Minato had a perfectly good reason for being so late.
Adult Obito and the Masked Man had killed each other.
Kakashi stood there in a daze, like a scarecrow that had no idea what to do.
Minato Namikaze felt like his head was about to split in two.
When former Akatsuki members like Kyūsuke and Daibutsu arrived, they found Konan and Nagato with the current Akatsuki members, Deidara, Sasori, Hidan, Kakuzu, Itachi, Kisame, and the others, all holding their foreheads in speechless disbelief.
If Adult Obito and the Masked Man had fought each other to the death under normal circumstances, Adult Obito would almost certainly have won. Unfortunately, he had trapped Black Zetsu inside his Kamui, so he didn't dare use his Intangibility Jutsu recklessly and expose his real body to Black Zetsu inside that space.
As a result, while saving Kakashi, who had nearly been crushed to death by Deidara's clay, Adult Obito was stabbed through the heart by this world's Masked Man using Wood Release: Revolt of Hell.
At the same time, he threw out a wooden spike of his own, paying the Masked Man back in kind and killing him.
By then, Minato, Itachi Uchiha, and Kakashi had no time to think about whether Young Obito's SSS-rank mission, killing the Masked Man, counted as complete.
Using the conveniently selective excuse that "this world's Konan" was inside Obito's Kamui's Dimension, Minato forced Nagato, the leader of Akatsuki from the mission scroll world, to revive Adult Obito.
Of everyone present, only Itachi Uchiha instantly understood that the "Obito" Minato was referring to was Young Obito, not the Adult Obito who had just died.
But he had no intention of exposing it.
After some struggle, Nagato used the Rinnegan on the spot to revive Adult Obito.
Reviving a dead person was far harder than restoring puppets like the Six Paths of Pain. Fortunately, Adult Obito had not been dead for long. Otherwise, even with the Rinnegan, they would have needed to use the Summoning Technique first to summon his soul back from the Pure Land.
After a moment of blank confusion, the revived young man quickly realized that Nagato had brought him back to life.
Nagato said he wanted to see Konan. Minato Namikaze glanced at the time and reminded them that Nagato and Yahiko should have already encountered Hanzō of the Salamander by now.
With only six children, one Jōnin, one Chūnin, and the remaining three all Genin, it would be extremely difficult for them to deal with Hanzō of the Salamander, Danzō Shimura, and both of their forces.
So, to prevent Yahiko from being killed again, Adult Obito hoisted the Masked Man's corpse over his shoulder and followed Kannabi Bridge Minato and a finally relieved Kakashi, leading both the old and new Akatsuki groups to the battlefield where Naruto, Sasuke, and the others were.
When they arrived, they saw neither the two groups of children from Team Minato and Team Kakashi, nor this world's Yahiko and Nagato.
Nagato and Konan from the mission scroll world immediately went grim.
"Don't worry. They're hiding," Minato said. Seeing the situation, he guessed that after a hard battle, the children had no choice but to temporarily hide inside Young Obito's Kamui's Dimension.
That was also why Minato had been able to afford the delay on the road.
If not for Obito's Dōjutsu Space, that absurdly unfair cheat, he would never have dared leave those children behind to face Hanzō of Amegakure, once known as a Demi-God.
Inside Young Obito's Kamui's Dimension, Yahiko, Nagato, and Konan saw Kyūsuke and Daibutsu arrive, and immediately called out their names.
"Let us out!"
Yahiko said, "Kyūsuke and the others can't possibly beat Hanzō of the Salamander!"
Konan looked outside and saw another version of herself and Nagato. "Did your people use the Clone Technique?"
"It's the Masked Man!" That Masked Man had been defeated?!
Yahiko was stunned. He had originally thought the man who claimed he could teach Nagato how to use the Rinnegan was…
"The legendary Madara Uchiha was actually defeated?! That's unbelievable!" Yahiko remembered that was how the man had introduced himself to him, Nagato, and Konan.
"Huh?!" Izuna Uchiha, who had just been revived, stared in shock at the Masked Man being carried over someone's shoulder. "What part of him looks like my brother to you?!"
Right!
That Izuna Uchiha was Madara Uchiha's younger brother!!
His actual younger brother!!
Young Obito broke out in a cold sweat. But when he saw that his adult self was still alive, he, Young Kakashi, Rin, Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura all quietly relaxed in a corner of their hearts they barely noticed.
So the death of a Masked Man from another parallel world counted as completing the mission.
Young Obito even thought that dying before he made any mistakes, and letting this world's Kakashi believe he had died during the Kannabi Bridge mission, did not sound too bad.
At the same time, with Minato Namikaze and so many members of both the old and new Akatsuki appearing, there was no way Hanzō of the Salamander could fail to notice them.
Among the crowd, he saw Nagato and Konan.
Following normal logic, how could Hanzō of the Salamander possibly imagine that this Nagato and Konan were not the same Nagato and Konan he had nearly blown the legs off just moments ago?!
"Hmph. So you've brought another pack of rabble with you?"
Standing high above on the head of the giant salamander, Hanzō looked down on them from that height, much like Pain when he attacked Konoha and prepared to unleash Super Shinra Tensei.
"R-rabble?"
The members of the second-generation Akatsuki, a group of vicious super S-rank Missing-nin, had never imagined there would come a day when someone called them rabble.
How should they put it?
Their first impression of this Hanzō was already pretty bad.
