Chapter 73: Awakening in the Flames
Dusting off his hands, Haruko hummed with satisfaction.
"That's the loot hidden away. Time to head to the rendezvous point."
In the Root base, Haruko took whatever he saw, but he didn't really touch the gold or cash.
He had more than enough money on hand, so for this raid, he specifically targeted scrolls.
Danzo, that old schemer, might have had rotten character, but his taste in collections was decent.
Whatever he hid in the deepest part of Root certainly wouldn't be some ten-ryo copy of "Ninja Handbook" from a street bookstore.
Those scrolls were nine times out of ten Forbidden Jutsu, secret arts, or some rare, high-level Ninjutsu.
"Sigh... the tragedy of a civilian Ninja; a C-rank they treat like a treasure is only fit to prop up a table leg in someone else's place."
The pile of documents he grabbed on the way out also looked quite substantial.
Although he hadn't looked at them in detail, the dense data and the professional, detailed diagrams looked exactly like the work of that mad scientist, Orochimaru.
"I'll study them slowly when I have time."
Haruko quickened his pace and headed toward the rendezvous point.
...
The Third Hokage directed his Shadow Clones in a barrage of attacks, while his main body, wielding the Adamantine Staff, stood alongside Fugaku, ready to respond to any countermoves from the opponent.
During this time, Obito tried several times to escape by burrowing underground, but the Third Hokage always discovered his location immediately, so he never had a chance to deactivate his intangibility.
Watching Obito darting through the flames, Fugaku felt a mix of lingering fear and relief.
If he hadn't agreed to Itachi's proposal, it would be him down there getting bombed.
The several Ninjutsu techniques the Third Hokage used were specifically targeted at the Uchiha Sharingan—the Sharingan couldn't see through the real Shadow Clone, the intelligent summoning beast could help dispel Genjutsu, and the Darkness Technique directly blocked vision.
And that dense bombardment of exploding tags—could his Susanoo withstand it? He feared it wouldn't last long.
In a one-on-one fight... unless he could use a surprise Tsukuyomi, his chances of winning were low.
Even if it landed, the effect was an unknown—after all, that guy had already countered it once, and the backlash from that hadn't fully recovered yet.
"Get ready, Fugaku. That guy is about to make a move."
The Third Hokage's warning brought Fugaku back to his senses instantly; he looked down to see that Obito, who had been darting around, had stopped.
"What is he doing?"
They saw Obito crouch down and slam one hand onto the ground.
"Uchiha Flame Formation!"
The moment before his hand touched the ground, Obito deactivated his intangibility.
Taking the explosions head-on with his body, a dark red flame barrier rose up, shielding Obito in the center.
"Fugaku!"
"Leave it to me!" Fugaku immediately understood and began weaving hand signs.
The Third Hokage also gathered his Shadow Clones, standing in five directions, and began weaving hand signs simultaneously.
"Uchiha Flame Formation: Release!"
"Five Release Great Barrage!"
The flame barrier was forcibly dispelled by Fugaku in the blink of an eye, and the five elemental Release techniques followed with the momentum of a one-hit kill.
Boom!!!
The overlapping Release techniques blasted out a deep crater, but—
"Careful! That guy is gone!"
Obito was nowhere to be seen.
...
"Did I come too early?"
At the agreed rendezvous point, there wasn't a soul in sight.
Haruko looked up at the sky and glanced at the night sky, which showed no abnormalities.
According to their previous agreement, once the situation spiraled out of control, or if Itachi felt his life was threatened, he would immediately fire a special red signal flare.
There was no signal flare, which meant it hadn't reached that point yet.
Haruko leaned against a tree, staring at the night sky, and began to sift through the possibilities in his mind.
The first possibility: things ended quickly on his side, and he arrived too early.
This was the most likely possibility, accounting for at least eighty percent.
The second possibility: that masked "idiot"—Obito—suddenly threw away honor and launched a sneak attack.
In that case, Itachi might have been taken away by Kamui before he could fire the signal flare.
But that was unlikely; the thunderous commotion over there must be the Third Hokage and Fugaku passionately brawling with Obito.
"Don't know how it'll turn out... forget it, it doesn't matter to me who wins; if anything, mutual destruction would be best."
