Chapter 431: The Legend of the Ten-Tails
Below, just as Ishiro had expected, Konoha ninja slowly began to approach for a tentative reconnaissance.
When they saw the huge, deep crater that had appeared out of nowhere, and the massive, suffocating Gedo Statue at the bottom of it, they all felt a deep shock.
Then, these ninja began to relay the message back to Konoha at the fastest possible speed.
And at this time, Obito Uchiha's mood could be said to be at rock bottom.
He wasn't heartbroken over the loss of the White Zetsu army; that was a stockpile saved up by Madara, and he didn't feel the pain of wasting it.
He was simply furious at his repeated failures against Ishiro.
At this moment, his mind seemed to be filled with only two words: "Wise Fool."
This was the score the instructor in charge of his Ninja Academy graduation exam had given him.
Originally, he hadn't cared about it, but after being repeatedly slapped in the face by Ishiro today, he could no longer ignore this comment. Every time he thought of Ishiro calmly saying those two words, his fists would clench, and his breathing would grow heavy.
And yet, he could do nothing about him.
He had gone to great lengths to set a trap and lure Ishiro into it, only to be beaten so badly that he had to use Izanagi to escape.
He had just fled back to the base, had just finished transplanting a new three-tomoe Sharingan, and hadn't even had time to accept the failure of his ambush when Ishiro's retaliatory strike arrived.
And unlike the anticlimactic failure of his own sneak attack, Ishiro's counterattack could be described as fast, accurate, and ruthless.
When Ōnoki's Dust Release came down, Obito hadn't been too concerned. It was too far away; he didn't sense much. Under Ōnoki's control, the Dust Release: Boundary Stripping Technique seemed silent and invisible.
But when Ishiro's Light Release attack arrived, Obito became alert, because at this point, the attack was already very close to their base.
He immediately called for the White Zetsu clones, preparing to send them up to investigate.
However, before his order could be fully given, the explosion of the Tailed Beast Bomb descended. The first bomb, building on the foundation of the previous two rounds of Kekkei Tōta, easily punched through the ground and into the underground base. This one explosion had already caused heavy casualties among the White Zetsu clones.
And the effect of the first Tailed Beast Bomb hadn't even ended when the second one followed.
The two Tailed Beast Bombs exploding in the narrow space of the deep pit and the underground base, coupled with the overly dense concentration of the White Zetsu army... the result was catastrophic.
The vast majority of the tens of thousands of White Zetsu clones died in these two explosions. Only a small portion, who were located closer to the edges, had the opportunity to use the Mayfly technique to escape.
After that, Ōnoki's second Dust Release and Ishiro's second Light Release actually didn't kill many more, because by that time, there weren't many living Zetsu clones left in the base.
However, Ōnoki's Dust Release had obliterated the three-tomoe Sharingan that Obito had just transplanted.
That's right: Obito had died again.
After the explosion, Obito had thought it was temporarily safe, so he had deactivated his intangible state. Then, as he was looking up at the sky, he took the Dust Release with his face.
He didn't even have a chance to use Kamui.
Fortunately, he had prepared Izanagi in advance. Otherwise, this might have been the grand finale.
Obito, his heart pounding with fear, ran in the direction of the Land of Hot Water. Having relied on Izanagi to save his life twice in a row, his confidence was completely shattered.
As he ran, he pondered where he had revealed a flaw that had allowed Ishiro to track him again.
The first time he was tracked, after awakening his Mangekyō, he could at least find some traces afterward.
But this time, he thought for a long time and couldn't find where the problem lay.
Then, he couldn't help but let his thoughts wander. Could this also be that guy's pupil technique?
Thinking of this, he asked Black Zetsu, who was not far away, "Black Zetsu, do you know if the Mangekyō Sharingan has a tracking-type pupil technique?"
Black Zetsu was thinking about the same problem. The reason he had been able to lurk in the shadows for so many years was his ability to hide. If his whereabouts could be exposed in the future, how could he plot conspiracies in the dark?
His knowledge was far greater than Obito's. If he had known that Obito had once been wounded by Ishiro's sword, he might have been able to guess some of the problem.
But he didn't know!
With the extraordinary healing abilities of White Zetsu and the First Hokage's cells, Obito hadn't taken that little injury seriously. And in Black Zetsu's eyes, with Kamui, it was difficult for Obito to get injured, so he had never even considered the possibility of him losing blood.
What Black Zetsu was thinking was that the Mangekyō Sharingan was an eye that reflects the heart. Could it be that the Uchiha who called the Tsuchikage "master" had awakened his Mangekyō precisely because of Obito? And therefore, his abilities were a complete counter to him? One eye's ability could kill the intangible Obito, and the other eye's ability could locate the trackless Obito.
From the previous few confrontations with Ishiro, Black Zetsu knew that he understood the abilities of Obito's Mangekyō. If Ishiro knew, then Sōkai would also know. It made sense that he would awaken an ability that completely countered Kamui.
The more he thought about it, the more likely it seemed. Black Zetsu then told his speculation to Obito.
