"Don't be nervous. I have no ill intentions toward you."
On the masked face of Uchiha Obito, there was a hint of regret. If only this brat across from him were a bit less vigilant or exposed a single lapse—if he had subconsciously looked over and made eye contact—then Obito wouldn't need to waste his breath. He could have just captured him right away.
Link said nothing. The reason was simple: his ears were blocked. Illusions involve not only vision but hearing as well, and he wasn't about to gamble with someone who was a peerless master of visual illusions.
Click.
Having received the signal, Uchiha Sasuke landed immediately.
Now the situation felt more stable.
When Link saw Sasuke's not-so-broad back, and on it the Uchiha fan symbol, the worry he'd been harboring instantly subsided.
Without hesitation, he let his shadows surround him and pull him back, yielding the battlefield to his Pokémon.
He felt a bit uneasy. Both of his "twin pillars" were facing formidable opponents, so if Black Zetsu showed up now, wouldn't that be a big headache?
What's more, Utakata [the Jinchūriki of the Six-Tails] still hadn't shown up, even though he had received the signal. Could something have happened to him?
Black Zetsu definitely had the motive to ambush a Jinchūriki. His stealth attack was so sudden that even Six Paths Madara hadn't been able to react. Who knew if Link's warning had been enough.
Link's expression grew serious. There was no time to gather more solid chakra blocks, so he raised his voice slightly:
"Sasuke, Utakata might be in trouble. I'm going to go find him. Are you okay here?"
"I'm not like that guy."
Uchiha Sasuke's voice brimmed with confidence. "Leave the enemy here to me."
Link had no time to deal with Sasuke's sudden competitive spirit. He vanished with Body Flicker, leaving two shadow clones behind to provide support, while the rest followed him.
Even if the Six-Tails got taken and that living 'battery' was lost, he still had to figure out a way to save Utakata.
After all, he was an important combat asset.
Seeing him leave, Uchiha Obito's single visible eye—adorned with three tomoe—swirled slightly. Yet he did not pursue. He looked at the young man before him, eyes shining with a Mangekyō Sharingan, and spoke calmly:
"Sasuke, you really have grown."
"The Sharingan—you're..."
Halfway through speaking, Uchiha Sasuke's face darkened with killing intent. "You're the masked man who helped Itachi slaughter the Uchiha clan, aren't you?"
So Itachi was really that talkative? Uchiha Obito frowned. He'd originally planned to deceive Sasuke or even bring Sasuke or Link onto his side. Failing that, he'd considered just forcibly capturing Link.
But the kid from Konoha had grown very fast. His retreat speed earlier had outpaced Obito's Kamui. On top of that, his vigilance was cranked to the maximum; if anything seemed off, he would shrink back behind a pile of those shadows. Forcibly using Kamui to capture him now looked difficult.
Most importantly, usually he could speed up Kamui's effect by grabbing his opponent up close; even if he got hurt in the process, it didn't matter. But because that Konoha brat's technique could seal his ability to form hand seals the instant they touched, close-quarters capture wasn't an option.
"Itachi left behind a transcription seal in my eye," Uchiha Sasuke said, attempting to lock eyes with his opponent so he could unleash his Ame-no-Iwato technique and seal Obito's vision. Meanwhile, he played for time: "He told me everything about you. He even left me a one-shot Amaterasu to finish you off—but I already took care of that—"
"Your Mangekyō ability must be some kind of visual illusion, right?" Uchiha Obito suddenly asked. "You're so eager to meet my gaze, which suggests it's quite troublesome. Even Itachi and Danzō couldn't withstand it."
[He's talking like he actually saw me fight earlier,] Sasuke thought. He stopped trying to distract him. Talking never came naturally to him anyway.
You can't possibly avoid my gaze at every moment in battle! Lightning crackled in Sasuke's palm as he vanished in a blur.
Uchiha Obito remained motionless, quickly forming the hand seals of Hare, Boar, and Ram. Facing Sasuke, who had now awakened Itachi's eyes and grown to such an extent that no one knew exactly what his visual powers could do, Obito wasn't about to hesitate in sacrificing one three-tomoe Sharingan to activate Izanagi.
Kamui-phase.
Chidori pierced through the masked man's body, but Sasuke recalled the intel Link had given him. When he saw Obito try to grab him, he instantly triggered his prepared Lightning Release chakra, the crackling of Chidori now shrouding his entire body.
Lightning Release: Chidori Current!
[He knew my abilities?] Obito thought. He stayed in his intangible Kamui state, even shutting his eye the instant their bodies intersected. The crackling lightning only produced a sharp, pungent smell in the air.
"Hah!" He next spewed forth a Great Fireball aimed at Sasuke, who had just dashed a short distance away.
"Hah!" Flames met with flames.
Their Great Fireballs clashed in a torrent of flame, sending crackling blasts in all directions nearby.
Clang, clang, clang!
Below the billowing fire, glints of steel flickered as their shuriken clashed, each using textbook throwing technique.
