What emerged was a mangled humanoid figure, radiating an incomparably terrifying, blinding white light.
The destructive aura contained within that light made even Obito shudder from the depths of his soul.
"W-what the hell is that thing?!"
The white light surrounding the humanoid had already expanded to an extremely unstable critical point, like a nuclear bomb counting down to its final second.
Run!
That was the only thought flashing through Obito's mind.
Without the slightest hesitation, Obito immediately activated Kamui, attempting to transfer himself back to the real world.
But it was already too late.
"Bastard! No matter who did this, I—"
Rumble—!
Before Obito could even finish shouting his curse, his voice was completely drowned out by a terrifying roar that seemed capable of tearing space itself apart.
An indescribably destructive explosion erupted inside Obito's Kamui dimension!
Blinding white light swallowed everything in an instant.
Those incomparably hard, massive stone pillars were vaporized on the spot, annihilated like fragile biscuits.
Within that world-ending white light, more than half of Obito's body—composed of White Zetsu cells—didn't last even a second before being instantly burned away and vaporized, like snow meeting magma.
The shadow of death completely engulfed him.
"I have no choice but to use that technique…"
"Izanagi!"
Hum—!
As his left eye rapidly lost its light and sank into eternal darkness, the boundary between reality and illusion was forcibly rewritten.
The real world.
At the border of the Land of Fire, inside a hidden underground base.
Thump.
A figure fell out of a spatial vortex in mid-air in a thoroughly disheveled state, crashing heavily onto the ground.
"Cough, cough… pfft!"
Obito coughed violently, spitting out large mouthfuls of blood mixed with fragments of internal organs.
Most of his mask had shattered, revealing a face covered in both old scars and fresh burns.
Although he had used Izanagi to rewrite the reality of being "blown to death" into an illusion, the residual impact of the explosion still left him gravely injured.
"Who… exactly… was it…"
Obito struggled to roll over, clutching his chest. His remaining right eye was filled with the terror of surviving catastrophe and bone-deep rage.
"That thing… where did it even come from?! Why did it suddenly appear inside my Kamui dimension?!"
He ground his teeth, the intense pain making his facial muscles twitch uncontrollably.
His Kamui dimension was absolutely private—except for Kakashi Hatake, who possessed the other eye…
"No… impossible! That useless Kakashi doesn't even know how to properly activate the Mangekyō, let alone send something like that inside!"
"Could it be… that Nagato secretly developed some forbidden technique capable of breaking through spatial barriers behind my back?"
"Zetsu!"
Enduring the pain, Obito roared hoarsely.
The ground beside him writhed, and the pitcher-plant-like forms of Black Zetsu and White Zetsu slowly emerged.
"Oh my, Obito, why are you in such a miserable state?"
White Zetsu looked at Obito lying on the ground and couldn't help making an irritating remark.
"Shut up!"
Obito snapped irritably, interrupting White Zetsu as his Sharingan fixed itself on Black Zetsu.
"Go investigate immediately! Find out where in the shinobi world there was an extremely violent energy fluctuation just now!"
"Whether it's Nagato, Konoha, or some other hidden force… I need to know exactly what that thing was!"
——————
Konoha Village, Training Ground Three.
The apocalyptic crisis had finally been resolved, leaving behind only devastation and several enormous craters.
Tsunade rushed to Kakashi's side with a large group of ANBU. Seeing the scene of near-total destruction around them, everyone drew in sharp breaths.
"Kakashi! What in the world happened here?!"
Tsunade lifted the kneeling Kakashi up, her hands glowing with the green light of the Strength of a Hundred healing technique as she pressed them firmly against his back.
Kakashi kept his right eye tightly shut as blood continued to stream from it, his breathing ragged.
Hearing Tsunade's question, he suppressed the violent turbulence within his body and tugged the corner of his lips upward.
"It's nothing… I just happened to help my student out a little."
The moment he finished speaking—
"Sasuke! Kakashi-sensei! Naruto!"
A sobbing voice suddenly rang out from behind Tsunade.
Seeing Naruto and the younger Sasuke lying bloodied at the edge of the ruins, Sakura's tears immediately overflowed.
She stumbled over to them and knelt on the debris-strewn ground, her hands trembling as she wanted to touch them but was afraid of worsening their injuries.
"How… how could this happen…"
Large tears fell onto Naruto and Sasuke's bloodstained clothes.
"Sasuke-kun!"
"How are you, Sasuke-kun? Wake up!"
A boy's choked voice suddenly echoed from nearby ruins.
Boruto, who had appeared from nowhere, staggered over to Adult Sasuke and desperately tried to lift the unconscious man in gray robes.
"Sasuke… san?"
Sakura, who had been wiping her tears, froze.
She slowly turned her head, staring blankly in the direction of the voice, forgetting even to wipe her face.
Her gaze shifted back and forth between the unconscious younger Sasuke and the unfamiliar gray-robed man, her expression filled with shock and suspicion.
That dusty blond brat—with whisker-like markings on his cheeks just like Naruto—what did he just call that one-armed man?
Sasuke?!
What kind of joke was this? Sasuke-kun was clearly lying right here in front of her!
Who was this blond kid who had suddenly appeared? And who exactly was that man?
Swish, swish, swish!
Several ANBU instantly surrounded Boruto and Adult Sasuke, drawing their blades and pointing them straight at Boruto.
"Brat! Don't move!"
The leading ANBU shouted sternly, his eyes full of vigilance.
Boruto was startled by the sudden hostility and quickly raised both hands, backing away in panic.
"I-I'm not a bad guy! We came to help!"
As he spoke, he turned desperately toward Kakashi, who was still being treated, shouting as if grasping at a lifeline.
"Granny Tsunade! I'm really not an enemy! Uncle Kakashi, please say something for me!"
The moment those words were spoken—
Tsunade, who had been channeling Chakra into Kakashi, abruptly stopped.
The surrounding ANBU, who had been brimming with killing intent, all froze at once.
An eerie silence fell over the ruined training ground.
"…."
Kakashi quietly looked away, pretending not to hear anything. He had no intention of saving this reckless blond brat.
"You… what did you just call me?"
Tsunade slowly raised her head, her beautiful face now shrouded in an extremely terrifying gloom.
Veins bulged one by one on her forehead as she squeezed out each word through clenched teeth.
Boruto still hadn't realized how serious the situation was and blinked innocently.
"Granny… Granny Tsunade… is something wrong?"
Crack!
The ground beneath Tsunade's feet instantly fractured like a spiderweb.
"Gra… nny?!"
Boom—!!!
An overwhelming surge of Chakra erupted from Tsunade's body.
The surrounding ANBU turned pale and hastily retreated several meters, afraid of being caught in the blast.
"You ignorant little brat…"
Tsunade clenched her fists, her knuckles cracking loudly as she advanced toward Boruto step by step, her smile ferocious beyond belief.
"I'm only fifty years old this year, in the prime of my life! How dare you call me Granny?!"
"Eh?!"
Boruto finally sensed the terrifying killing intent. He collapsed backward onto the ground in fear, waving his hands frantically as he scrambled away.
"W-wait! Granny Tsunade—no, Hokage-sama! I didn't mean it! In my time, everyone calls you that…"