Chapter 461: Obito Infiltrates Iwagakure Again
Iwagakure.
Kitsuchi was not in the Tsuchikage's office presiding over the village. Village affairs were currently being handled by Bella and Megumi.
Kitsuchi himself was standing guard by the Anbu's barrier control center.
At this moment, all of Iwagakure's barriers were fully active. Perception, defense, spiritual investigation, space-time localization—every function was online.
Just keeping these barriers at full power consumed a massive amount of Iwagakure's funds every day.
Standing by the control center, Kitsuchi said to Akino Atsumi, who was stationed beside him, "Akino, this is going to be tough on you."
"Until your teacher and the others return, you need to watch the barrier closely. The moment you detect an infiltration using space-time ninjutsu, you must lock onto them immediately."
Akino Atsumi nodded. "Senior Kitsuchi, don't worry. I understand."
"Good." After speaking, Kitsuchi didn't go anywhere; he just kept watch.
He didn't even ask how the external situation was developing. If he were truly needed on the battlefield, Bella and Megumi would send someone to inform him.
After Kitsuchi had been squatting at the control center for half a day, the detection barrier suddenly had a problem.
The ninja monitoring the barrier immediately raised the alarm: "Lord Kitsuchi, an intruder!"
Kitsuchi turned his head toward them. Before he could ask, a ninja made a further judgment: "It's space-time ninjutsu! There is only one infiltrator."
Akino immediately began observations. In front of her was the control center for the space-time perception barrier. A single point on the spherical controller was fluctuating. Those fluctuations quickly translated into data in Akino's mind.
Soon, Akino completed her calculations. "Senior Kitsuchi, based on the fluctuations, it is indeed Obito Uchiha's space-time ninjutsu. It's identical to the previous infiltration."
"He's currently stationary in a residential house in the western sector. He's likely waiting for our reaction."
Kitsuchi said, "I'm heading over now to see what his objective is."
At that moment, the barrier team's sensory leader, having been notified, came over. "Lord Kitsuchi, I will maintain constant contact with you via the village-wide sensory net."
"As you track him, I will relay the intruder's general location. If the intruder uses space-time ninjutsu, Akino will locate him. If the intruder materializes, our sensory ninjutsu will also detect him."
Kitsuchi nodded. "Keep your eyes on him. I'm going."
With that, Kitsuchi quickly left the Anbu base, rushing directly toward Obito's location.
Halfway there, Kitsuchi stopped bothering to suppress his chakra signature.
Obito Uchiha quickly sensed Kitsuchi's aura—a Kage-level fighter was approaching.
Obito frowned. Exposed already?
He immediately shifted his location.
But what confused Obito was that no matter where he moved, no matter what method he used, Kitsuchi seemed able to pinpoint his exact location. Even while Obito was in the process of using Kamui to move, Kitsuchi was tracking him in real-time.
The White Zetsu attached to Obito said, "Obito, we're exposed. Should we continue the mission?"
Obito hesitated, then said, "Let's retreat. Iwa has definitely found a way to sense my space-time ninjutsu."
"If a fight breaks out, it's highly likely they can interfere with my Kamui, just like they did at the Tsuchikage Tower last time. Fighting in Iwagakure is too disadvantageous for me."
"Let's stick to the plan and go to Kirigakure."
With that, Obito headed for the nearest village wall.
At the barrier control center, Akino Atsumi concluded that Obito was retreating. She immediately activated the space-time interdiction barrier to interfere with him.
Obito, who was currently phased, suddenly felt a distortion in space. He was forced to immediately deactivate Kamui.
Materializing, Obito thought: Just as I expected. Iwagakure was prepared.
He began running toward the wall, pushing his Mangekyo Sharingan to its limit, and activated Kamui again to phase.
As expected, he immediately felt that spatial repulsive force again. But this time he was ready. By burning his dōjutsu power, Obito quickly completed the phase.
But Obito wasn't satisfied. He materialized, then phased again, repeating the process several times.
Finally, standing on Iwagakure's outer wall, Obito let out a cold smirk. "Iwagakure. Is this all you've got?"
"I've already figured out this space-time barrier. Tsuchikage, don't think you can ambush me with this again."
Then, without looking back, Obito Uchiha left Iwagakure.
Soon, Kitsuchi, who had been rushing toward that section of the wall, heard the sensory leader's voice: "Lord Kitsuchi, the intruder has left. He has exited the village from the south."
Kitsuchi stopped, sighing in relief.
He's finally gone. I just don't know if he's leaving temporarily or has retreated for good. I hope it's the latter, Kitsuchi thought.
Kitsuchi never feared a head-on fight, but he had zero confidence when dealing with space-time ninjutsu.
Even though Ishiro had explained the details and weaknesses of Obito's Kamui, and even with Akino interfering, Kitsuchi still felt uneasy. His combat style had always been heavy and solid, not fast-paced like Ishiro's. Pitting him against the elusive Obito was like trying to hit a mosquito with a cannon. It was incredibly frustrating.
