"Shhk—!"
The instant the figure appeared, his blade flashed—clean and ruthless—severing Obito's right arm at the shoulder.
Shisui's sword came down a heartbeat later—
but the attacker vanished again.
"Formula—Flying Thunder God!" Kakashi blurted.
"You got it."
A voice sounded behind Shisui.
Kū.
And before he even spoke, his hand was already slipping toward Shisui's pouch—
his target crystal clear:
the glass tube containing Obito's Kamui Mangekyō.
CLANG!
Shisui's blade cut across, slamming Kū back hard. If Kū hadn't blocked with a kunai, he would've been split in two.
"Hng…"
Three tomoe spun in Shisui's eyes—
and his Mangekyō snapped open.
"Did I fail?" Kū said lightly.
"But the main goal's done. Later."
Right before Shisui's Mangekyō fully locked in, Kū grabbed Obito's severed arm with one hand and a kunai with the other—
then disappeared.
Shisui shut his Mangekyō and panted, chest heaving.
Tonight had drained him dry—chakra and ocular power alike.
Kakashi stared, stunned. "Sensei's Flying Thunder God… how is that even possible?"
Fugaku—who'd basically been a bystander for most of the fight—walked over, picked up a chunk of stone, and glanced at the dead mouse underneath it.
On the stone was a formula:
(Uzumaki Kong)
"Uzumaki…?" Fugaku's brow tightened.
Kakashi frowned. "Sensei once said only the Second Hokage and Sensei himself ever mastered Flying Thunder God in Konoha's history."
"So who was that? Uzumaki Kong?"
Shisui sheathed his blade, eyes narrowing as he replayed the exchange.
"His strength wasn't high. Honestly, it was weaker than a normal taijutsu chūnin."
"If it weren't so urgent, even with that kunai block, my slash would've injured him."
Fugaku's expression darkened. After a moment, he said, "We report to the Fourth."
"Uzumaki is a big name, and… that right arm might matter too. There are too many implications."
Obito—mask still on—lowered his head, then let out a rasping laugh.
"Heh… heh… heh…"
"So it's that guy."
"Red hair. Uzumaki blood."
"Uzumaki Kong."
"He's the one who fed you my information, isn't he?" Obito's voice turned colder. "I didn't expect someone else to be hiding in the dark."
"You want to know what my right arm was for?"
He leaned forward slightly, voice sharpening.
"Uchiha Shisui—my Wood Release exists because of that arm."
"Uzumaki… the clan that intermarried with the Senju for generations."
"Red hair. Long life. Sealing techniques. Huge chakra reserves."
"That man…"
Obito's tone carried certainty.
"…is after the First Hokage's power."
"The power of the Shinobi God."
The words hit like thunder.
Shisui, Kakashi, and Fugaku all froze.
But before Obito said any of that, Fugaku's three-tomoe Sharingan had already begun to rotate—
and under his genjutsu, the two medic-nin didn't hear a single word.
THUD!
Fugaku struck.
Obito—already missing an eye—collapsed, knocked out by brute force.
Shisui's voice turned crisp. "Everything else is for the Fourth to question."
"Our job is to escort him back to the Military Police and guarantee his safety."
Kakashi and Shisui both nodded.
They were geniuses—and veterans of the Third War.
They understood exactly what the Uzumaki name meant.
Not only Uzumaki Mito, the First Hokage's wife, long dead—
but also the Fourth Hokage's wife:
Uzumaki Kushina.
…
In a dark forest, a figure appeared silently atop a giant tree.
"Hiss—!"
Kū sucked in a breath and stared at his wrist.
Swollen.
The clone's overall strength rose and fell with the original's body—but Yun was only five years old.
Against Shisui's taijutsu, surviving without being cut in half was already a miracle.
If it weren't for Flying Thunder God's surprise factor—
and that near-zero reaction delay—
the second reach for the pouch would've been his death.
Still, the haul wasn't bad.
At Yun's current level, there was no way Kū could sneak into Orochimaru's lab or Danzō's Root and steal anything meaningful.
Flying Thunder God was absurdly useful, sure—
but it still needed hard power behind it.
Minato's strength and Rasengan weren't things Yun could replicate right now.
And a right arm built from a "first-generation Hashirama body"?
Nothing fit better than that.
"Pff!"
Smoke burst.
The arm vanished—sealed into a small scroll.
Next came the grind.
He still had to go outside and take missions that risked his life. He needed real combat experience—badly.
Honestly, in the original story, the final boss wasn't Kaguya.
It was Madara.
If Madara really fought to the end, Naruto and Sasuke might've been played like toys.
The shinobi who survived the Warring States era—none of them were anything but blood-soaked veterans.
Not like Princess Kaguya, who got stunned for two seconds by a dumb "reverse harem" trick.
If Black Zetsu wasn't constantly yapping in the background, she would've been sealed again in a few moves.
Kū rubbed his forehead.
It wasn't just experience he needed.
He also had to earn money to support the family.
Life is hard.
…
October 10.
The night that was supposed to become the Nine-Tails incident passed in peace.
The night market gradually quieted.
And from this day onward—
the future began to change.
"Creak…"
The door slid open.
Izumi rubbed her sleepy eyes. "Why are you still awake, big brother?"
Yun looked up at the calm night sky. "It's almost dawn. I couldn't sleep, so I came out to look at the stars."
He tilted his head. "What about you? Wet the bed again?"
Izumi's face instantly turned red. She puffed her cheeks. "I haven't wet the bed since the year before last, okay?! You're the worst for bringing that up!"
Yun thought for a second. "Before we turned three, when we still slept together, I thought I'd fallen into a swimming pool at night."
"And last year—one morning—you were whispering something to Mother…"
"Then that same day, all our sheets got washed."
Yun clicked his tongue, amused. "You wet the bed, begged Mother, and got her to wash everyone's sheets so nobody would know."
He grinned. "That's pretty clever."
Izumi's face got redder and redder.
Then she lunged—mouth open to bite.
"Shhk!"
Too slow.
Yun vanished.
Izumi bit air and nearly fell—only for Yun to catch her from behind and steady her.
"So fast… Big brother, you're amazing!" Izumi stared, eyes wide.
Yun ruffled her hair gently. "It's a secret."
"Izumi can't tell anyone."
Izumi nodded hard, serious as a little soldier. Then she tugged at Yun's sleeve.
"Big brother… I feel like you changed a lot today."
"You smile more."
Yun looked at the first thread of sunrise on the horizon and smiled—truly.
Their family's fate had changed.
With the Fourth alive, the chance of the Uchiha massacre would drop to its lowest point.
And starting yesterday, Yun had already gained the beginnings of the power he needed to protect them.
From now on…
he'd only get stronger.
"Today I'll practice shuriken with you," Yun said.
Izumi's eyes lit up. "Mm!"
…
(Author note in the original text: Obito's Mangekyō being removed creates multiple possible branchlines; the author isn't sure which direction to pick. They also discuss timelines around Kirigakure, the Blood Mist era, and whether Yagura's control would be broken if Obito loses his eye.)