The third possibility: something went wrong with Itachi fighting Danzo.
In terms of pure fighting, Itachi with the Mangekyo, even if not guaranteed to win, would definitely not be taken out in an instant.
The only variable was the Kotoamatsukami in Danzo's possession—this was also the reason Haruko let Itachi handle it instead of doing it himself.
"I gave him strict instructions: don't talk when you meet, just go straight for the finishing move..." Haruko sighed, "If that guy Itachi still gets sentimental and insists on arguing with that old dog, it's not impossible he gets blindsided."
But on second thought, that technique was a visual Genjutsu; whether it would work on Itachi was one thing, but he would fire the signal flare the moment he saw Shisui's eye.
Although Kotoamatsukami was overpowered, it was a Genjutsu that altered will, not time-stopping.
With Itachi's reaction speed, he should at least have time to fire the signal flare, right?
"Sigh, what a hassle. I'll wait another half hour. Hopefully, I'm just overthinking it..."
...
The Third Hokage and Fugaku stood back-to-back, with the Third Hokage's Shadow Clones guarding the perimeter.
A short distance away from them, space distorted, and Obito appeared again.
There were a few scorch marks on his body, and his clothes were a bit tattered.
He looked down at his wounds and could see them healing rapidly at a visible rate.
Clearly, the Darkness Technique had also been dispelled by him.
"Feel honored; it's been a long time since I've been injured... It seems I need to get serious."
Ignoring Obito's clamoring, the Third Hokage whispered in a voice only the two of them could hear: "We can't pull off that bombardment again..."
"I know." Fugaku frowned slightly, "However, with such a huge commotion, reinforcements should be on the way, right?"
"...As for the Anbu, it might take some time." The Third Hokage's expression grew more solemn, "Until reinforcements arrive, we two will have to hold him off."
Seemingly provoked by the two whispering right in front of him, Obito immediately began weaving hand signs.
He took a deep breath, and at the same time, the space in front of him began to distort.
"Fire Release: Blast Wave Wild Dance!"
A vortex-like storm combined with rotating flames to form a massive, spinning fire.
The massive attack range left them with no room to dodge.
"Earth Release: Earth Flow Wall."
An earth wall rose, but it only blocked the flames for a moment before being torn apart.
"Susanoo!"
Fugaku gritted his teeth, squeezing out the last bit of Chakra in his body.
The skeletal half-body giant began to grow flesh and blood, then gradually donned armor.
Whoosh—
The flames swept past, leaving scorched earth everywhere. Only the patch of ground behind the Third Hokage and Fugaku remained untouched, forming a strange pattern.
"Hoo... hoo..."
As the giant disappeared, Fugaku fell to one knee, panting heavily.
"Ho~ You managed to block that; I'll give you a word of praise."
Clap, clap, clap.
Obito clapped his hands with the exaggerated flair of a theatrical actor.
"Stand up, Fugaku!"
The Third Hokage shielded Fugaku behind him, while his Shadow Clones rushed forward to attack Obito—not expecting to land a hit, but at least to hold him back and prevent him from continuing his attacks.
"I'm sorry, Hokage-sama. It seems this is as far as I go..."
"What nonsense are you talking about..."
"Hokage-sama, I haven't given up." Fugaku stood up, a look of determination flashing in his eyes, "I have simply made my resolve."
While he spoke, the Shadow Clones had already been wiped out by Obito.
"Are you done with your last words?" Obito's voice was mocking, and he began weaving hand signs again, "Then let's send you on your way."
A rotating fire, even more violent than before, rushed toward them.
"Earth Release: Earth Flow Wall."
"Water Release: Water Formation Wall."
The Third Hokage used Ninjutsu in succession to counter the flames, but—
"Not enough Chakra..."
Accompanied by a wave of dizziness, the Third Hokage fell to one knee, and his Ninjutsu stopped.
The flames still hadn't been fully blocked.
The moment before the flames were about to engulf the two, Fugaku blocked in front of the Third Hokage with his body.
The raging fire instantly engulfed his body.
His skin was charred, his flesh mangled, but his eyes remained wide open, the Mangekyo flashing with an eerie light amidst the flames.
Obito appeared behind him and reached out toward Fugaku, who remained standing tall even though half his body was charred.
"I'll take your eyes."
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