[Ninjutsu and ninja tool skills are both quite high—no wonder he was trained by Itachi and Fugaku…] Obito mused. Then he noticed Sasuke's Susanoo arm slam down at him from above, forcing him to stop his jutsu and phase his body again.
Boom!
The ground cracked in concentric rings beneath Susanoo's massive palm.
"The warm-up is over," came Sasuke's voice, drawing closer on the wind. "Now begins the Uchiha clan's true battle!"
BOOM!!!
Far away, an enormous meteor crashed from the sky, violently shaking the earth. As fissures split the ground, Amegakure's already-fragile underground pipes burst, spraying water everywhere.
In the heavy mist, a black-robe-with-red-clouds figure and a figure in traditional Uchiha attire brushed past one another.
[Six-Tails secured!]
Slash!
Black Zetsu's hand pierced straight through Utakata' chest. But before it could celebrate even for a second, it realized the body in its hand had turned to liquid.
"Sure enough, you're just a despicable sneak attacker," came Utakata' voice. Immediately, Black and White Zetsu found themselves trapped inside a Water Prison formed by his water clone.
After spending so much time with Link and knowing some intel on Zetsu, and having undergone rapid growth lately, if Utakata could still be taken out by one quick ambush, now that would be strange indeed.
[But this guy was so fast, I couldn't even react. If it weren't for the water clone I'd prepared in advance…] Utakata's words were filled with scorn, but internally, he felt genuine alarm. Had he not been forewarned by Link—had he not released the water clone before entering Amegakure and run maxed-out sensory jutsu—he'd never have sensed or reacted in time to the ambush.
He'd have ended up waiting for reincarnation in the Pure Land.
[Though maybe I'd have come back as a kid taken care of by Link…] he speculated. Then he noticed that inside the Water Prison, the black color began dissolving.
?!
No, not dissolving exactly, but the black half was melting into the water and sinking into the ground, fleeing. All that was left inside was the unconscious white half.
[So the black part is actually the true body?]
[No way—I can't leave that thing alive. It's too big a threat to Link!]
Blue-white light pulsed around Utakata' body as he unleashed maximum Tailed Beast chakra. He could sense Black Zetsu slipping quickly beyond his sensing range. With no time to think more, he hurried in pursuit, leaving behind a single bubble.
Boom!
An explosion rang out. White Zetsu's body was instantly blasted apart.
"Did Zetsu always have power like that?" From the air, Konan watched, stunned. She had never seen him exhibit such speed or launch such a silent ambush. Pair that with the best intel-gathering skills in the ninja world, and he became a truly terrifying threat.
Tap!
Someone landed. Konan, already emotionally numb from shock after all that had happened today, turned quickly toward the newcomer, who was surrounded by swirling shadows.
"You must be Konan of the Akatsuki?" said Link, eyeing the woman with paper wings spread in the air. He felt a little more at ease now.
Konan remained silent. At the moment, she wasn't even sure of her own stance. From start to finish, she had always followed either Yahiko or Nagato—she'd never decided anything on her own.
[That's strange. I just sensed Utakata' chakra flare here a moment ago. Did he fight this woman? What's going on? The captives are still all there, but where's Orochimaru?]
Link's mind buzzed with questions. He saw Kakashi, Guy, and others trapped in a bubble, not far from Jiraiya who was half-kneeling in exhaustion. Raising his hand, he performed a summoning technique, and called Yahiko's spirit into the living world.
"Konan?!"
"Yahiko?!"
One on the ground, one in midair. The translucent young man had been about to speak to the Konoha kid who'd summoned him, but the moment he looked up and saw Konan, his expression froze.
Konan instinctively descended, but as she realized the enemy had used some technique to control her late companion, memories of grief flooded back. She stood in the distance, sadness marring her face.
"He can't control me," Yahiko said stiffly, turning to glare at Link. "No matter what happens, even if I die, I won't do anything for you."
"Oh," Link answered blandly, "If you old friends want to catch up, be my guest."
Then he walked over to check Jiraiya's condition. Meanwhile, two shadow clones quietly slipped beneath Konan's feet, taking advantage of her distraction with Yahiko.
Link wasn't crazy enough to let them have a friendly reunion for no reason; all he really wanted was to draw her attention for a sneak attack. Right now, however, since Konan wasn't resisting, he had no need to make a move.
[Still acceptable—his injuries aren't too severe.]
Link administered his usual healing routine to Jiraiya—extracting hidden impurities, providing standard chakra treatment, and giving him a soldier pill. Soon, the man who had just appeared half-dead looked a bit better. He raised his head:
"Thank you."
Link simply shook his head and didn't dwell on it. Instead he asked, "About Utakata—the man in the blue yukata—did he pass by here a moment ago? He should've come with Tsunade."
Off to the side, Link's shadow had already popped the bubble and retrieved the unconscious Kakashi and the black-rod-pierced Might Guy.
~~~
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