"Another one? This is getting ridiculous," Obito muttered in annoyance, his voice filled with disdain as he looked at the newly arrived Fourth Hokage. "Like a bunch of cockroaches…"
Victory had been within reach. All he needed was to kill Fugaku and the few remaining Uchiha elites, and the Uchiha clan would be officially extinct tonight.
Obito had no idea that a portion of the clan had already been evacuated. In his eyes, these were the last Uchihas.
What should've been a simple task was now riddled with complications. First, Izumi had unexpectedly awakened her Mangekyō Sharingan—not too bad, since it was only one eye, and she wasn't a real threat. Then came Naruto, whose terrifying brute strength had almost knocked him out with one punch. Still, Obito had chalked it up to the limitations of taijutsu fighters.
But now—Minato had arrived.
Obito was already beginning to consider retreating.
Yet… the allure of that Mangekyō in Izumi's eye kept him in place. That wasn't some throwaway three-tomoe Sharingan. It was a Mangekyō—the pinnacle of the Uchiha clan's power, rare even throughout their long history.
Even with his wall of stolen Sharingan, Obito didn't have a spare Mangekyō.
If he left now, wouldn't that just be handing it to Konoha—or worse, Danzo?
In Obito's mind, Root must already be lying in ambush.
"Die!"
Meanwhile, Izumi ignored everything, recklessly burning through her eye's power and launching attacks at Itachi. Blood-tears streamed down her remaining eye. Even if she went blind tonight—she had to avenge the murdered Uchiha children.
The more she had loved, the more she now hated.
Unfortunately, even with her Mangekyō, Izumi still wasn't a match for Itachi.
Despite her furious attacks, Itachi remained eerily calm—almost unbothered. With equal eyes, victory came down to technique and physical prowess.
And Itachi surpassed her in every way: taijutsu, genjutsu, ninjutsu. Plus, he had two Mangekyō eyes, and she only had one.
Itachi hadn't even needed to figure out Izumi's eye technique—her inability to harm him said enough.
Izumi's stamina was running dry.
Just then—
"That's enough."
Naruto appeared silently behind her. Focused solely on Itachi, she hadn't noticed him. Before she could react, Naruto's hand gently pressed against her neck.
A light touch—and she passed out.
Naruto casually caught her and tossed her toward Fugaku.
"Clan Leader," Naruto called in a low voice, "Konoha's already noticed the disturbance. I'm guessing ANBU's on the way. Take her and go—it's time."
Fugaku nodded gravely, catching Izumi in his arms. He signaled to the few remaining elite Uchiha and bolted toward the rear exit.
As for Sasuke… they'd have to leave him behind.
'Trying to escape?!'
Obito, still torn between staying and leaving, immediately tried to block them.
But Minato reappeared in front of him in a flash.
"Your opponent… is me now."
There was something unsettling about this version of the Fourth Hokage. Familiar… but not quite. Obito didn't have time to figure it out.
What truly alarmed him was the body flicker technique he recognized—Flying Thunder God.
"Time-space jutsu?" Obito's heart sank.
His own power—Kamui—was also a space-time technique. But facing another user of such an ability was never good.
He'd learned that the hard way during the Nine-Tails' Night. If Minato hadn't been pressed for time, Obito might've died back then.
Then Minato held out his hand—and a familiar glowing blue sphere formed in his palm.
"Rasengan?!"
Obito's mind flashed back to that night, when Minato had slammed him into the ground with that very technique.
Instinctively, he phased out again, distancing himself.
Just as planned—Minato wasn't here to fight, only to give the others time to escape.
He faked a threat, then vanished using Flying Thunder God. The next moment, he reappeared beside Fugaku and the others.
'They played me!' Obito realized. 'He's the key to their escape!'
Obito was furious—but too far away to stop them.
"Itachi, stop them!"
Obito could only count on Itachi now. But…
Itachi was still facing Naruto—the boy who had landed a punch strong enough to make even Obito cough blood.
Itachi's Mangekyō began to spin wildly.
Against a taijutsu specialist, genjutsu was the answer—and Itachi was the Uchiha clan's genjutsu master.
But Naruto was ready.
He brought both hands to his forehead and shouted—
"Solar Flare!"
Taiyōken, the Solar Flare—originally Tien Shinhan's technique, later used by Goku. By converting energy into blinding light, it caused temporary blindness.
A blinding white flash erupted from Naruto, illuminating all of Konoha.
Even the ANBU watching from a distance lost their vision.
For a moment, everyone had the same illusion—
Was it… sunrise?
Itachi, facing Naruto directly, instinctively closed his eyes.
Even the Sharingan couldn't protect a literal eye from being blinded.
Solar Flare worked best at night—and this was perfect.
"Useless!" Obito hissed, barely cracking open his eyes.
He could only watch as Minato and the others vanished into the darkness.
He cursed—whether at himself, or Itachi, even he didn't know.
If this had been the real Fourth Hokage, Naruto might've considered staying to defeat Obito.
But this was just a shadow clone.
Even Obito couldn't possibly lose to a clone.
The feint had worked—Naruto's mission was already a win.
But he wasn't ready to leave just yet.
Until now, he hadn't had a clear sense of his own strength. He only knew one thing—physically, he could pin even the Nine-Tails and pound it into the dirt.
But how strong was he, really, in shinobi terms?
It was time to find out.
He turned to the perfect opponent—
Masked Man—Uchiha Obito.
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