At the entrance of the ninja academy.
Students, injured teachers, and curious bystanders had gradually evacuated.
On the open ground, Sakumo Hatake and Minato Namikaze were fighting side by side against the masked intruder attacking Konoha. Anbu ninja were setting up barriers around the battlefield while outside the perimeter, Konoha ninjas like Orochimaru had formed an airtight encirclement.
The masked figure—Obito—seemed to have become a trapped rat under Konoha's tight three-layered siege.
Not good.
As he saw the barriers slowly rising around him, Obito immediately sensed danger. The enemy's barrier contained space-time energy, which might render his Kamui useless.
Yet, he really didn't want to retreat just yet.
After all, he had traveled across timelines to reach this parallel world solely for the purpose of meeting the one he loved deeply—Rin Nohara.
Just now, he had nearly succeeded in taking Rin with him when Minato Namikaze suddenly interfered, thwarting his plan.
Obito realized that if he withdrew now, he might never see Rin again.
Thinking of this, his expression twisted into a fierce look and his eyes burned with rage, as though he had turned into a raging beast ready to go berserk.
Why? Why do you guys keep stopping me from reuniting with Rin?
Why?!
"Aaaaaaargh!"
Suddenly, Obito let out a furious roar toward the sky. A surge of explosive chakra erupted from his body, sending both Sakumo and Minato hurtling backward.
In the next moment, he slammed his palm onto the ground, releasing all that violent chakra deep beneath the earth.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Instantly, the ground shook violently. Several thorny trees burst forth from underground, growing wildly and spiraling upward. Countless branches, like demon claws, lashed out in all directions, sweeping through the Konoha ninjas within a hundred meters as if trying to crush them all.
[Chaos of Hell!]
This move was extremely cruel and violent. Years ago, Obito used it after witnessing Kakashi killing Rin, having fallen into a frenzied state. It wiped out every Mist Anbu on the battlefield, leaving behind a massacre.
It was named "Chaos of Hell" because back then, Obito's mind truly was immersed in hellish torment.
Just like right now.
"Watch out!"
Sakumo and Minato slashed through the attacking branches before shouting warnings to the other ninja outside.
Wood Release techniques?!
Orochimaru, Jiraiya, and others stared wide-eyed at the monstrous grove of trees thrashing wildly in front of them, realizing immense danger.
The Konoha ninjas quickly fell into chaos, each frantically activating their own techniques in a struggle for survival.
Some got caught in the writhing branches, sustaining grave injuries or even dying instantly.
In the distance—
"Father!"
Seeing Sakumo fighting fiercely while barely dodging life-threatening attacks, Kakashi couldn't help but cry out in alarm. His young face twisted with anxiety and worry, desperate to rush over and help.
But reason told him that stepping onto the battlefield now would only get him instantly killed.
Thus, Kakashi could only remain where he was, pacing back and forth like a caged animal, unable to take action.
Beside him—
Heiyan watched the battlefield unfold and sighed, shaking his head.
Honestly, he hadn't planned on getting involved at all. Four years ago, the night he left Konoha, he had already decided to stop meddling in the messy affairs of the shinobi world.
But watching so many lives end right in front of him, Heiyan couldn't help but feel for them.
Plus, among the Konoha ninja fighting Obito was his own disciple—Minato Namikaze. If Obito kept this up, Minato could be in mortal danger.
Right now, the space-time barrier set up by Konoha Anbu had been destroyed before completion by Chaos of Hell. Only Heiyan, who also possessed Kamui, could threaten Obito at this point.
With that thought, Heiyan patted Kakashi's shoulder and said,
"Stay put and wait here until the battle ends."
Before Kakashi could react in shock, Heiyan leapt forward and dashed into the battlefield in one swift motion.
Zap.
Like lightning, Heiyan shot forward, moving so swiftly it was like a hawk taking flight. He dodged every Wood Release branch coming his way and headed straight for Obito at the center of the battlefield.
"What's going on?"
Heiyan's sudden appearance stunned even Orochimaru and shocked Obito himself.
They wore the same Uzumaki mask, almost identical Akatsuki cloaks, and even sported the same short haircut. From head to toe, they looked like exact copies.
Is this Transformation Jutsu?
Obito thought bitterly and sneered. Instantly, he sent over a hundred wooden branches from all directions to attack Heiyan, determined to eliminate this imposter on the spot.
Yet in the next second, Obito's smirk froze completely—because—
Shzzshhh!
When those branches struck Heiyan, they simply passed through his body as if it were air, causing no damage at all.
What other ability could do that besides Kamui itself?
If physical appearance could be copied using Transformation Jutsu or other techniques, how could this opponent possess Kamui—the unique space-time Dojutsu thought to be one-of-a-kind?
At that moment, Obito was truly stunned.
Orochimaru and others, witnessing this spectacle, stared in confusion, unable to make sense of what just happened.
Now, it was Heiyan's turn to strike.
Ssskrt!
Heiyan flicked his wrist. A pitch-black chain shot out from his sleeve and coiled tightly around Obito's torso before he could react.
