Chapter 69: The Hunter and the Wounded
He's with Nagato. I'll wait. Wait until he's isolated. That's when I'll strike. The decision solidified in Akira's mind, a cold and patient resolve.
This was the opportunity. Minato had confirmed it—Obito was grievously wounded, having paid a horrific price for his tactical victory. In the aftermath, flush with success, his guard would be down. Arrogance bred carelessness. This was the moment Akira had been maneuvering toward, the chance to eliminate the linchpin of so much future suffering.
In the Land of Rain, within a dank, hidden cavern, two figures materialized from a swirling vortex. Uchiha Obito and Nagato stumbled into existence, both leaning heavily on the damp stone walls. Their conditions were dire. Even with the enhanced regenerative properties granted by Hashirama Senju's cells, the injuries they bore were catastrophic.
Nagato's chest was a sunken ruin of broken ribs and bruised organs from Might Dai's attenuated kick. Obito's wound was even more visually staggering—a diagonal slash that had nearly cleaved him in two, held together now by strands of white Zetsu matter and stubborn will. The special White Zetsu, A Fei, who formed his armored half, was equally compromised.
"Lord Madara… are you… alright?" Nagato rasped, each word a painful effort. He looked at Obito with genuine, horrified concern. From his perspective, this ancient legend had just sacrificed his own body to save him.
Beneath the orange spiral mask, Obito's face was pale, slick with sweat, but his single visible eye gleamed with triumph. Nagato is mine now. And Minato-sensei is gone. The operation was a success.
"The wounds I suffered fighting Hashirama were worse," Obito lied, his voice distorted but carrying an air of casual endurance. "This is nothing. It will pass with rest."
Nagato visibly relaxed, a burden of guilt seeming to lift slightly. "I owe you my life, Lord Madara."
"Think nothing of it," Obito waved a dismissive, trembling hand. "You are the Sage's heir. Your destiny is to save this world. Preserving you is preserving the path to peace."
Nagato bowed his head, a complex mix of gratitude and shame warring within him. He coughed violently, more blood speckling his lips. "I… failed in my duty. I was not strong enough."
"You are young. The Rinnegan's true power is yet to awaken. When it does… you will become a god walking the earth, surpassing even Hashirama." Obito's voice was full of deliberate, tempting grandeur.
"I will strive toward that," Nagato vowed, his voice strengthening with conviction.
Obito himself then coughed, a wet, rattling sound that made Nagato flinch. The sight of Obito's injury—the body barely holding together—was gruesome.
"Nagato," Obito said, feigning weakness now to sell the performance. "I must retreat to tend to these wounds properly. The medical facilities here are… insufficient for my needs. You focus on your recovery. Have Konan watch over you."
"I understand, Lord Madara. Be well." Nagato nodded, his trust visibly deepening.
With a final, strained pulse of chakra, Obito activated Kamui and vanished from the cavern.
Minutes later, Konan hurried into the chamber, her paper wings dissolving in her haste. Seeing Nagato's broken state, her composure shattered. "Nagato! What happened? 'Madara' said the plan was flawless!"
"Konan," Nagato said weakly, shaking his head. "If Madara had not thrown himself in the way… I would be dead by the Fourth Hokage's hand."
"'Madara'… saved you?" Konan's suspicion was immediate and deep. It clashed with every cynical instinct she possessed.
"Perhaps… we have misjudged him," Nagato suggested, recounting the battle's end as he saw it.
Konan listened, her brow furrowed. She didn't believe it. Not for a second. But she saw the conviction in Nagato's pained eyes. "Perhaps," she conceded, not wanting to argue with her injured friend. "But you need treatment, Nagato. Now. Your injuries…"
"The First Hokage's cells grant me resilience. I will recover," Nagato insisted.
"You call this 'fine'?" Konan's voice was sharp with worry. "Go to the medics. Now."
Nagato sighed, yielding. "Alright, I'll go."
Elsewhere in the Rain Country, in a smaller, darker cave known only to him, Obito reappeared. He had separated from the injured A Fei. Both bore identical, ghastly wounds.
A Fei, however, seemed entirely unbothered by the massive gash across its form. It tilted its head, its shoulder making an unsettling crack-pop sound. "Obito~ Does being hurt feel like… when you really, really have to go to the bathroom?"
Obito, who was already channeling green medical chakra into his own torso, trying to knit flesh and Zetsu-matter back together, grimaced in annoyance. His medical knowledge, inherited from Madara's records, was considerable, but the process required intense concentration. "Shut up, A Fei. If you don't stop talking, I'll turn you into the excrement you're so curious about."
"Wah! Obito's so mean!" A Fei hopped in place, making an exaggerated frightened face. "Fine, fine! I'll go play with Kuro Zetsu instead!"
"Get out," Obito snarled, his patience spent.
He wasn't worried about A Fei dying. A Fei was unique, a consciousness born from the Gedo Statue itself. Its vitality was extraordinary; it would regenerate fully in a matter of days without any help.
Alone at last, Obito thought, the silence a relief. The pain was intense, but the victory was sweeter. Time to enter the Kamui dimension fully. I can rest there, undisturbed…
He began the mental focus to shift his entire body into his personal pocket space, a sanctuary for recovery.
It was at that exact moment, as his guard hit its lowest point, his mind turning inward, that it happened.
A streak of formless, conscious energy—pure will given spiritual form—shot across the physical and metaphysical distance with impossible speed. It had been waiting, observing, patient as a spider at the edge of its web.
Uchiha Akira's consciousness, launched via the Spiritual Transformation Technique, found its mark.
"SPIRITUAL TRANSFORMATION TECHNIQUE!"
A hazy, invasive white light bypassed all physical defense, all ocular prowess, and pierced directly into Uchiha Obito's mind and soul.
It was so fast, so utterly unexpected in this hidden sanctum, that Obito had no time to react, no time to even form a thought of defense before the foreign presence was inside him.
(End of Chapter)
(End of Chapter)
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