"Heavenly Soaring Swallow Dance – Light Afterimage Soul Style!"
In the eyes of the onlookers, brilliant golden flashes flickered endlessly through space, while Uchiha Obito was batted around like a mere sandbag, struck again and again without reprieve.
Instinctively, Obito tried to use Kamui, phasing his body to avoid the barrage. But to his shock, it was as if the surrounding space had been completely sealed off—Kamui simply wouldn't activate.
Fortunately, his Six Paths-level body had already transcended ordinary life. Minato's attacks, while deadly to any other shinobi, were little more than scratches to him.
But even scratches, when relentless, became troublesome!
"This isn't just speed… it's spatial flickering. But there aren't any Flying Thunder God marks around here…"
The endless chain of strikes, coupled with the spatial binding, left Obito locked down and unable to respond. His eyes darted, scanning the battlefield, even countering with Truth-Seeking Orbs—but no matter where he looked, there were no Flying Thunder God markers. Yet Minato still warped freely through space, dodging everything and keeping the assault flowing.
"So this is Bankai's power…"
"I know full well that with my strength alone, I cannot defeat you as you are now, Obito," Minato's voice came between the flurry of strikes, his assault like a raging storm. "But I will hold you here—until all of your wicked allies are crushed!"
"Shinra Tensei!!"
Obito's body surged with the power of the Six Paths. A terrifying repulsive force blasted outward, violently forcing Minato away.
But at the instant the force erupted, Minato vanished, reappearing tens of meters away—right at the very edge of Obito's repulsion range.
A ninja's battle, in the end, was a battle of information. With enough intel, even a genin or chunin could threaten a Kage-level opponent.
Through their continuous clashes, Minato had not only established an infinite Flying Thunder God barrier through his Bankai but had also carefully tested and determined the maximum range of Obito's instant Shinra Tensei, as well as his attack habits.
The golden flash broke through again, cutting across the air.
Obito's gaze hardened. Three Truth-Seeking Orbs lit up, forming a triangular shield around him. At the moment Minato appeared, all three shot out at once!
The power of the orbs was absolute—of all the people Obito had encountered, only Shisui had ever been able to resist them.
Minato, though dangerous, was clearly relying more on tactics and mobility than on raw strength. If just one orb struck him, his defenses would crumble instantly.
But Minato showed no fear. His attack didn't falter in the slightest. And when the orbs reached him—space itself warped and collapsed, swallowing all three into nothingness.
"What?!"
Flying Thunder God: Guided Thunder!
And not just any cast—but without the usual preparation time!
Obito's expression froze, but he still managed to put the Sword of Nunoboko in front of him at the last minute.
Boom!!
Just as expected, Minato's figure flickered past his defense, reappearing behind him, chaining yet another flurry of strikes.
Obito clenched his teeth. Minato's blows might not harm him seriously, but that wasn't the point. He could retreat into the safety of his orbs, yes—but if he did, he would be falling right into Minato's hands.
Because Minato didn't need to defeat him. He only needed to stall him.
"If you want to play like this…" Obito's eyes narrowed, his voice low and grim. "…then let's play!"
Minato's Infinite Flying Thunder God technique, with its unique mechanism, was starting to wear down Obito's patience. Deep inside, he no longer wanted to waste time toying with his former teacher.
And with his suspicions about Yuki Yoru gnawing at him, Obito finally stopped hesitating.
The battle—was about to be taken to the next level!
"Shinra Tensei!!"
The purple Rinnegan in Obito's eyes flared open, and a tidal wave of repulsive force erupted outward once more.
At first, Minato evaded with his usual blinding speed, slipping past the expected range of the repulsion. But this time, the force didn't stop—it expanded, swelling outward far beyond what he had calculated!
Everything the repulsion touched was crushed, blasted away, annihilated.
The ruins of Kirigakure's shattered walls.
The fallen clones, the wounded Shinigami and Quincy.
Even the incoming Kidō spells and Quincy arrows.
All of it—swept aside in an instant by this overwhelming force. And still the repulsion surged, its strength and radius expanding without end!
