, suddenly had three black tomoe appear in its eyes.
In the next moment, it vanished from its spot, only to reappear like a mountain crashing down in the middle of the village!!
The sheer force of its landing destroyed countless buildings...
"This can't be real..." The Konoha ninja rushing to the battlefield were filled with shock.
One tailed beast was bad enough, but now there was another.
And not just any tailed beast—it was the Nine-Tails, the strongest of them all.
Was this some kind of nightmare?
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