"They're all putting on a show."
"Another one," Obito muttered impatiently, eyes on the new arrival. "You people are just like a bunch of cockroaches. It never ends."
Victory had been so close. Kill Fugaku and those few Uchiha elite, and the Uchiha Clan would be officially wiped out tonight.
Of course, Obito didn't know that a part of the Uchiha had already been relocated. In his eyes, the only Uchiha left were these people right in front of him.
Such a simple plan, and yet it kept getting complicated. First, Izumi unexpectedly awakened the Mangekyo Sharingan. Luckily, it was only one eye, and its specific ability seemed... underwhelming. Besides, her overall skill level was far below Itachi's, she wasn't a real threat.
Then some unknown Taijutsu Expert's arrival later had been a genuine surprise. Not only his terrifying, monstrous strength, he'd nearly brought Obito on his knees with a single punch, Though the limitations of a pure Taijutsu specialist were significant enough that he could be accounted for.
Now Taijutsu expert also brought his ally, whose abilities and specialties are unknown, he thought, 'Though based on standard formations, since one if Taijutsu specialist then this guy must be Ninjutsu specialist'. If he stayed longer, who knew what else would pop up.
Truthfully, Obito was already considering retreat.
But he just couldn't bring himself to abandon the Mangekyo in Izumi's eye.
That was a Mangekyo, not some expendable Three-Tomoe. The high-tier, most valuable eye of the Uchiha.
Throughout the entire history of the Uchiha, a Mangekyo was an incredibly rare existence.
Even Obito, who had walls lined with Sharingan (though most of it was collected by Madara using Zetsu), didn't have any spare Mangekyo besides his own.
If he left now, wouldn't he just be handing Konoha and Danzo a free gift?
Obito figured Root ninja must have been lying in wait all around since earlier.
--**--**
"Die Itachi! You scum!" On the other side, Izumi recklessly unleashed the power of her Mangekyo, attacking Itachi like a madwoman. Blood and tears streamed unchecked from her single eye, but she paid them no mind.
'Even if I go blind today,' she thought, 'I have to avenge those dead Uchiha children.'
Her love for him had been immense, her hatred now was just as fierce.
Unfortunately, even after awakening the Mangekyo, Izumi was still no match for Itachi. While Izumi attacked frantically, Itachi remained unnervingly calm, easily keeping her at bay.
With Sharingan of the same level, the fight came down to the strength of their Mangekyo Dojutsu and their individual skills.
Regrettably, Itachi was simply far superior to Izumi in Taijutsu, Genjutsu, and Ninjutsu. Moreover, unlike Izumi with only one eye remaining, he possessed two fully functional Mangekyo.
Although Itachi still couldn't figure out what Izumi's Mangekyo ability was, the fact remained that Izumi couldn't hurt him.
Izumi had only managed to hold on this long by burning through her Mangekyo's power without reserve.
As soon as her Dojutsu power was exhausted, Itachi would be able to end her effortlessly.
"That's enough." Naruto appeared instantly behind Izumi. Izumi, whose attention was solely on Itachi, didn't notice Naruto's arrival at all. By the time she realized, one of Naruto's hands was already resting lightly on back of her neck.
With a gentle press, Izumi lost consciousness.
He scooped Izumi up and tossed her towards Fugaku.
"Fugaku-san," Naruto said in a low voice, glancing at Itachi. "Konoha's already picked up on this. I figure the Anbu are already on their way. Take her and let's retreat."
Fugaku nodded at Naruto, lifted Izumi, exchanged a look with the remaining Uchiha elite, and turned to run back decisively.
As for Sasuke, it seemed they couldn't worry about him right now.
'Trying to leave?!' Obito, who had been wavering between staying and going, immediately lunged forward to stop them as he saw their intention.
But as soon as he moved, the disguised Minato's figure appeared instantly before him.
"Your opponent is me!"
