"Fire Style: Searing Migraine!"
"Wind Style: Pressure Damage!"
Amidst the surging black threads of Earth Grudge Fear, two of Kakuzu's masked creatures shot out and attacked Obito from the front – and that was only the beginning.
Before long, even more Earth Grudge Fear threads emerged from underground around Susanoo.
In no time, five of Kakuzu's Earth Grudge Fear masked monsters had completely surrounded Obito's Susanoo, converging upon it under Kakuzu's control.
"Earth Style: Earth Spear!"
"Tentacle Punch!"
Within one writhing cluster of black Earth Grudge Fear threads, half of Kakuzu's own body emerged.
He used Earth Style: Earth Spear to harden both arms to an extreme degree, then – connected by his black tendrils – he slammed his reinforced fists at Susanoo.
"Boom! Boom!"
Although the hits were very heavy, they did not inflict serious damage on Susanoo. But at the same time, the Fire Style: Searing Migraine fireballs and the Wind Style: Pressure Damage compressed wind spheres landed on Susanoo one after another.
The remaining masked creatures and various other black-thread strikes also rained down incessantly on it.
"Bang! Bang! Bang!"
For a while, explosions rocked Susanoo without end. After increasing his total chakra by 300 "cards," Kakuzu no longer worried about chakra consumption. In the midst of battle, using up his chakra scarcely even crossed his mind.
"Lightning Style: False Darkness!"
"Water Style: Water Formation Wall!"
One masked monster, hooked up by Earth Grudge Fear threads, appeared right in front of Susanoo's forehead.
From its mouth, it fired two giant "lightning spears" directly at Obito. Like the version of "False Darkness" used by some hidden kusa-nin, these lightning javelins could theoretically penetrate rock with ease and were highly lethal.
If rock is "instant kill," lightning that can pierce rock is also "instant kill," so presumably it might "insta-kill" Obito, at least in theory.
Fortunately for Obito, that was only theory. Otherwise, he'd have been finished already.
Those two bright blue lightning spears struck Susanoo, causing an extremely minor crack or two, basically negligible. However, Kakuzu's attacks continued all around from multiple directions, unrelenting.
As soon as the twin lightning spears ended, a high-pressure water cannon from Water Style: Water Formation Wall blasted the back of Susanoo's head.
"Damn it!" Obito cursed under his breath. The constant onslaught from Kakuzu infuriated him. He directed Susanoo to swing the Susanoo sword at Kakuzu's exposed body.
"Boom!"
As before, his sword sheared Kakuzu into countless writhing black threads – meaningless. No matter how the threads were sliced apart, they simply merged back together.
Realizing that ordinary methods couldn't handle Susanoo, Kakuzu wasted no time using his trump card.
"Strange Mask Exploding Flame!"
This time, he launched a combination technique. The Fire Style mask monster teamed with the Wind Style mask monster, simultaneously spouting Fire Style: Searing Migraine and Wind Style: Pressure Damage.
"Boom! Boom! Boom!"
Wind fans the flames; flames fueled by wind explode in ferocity. Suddenly a searing sea of fire descended, engulfing Susanoo completely.
The flames took on eerie faces dancing in the blaze, making the scene even more ghastly. At that level, they could finally harm Susanoo.
Obito, behind Susanoo's eyes, was surprised by Kakuzu's power; this was not what he'd expected at all. At first glance, he'd intended to crush "this small fry" Kakuzu in seconds.
But while Obito was startled by Kakuzu's strength, Kakuzu was equally astonished by Susanoo's resilience.
Even though it stood amid that huge sea of flames, Susanoo sustained only minor cracks, nowhere near breaking. Thus, Kakuzu decided to push matters further.
Controlling his Earth Grudge Fear, he summoned his Wind, Fire, and Lightning mask monsters together at his right hand. There, a terrifyingly bright blue chakra gathered at once.
"What's he doing now?" Obito muttered from inside Susanoo, feeling uneasy. Kakuzu looked far stronger than the old intel suggested.
Without waiting for an answer, Obito opted not to let Kakuzu complete his technique.
"Swish! Swish!"
He crossed Susanoo's sword arms in an X-shape and hacked down toward Kakuzu's figure. But at that exact moment, the mass of chakra on Kakuzu's right hand had fully joint. Wasting no time, Kakuzu unleashed the greatest strike of his Earth Grudge Fear secret art:
"Earth Grudge Fear: Final Shot!"
"Boom—!"
A blazing blue beam of chakra erupted from Kakuzu's hand. In that instant, it collided with Susanoo's sword.
"Boom! Crack!"
The monstrous beam shattered Susanoo's blade in one blow, continuing onward to slam into Susanoo's shoulder.
"BOOM! Rumble…!"
Even Susanoo's formidable defense was at last breached, leaving a huge swath of cracks like a spiderweb. One or two more direct hits there, and Susanoo might well be pierced entirely.
Naturally, Obito had no intention of giving Kakuzu that chance. He prepared to burn as much chakra as needed to cast Kamui Shuriken and destroy him.
