After transmigrating into Uchiha Obito's body, Yamato Arata—now simply Obito—stood amidst the forest, scanning the surroundings with his newly awakened Sharingan. The space twisted, and he emerged with a whirl before lightly touching the ground.
He picked up a broken branch and examined it."There are signs of trampling at the front, but the rear was severed cleanly with a blade. Someone left this trail deliberately… to mislead any pursuers. The true escape route must be…" He glanced toward the 4 o'clock direction, eyes narrowing.
From within the darkness of the woods, Zetsu observed silently.Obito's analytical skills have improved drastically. Even without the Sharingan or Hashirama's cells, he's on track to become a formidable shinobi…
Without hesitation, Obito followed the faint trail left by his target—Beisuke.
As he moved through the forest, he noticed an almost imperceptible thread stretching from a tree to a rock. A detonating tag trap."A trap? Then I'll just turn it back on him…" He casually flicked a kunai forward but paused to analyze it again.
Boom! Boom! Boom!A chain of explosions tore through the forest canopy.
Beisuke, fleeing toward the edge of the forest, halted upon hearing the distant blasts. Standing atop a tree branch, he turned to look back.
His Konoha forehead protector had a bold, horizontal slash across it—the mark of a missing-nin.
"Did the trap go off? Good..." he muttered, swallowing a soldier pill to restore his chakra.
Suddenly—whoosh!A dark figure darted through the trees.
"Tch!" Beisuke flung a kunai at the oncoming blur.
Obito, observing the kunai flying toward him, thought calmly, No need to use Kamui against someone of this level. I should hone my basic combat reflexes instead.
Clang!He deflected the kunai with a flick of his wrist and landed firmly on a tree trunk.
"Gen? Or maybe ANBU?" Beisuke called out, his guard up.
"No. Just someone who's interested in your 16 million bounty," Obito said calmly beneath his mask.
Beisuke's expression eased slightly. Forming hand seals, he smirked."You're just another bounty hunter then. I've killed a few of your kind already…"
Whoosh!He vanished using a high-level Camouflage Concealment Technique.
"A jōnin-level ninjutsu that blends the body into its surroundings... impressive, but…" Obito muttered....against the Sharingan, it's meaningless.
He leaned backward, letting a blade flash harmlessly above his face, slicing through leaves.
"You're a sensor ninja?!" Beisuke exclaimed as his attack failed. He canceled his concealment technique to conserve chakra, then appeared behind Obito in a flash.
"Interesting swordplay… Konoha style, no doubt." Obito murmured.
Beisuke launched into his next assault—Dance of the Three Suns and Moons—a fast-paced Kenjutsu filled with afterimages and misdirection.
Swish! Swish!Obito's body was struck and splintered into pieces—until it burst into a puff of smoke. Substitution Jutsu.
Beisuke gasped."That was faster than my sword strikes!"
Obito's voice echoed from behind."You assassinated a VIP once. Even though you failed, your skills aren't lacking. But they end here."
"Bastard!" Beisuke snapped. He threw a flurry of shuriken, each attached to steel wire. They embedded into the trees, forming a massive web that closed in around Obito.
"This is the Windmill Triple Blade Technique," Obito observed, completely unfazed.Sasuke used a variation of this during the Chunin Exams to fight Orochimaru… but that was child's play compared to this.
The wires wrapped around him.
"You're done!" Beisuke bit the wire ends and quickly formed hand seals.
Fire Style: Fireball Jutsu!
The fire surged through the wires toward Obito.
"Is this all 16 million gets me?" Obito muttered under his breath.
Snap! Snap!He flexed, breaking the wires with brute force, then formed the Ram seal. Chakra welled in his throat.
Fire Style: Great Fire Annihilation!
BOOM!!
A sea of flame erupted from his mouth, engulfing the forest. The steel wires melted instantly, and Beisuke's own fireball was utterly consumed. The wall of fire expanded like a tsunami, incinerating everything in its path.
During the Fourth Great Ninja War, Uchiha Madara used this very jutsu to overpower a formation of twenty Water Style users. While Obito's flames weren't on that scale, they still carried a terrifying majesty.
The inferno roared.
Beisuke stared in horror."Who… who the hell are you?!"
BOOM!!Flames exploded skyward, visible from miles away.
Far off, three Konoha ANBU halted, shielding their faces from the heatwave.
"What kind of Fire Style is that?!"
"Did Gen get to him already?" one of the male ANBU asked, stunned.
"No, look at the flames… We have to go now!" the female ANBU in the lead ordered.
They arrived at the scorched clearing—what they saw would be burned into memory.
A massive charred crater. In the center stood a masked man in a black cloak, holding a burnt corpse, the face unrecognizable.
Obito tilted his head."This is annoying. I can't even identify the face. I better not lose that bounty..."
A second voice emerged from his body, cocky and playful:"If it's just the face, I can use my ability to reconstruct it…"
"Dammit, it was Beisuke! Did Gen beat us here?" one of the male ANBU cursed.
Beisuke had once been ANBU himself, tasked with guarding the daimyo of the Land of Fire. But he turned on his charge without warning. Investigation revealed he had been in contact with Gen prior to his betrayal, leading many to suspect the secretive organization had orchestrated the assassination to frame the Fourth Hokage.
Gen wouldn't allow him to be taken alive. These three ANBU had raced against the clock to retrieve Beisuke first.
"No, he's not with Gen. Different outfit—and he said '16 million taels'..." the kunoichi observed. She stepped forward and shouted toward Obito:
"Identify yourself! This is Konoha territory, and we are ANBU! State your name!"
"Hmm?" Obito turned. His single Sharingan gleamed from under the mask.
"Sharingan—don't look into it!" she warned, eyes shutting tight.
Thud. Thud.Too late. The two male ANBU collapsed under Genjutsu.
"This voice… that hair…"
Obito approached her slowly, dragging Beisuke's corpse behind him.
The kunoichi backed away until her spine hit a tree.
Obito was already before her.
"Damn it!" She slashed at him with her ninja blade—
Shing!But it passed straight through. No sensation, no resistance.
"What?! What is this…?" she gasped in terror. Her body froze.
She had been caught in a powerful Genjutsu.
Her shoulders trembled slightly.
Obito reached up and gently removed the animal mask from her face.
Underneath was a young, beautiful kunoichi. His eyes widened.
"Yugao Uzuki… it really is you."