"Boom!"
Uchiha Obito's body crashed down from the ceiling of the cavern, chunks of rock and clouds of dust tumbling down with him.
Hyuga Daiki narrowed his eyes slightly. He could still see the flow of chakra running through Obito's meridians, so he immediately hurled a kunai straight at the fallen enemy.
There was no mercy for a wounded foe—Daiki never held back when facing an enemy.
The two ANBU operatives behind him saw this and swiftly formed hand seals. Their Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique, boosted by Wind Release: Breakthrough, roared toward Obito. The scorching heat turned the cave floor and ceiling into a molten red.
"One after another…"
"All of you are in my way!"
Fire Release: Gale-Style Dance!
Perhaps because he had been suppressed too hard by the Hyuga, Obito didn't even try to use Kamui to evade this time. He sprang up, his hands blurring through seals. As he activated his space-time ninjutsu, flames gushed from his mouth.
The spatial vortex twisted the fire into a spiraling inferno that collided head-on with the incoming Great Fireballs.
Its momentum and power even surpassed the combined jutsu of the two ANBU.
"!!!"
The fiery vortex unleashed by Obito shattered the wind-enhanced fireballs in an instant. The flames swept forward, rushing toward Daiki and the ANBU like a blazing tidal wave.
Feeling the searing heat approaching, Hyuga Daiki's face hardened. With no countermeasure ready, he quickly sidestepped and rolled away.
Unlike Hyuga Hizashi—who had received special training from Hyuga Satoru—Daiki, as a branch member of the clan, didn't have access to all of the clan's secret arts. The Hyuga had always focused on taijutsu to maximize the power of their Byakugan.
That meant their ninjutsu was, comparatively, weaker.
It wasn't that Daiki couldn't use ninjutsu other than taijutsu—but with his level of skill, none of his techniques could possibly compare to the might of Obito's Gale-Style Dance.
Fortunately, while Daiki lacked strong offensive ninjutsu, the ANBU assigned to guard Kushina were all experts in elemental techniques.
To qualify as ANBU, a ninja usually had to possess a distinct talent. The Hyuga were chosen for their Byakugan, while the others guarding Kushina's delivery room specialized in defensive ninjutsu.
Earth Release: Earth Flow Wall!
Both ANBU formed seals simultaneously, and a massive earth wall rose in front of Daiki.
At the same moment, another ANBU finished his own seals and pressed both hands to the ground.
Earth Release: Descending Dome!
Above the cavern, a massive dome of earth appeared and crashed downward toward where Obito stood.
While some ANBU focused on defense, others moved immediately to counterattack. The coordination between them was seamless—no words were needed.
The earthen wall blocked the lingering flames of Obito's attack, while Obito himself looked up at the falling dome of rock, his eyes darkening.
This scene—
It brought back memories he had long tried to bury.
Once before… he too had been buried beneath an Earth Release technique just like this.
Kamui activated. Obito's body became ethereal, and he sank slowly into the ground.
"BOOM!!!!"
The dome slammed down with a thunderous crash, shaking the cavern. Smoke and dust billowed everywhere, but no one let their guard down.
Both Hyuga Daiki and Hyuga Hizashi activated their Byakugan, scanning beneath the collapsed dome. Finding no corpse, they began scanning their surroundings, wary of any movement.
"Don't relax. We didn't see a body."
"That Earth Release didn't hit him!"
Hizashi, the team leader, barked orders while continuing to search for Obito's chakra signature.
"Did he retreat!?"
One ANBU frowned, voice low and tense.
But before anyone could answer, white spores suddenly sprouted all over Daiki and several ANBU's bodies.
The moment they grew, the spores began draining their chakra at a terrifying rate.
"W-What is this!?"
"What the hell?!"
Even battle-hardened veterans like Daiki and the ANBU couldn't hide the alarm in their voices.
They could feel their chakra being sucked away, their strength fading by the second.
The white spores grew rapidly, becoming heavier as they expanded. Within moments, they had completely encased their hosts, immobilizing them.
The bulging spores even seemed to form faint, human-like faces—ghastly and twisted. Thankfully, their growth soon halted after enveloping their targets completely.
Despite their struggle, none of the captured ninja could break free any time soon.
Hizashi's clan brother and subordinates were all trapped, but he didn't so much as glance in their direction. He refused to leave Kushina's side.
"A diversion…"
"This kind of trick won't work on me."
Hizashi's mind raced through every event since Obito's sudden appearance—
The abduction of the newborn, the relentless assault on the ANBU and Daiki—
He had already pieced together the enemy's plan.
Abducting the child was to lure away Namikaze Minato.
And attacking the others now was meant to draw him away from Uzumaki Kushina.
The enemy's true target had always been clear—
Kushina herself!
But what was it about Kushina that drew such attention…?
It could only be—
"The Nine-Tails?!"
Realization struck like lightning. Hizashi's expression hardened; his guard rose even higher.
"Hello there—"
Just then, a pale figure rose silently from the ground behind him. The ever-"cheerful" White Zetsu waved at him with a grin.
Hizashi didn't even reply.
He spun instantly and unleashed Eight Trigrams Vacuum Palm!
Boom!
The blast pierced straight through White Zetsu's head—
—but at that very same moment, Uchiha Obito appeared beside Uzumaki Kushina, his hand clamping around her arm.
Kamui activated. The massive suction force of the vortex began pulling Kushina into Obito's space.
"You've got to be kidding me!"
Hizashi sensed what was happening. He lunged forward—but just then, white spores sprouted from his legs, weighing him down and slowing his charge by a crucial instant.
"Hyuga shinobi…"
"I'll remember you."
"Farewell."
Kushina vanished into the swirling vortex. Obito's form turned transparent just as a Flying Thunder God kunai flashed into the scene—but the attack passed harmlessly through his fading body.
And then—
Obito was gone.
In the next instant, a man cloaked in the Fourth Hokage's ceremonial robe appeared before Hizashi, his face grave, eyes fixed on the spot where Obito had disappeared.
Namikaze Minato had arrived.
◇ I'll be dropping one bonus chapters for every 10 reviews. comment
◇ One bonus chapter will be released for every 100 Power Stones.
◇ You can read 50 chapter ahead on P@treon if you're interested: patreon.com/Nova5tudios