With Kisame’s furious roar, a blinding bolt of lightning suddenly exploded deep within the mist!
Ever since the fog had descended, Raiga Kurosuki had vanished without a trace.
Now, somehow, he had appeared beside Kisame.
Both of his hands gripped the twin blades of Kiba tightly.
Blue arcs of lightning danced wildly across the swords, growing increasingly violent as shrill crackling filled the air, like thunder struggling to burst free.
“SPLIT HIM APART!!!”
Raiga roared.
The twin blades swung upward—
Then slammed together with all his strength.
“CLANG——!!!”
A deafening metallic explosion rang out as a massive pillar of lightning shot straight into the heavens, piercing the dense mist above.
Only then did everyone realize—
At some point, dark storm clouds had already gathered over the Hidden Mist Technique.
Heavy thunderclouds hung low in the sky, deep rumbles rolling endlessly within them like a sleeping beast awakening.
“Lightning Release: Thunder Funeral!!!”
Raiga’s roar merged together with the heavens themselves.
And in the next instant—
The world turned white.
Countless silver lightning bolts as thick as giant serpents tore through the clouds and fog alike, crashing downward with enough force to annihilate everything in their path.
They weren’t aimed at a single target.
They blanketed the entire battlefield like a catastrophic storm.
Bolt after bolt descended endlessly.
Silver light illuminated the dark world in blinding flashes.
The thunder swallowed every other sound.
Violent currents surged across the earth, through the mire, and along the web of Kisame’s hair, exploding in every direction.
The entire camp became a thunder god’s execution ground.
No one knew how much time passed.
Maybe a minute.
Maybe longer.
Eventually, the final bolt vanished into the clouds.
The deafening thunder gradually faded.
Smoke and the stench of burning flesh slowly dispersed.
The thick mist had long since been obliterated by the relentless lightning barrage.
Most of Kisame’s massive hair network—which had previously enveloped the battlefield—had been burned into black ash.
Only scattered remnants remained at the edges, smoldering quietly.
The ground had been blasted into craters.
Even the mud swamp had been scorched dry and cracked black by the unbearable heat.
The air reeked of ozone and charred earth.
At the very center of the battlefield lay a vast region burned pitch-black, as though something there had been completely reduced to ash.
Then—
The earth near the edge of the scorched zone suddenly bulged upward.
Three battered figures crawled out from underground.
Kisame.
Zabuza.
Raiga.
All three were covered in soot and scorched mud.
Their clothes were torn, their hair a mess, faces blackened by smoke and ash.
But their eyes—
Their eyes burned with excitement.
Looking toward the center of the charred battlefield, they burst into loud laughter.
“Now I see.”
In the distance, Fugaku nodded slightly while leaning against his blade.
The Hidden Mist Technique meant nothing to him.
Through the perception granted by Abyssal Swamp of Underworld, he had “seen” everything that happened inside the battlefield perfectly clearly.
In simple terms—
Step one:
Kisame ordered the use of Water Release not merely to probe the enemy, but to soak the battlefield completely, increasing conductivity while simultaneously determining the true nature of Obito’s intangibility.
Step two:
After confirming the enemy couldn’t escape the range of the Abyssal Swamp, they launched what looked like a chaotic melee assault.
But the objective was never to kill.
It was pressure.
Constant pressure.
Force Obito to maintain intangibility.
Drag out the duration of his Mangekyō ability.
Exhaust his concentration.
Step three:
The Hidden Mist Technique wasn’t primarily used to blind Obito.
Its true purpose was to conceal the gathering storm clouds above—
And hide the chakra fluctuations from Raiga preparing his ultimate technique.
Meanwhile, Kisame used the nearly tailed-beast-level chakra reserves supplied by Samehada to wildly expand his hair.
That hair served not only as a barrier sealing the battlefield—
But also as a gigantic lightning rod and conductor for the final attack.
Finally—
Raiga unleashed his forbidden technique and summoned natural lightning itself for indiscriminate saturation bombardment.
The scene resembled Sasuke’s Kirin.
But unlike Sasuke, they lacked the Sharingan’s precision.
They couldn’t accurately control or guide the lightning.
Under normal circumstances, this move was essentially suicide.
In fact, in the original timeline, Raiga had used this very technique to kill himself.
So instead—
They chose the crudest and most effective method possible.
Use Kisame’s enormous hair network to absorb, guide, and blanket the battlefield with lightning.
Without question—
These three had practiced this combination before.
That so-called melee assault earlier?
It had all been deception aimed at Obito Uchiha.
Just a few exchanged words were enough for them to fully understand one another’s intentions.
As expected of the first generation of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen.
If they hadn’t encountered the utterly unreasonable existence known as Might Duy, their reputation might have become even greater.
Of course—
The price was enormous.
Behind Kisame, Samehada hung limply with its tongue out, looking completely drained.
Not a single drop left.
Honestly, Fugaku suspected that Samehada eventually “betraying” Kisame in the future might have something to do with experiences like this.
Still—
The good news was that the relentless lightning assault had lasted over a full minute.
Combined with the previous battle, it finally exceeded a certain threshold.
