The panicked crowd surged like a tide. Screams, explosions, and the sounds of ninjas fighting mixed together.
The Konoha ninjas were organizing the examinees and villagers to evacuate, but in the middle of the chaos, Sasuke suddenly stopped.
"...?! It's him!?"
His eyes passed through the crowd and locked onto a familiar figure, the person he both hated and cared about the most.
'Uchiha Itachi!!!!'
That black robe appeared and disappeared through the smoke, and his cold profile flashed by for an instant.
"Uchiha Itachi!! Why is he here!?"
Sasuke's pupils suddenly shrank. The next moment, his eyes were covered by the crimson Sharingan as the tomoe spun rapidly.
Without any hesitation, he shot into the crowd like an arrow released from its bow, chasing after that figure.
"...Itachi!"
"Uchiha Itachi! Stop right there!!"
Sasuke's voice was swallowed by the noise of the battlefield as he chased after him.
———
Meanwhile, near the viewing platform, Yukio and Naruto were working together to suppress Gaara, who had already entered a half-Tailed Beast transformation.
Gaara's body was covered by a monstrous shell made of sand and chakra. Shukaku's violent power kept trying to break free, letting out low roars.
Yellow sand swirled wildly, and the ground continued to crack.
With the Karma his father had given him, Yukio easily suppressed Gaara.
As for Naruto beside him, he had already entered his Four-Tails state.
Not to mention Four-Tails Naruto.
"Hahaha, Shukaku, this won't do. Looks like your kid can't beat the two of us."
Kurama's voice sounded inside the Tailed Beast consciousness space, full of teasing.
Shukaku's huge raccoon face instantly darkened as it roared angrily, "You're fighting two against one, and you still have the nerve to talk! After this is over, do you dare fight me one-on-one at Mount Myoboku?!"
The conversation between the two Tailed Beasts took place entirely on the level of consciousness. Naturally, Yukio and Naruto knew nothing about it.
They only knew that Gaara was being suppressed more and more, and his half-Tailed Beast form was already on the verge of collapsing.
———
On the viewing platform, Minato Namikaze wore a serious expression.
His sensing ability had already spread throughout all of Konoha, and he discovered that attacks were happening in many other parts of the village as well.
Fires and explosions continued one after another. This was clearly not just the Sand Village acting alone.
"...This isn't an attack by the Sand Village alone."
"They've joined forces with others... even small ninja villages."
Minato reached that conclusion immediately.
In front of him, the Fourth Kazekage, Rasa, continuously launched fierce attacks with his Gold Dust.
"Fourth Kazekage, Konoha has never treated the Sand Village badly. Why carry out an attack like this?"
Minato asked in a deep voice while dodging, disappointment clear in his tone.
Rasa's face was full of killing intent.
"Seventh Hokage, Konoha has always loved starting wars!"
"If we let you keep growing stronger, who knows what will happen! Every great ninja war in history was started because of you! You may look decent now, but who knows if you'll become the next madman to start a war!"
Minato's expression froze.
He had no words to answer.
Because... Konoha really had started the most wars.
Although Minato himself had always worked toward peace, history was there. He couldn't argue against it.
Just then, a cold voice carrying a twisted smile suddenly sounded.
"The Fourth Kazekage is right. Konoha is the root of all the chaos in the ninja world!"
The space twisted, and Uchiha Obito, wearing his signature spiral mask, appeared on the viewing platform out of nowhere.
Minato's pupils suddenly shrank in shock.
"It's you!? ...You're working together?!"
He naturally recognized the man before him.
The Nine-Tails attack years ago had been planned by this man.
After so many years, he had appeared in Konoha once again.
He hadn't expected him to be working with the Kazekage.
Obito let out a low laugh. His gaze swept across everyone before finally stopping on Arisu.
"Fourth Kazekage, the Seventh is yours... Arisu, your opponent is me."
Before he even finished speaking, Obito instantly appeared beside Arisu. Kamui activated, and the spiral in his right eye spun rapidly.
Pretending not to have reacted in time, Arisu cried out in fake alarm.
"So fast!"
The next moment, he was swallowed by Kamui's space-time power and disappeared into the twisting vortex together with Obito.
"Teacher!!!"
Minato wanted to use Flying Thunder God, but his teacher had no Flying Thunder God mark on him. In the end, he could only watch helplessly as his teacher disappeared.
Inside the Kamui dimension, the twisted space slowly flowed like a whirlpool.
The next second, Arisu arrived there.
Uchiha Obito followed right behind him.
The two stood facing each other, and the air between them seemed to freeze.
Arisu looked at the man across from him with interest. A slight smile appeared on his lips as he slowly spoke.
"If I'm not mistaken, you're the person I met during the Third Great Ninja War, aren't you?"
Obito's heart suddenly sank.
Back then, he really had used Kamui. Kamui was far too easy to recognize, and since it was a space-time ninjutsu, it wasn't strange that the other man had recognized it.
Still... to keep up his image, Obito didn't admit it.
"I am Uchiha Madara.", Obito spoke coldly.
"Uchiha Madara... How do you prove it?"
Arisu narrowed his eyes, a hint of amusement in his voice.
Without saying another word, Obito exposed the Sharingan beneath his mask. The three tomoe spun rapidly, giving off an intimidating presence.
Arisu only let out a laugh.
He didn't continue the topic. Instead, he casually asked, "The Seventh is a good person. He really never thought about starting a war. How could you bring yourself to attack him?"
What he really wanted to ask was how Obito could bring himself to attack his own teacher.
Obito sneered, "Just because he's your student?"
"Of course a teacher would protect his own student. Every Hokage in history has been a hypocrite pretending to be righteous. Who knows if Minato Namikaze is any different?"
Hearing that, Arisu finally couldn't quite keep a straight face.
"You too?", Arisu asked calmly.
Obito paused, not understanding what he meant.
Arisu shook his head, looking a little helpless.
"Did you forget? You were a Hokage too."
Under the mask, Obito's expression changed instantly.
'Damn!'
He had actually forgotten about that.
He had almost forgotten that Uchiha Madara had once been Hokage.
But on the surface, he still maintained Madara's lofty, cold attitude without showing any flaw.
Seeing that he stayed silent, Arisu didn't press the matter and continued, "You brought me here. Aren't you going to attack me?"
Obito remained where he stood without saying a word.
To be honest, he wasn't completely confident that he could kill Arisu here.
More importantly, ever since entering this place, Arisu had remained completely calm, as if he didn't realize he was in a desperate situation at all.
If it had been anyone else, suddenly being dragged into the Kamui dimension would have left them panicking and completely thrown off.
But Arisu showed no fear at all. His calmness made Obito wary.
It was as if Arisu really felt no pressure whatsoever.
If Arisu had shown even the slightest sign of panic earlier... Obito might already have attacked.
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