As Obito's figure disappeared, Naruto continued maintaining Nine-Tails Chakra Mode. His eyes stayed fixed on the surroundings, and he did not relax for even a moment.
Time passed bit by bit. Finally, Anko and the others hurried over.
Only then did Naruto let out a long breath, and the tension in his body gradually eased.
However, at that exact moment, a loud bang rang out as the ground suddenly exploded open.
A Naruto shadow clone emerged from underground carrying an unharmed Hinata, the two of them popping out like a pair of moles.
"Are you okay, Hinata?"
Naruto asked with concern.
Hinata gently shook her head. When she saw that everyone else had arrived, she quickly jumped down from Naruto and said with a red face, "I'm fine. Thank you, Naruto."
In fact, when the situation had become critical earlier, Naruto had never actually sent Hinata away.
Just as Obito unleashed the powerful Fire Release: Wild Dance of Exploding Flames, Naruto made a quick decision and dug a hole in the ground at incredible speed, hiding Hinata inside.
Although Naruto did not know Earth Release, he was extremely fast at digging.
Combined with the blazing flames of the Fire Release and the thick smoke created by the shadow clones, the three worked together perfectly to conceal Hinata's location.
If it had not been for protecting Hinata, those shadow clones in golden mode would not have been wiped out by a single Wild Dance of Exploding Flames.
From the moment he first confronted Obito, Naruto had already formed a plan.
Once the fight truly began, he would immediately draw Obito away without hesitation to prevent Hinata, who was hiding here, from getting caught up in it.
After all, Naruto had realized from the start that Obito's first target was Hinata and his second target was himself.
———
A little earlier...
At the same time Hinata was attacked, danger also appeared where Hanabi was.
At that time, Hanabi had just been woken up by Moegi. After lazily stretching, she slowly walked out of the tent.
However, the moment she stepped outside, something unexpected happened.
The solid ground suddenly split open without warning, and a dark figure shot out like a ghost and rushed straight toward Hanabi.
That dark figure was Black Zetsu.
Hanabi was clearly startled by the sudden attack, but she recovered at once.
Facing Black Zetsu's fierce attacks, she showed no fear. Her hands moved quickly, striking toward the hand reaching for her and aiming directly at the acupoints in his arm.
What Hanabi did not expect was that the body Black Zetsu was using was not his original one, but Hiruko's body.
Not only did this body have no acupoints, it also possessed the Steel Release technique.
In an instant, a dense black glow appeared on Black Zetsu's arm.
The moment Hanabi's fingers touched that black glow, a sharp pain spread from her fingertips through her entire body like an electric current.
Hanabi let out a muffled groan, and her face turned pale.
But before she could react further, Black Zetsu's powerful hand strike was already over her, hitting her neck precisely.
With a dull thud, Hanabi did not even have time to let out a scream. Her eyes rolled back, darkness filled her vision, and she lost consciousness.
The whole process happened in an instant. In the blink of an eye, Hanabi had been captured by Black Zetsu.
Only then did Moegi finally react.
Seeing her companion in danger, she became extremely anxious. Without hesitation, she reached into her clothes, pulled out a kunai as fast as possible, and threw it at Black Zetsu.
At the same time, she shouted, "Hiroyuki, call for reinforcements!"
As Moegi shouted her companion's name, her hands rapidly formed seals without stopping.
At the same time, Hiroyuki acted immediately. One hand launched several kunai and shuriken in succession, while the other fired a distress flare into the sky.
Right after that, Hiroyuki shot forward like an arrow released from a bow and chased after Black Zetsu.
Black Zetsu had already captured his target and knew he could not stay here.
After all, Konoha's reinforcements arrived far too quickly. If he was surrounded here by mistake, the consequences would be severe.
However, Black Zetsu paid little attention to the kunai and shuriken Hiroyuki had fired at him.
Relying on Steel Release, he casually waved his hand, and the sharp weapons were easily knocked aside.
When those kunai and shuriken struck Black Zetsu's body, which was as hard as iron, they only produced a series of clear clinking sounds, as though they had hit an unbreakable wall.
Not only that, the attacks did not affect Black Zetsu's speed at all. He continued moving forward at full pace.
However, just as Black Zetsu took another step, Moegi finally completed her hand seals.
With a light shout, "Earth Release: Fine Stones!"
In an instant, the ground beneath Black Zetsu seemed to tear apart. It collapsed and broke into countless small stones.
Caught completely off guard, Black Zetsu's body began sinking rapidly.
The stones on both sides pressed toward him like surging waves, seemingly intending to bury him completely.
However, this sudden development did not cause Black Zetsu to panic.
He let out a cold snort as the strange Mangekyo Sharingan in his eyes suddenly began spinning rapidly.
The next moment, a vast amount of pupil power burst out from his body.
In the blink of an eye, a gigantic gray-white Susanoo appeared within the Earth Release: Fine Stones, blocking the pressure continuously closing in from all sides.
Black Zetsu moved incredibly fast. The Susanoo had only just appeared before it vanished again in an instant.
Without wasting any time, he efficiently applied Steel Release and Swift Release to himself, then sped away like a bolt of lightning.
Although they knew their opponent was powerful, Hiroyuki and Moegi showed no intention of backing down.
Especially after seeing Hanabi taken away, both of them became even more anxious and desperately pursued Black Zetsu.
However, Black Zetsu's Swift Release was simply too fast. No matter how hard Hiroyuki and Moegi tried, they could not keep up.
In just a blink, the distance between them widened dramatically.
Hiroyuki and Moegi were filled with anxiety. Large beads of sweat formed on their foreheads as they chased with all their strength while silently complaining in their hearts.
But no matter what they did, the gap between them and Black Zetsu was simply too great. Within moments, Black Zetsu had completely shaken off their pursuit.