Kakashi's face was deathly pale.
But he didn't answer, only continuing to exert force as the lightning in his hand grew brighter.
"Cough… cough…"
Obito coughed up blood and drove his elbow backward, striking Kakashi and sending him flying a dozen meters away.
Kakashi rolled twice on the ground before barely managing to steady himself. The Chidori in his hand had already dissipated.
"Trash."
Obito lifted his head and looked at Minato, who stood not far away. "Minato-sensei, it seems… you won't be able to leave a Flying Raijin mark on me again."
"Remember this, I will change this world."
"Until next time… sensei."
With that, without waiting for Minato or the others to respond, the smell of burning paper tags rose from Obito's body.
Minato's expression changed, his nerves tensing.
"Not good! Everyone, get back!"
BOOOM!!!
A violent explosion erupted within several meters of where Obito had stood.
Flames shot into the sky, rocks flew in all directions, and the shockwave toppled countless trees.
Thick smoke blanketed everything, obscuring everyone's vision. Minato and the others retreated quickly, waiting for the smoke to clear.
When it finally did, all that remained was a massive crater.
The bottom of the crater was scorched black, its edges still smoking, but Obito's figure was nowhere to be seen.
'Izanagi?'
Minato, who now knew of this forbidden Uchiha technique, shook his head.
He didn't understand what Obito had hoped to accomplish by coming here. Wasting a three-tomoe Sharingan—was it just to announce his intentions to Konoha?
And although they had managed to catch Obito this time by chance, his elusive space-time ability was still a major problem.
Minato had already had the Barrier Corps replace the village's barriers, yet they still couldn't stop Obito. This would be a real headache going forward.
Moreover, they still didn't know the source of Obito's intelligence yet. They couldn't just stay on guard forever—eventually, there would be a lapse.
And also… was the reason Obito awakened his Mangekyō and changed so drastically because he witnessed Kakashi killing Rin? But how was it that he happened to witness that scene at that exact moment?
Kirigakure… why did they seal the Three-Tails inside Rin, who was their prisoner in the first place?
As for using the Three-Tails to destroy Konoha—the Three-Tails wasn't the Nine-Tails. And during wartime, the village was already on high alert. It would have been impossible for the Three-Tails to destroy Konoha.
Also, wasn't Kirigakure afraid that Konoha would simply capture the Three-Tails?
Looking back, there were far too many suspicious points about that whole affair.
And where did Obito's Wood Release come from?
Just as Minato was gathering his thoughts, he saw Kakashi—who had been knocked nearly twenty meters away before Obito's self-detonation.
Kakashi sat sprawled on the ground, staring at the place where Obito had been. He looked utterly dejected and listless. Clearly, he would need some time to recover.
Sigh…
Minato sighed. 'What has gone wrong with the Hokage lineage?'
The Sky Screen had revealed that in the future, Orochimaru would try to kill the Third Hokage. And now, Obito was trying to kill him.
Where had their teaching gone wrong?
He couldn't understand. He looked up at the sky, but only the moon hung there in silence.
---
Not far outside Konoha, Black Zetsu dragged Obito—whose chest still bore a gaping hole—through the earth at high speed.
The dirt parted before him and closed behind, leaving no trace.
Black Zetsu kept cursing Obito in his mind. 'So this is how you use Izanagi after learning it? Wasting a Sharingan just to put on a show—and blowing yourself up like that?'
What was even more infuriating; was the wound on Obito's chest intentional or not?
Fortunately, Hashirama's cells carried powerful regenerative abilities. Otherwise, Obito couldn't afford to play around with injuries like this.
Madara had really misjudged this one.
No—maybe Madara had been right about Obito after all.
These Uchihas were just too much of a lunatic.
Black Zetsu dragged Obito through the earth, cursing under his breath as he sped up.
---
In the following days, the major powers of the Shinobi World continued to move along their respective trajectories, though only a few were aware of the subtle changes occurring beneath the surface.
For example, Hiashi was pleasantly surprised to find that ever since he had told Hinata to eat her fill, her strength had been growing rapidly, which made him overjoyed.
Another example was that in Konoha Year 60, several Hidden Villages secretly sent operatives to try and eliminate Naruto.
After all, as the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki and the future savior, his strength would undoubtedly be terrifying. The other villages certainly didn't want him to grow up safely and become another Senju Hashirama for Konoha.
However, these attempts were easily repelled by Jiraiya, Hiruzen, Kakashi, and others who kept a close watch on Naruto. The strongest attackers were merely Jonin—they couldn't even last a single round against Jiraiya.
As for dispatching Kage-level fighters, the major villages weren't that foolish.
Information on Naruto was already extremely difficult to obtain. And what if it was false intelligence, a trap set by Konoha?
After all, Konoha currently had several Kage-level fighters, and not to mention that Konoha's overall strength was still the highest in the world.
So it was unlikely that the world would see another fool like Rasa.
Rumors even had it that Rasa was now spending his days digging up sand to earn money.
---
The time came once again for the Sky Screen to activate. Amidst the expectant gazes of all, the screen suddenly lit up.
[This time, we will evaluate the strength comparison between Sasuke and Naruto—friends and rivals since childhood.]
Hearing that, many people instantly became interested.
In the Shinobi World, power spoke above all else. The various timelines were extremely curious; just how strong would Naruto, the so-called savior of the world, become in the future?
As for Sasuke, the Sky Screen had previously mentioned that besides being the last surviving Uchiha of his generation, he would grow to be even stronger than Madara in the future.
Watching the two of them face off would certainly be very interesting.
---
[Konoha, Year 60. A flat valley near Konoha]
Jiraiya and Team 7 were here, grilling fish and relaxing.
There had been too many enemies looking for Naruto recently, so they had to hide their tracks to avoid being constantly disturbed.
The campfire crackled, and several fish skewered on branches were sizzling and dripping with oil. Naruto stared at the fish, his mouth almost watering.
Upon hearing the Sky Screen's content, Naruto pointed at the screen. "Sasuke, did you hear that? This time it's about the two of us!"
Sasuke had already narrowed his eyes, deep in thought. Naruto was undoubtedly a dead last right now, but his future reputation was quite significant. So he was also very curious about how his future self would compare to Naruto.
And Sasuke didn't believe he would be weaker than Naruto.
It would be even better if he could learn about his future way of becoming stronger. He had hit a bottleneck in his training recently—he had almost mastered the Great Fireball Jutsu, but something still felt missing.
Jiraiya and Kakashi were also very interested. The recent assassination attempts had been a nuisance, and they had been planning to help Naruto and Sasuke grow stronger. So if the screen could reveal the most suitable methods for the two of them to develop, that would be even better.
Jiraiya took a bite of the grilled fish and mumbled, "Watch closely and learn well."
Sakura, however, was less interested. She had already been taken in as Tsunade's apprentice and was currently learning Medical Ninjutsu. Her palms were still wrapped in bandages from cuts sustained during practice.
She believed that with Tsunade's guidance, she would not fall behind Naruto and Sasuke. Right now, she was already stronger than Naruto, and she would soon surpass Sasuke.
'Hmph. You two just watch.'
Sakura crossed her arms with a hint of smugness.
---
[Konoha, Year 52. Uchiha Clan Grounds]
Fugaku was also intrigued.
Teaching Sasuke lately had been driving him crazy.
If the Sky Screen hadn't already revealed Sasuke's future achievements—leaving Fugaku with no choice but to doubt himself rather than Sasuke—he would have been certain Sasuke was just an ordinary Uchiha.
It wasn't as if he and Mikoto could simply kill themselves according to the "established history" just to make Sasuke stronger, was it?
*****
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