“What exactly is going on?”
Within Konoha, Hiruzen Sarutobi was rushing toward the scene with a group of ANBU.
Shimura Danzo was accompanying them as well.
Hiruzen actually hadn’t wanted to bring his old friend along, but with something like this happening, he didn’t have time to worry about it.
“Hmph. Looks like Konoha has become quite the mess under your leadership.”
As he sprinted along, Shimura Danzo couldn’t resist making a sarcastic remark.
Hiruzen immediately shot him an annoyed look.
But Danzo didn’t back down.
Even though Hiruzen had surrounded the Root with ANBU and stripped him of his authority, even taking his “Kō” position from him, Danzo wasn’t afraid.
“Do you think Jiraiya might have returned with someone following him?”
“Jiraiya?”
Hiruzen raised an eyebrow.
He didn’t bother asking how Danzo knew about Jiraiya’s return.
After all, the man wasn’t exactly trustworthy.
As for the possibility of Jiraiya being followed…
After thinking about it, Hiruzen more or less guessed what his old friend was thinking.
There were simply some things he didn’t want to say out loud.
“Hm?”
However, as they sped onward, they suddenly spotted Jiraiya, Might Guy, and an utterly exhausted Kakashi approaching from the opposite direction.
“Old Man?”
Jiraiya spotted Hiruzen and immediately called out.
“What are you doing here? Wait… Danzo?”
“I went to see him tonight and happened to encounter this incident, so I came to take a look.”
Hiruzen explained directly.
He then hurried over to Jiraiya.
The two continued moving while Hiruzen quietly asked:
“Who do you think it could be? Could it… have been someone following you?”
“Uh…”
Jiraiya had initially been about to shake his head and point out that he’d been away from Konoha for so long that he had no idea.
But the second half of Hiruzen’s question made him raise an eyebrow.
After pondering for a moment, he spoke quietly.
“We came back pretty quickly, but the other side knows who we are. After all, Orochimaru and Uchiha Itachi are involved. So I can’t really say for certain.”
“I see.”
Hiruzen muttered thoughtfully.
Jiraiya merely shook his head with a smile.
“Relax, Old Man. Don’t always assume the worst. What if it’s just an accident?”
“You’re not the Hokage. You don’t understand. From the Hokage’s perspective, you can’t afford to leave anything to chance.”
Hiruzen was somewhat speechless at his student’s optimism.
Even if Jiraiya was only trying to reassure him, there was really no need.
As Hokage, there truly was no such thing as a minor incident.
“Come on, come on. Let’s just get there and take a look.”
Jiraiya didn’t want to argue about it either, so he smiled.
“Maybe it really is just an acci—Hm?”
Before he could finish speaking, his expression suddenly froze.
It wasn’t just him.
Everyone around them seemed to have sensed something.
Their expressions changed instantly. Find the original chapter at g.com.
“That’s… the Nine-Tails’ chakra?!”
If the situation before had merely put them on alert, making them worry that some enemy had infiltrated the village and started a fight…
Then the situation now could already be considered a crisis for Konoha!
“Why haven’t the ANBU sent a report?”
Hiruzen’s face turned ashen.
As he accelerated, he couldn’t help shouting the question.
An ANBU shinobi beside him lowered his head.
“Hokage-sama, he was… with Jiraiya-sama and Captain Kakashi earlier, so…”
“…”
Jiraiya, Kakashi, and Guy all looked somewhat awkward.
None of them had expected things to turn out like this.
Hiruzen understood what the ANBU meant.
Naruto had been with the three of them, so there should have been no problem.
Who could have expected things to go wrong afterward?
Even so, Hiruzen couldn’t help glaring at Jiraiya before speeding ahead without looking back.
“Move! Whatever happens, we can’t let anything go wrong!”
“Yes!”
Jiraiya didn’t dare slack off either.
Guy even considered putting Kakashi down and rushing ahead by himself.
Fortunately, he didn’t actually do it.
Besides, they were already very close to the scene.
After accelerating the entire way, they soon arrived at the battlefield!
To their relief, they could see Naruto standing together with Uchiha Sasuke in the distance.