Five minutes.
They had actually broken through Obito’s intangibility limit.
After all, in the original timeline, the only person capable of continuously forcing Obito to remain intangible beyond five minutes was Konan with her six hundred billion paper bombs.
Unfortunately—
The bad news arrived immediately afterward.
The boss had entered phase two.
“BOOOOOOM!!!”
At the very center of the charred battlefield, the ground suddenly trembled violently.
Then—
Before everyone’s horrified eyes—
Massive twisted wooden roots burst from the earth.
They expanded at astonishing speed, intertwining and assembling together until they formed a colossal wooden giant over ten meters tall.
The enormous humanoid towered above the battlefield like a mountain.
Its body radiated overwhelming vitality.
And terrifying pressure.
“As expected…”
Fugaku narrowed his eyes slightly.
“Tobi is attached to him.”
The appearance of the giant instantly confirmed his suspicion.
This was essentially Obito’s greatest trump card in his current state—
The Wood Release: Wood Golem Technique unleashed through Tobi, one of the two unique White Zetsu variants.
In the original story, Tobi had attached itself to Yamato when using this technique.
But the host itself wasn’t the important part.
At most, it only amplified the scale.
After all—
White Zetsu were practically born from Wood Release itself.
Their authority over Wood Release far surpassed Yamato’s artificial imitation.
A fallen laboratory experiment daring to challenge the originals?
Ridiculous.
“BOOM!!!”
Without warning, the giant wooden Buddha-like arm lifted into the air.
Then came crashing down with enough force to flatten everything below.
The shadow swallowed Kisame and the others instantly.
A violent gale descended from above.
The three men’s pupils shrank.
They tried to dodge—
But the previous assault had drained too much chakra and stamina.
Their bodies felt as heavy as lead.
All they could do was watch helplessly as the enormous palm rapidly filled their vision.
“…We’re dead.”
The three exchanged glances.
They already understood.
This was probably the end.
But at the very instant the giant hand descended—
The scorched earth beneath them suddenly softened into liquid mud.
Before they could react, the three were dragged underground and vanished completely.
“BOOOOM!!!”
The giant palm slammed into the ground violently.
Yet instead of flesh exploding everywhere—
Only scorched black mud erupted skyward.
“Fugaku!!!”
From within the chest of the wooden giant came Obito’s furious roar, mixed together with Tobi’s bizarre tone.
The reason was simple.
Unlike ordinary White Zetsu, Tobi possessed the ability to simulate and use multiple powers, including Wood Release.
But White Zetsu weren’t true shinobi.
They were closer to plants.
Their abilities relied on accumulated “fruit” energy gathered over long periods of time.
If that were all, Obito wouldn’t have been so furious.
The real problem—
Was that this power accumulated over time.
The longer it gathered energy, the stronger it became.
At its peak, it could even rival the techniques of Hashirama Senju himself.
Being forced to use this long-stored “Wood Golem Fruit” now meant interrupting years of accumulation.
Who knew how long it would take to reach Hashirama’s level again?
But when Obito turned around—
He froze.
There was no sign of Fugaku.
In fact—
Even the other shinobi had disappeared.
Every single person had already been transferred outside the camp.
In the distance, the gigantic wooden giant towered over the battlefield.
Meanwhile, Mikoto looked at her husband anxiously, clearly wanting to continue supporting him.
“Relax, relax.”
Fugaku laughed helplessly and patted Mikoto’s hand.
“My chakra reserves really aren’t that large when I’m not actively using my abilities…”
“But I’m not so exhausted that I can’t even stand on my own.”
“Pfft!”
Hearing the specific wording he used, Mikoto’s cheeks immediately flushed red as she shot him an annoyed glare.
After all—
During these past few days, Fugaku’s “methods” had grown increasingly outrageous.
“And besides…”
Fugaku casually grabbed Mei’s soft hand and began squeezing it playfully.
“I still have Mei.”
“Hmph!”
Mei snorted, though her face also reddened slightly.
“What are you planning to do about that giant thing?”
Even if they were temporarily safe—
The enemy was still standing right there.
And worse—
Just as Fugaku originally expected, every Hidden Mist shinobi present had now personally experienced the pressure exerted by a truly top-tier monster.
“Relax.”
Fugaku took a deep breath.
Chakra surged through his throat as his voice boomed across the battlefield.
“Konoha shinobi—”
“Your turn.”
As soon as Fugaku’s words fell, countless figures burst forth from the western side of the Hidden Mist camp.
In the blink of an eye, they surrounded the gigantic wooden giant completely.
As expected—
They were Konoha shinobi.
At the front stood an elderly man wearing glasses, with a silver-haired ninja beside him.
“Konoha?”
Both Mikoto and Mei froze in shock.
Their faces were filled with disbelief.
“What… is going on?”
Especially Mei.
Confusion filled her emerald eyes.
If she hadn’t trusted Fugaku so completely, she might’ve instinctively stepped back just like the other Hidden Mist shinobi.
Fugaku reached out and gently ruffled her slightly messy hair.
“The enemy of my enemy is my friend.”