"I have no more interest in playing with you. Since you refuse to hand over the Tailed Beasts—then you can all just die!"
With absolute arrogance, he unleashed the crushing might of a Six Paths being, determined to flatten Kirigakure—a village now without Uchiha Shisui, without Yuki Yoru.
"AAAAHHHH!!!"
Obito's roar shook the heavens as everything in his path was swept away. The Kirigakure Duel Tower collapsed in an instant, and those still battling within—Tsunade, Kushina, even Hiruzen Sarutobi himself—were hurled into the air by the onslaught.
Farther off, the clash between the colossal Eight Branches Technique and the Wood Golem Susanoo Armor was still raging. Yet even these towering monsters, hundreds of meters tall, could not withstand the force—they too were driven back, helpless before such raw power.
Countless Shinigami, Quincy, and clones were blown away like insects, tossed aside by the storm of divine repulsion.
The indescribable force scoured everything clean. The ground itself sank downward, as though struck by divine punishment.
The shinobi of Kirigakure lifted their heads, eyes wide with shock.
Kirigakure—the strongest village in the shinobi world, the most prosperous for the last ten years. Not once had it suffered invasion, much less destruction; it had known barely a ripple of unrest.
And now—its barriers shattered, its defenses broken, the village itself was about to be erased from existence.
The might of Shinra Tensei at Six Paths level was beyond imagination. Obito could not yet rival the Sage of Six Paths in creating moons with Chibaku Tensei, but having stepped into the Six Paths realm, the sheer scale of his repulsion was enough to rival natural disasters. Even the captains tried to resist—but against this tyrannical, overwhelming force, their efforts were meaningless. Kirigakure was flattened completely.
Defense and destruction were two very different things—and here, it was pure destruction.
Not just Kirigakure, but the entire island itself was caught in the blast! Built on its own isle, the Mist Village was wiped from the map; not just its buildings, but the very stone and trees of the land itself were scoured away.
Late to arrive, Uchiha Hikari hovered in the sky above, looking down upon the island reduced to barren wasteland. For once, even his eternally cold expression darkened into a scowl of fury.
From the smoking ruins, shattered walls shifted aside as layers of spiritual barriers flickered and fell, revealing Shinigami and Quincy who had managed to survive.
"That bastard…!"
Closer to the center, a powerful spiritual barrier unraveled, revealing Yuki Kiri, Uzumaki Hiromi, and others. Seeing the Kirigakure razed flat, the women froze for a moment—then rage overtook them. Terumi Mei trembled with fury, nearly charging out blindly to clash with Obito then and there.
The village—their village, their home—was gone, just like that.
For those like Yuki Kiri and Terumi Mei, who were born and raised in Kirigakure, their love for the village ran deep. They cherished it even more after it had transformed from the days of the Bloody Mist into what it had become now.
Even for outsiders like Hiromi and the others, though their bonds with the village weren't as profound, Yuki Yoru was the Fourth Mizukage—this was his village. And now, in his absence, the village had been destroyed. How could they not be burning with rage?
Dozens of eyes turned toward Obito floating in the sky. His expression remained cold, detached.
Behind him, two figures tore through the air, panting heavily.
Danzō glanced at Hiruzen Sarutobi, then turned his wary eyes toward Obito, speaking in a low, heavy voice:
"The Six-Tails is secured."
"The Four-Tails as well," Hiruzen reported, though he hesitated for a moment before adding:
"But the Nine-Tails' jinchūriki was taken. Minato's speed was too fast—I couldn't react."
Obito said nothing. His pale purple Rinnegan looked down coldly at the people gathered below.
As the dust cleared from the ruins, Yuki Kiri and her companions were not the only ones revealed—the captains of the Shinigami divisions had also arrived one after another.
Uchiha Hikaru, late to the scene, glared with murderous eyes. Orochimaru, who had released his Eight-Heads Technique form, clutched the White Snake sword with an eerie expression. Tsunade clenched her fists, while Kushina's face showed deep worry. Only when Minato appeared, giving her a small nod, did her tension finally ease.