The disguised Minato gave Obito a strange feeling, 'I feel like I've met him before...'. But he didn't have time to think about it now.
Obito recognized Spatial Ninjutsu.
'Flying Thunder God? Or another spatial ninjutsu? Did Konoha create another teleporting menace, no if that were case he wouldn't support Uchiha's, did another village crack it?' Obito flinched at the sudden appearance. He relied on his own Dojutsu, Kamui. Kamui was a powerful Spatial Ninjutsu. If his opponent could break through it, things got tricky. During the Nine-Tails attack, he'd been seriously hurt by Fourth Hokage's Flying Thunder God. If Minato hadn't been in a rush back then, he probably would have finished Obito off.
But the next thing he saw surprised Obito even more. In the hand of the hooded man blocking him, a blue orb appeared. Obito knew it instantly.
"Rasengan?"
At that moment, the memory of being instantly defeated by the Fourth Hokage nearly decade ago, hammered into the ground by one move, flooded back.
The sheer memory, the old trauma, made Obito instinctively activate his phasing and warp away.
However, this was exactly what the Fourth Hokage intended. He had no intention of getting truly entangled with Obito.
After a feigned attack, he immediately activated the Flying Thunder God and vanished instantly, reappearing beside Fugaku and the rest.
'I've been tricked! This man is the key to their escape!' Realizing this, Obito was both shocked and enraged. But from his current distance, there was no way he could stop enemy from escaping.
"Itachi! What are you doing? Go stop them!"
Obito could only place his hope in Itachi, but Itachi was currently facing Naruto.
The same Naruto who'd made even him struggle earlier with one punch.
The Mangekyo in Itachi's eyes spun faster. The best way to deal with a Taijutsu specialist was Genjutsu, and Itachi was the Uchiha Clan's ninja most skilled in Genjutsu.
However, Naruto already had a countermeasure.
Naruto spread his fingers, placing both hands on his forehead, and bellowed, "Solar Flare!"
Solar Flare, once Tien Shinhan's signature technique. Goku himself had used it against Tien Shinhan in the 23rd World Martial Arts Tournament.
A technique converting internal ki into blinding light, intense enough to temporarily blind the enemy.
*Fshhh!*
Intense, bright light suddenly erupted from Naruto's hands, instantly illuminating the entire Konoha district.
Across Konoha, hidden ninja observing the district suddenly cried out, their vision gone.
'Is it morning already?' For a moment, everyone had the same thought.
Directly facing the blast, Itachi squeezed his eyes shut against the blinding white.
'No matter how powerful the Sharingan,' he thought, 'it's still just an eye, and eyes are fragile.'
And at night, Solar Flare's effect was amplified.
"Worthless!" Obito barely managed to open his eyes a crack, watching helplessly as the teleporting enemy taking Fugaku and the others and vanished. He couldn't help but curse under his breath, unsure if he was cursing himself or Itachi.
If that had been the Minato's real body, Naruto might have had him engage Obito. But this was just a Shadow Clone.
Even Obito, weakened as he might be, wouldn't be held by a mere Shadow Clone.
Distracting Obito long enough to get Fugaku and the others away, that was the real win.
However, while the Minato had escaped with Fugaku, Naruto didn't plan to leave so early.
He still didn't have an accurate grasp of his strength since he'd begun training. He knew he was immensely strong, strong enough, physically, to pound the Nine-Tails into the ground. But how that raw power translated into the dynamics of the Ninja World? That still needed testing.
And now, he would get that appraisal.
He'd chosen an excellent opponent for himself: the masked man, Obito Uchiha.
-------------------
Dear Readers and Fans,
For those eager to dive into next chapters earlier before others, I invite you to join us on Patreon. By becoming our Patron, you not only gain access to exclusive advanced chapters but also help us continue this endeavour and expand it further.
https://www.pat reon.com/8Ashes8
(no space)
You can read upto 7 Chapters in advance.