“I have grudges against Konoha, and Konoha sees me as a thorn in their side, but…”
He paused and looked toward the monstrous wooden giant in the distance.
“Konoha hates that mysterious man even more.”
“The Nine-Tails disaster.
The death of the Fourth Hokage.
The slaughter of countless civilians.”
“That blood debt runs too deep.”
“So naturally… cooperation becomes possible.”
“T-That’s actually possible?”
Mei blinked repeatedly, feeling as though her worldview had been overturned.
The conflict between the Bloodline Faction and the Anti-Bloodline Faction could at least be blamed on manipulation and misunderstanding.
Now that the truth had come out, maybe their relationship could still be repaired in the future.
But Konoha?
Konoha had personally slaughtered over four hundred Uchiha shinobi.
Deliberately.
Knowingly.
Without any excuse whatsoever.
“There’s nothing impossible about it.”
Fugaku chuckled softly.
“Only children see the world in black and white.”
“Adults only talk about interests.”
His gaze grew deep and calm.
He had seen too much of this in his previous life.
His homeland had suffered devastating losses during the Second World War.
Yet by the 1970s, it had normalized relations with its former enemy.
By the 1980s, it was cooperating closely with another superpower.
Even in the new century, despite trade wars and endless pressure, it still continued doing business—buying oil, soybeans, graphics cards, everything.
Everyone mocked that country for being “weak.”
But history proved otherwise.
In less than seventy years, it had grown strong enough to stand toe-to-toe with the world’s strongest power.
Exhaling slowly, Fugaku pulled his thoughts back to the present.
“You think Konoha wants me alive?”
“They’d love nothing more than to see me dead.”
“My existence alone keeps them awake at night because they fear Uchiha retaliation.”
“And I feel the same.”
“I want Konoha’s leadership to pay the price.”
“If they hadn’t cornered the Uchiha step by step, why would there have been so many war hawks within the clan?”
“But just like I taught you before…”
“This is politics.”
“A game.”
“A compromise.”
“Strip away all emotion and sentiment, and what remains is only the coldest, purest calculation of profits”
He smiled faintly.
“If you fail to kill me with a kunai today…”
“Tomorrow, we can still do business together.”
“As for Homura Mitokado…”
“He’s a qualified politician too.”
“Faced with an opportunity to severely wound—or even eliminate—the true mastermind behind the Nine-Tails disaster…”
“Of course he’ll choose whatever benefits Konoha the most.”
In the distance, furious shouts erupted from the Konoha forces.
“Four Red Yang Formation!!!”
Instantly, a gigantic crimson barrier rose from the earth.
A massive cube of red light sealed both Obito Uchiha and the enormous wooden giant inside.
No matter how violently the wooden construct hammered against the barrier, it remained completely stable.
Only ripples spread across its surface.
‘As expected…’
Fugaku narrowed his eyes slightly.
‘In the original story, he was portrayed as an annoying old man…’
‘But someone capable of reaching that position could never truly be incompetent.’
Through the perception of his Mangekyō Sharingan, Fugaku could see everything clearly.
This was a combined ninjutsu involving hundreds of Konoha shinobi.
But the true core and controller of the formation was still Homura himself.
In the original timeline, this very technique had once restrained even the Ten-Tails’ shell.
Of course—
That version had required four peak Kage-level shinobi, including the utterly broken existence known as Hashirama Senju.
What Homura was using now was clearly a weakened variant.
Still—
The thing trapped inside wasn’t the Ten-Tails either.
Outside the barrier, at one of the sealing points, Kakashi Hatake maintained his hand seals alongside Homura.
But he still couldn’t stop himself from asking:
“Lord Homura… you actually chose to cooperate with him?”
Earlier, when the sealing squad had been assembled, Kakashi had firmly believed Konoha intended to use sealing techniques to counter Fugaku’s Susanoo.
“From the very beginning, I never planned to confront Fugaku directly.”
Homura spoke around the cigarette hanging from his mouth.
“After all, he has hostages in his hands.”
“The reason I mobilized this sealing unit was to take advantage of the chaos within Hidden Mist.”
“My original plan was to reverse-seal the eastern coast marketplace and use the Uchiha clan members as bargaining chips against Fugaku.”
“But…”
His voice lowered slightly.
“That night, Fugaku came to see me personally.”
“He told me everything about this mysterious man.”
Kakashi’s expression sharpened.
“The Uchiha are certainly dangerous, but that danger mostly lies in the future.”
“This mysterious man is different.”
“He’s a threat that exists right now.”
“Because he can summon the Nine-Tails?”
“Exactly.”
“Even if Konoha never allows another female jinchūriki after Kushina, the Nine-Tails remains a blade hanging over our heads.”
“If we can capture him here today and eliminate the threat permanently, that would be ideal.”
“And even if we fail…”
“We must at least force him to pay a sufficient price.”
“Or uncover enough information about him.”
Kakashi fell silent for a moment before asking the most important question.
“Then… what happens afterward?”
“Heh.”
Homura’s lips curled into the meaningful smile of an old politician.
But he didn’t answer.
Want faster updates?
Send those stones my way—the more, the merrier.