Chapter 361: Severed at the Waist
Akimichi Choza's face crinkled.
"Having someone cause trouble during the Summer Festival is really annoying."
The Ino–Shika–Chō trio stood on the eastern side of Hidden Leaf Village, maintaining the barrier's operation.
"Heh, it's the perfect opportunity to round them all up."
Shikaku was holding back his own anger.
He had just returned from the battlefield... well, it was more like a business trip, but his wife at home had finally become a bit more virtuous, and he hadn't enjoyed it enough yet; he was just eating a late-night snack when he was dragged out.
Can these enemies just die already!
"Huh? Kakashi, when did you get back?"
Might Guy stared with his mouth wide open at Kakashi, who was wearing a green yukata. How did he not know that Kakashi had returned?
"Ah~ Naruto brought us back. To be honest, I'd quite like to go down and help him, but the barrier needs people to help maintain it too."
Kakashi looked at the bustling Village with his dead-fish eyes.
Obito... is that you?
Hanare stood beside Kakashi, smiling at Might Guy and Might Duy, her hands still maintaining the output of Chakra.
After stuffing a few dozen more Shadow Clones into the Kamui Dimension, Naruto used Kagura Minds Eye to search for Obito's trail.
Nagato wasn't important; what mattered was Obito.
Although Nagato's destructive power was immense, with Konan in Hidden Leaf Village, Nagato—who was more sentimental and righteous than Obito—would be hesitant to act.
But Obito was a complete madman. Now that Hidden Leaf Village had lost its ability to resurrect people, Naruto had become restrained.
Naruto didn't need to worry about Nagato, as Orochimaru was stalling him.
Orochimaru's brainwashing ability was incredibly strong, and his ability to escape was also the best in the Ninja World.
The perception of Kagura Minds Eye expanded outward, and finally, a familiar Chakra was detected on the outskirts of the festival.
Found you! Obito Uchiha!
A cold glint flashed in Naruto's eyes, but he maintained a gentle smile on his face.
He couldn't alert the enemy, and he certainly couldn't make a move directly in the crowded festival area.
He had to lure Obito away, or subdue him with thunderous force far away from the crowd.
Naruto stopped, looked at the time at a roadside shop—was it already almost nine o'clock?
He then turned around and showed a slightly apologetic expression to the three girls beside him.
"Ino, Hinata, Karin."
Naruto's voice was gentle, but his speaking speed was slightly faster than usual.
"Sorry, I suddenly remembered there is some urgent 'official business' that I need to take care of right away."
He used "official business" as a vague but reasonable excuse.
"You three go ahead and stroll slowly, enjoy the festival. I might need to make a trip to the office."
Hinata seemed to sense something, a trace of worry flashing in her Byakugan.
"Naruto-kun, be careful." Hinata whispered a reminder.
"Come back quickly!"
Although Ino was a bit reluctant, she knew the gravity of the situation.
Karin vaguely sensed what was happening; someone must have invaded the Village.
"Do you need help?"
"No, it's a small matter." Naruto smiled and shook his head, giving them a reassuring look,
"You all have fun, I'll come find you when I'm done."
After speaking, Naruto didn't delay any longer and used Flying Thunder God to leave the spot immediately.
The next second.
Obito, who was helping Nagato look for Konan, was suddenly severed at the waist.
"Ah!"
The intense pain and the cold premonition of death took half a second to reach Obito's central nervous system. Obito let out a short, shrill scream, and the eyes beneath his mask widened to their limit due to extreme pain and horror!
His body, the upper half separated from the lower half, blood gushing out like a burst water bag, mixed with broken visceral fragments and bone shards.
Naruto, holding the Yaso Magatsukiri, appeared behind Obito, who had been severed at the waist.
"It's really infuriating. You don't have a girlfriend, but I do! On such a happy day, why must you come looking for death!"
He didn't even look at the spraying blood or the falling lower half. As he appeared, he kicked out with his right leg.
The kick landed solidly on the side of Obito's upper body, which had just separated from his lower half and was falling downward.
The tremendous force kicked Obito's upper body away like a ragdoll, smashing through several small trees the thickness of a bowl along the way, and finally slamming heavily into a moss-covered rock in the distance, emitting a dull thud as gravel and dust flew up.
Naruto's tactics were extremely clear and ruthless: since there was still a distance between the landing point of his Flying Thunder God and Obito's actual position, making it impossible to guarantee a one-hit kill, he had to play it safe and completely disable the opponent's mobility first!
Sever the legs first.
Having lost his lower half, even with Kamui and Hashirama cells, Obito's mobility and balance would be greatly reduced, making many Ninjutsu and escape methods difficult to execute.
At this moment, the scene of Obito's upper body, which had been kicked to the side of the rock, was horrific.
At the huge, gruesome opening at the waist, broken intestines, kidney fragments, and spinal bone shards, mixed with a large amount of blood, were uncontrollably flowing and sliding out, appearing exceptionally bloody and terrifying under the moonlight and the faint light of the festival in the distance.
The intense pain caused his body to twitch uncontrollably.
However, Obito Uchiha was, after all, a being who had fused with Hashirama cells, possessing a twisted yet iron-hard will.
The instinct to survive and the combat consciousness engraved into his bone marrow forcibly awakened Obito's consciousness amidst the intense pain.
At the wound on his broken upper body, white matter suddenly began to squirm and proliferate unnaturally.
Large amounts of milky white, slime-mold or fleshy-plant-like material surged frantically from his chest cavity, back, and even the flesh of the severed cross-section!
These white substances spread and wrapped rapidly, like living creatures, firmly sealing the huge wound at his waist, stopping the further loss of blood and internal organs, and even beginning to attempt to "pull back" the scattered organs into his body.
At the same time, these substances were also rapidly spreading below his waist, as if trying to shape a temporary "shell" for him.
It was White Zetsu!
White Zetsu's power was still lurking within Obito's body.
Naruto rushed up and drove his blade into Obito's head, tearing off a part of White Zetsu's body as if it were modeling clay, then gouged out Obito's right eye and casually sealed it.
To prevent the opponent from faking death, Naruto added a few more stabs, then sealed his corpse.
Obito Uchiha was dead.
There was no earth-shattering final showdown, no long and winding Talk no Jutsu persuasion, and not even a chance for him to utter his final words.
There was only the most cold-blooded, efficient, and Ninja-way-compliant process.
Detection, locking on, surprise attack, lethality, finishing blow.
Ninjas are such fragile lives.
Regardless of how powerful a Kekkei Genkai one possesses, how bizarre the Forbidden Jutsu, how twisted the beliefs, or how tenacious the will.
When a fatal attack descends at a speed beyond reaction, when vital points are completely destroyed, when the organs that sustain life stop working...
they will die.
They won't be like ghosts, able to roar and stitch themselves back together after being severed at the waist; they won't be like certain mythical creatures, possessing near-immortal characteristics.
Beneath the Six Paths, they are ultimately just ordinary people.
They are flesh and blood, carbon-based life forms; they will bleed, they will feel pain, they will die.
Obito's former strength, paranoia, pain, and struggle...
all vanished like smoke at this moment.
All that remained was a twisted history, and perhaps some complex memories lingering in the hearts of the few who knew him.
Naruto looked up, gazing toward the direction of the festival at the still-brilliant lights and the faintly audible laughter.
In his heart, there was no joy of revenge fulfilled, no pity or regret, only a kind of nearly indifferent calm.
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