However, the reddish chakra surrounding Naruto clearly showed that he was in poor condition.
On the other side, Gen Hoshino was currently fighting a masked man dressed in black.
But in the very next instant, everyone’s eyes widened.
“That is…”
…..
“Just as I thought. You really do possess a space-time technique similar to the Fourth Hokage’s.”
Before Hiruzen and the others arrived, Gen Hoshino suddenly spoke quietly while looking at Uchiha Obito.
“However, your space-time technique should be based on transferring things. Whether it’s my attacks or your own body, you’re only in your physical state at the moment you actually attack, aren’t you?”
“…Quite perceptive, kid.”
Uchiha Obito was silent for a moment before reluctantly offering his praise.
But inside, he was far more shocked than impressed.
The last time someone had seen through the secret of his Kamui so quickly had been ten years ago.
Back then, his opponent had been Minato Namikaze.
And that encounter had ended with Minato teaching him a very painful lesson…
“But unfortunately, so what if you’ve seen through it? Do you have any way to deal with me?”
“Maybe I don’t. But I don’t actually need to defeat you. I only need to stall you.”
Gen shook his head, deliberately trying to make Obito lower his guard.
“And there’s something else interesting.
You just called Kakashi-sensei useless, which means you seem to know him.
You two probably have some history.
“Maybe you have a grudge against him.
“And there’s another interesting coincidence.
Your Sharingan is your right eye, while Kakashi’s Sharingan is his left eye.
“Could there be some connection between them…?”
Even Uchiha Obito, who was desperately maintaining his composure, couldn’t help but tense up when he heard that.
After all, the Uchiha clan had been wiped out, but it wasn’t impossible for a Sharingan to have escaped the massacre.
Especially since he’d just called Kakashi “useless.”
Regardless of whether there was actually a connection, Konoha could easily start investigating in that direction.
He still needed the identity of Uchiha Madara to keep Nagato under control.
He couldn’t afford to be exposed as the “nobody” Uchiha Obito!
“I can’t let this brat keep talking nonsense!”
Obito’s Sharingan shifted.
In an instant, his body began to twist.
But at that very moment, he discovered that Gen Hoshino was even faster.
Zzzzt—!
Almost the instant Obito’s attention wavered, Gen had already transformed into a streak of purple lightning and charged straight toward him.
The purple electric arcs surrounding his hand looked almost exactly like Chidori.
“Foolish brat.”
Uchiha Obito snorted.
He knew that this kid was extremely good at seizing opportunities.
And by now, he could also sense that Konoha’s shinobi were getting closer.
But Obito’s expression didn’t change.
From his perspective, Gen Hoshino was giving him an opportunity as well.
“You’re the one giving me this chance!”
As Gen drew closer, Obito’s body suddenly stopped.
He had already entered the Kamui dimension.
Originally, he had only wanted to test the kid’s abilities.
But now, he had no intention of letting this brat continue spouting nonsense!
Zzzzt—!
“Hm?”
Uchiha Obito froze.
Why could he still hear the sound of electricity so clearly after entering the Kamui dimension?
“I’ve been waiting for you!”
At that moment, Uchiha Obito suddenly heard a voice.
His Sharingan widened.
Inside his own Kamui dimension, another Gen Hoshino had appeared at some point.
And this Gen was clearly different from the one outside.
Powerful chakra surged throughout his body.
Red markings surrounded his eyes.
More importantly, purple lightning was already striking directly toward him!
“Damn it! I’ve been tricked!”
In his panic, Uchiha Obito immediately thought of leaving the Kamui dimension.
But the Gen Hoshino outside was also already thrusting forward, purple lightning striking toward his chest.
Under these circumstances, Obito naturally couldn’t return to the outside world.
He could only twist his body to evade the attack.
At the same time, he thrust his right hand forward.
Sharp wooden spikes instantly shot out.
He had to eliminate the intruder inside his Kamui dimension!
BAM—!
However, at the exact moment his wooden spikes pierced through the Shadow Clone of Gen Hoshino inside the Kamui dimension, the purple lightning also slammed heavily into his face…