Seeing him possess such formidable strength at only five years old, Minato Namikaze couldn't help but feel that once Jie Uchiha fully matured, Konoha would gain another irreplaceable pillar of support.
"As the Fourth Hokage of this village, I can't let a child fight alone!"
Minato drew several Flying Thunder God kunai and immediately scattered them around Obito Uchiha.
In terms of intellect and raw combat power, Obito was far from reaching true Kage-level qualifications. The only reason he dared to invade Konoha so brazenly—and possessed the confidence to clash with the Fourth Hokage—was because he relied entirely on the Nine-Tails Summoning Jutsu left behind by Madara Uchiha and his bizarre Kamui dojutsu.
But now that his secrets were exposed, there was no room left for Obito to maneuver.
With Jie's precise assistance, it only took a few short exchanges for Obito to fall for a feint. Minato forced him to materialize his physical body. In the very next instant, Minato executed the Flying Thunder God Technique, a swirling Rasengan-fully forming in the blink of an eye.
Unable to dodge, Obito took the Rasengan head-on. The devastating impact sent him crashing heavily into the Hokage Monument.
With that single blow, his artificial arm snapped again, and severe internal injuries caused him to violently cough up mouthfuls of blood.
"How is this possible... I'm defeated, just like this?" Obito's single visible eye lost focus, clearly struggling to accept his crushing defeat.
"Fourth, do you think you've won?" he wheezed. "This is only a fraction of my plan. This ninja world will be mine sooner or later!"
Before Obito could finish his villainous monologue, a kunai thrown by Jie forced him to shut his mouth.
"Stop your yapping. You talk too much!" Jie scoffed.
Chanting grand slogans for years only to try and force a redemption arc at the very end—Jie had zero desire to coddle a fool like Obito.
'This brat!' Obito seethed, his heart filling with suffocating frustration at being threatened by Jie yet again. If not for this kid, how could the Fourth have discovered his weakness so effortlessly?
But he was already severely injured, and Minato was glaring at him like a tiger watching its prey. Staying any longer practically guaranteed his death.
"Kamui!"
Allowing the spatial vortex to pull his body inward, Obito glared coldly at Jie through the single eyehole of his mask. He had a dark premonition that this Uchiha brat would become a massive obstacle on his path to resurrecting Rin.
"Jie Uchiha, I'll remember you!" Obito vowed. "I will definitely be back!"
Leaving behind the hollow threat, Obito's figure twisted and completely vanished from the cliffside.
'Come back? Do you think you're some unkillable cartoon villain?' If Obito hadn't run away so fast, Jie genuinely wanted to walk over and give him a couple of kicks while he was down.
"Jie, your strength is truly unexpected," Minato said, smiling warmly as he walked over and patted the boy's head. "If it weren't for you, I'm afraid it would have taken me quite a while to defeat that bizarre guy."
Jie just smiled casually, offering no explanation for the origin of his power. After all, if the timeline didn't change drastically, Minato Namikaze would be dead at the hands of the Nine-Tails by the end of the night. There was no point in worrying about hiding his abilities from a dying man.
Minato didn't press the issue. With a single thought, he grabbed Jie, and the two vanished from the Hokage Monument.
When they reappeared, they were already standing squarely in front of the Uchiha Clan compound gates.
'This Flying Thunder God Technique is an absolute cheat!' Jie couldn't help but marvel at the sheer convenience of the jutsu. He hadn't felt a single sensation of movement, yet here he was, instantly teleported across the village.
'If I ever get the chance, I definitely have to learn this,' Jie thought. 'Whether it's for destroying enemies or just running away, it's a top-tier skill.'
Shaking off his momentary envy, Jie stepped forward and began walking toward his house.
Suddenly, the system's crisp, mechanical voice chimed in his mind.
[Ding! The host cooperated with the Fourth Hokage to repel Obito Uchiha. Post-battle settlement reward acquired: Rasengan Training Method!] The Rasengan Training Method!
Jie felt a surge of elation. As one of the rare signless jutsu in the ninja world—and what would eventually become Naruto's signature move—the Rasengan possessed limitless evolutionary potential.
'This Obito is such a good guy,' Jie mused cheerfully. 'Just one little trip to Konoha, and he brought me such a massive reward. If I run into him again in the future, I'll definitely have to "repay" him.'
Perhaps treating Obito to the true essence of Konoha's ultimate taijutsu secret would be a fitting reward, Jie thought with a smirk.
As he approached his front door, Jie spotted Fugaku and Mikoto waiting anxiously in the main hall. Mikoto, in particular, looked frantic, constantly pacing and peering out toward the entrance. As for Fugaku, though his face was stern and he appeared incomparably calm, his deeply furrowed brows betrayed an intense inner turmoil.
Seeing this scene, Jie felt a sudden warmth bloom in his chest. It gave him a deeper sense of belonging to the Uchiha—the clan of love.
"I'm back!" Jie called out loudly as he stepped through the door.
Hearing his voice, Mikoto's face lit up with overwhelming joy. She hurried forward, nervously checking him over from head to toe. Upon confirming that he hadn't suffered a single scratch, she finally let out a massive sigh of relief.
"You child, absolutely do not run around recklessly anymore! Do you know how dangerous it is outside?" Mikoto gently scolded, immediately taking Jie's hand and leading him safely inside.