Being called rabble also felt rather novel to Minato Namikaze, Adult Kakashi, and Adult Obito.
Only the original first-generation Akatsuki members took it seriously.
"Bastard! Hanzō, you actually used a trick!"
"And Brother Yahiko trusted you so much!"
"I heard you even joined forces with Danzō from Konohagakure. As the leader of Amegakure, that makes you a traitor to your own country!"
Listening to their curses, Hanzō of the Salamander sneered.
"You are simply too naive. Use your brains and think carefully. How could I possibly tolerate a group like yours, a threat to the safety of the Land of Rain?"
"A threat to the safety of the Land of Rain?" Minato Namikaze chuckled. "You mean a threat to the safety of your own position in the Land of Rain, don't you?"
"You're afraid Yahiko and the others will gain greater popularity. Sooner or later, Akatsuki will replace Amegakure, and Yahiko will replace you as the leader of Amegakure, becoming the most respected figure in the Land of Rain."
Generally speaking, Minato Namikaze believed in seeing through things without saying them outright.
But the members of Akatsuki were still too immature at this point. If he did not say some things harshly and absolutely, there was no way to truly awaken their awareness.
Seeing that Hanzō of the Salamander's expression had turned unpleasant, Kisame Hoshigaki gave a sharp grin.
"So this is Hanzō of the Salamander, known as the Demi-God? I would love to take this chance to test myself against him."
Clang.
Hidan's huge scythe blocked Kisame. He shouted at Hanzō, "I don't care what kind of god you are! Hey! Want to learn about the Cult of Jashin?!"
The Amegakure ninjas across from them and the ANBU brought by Danzō from Konoha were all dumbfounded.
Since Minato was not yet the Fourth Hokage at this point, and because he kept such a low profile, with no familiar Konoha ninjas around him, the ANBU's attention was fixed entirely on those arrogant figures from Akatsuki.
They dared speak to Hanzō of the Salamander, the man known as a Demi-God, like that?!
Were they stupid, or were they some kind of big deal?!
"That's the Demi-God even our Konoha Sannin, Jiraiya-sama, Orochimaru-sama, and Tsunade-sama, have to respect…"
"Exactly! What are those people even saying?!"
"Look at their forehead protectors. They're Missing-nin, aren't they…"
"There's a blond one and a silver-haired one wearing Konoha forehead protectors. Why are Konoha ninjas mixed in with Akatsuki and a bunch of Missing-nin from other countries?"
"Mere Missing-nin, and they dare speak to Hanzō-sama like that!" The people from Amegakure had already started shouting insults from afar.
Deidara had learned his lesson from earlier and did not dare act on his own again. He obediently hid beside Sasori-danna.
Sasori, Kakuzu, and Itachi had no particular thoughts about this battle. They were simply waiting to see what Nagato and Konan wanted.
Inside Young Obito's Kamui's Dimension.
"I don't know who those people are. I'm grateful they're standing up for us, but they absolutely can't let their guard down!" Yahiko was so anxious he wanted to go out and fight alongside his comrades.
Young Kakashi watched him expressionlessly. "Just watch."
Against that so-called Demi-God…
The lineup on Minato-sensei's side was basically a super-deluxe full set!
But Hanzō of the Salamander had not realized that yet. He commanded the salamander beneath his feet to attack them with its deadly poison.
The ANBU on Konoha's side had no idea what to do without Danzō commanding them, so they could only stand by in place.
Purple poison sprayed toward them.
Nagato and Yahiko had not spoken all this time, but it was not because they were swallowing their anger.
Rather, standing on this land, they could not help remembering the despair they had felt the moment Yahiko died. They could not help remembering how Hanzō of the Salamander had used the cruelest method possible to tell them once again, children who had lost their homes because of war.
This cursed Ninja World was filled everywhere with sin and darkness.
After losing Yahiko, their view of the entire Ninja World had changed with it.
"A Demi-God?"
Only when the poison was already close did Nagato finally part his lips and say those words softly.
"Then let me show you what a god is."
Nagato raised his arm.
"Shinra Tensei."
Time seemed to freeze. The poison looked as if it had struck an invisible substance.
The next second.
Boom!
The poison was actually blasted away by an unknown force!
Hanzō's eyes widened!
Inside Young Obito's Kamui's Dimension, Yahiko, Nagato, and Konan were also stunned.
Wasn't the Nagato outside a shadow clone?!
"What exactly is going on?" Yahiko felt a deep unease.
At the same time, the poison swept back toward the Amegakure ninjas. Many who could not dodge in time died from the salamander toxin of their own village leader.
Hanzō thought to himself, Something's wrong!
That kid named Nagato had only just learned to use the Rinnegan. How could he possibly have such overwhelming momentum?!
That was what he thought, but the order he gave was:
"He's bluffing."
"Amegakure ninjas, kill that boy!"
"Sending your subordinates to gather intelligence," Itachi Uchiha said, having remained silent until now. "Birds of a feather truly do flock together."
Inside Kamui's Dimension, Sasuke heard Itachi's words and immediately thought of Danzō Shimura, who was barely clinging to life over there.
Izuna also noticed that the young man who had spoken looked somewhat like both him and Sasuke. He raised an eyebrow but said nothing.
Watching the large mass of Amegakure ninjas charge toward them, Nagato finally spoke.
He gave Akatsuki the order.
"Wipe them all out."