"Hmph."
Obito let out a cold snort, unfazed. Effortlessly, he activated Intangibility, slipping free from the chains' grip.
Unfortunately, he had fallen into a trap.
This was exactly what Heiyan expected.
Meanwhile, inside Kamui's space—
Heiyan's Shadow Clone had already been waiting.
Suddenly, the space trembled with a ripple. Obito's upper body was pulled into Kamui's space and floated mid-air.
Without hesitation, Heiyan zipped forward, fingers sharpened like blades, and ruthlessly pierced through Obito's heart from behind.
Yes, he stabbed Obito again.
Poof!
The Shadow Clone, stained with Obito's blood, immediately dispersed into a wisp of white smoke.
Back in the real world,
"Who are you, and why are you impersonating me? How can you even use Kamui?"
After dodging Heiyan's chain attack, Obito locked his gaze tightly onto the other man, asking in a deep, heavy voice laced with fury. From his tone, one could tell his heart was no longer calm—it had already been thrown into chaos.
However, right after Obito asked this question, before waiting for Heiyan's response—
Pu!
A huge hole suddenly appeared in his chest. Blood gushed out like a fountain, spouting upward violently.
"How… is this possible? I clearly dodged…"
Obito looked down incredulously at the large wound on his chest. Immediately afterward, his consciousness rapidly blurred, and darkness swallowed his vision.
Peng!
He fell backward, blood pooling from beneath his fallen body, staining the surrounding ground red.
Yet merely after several seconds passed—
Under the astonished gazes of everyone from Konoha present at the scene, the big wound on Obito's chest began visibly healing at an observable speed, soon returning to normal.
His eyes flew open. He shot upright in an instant and immediately distanced himself from Heiyan.
[Izanagi].
Obito had used this ultimate [Dojutsu] technique of the Uchiha clan, successfully turning his own death into a dream, thus achieving resurrection.
Still shaken, he quickly rolled up his sleeve. There on his arm was an implanted triple-tomoe Sharingan, its pupil rapidly graying before slowly closing shut.
The cost of using Izanagi was permanent blindness of that Sharingan eye.
Back then during the night of the Uchiha massacre, when Obito helped Itachi slaughter many of their clansmen, he harvested several Sharingan eyes. Whenever he went out on missions, he usually carried one or two extra eyes with him—precisely for emergencies like this.
Today, he finally used one.
Obito stared deeply at Heiyan. At this moment, a sense of danger unlike anything before gripped him completely. He no longer had the mind to question the other's identity, and even his longing desire to reunite properly with Rin Nohara had faded away.
Shua.
Without saying a word, he vanished into Kamui's space, fleeing far away from Konoha.
To Obito, this world was insane. Almost every ninja here seemed stronger than those from his original timeline, and now there was even another person identical to himself—an experience so bewildering it left him completely stunned.
Within a short period of time, he had already been ambushed twice from behind and stabbed through the body—truly a horrifying nightmare.
Although he hadn't completed his mission here, Obito couldn't bear to stay for another second. He decided to return and find Nagato, having the latter reopen the space-time gate to send him back to his original world.
Heiyan watched quietly as Obito fled, not immediately chasing after him.
Since he had copied the other's body, he already knew beforehand that Obito had transplanted extra Sharingan eyes, enabling him to activate Izanagi.
Therefore, Heiyan decided to kill Obito once—just enough to terrify him into running away.
Once Heiyan resolved matters with Konoha, he would inevitably use Kamui's space once again to hunt down Obito and uncover both his accomplices and the whereabouts of the Dragon Vein within the original timeline.
At this moment—
"Father!"
Kakashi rushed over the moment the battle ended, hurrying to Sakumo Hatake's side.
"He saved me," he said, pointing at Heiyan and explaining what had just happened.
Upon hearing this, Sakumo Hatake's animosity and suspicion toward Heiyan began to ease. Curious, he asked,
"Friend, could you please explain exactly what just occurred?"
Heiyan didn't respond—there was simply no way to put it into words.
So he activated his ocular power and slipped into Kamui's dimension, vanishing completely. All that was left were a group of Konoha ninja standing there, staring at each other in bewilderment.
After a long pause,
"No matter what, we must report this to the Third Hokage first."
After discussing amongst themselves, Sakumo Hatake and the others decided that Jiraiya would lead the effort to evacuate and treat the injured while Orochimaru continued investigating the battlefield. Sakumo Hatake and Minato would take Kakashi to the Hokage's office.
Deep within the mountains behind Konoha, inside a remote mountain temple,
Gamamaru sat atop the Sage Throne, intently watching the scene unfold within the crystal ball. In recent years, he had used this method to monitor every corner of the village, and no movement or change escaped his seemingly murky eyes.
After witnessing the breathtaking battle at the entrance of the ninja academy, even Gamamaru—despite his vast experience—wore a look of confusion.
As for the origins of those two identical masked figures, he was just as clueless as everyone else in Konoha.
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