Fortunately, Obito was also wary and had fled before a real fight broke out.
Back at the barrier control center, Akino Atsumi was ecstatic.
Her goal in activating the barrier wasn't to capture Obito. She had only wanted to collect more data.
Who would have thought Obito would be so cooperative, repeatedly helping her run experiments?
What should have been a fleeting opportunity was seized by Akino, thanks to Obito's repeated probing. In these tests, Obito had pushed his Kamui almost to its limit, providing Akino with extremely detailed and massive amounts of data.
Akino felt that Obito's one-minute contribution was worth ten years of her own research.
I will not waste Obito Uchiha's contribution, Akino vowed to herself. I will find new applications for space-time ninjutsu from this data.
At this moment, a very smug Obito Uchiha was rushing toward Kirigakure.
He was eagerly anticipating the next time Ishiro tried to ambush him with a similar space-time barrier, only for him to easily dodge it and land a one-hit counter-kill.
How should I create a seemingly perfect opportunity for the Tsuchikage to capture me? How can I 'act' so it doesn't look staged? Obito mused.
While Ishiro was preparing to challenge Sunagakure and Obito was boldly testing Iwagakure, the war between Iwa and Kumo was also about to erupt.
This time, Iwagakure was not the aggressor. Kumo had crossed the sea to attack Iwa.
When Kumo received intel that Ishiro, Ōnoki, and Kawakita were leading an army to attack the Land of Wind, they knew Iwa's main target was Suna, not them.
Therefore, Kumo judged that Iwa's defenses against them would be weak, and they chose to take the initiative.
Unlike in the past, when Iwa preferred to lure enemies deep inland, this time Iwa chose to fight Kumo directly on the coast and over the sea.
Ikura led the Iwa army to block Kumo at sea.
He did this for two reasons.
First, Iwagakure was not what it used to be. Its ninjutsu in various elements no longer had any obvious shortcomings. Fighting at the coast allowed them to use their traditional Earth Release advantage while also leveraging their other advantages. Compared to Kumo's specialization, Iwagakure now completely surpassed Kumo in Wind, Water, and Fire Release. A naval battle was advantageous for Iwa.
Second, Kumo's ninja had to stand on the water, consuming chakra just to maintain balance, and they had to divide their attention. This was a huge advantage for Iwa.
"Lord Darui, the situation is clear," an intelligence ninja in the Kumo army reported. "We are facing 5,000 troops led by Ikura and Han."
"Iwa's confirmed Kage-level fighters are: the Tsuchikage, Ōnoki, and Kawakita in the Land of Wind; Kitsuchi guarding Iwagakure; and Ikura and Han directly opposite us."
"The only one whose location is unconfirmed is the Four-Tails Jinchuriki, Rōshi."
Just then, Killer Bee spoke up: "Rōshi is right in front of us."
The Eight-Tails could sense Son Gokū inside Rōshi. And since Son Gokū was not sealed, the Eight-Tails could sense him easily.
Darui frowned. This meant they were outmatched in high-end combat power.
"What is going on with Konoha? Why are all of Iwa's Kage dealing with Suna or us? Did Konoha break the alliance?"
"Don't we have a Konoha intelligence ninja here? Go ask."
"Sir." An Anbu member acknowledged and left.
Soon, he returned with a report.
"Lord Darui, the Land of Fire was invaded by the Akatsuki Organization. Hiruzen Sarutobi and Danzō Shimura went to intercept them. They can't spare any other Kage."
Darui thought for a moment. "Tell Konoha they must fulfill their duty as allies. Even if they can't send Kage, they must send a large army."
"At the very least, they need to put pressure on Iwa and force them to split their forces. Otherwise, I'm pulling my troops back."
"Sir." The Anbu left again to find the Konoha contact.
A while later, he returned with good news. "Lord Darui, the Hokage replied. She says she will immediately dispatch 2,000 troops into the Land of Waterfalls (Takigakure)."
"Takigakure?" Darui frowned. Although Takigakure was Iwa territory, its importance was far less than the Land of Earth. Would this move really force Iwa to split their forces?
After hesitating, Darui asked Killer Bee: "Senior Bee, can you take on both of their Jinchuriki?"
Killer Bee said: "The Four-Tails Rōshi isn't a perfect Jinchuriki. Handling them? No problem, yo."
Darui thought for a moment. "Senior Bee, go and call out to Iwa. See if you can get both Han and Rōshi to fight you at a distance."
"If they agree, we fight. If Iwa refuses, we retreat for now."
"Got it." Killer Bee agreed readily. He was confident he could take on both of Iwagakure's Jinchuriki at once.
♧♧♧
-> SUPPORT ME WITH POWER STONE
-> FOR EVERY 200 PS = BOUNS CHAPTER
♧♧♧
-> 35 Advanced chapters Now Available on Patreon!!
-> https://www.patreon.com/c/Segais
(Just remove the hyphen to access patreon normally)
If you like this novel please consider leaving a review that's help the story a lot Thank you