After hearing it, Obito's face turned even blacker. A Mangekyō that awakened specifically to target me? An ability that completely counters my Kamui? How am I supposed to mess around now?
"This won't do. I can't let that Uchiha continue to grow. I must unite with the other hidden villages and besiege Iwagakure together," Obito said.
At this time, the White Zetsu main body, which had been silent all this time, spoke up. "Obito, don't forget, the Gedo Statue is still at that base."
"Put aside the matter of uniting with the other villages for now. Moving the Gedo Statue is the most urgent thing."
Obito's expression soured. Only he had the ability to move the statue; this was one of the measures Madara had left for him. But moving it consumed his life force. The last time Ishiro had found his hiding place, he had performed one transfer and had directly lost half his life. Although he had replenished a part of it through White Zetsu clones over the years, it was impossible to fully recover. His lifespan had definitely been shortened.
And now he had to do it again!
Obito didn't want to speak. He directly activated Kamui and disappeared from before Black and White Zetsu.
A long time later, Obito arrived at a new base. Black and White Zetsu took turns giving him a full-body check. The final result: they had not found any tracking measures left by Ishiro.
Black Zetsu said, "If, under these circumstances, the Tsuchikage and his people can still catch up, then it must be the ability of the Mangekyō Sharingan."
Obito nodded, accepting this statement.
Subsequently, he bit his finger and performed the Summoning Jutsu.
With a poof, the massive Gedo Statue appeared in this backup base.
Looking at Obito, who was lying on top of it, he was now too tired to even stand. He looked as if he had been completely hollowed out by Rin Nohara.
However, neither Black Zetsu nor White Zetsu let down their guard. The remaining several hundred White Zetsu clones immediately scattered and began to stand guard. Obito also forced himself to stay awake, on the one hand using the attached Zetsu clone on his body to replenish his consumed life force, and on the other, being ready to run at any time.
One minute, ten minutes, one hour, five hours, one day, three days.
After a full five days had passed, the backup base had not been attacked.
Obito and the others all breathed a sigh of relief. Good. We haven't been discovered.
"It seems it wasn't the ability of the Mangekyō Sharingan. Or perhaps the other party's ability isn't that exaggerated and cannot be used for continuous positioning," Black Zetsu said.
Obito nodded. Having no advantage in the intelligence department, he felt that Black Zetsu's analysis was very correct.
What they didn't know was that while they were waiting on full alert, Ishiro, along with Chiga and Koku, had come to the space directly above their heads. It was just that this time, he had not made a move. After confirming the new location of the Gedo Statue, he had left.
He had waited in the sky above that deep crater in the Land of Fire until, with a poof, the massive statue disappeared. Only then did he follow Chiga's guidance to the Land of Hot Water.
...
While Ishiro was hovering above Obito's head, the Konoha high command had also received the relevant news.
Tsunade immediately dropped her official duties upon receiving the news and, without even worrying about the Uchiha clan, went directly to the scene of the incident.
But by the time she arrived at the edge of that hundred-plus-meter-deep, several-hundred-meter-wide crater, the Gedo Statue was already gone.
A Konoha ninja who had been the first to arrive reported to her: "Lady Hokage, my squad and I were originally on a mission several kilometers away."
"Suddenly, a white light appeared here. By the time my subordinates and I turned our heads, it had already disappeared."
"But before we could react, another blue light flashed."
"Immediately after, we heard two huge explosions. At first, we thought it was just the commotion caused by those two beams of light."
"But we soon knew we were wrong, because after the two loud bangs, two more beams of light appeared, still one white and one blue, one after the other."
This ninja took a deep breath. "This time, I saw clearly. That white light was Dust Release. I saw Iwagakure's Third Tsuchikage use it during the Third War."
"Those two loud bangs, I guess, should be Tailed Beast Bombs, similar to the night of the Nine-Tails' rampage."
Tsunade pondered for a moment. "Your analysis should be correct. If I'm not mistaken, the two blue beams of light you saw should be the Fourth Tsuchikage's Kekkei Tōta."
The ninja took another deep breath. He was not happy that his deduction had been affirmed by the Hokage; his heart was only filled with lingering fear.
He was well aware of how long that wave of attacks had lasted, but in such a short period of time, it had caused so much destruction.
What if this kind of attack was used on Konoha?
Tsunade also had this worry. But there was nothing to be done. Basically, every village had this kind of strike capability. It couldn't be defended against. The reason the Five Great Shinobi Villages had been able to maintain the current situation was largely thanks to the fact that each village possessed this kind of power. It was precisely because of this that the villages were wary of each other and had not taken things to the extreme.
Tsunade continued, "Dust Release and a blue Kekkei Genkai, plus two Tailed Beast Bombs. This is definitely the work of Iwagakure."
The Third Tsuchikage, the Fourth Tsuchikage, and two Jinchuriki all attacking this place at full power... this made Tsunade extremely curious about this underground base within the Land of Fire.
Whose base was this, and what was Iwagakure's target?
At this time, another ninja handed over several pieces of paper. On the paper were detailed drawings of the Gedo Statue from various angles. The person who drew it had even marked down the relevant dimensions.
(End of Chapter)
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