The Sternritter who wielded Schrift powers, Vice-captains like Jūzō Biwa who had already achieved Bankai—all of them gathered from every direction.
Two armies faced each other in silence.
"How amusing…"
Several minutes later, Obito suddenly let out a mocking laugh.
"Perhaps you don't realize—this mission was one we embarked upon with absolute resolve, with no way of turning back. Yet I didn't expect things to turn out like this."
"The Tailed Beasts seized. Kirigakure destroyed. I've already achieved this much—I've leveled the entire Mist Village—and yet the Fourth Mizukage, Yuki Yoru, still hasn't appeared."
"I truly wonder… why is that?"
He paused for a moment, then continued:
"Of course, I no longer care what he's plotting. I don't care why someone as close to invincible as he is can stay hidden even in such circumstances."
"Maybe something happened to him. Maybe he's in seclusion. Maybe it's something else entirely. But none of that matters anymore."
"Hmph!" Pakura snorted coldly.
"Don't kid yourself. Do you really think you can stand against Yoru?"
But among the others present, unease began to stir. In more than a few eyes, suspicion and doubt flickered.
Yes… why hadn't the Mizukage appeared yet?
The battle had gone this far, the entire village reduced to rubble—so why still no response from him?
Could it be… has the Mizukage truly met with misfortune?!
Kiri, Hiromi, and the other Kirigakure leaders said nothing in explanation. They simply watched Obito in silence.
Obito narrowed his eyes slightly.
"There's no need to look at me like that. The time for a true decisive battle hasn't come yet."
The truth was, Kirigakure's elites had not yet been depleted. It wasn't time for a desperate, fight-to-the-death clash. If it really came down to that, his chances of victory were slim.
Even setting aside the others, just Uchiha Hikari and Namikaze Minato together were more than enough to give him trouble. Add the other captains, the vast number of Shinigami and Quincy gathered here—Obito knew he had no guarantee of winning.
But that didn't stop him from posturing.
His gaze shifted, falling on Minato.
"Sensei… This false world has always been cruel, always full of grief and pain. I don't care what Yuki Yoru intends, because this decaying old era will be buried by my hand!"
The air twisted. With a ripple of space, Uchiha Obito vanished along with Shimura Danzō and Sarutobi Hiruzen—leaving behind only the dead silence of the Mist shinobi, and the completely flattened ruins of Kirigakure.
The eerie silence did not last long. Some uneasy Shinigami and Quincy, their faces pale, hurried to Yuki Kiri's side.
"Lady Kiri, what's really happened to the Mizukage?!"
"Lady Kiri, how is the Fourth now?!"
"Could what that man said be true? Has the Fourth really met with disaster?!"
"Lady Yumi, the Fourth Mizukage—tell us!"
One voice after another pressed against Kiri and the other leaders. Even the Shinigami captains turned their eyes toward her.
Under such pressure, Yuki Kiri did not answer their questions directly. Instead, she raised her hand, gathering a sphere of spiritual power.
"Spiritual power—the power you wield—is a gift created and spread by Lord Yoru. Lord Yoru is the source of all spiritual power, the master of all spiritual power."
Her voice was gentle, serene, just as it always had been. It carried no trace of distress from the destruction of Kirigakure, the loss of the Tailed Beasts, or Obito's provocative words from moments earlier.
"I know what you're all thinking, what you're afraid of. I also understand the enemy's purpose in saying those things. To be honest, I don't know why Lord Yoru has not acted. Perhaps it is to temper us… perhaps for some other reason. But whatever the case, it is his decision alone. What we must do… is simply follow where Lord Yoru leads."
With those words, Kiri turned to leave.
The others, clearly dissatisfied with such an answer, instinctively began to press further.
But just as they moved, Yuki Kiri suddenly turned back, as if struck by a thought.
"If you truly worry for Lord Yoru… then try to feel the spiritual power flowing within you."
"God answers His most faithful believers. The messages and convictions carried through spiritual power are the same."
"Lord Yoru… has never left us. He is always here."