Even if that failed to kill Kakuzu outright, it could at least destroy some of his mask creatures, preventing him from firing another Earth Grudge Fear "Final Shot."
But just then, Kakuzu suddenly waved both hands, and an invisible ripple of power spread out. Next moment, to Obito's shock, everything around them – the sea of fire, the surrounding forest, the rocks, the soil – all turned into a mass of strange, fine strands.
Under Kakuzu's control, they became a vast ocean of threads. That sea of threads churned with terrifying waves and foam.
"Billow White!"
In mere moments, the monstrous waves of thread slammed toward Obito from every side.
Even the mighty Susanoo was wholly submerged beneath the tide of lines. Kakuzu's endless hidden trump cards made Obito's scalp prickle. He realized staying longer was impossible.
From the start of the fight, Obito had gained no advantage; plus, Kakuzu wasn't alone – that Seven-Tails Jinchūriki, Fū, remained nearby, eyeing him warily.
Taking one last look at Kakuzu with a conflicted gaze, Obito dissolved Susanoo and triggered his Kamui swirl. Accepting that he couldn't overcome Kakuzu, he warped away. Seeing he was about to flee, Kakuzu merged countless threads into a giant whip that could slice through buildings, striking in an arc.
"Break White!" But by the time it lashed across, Obito had already escaped.
Watching the masked man retreat so miserably, Kakuzu was in a fine mood. Fighting was exhilarating! Although he'd had a blast repeatedly grinding missions and making money to increase his power, an all-out brawl with a formidable foe was equally thrilling.
When Kakuzu sent Obito packing, Fū fluttered her wings and came in to praise him: "As expected of Kakuzu-sama! That guy's not at your level at all. Kakuzu-sama is the strongest!"
Kakuzu shook his head. "No, that guy was pretty tough – it's just that I'm stronger."
He wasn't boasting, just telling the truth. Obito's displayed battle power was formidable. It forced Kakuzu not to delay or hold back at all, leading him to use the String-String Fruit's "Billow White." In that final moment, Obito's incoming attack also made Kakuzu sense real danger.
Back at the Mountain Graveyard, Obito landed heavily on the ground. Spent, he collapsed onto his rear.
All he could think was how thoroughly the ninja world had changed. It was one thing to lose to Senshi, but now he couldn't even beat Kakuzu.
Sure, maybe he could still get stronger, but if he couldn't handle Kakuzu, how could he possibly fight the entire group under Senshi?
"Damn it!" he cursed. "Do I really have to take that step?"
He fished out the glass jar containing the Rinnegan. If capturing the Seven-Tails had gone smoothly, that might've been enough, but now this operation ended in defeat.
Not only did he fail to get a Tailed Beast, he couldn't even pass Kakuzu. He had no choice. By himself, together with White Zetsu, plus the utterly useless Black Zetsu, he couldn't see a way forward. There was no way that lineup could stand against Senshi's people.
Letting out a long sigh, Obito realized that if he wanted to continue the plan, he had to resurrect Madara – or maybe Tajima. Madara was powerful, one of the Legendary Two Heroes of the Warring States, often clashing with the "God of Shinobi," Hashirama.
Although he'd never beaten Hashirama, the fact that he could fight him toe-to-toe spoke volumes. Uchiha Tajima wasn't a nobody either; Madara had called him father in days past, once a leader of the Uchiha.
However, reviving Tajima would cost a huge amount of life force, since he died so long ago. Ultimately, Obito decided it was better to revive Madara – less time had passed, plus he knew Madara's capabilities.
Thus, Obito headed to an open space in the Mountain Graveyard. Once there, he removed his mask and said, "White Zetsu, help me swap in that other Rinnegan."
White Zetsu emerged from the stone, and Obito lay on a rock platform as White Zetsu replaced his Sharingan with the second Rinnegan. Obito was dramatic about such things; for him, plugging in or removing eyes was no trivial matter.
After all, to use the "Outer Path: Samsara of Heavenly Life," he'd need both Rinnegan. When finished, he realized that having a complete pair of Rinnegan consumed not just double the usual chakra, but several times as much.
Meanwhile, the power of two Rinnegan was indeed far beyond that of one, but he couldn't maintain it long.
Still, it was enough for resurrecting Madara. Obito adapted briefly, took a deep breath, and used that power:
"Outer Path: Samsara of Heavenly Life!"
Forming the seals, he summoned the "King of Hell," a giant entity with Rinnegan, a large "王" ("king") character on its forehead, twin ponytails, and wearing a brownish robe.
"Boom!"
With a blast of white smoke, the King of Hell rose from the ground, accompanied by a metaphorical intense BGM. Obito felt his chakra and life force draining fast.
Then, with a roar, the King of Hell opened its jaws, releasing a glowing green wisp representing Uchiha Madara's soul.
The luminous essence soon took human form, with wild spiky hair reminiscent of a Super Saiyan, clad in red-brown samurai armor from the Warring States era (some joked it was a couple's matching set with Hashirama's).
Once that glow fully took on Madara's appearance, Obito dispelled the King of Hell's summoning, letting it vanish in a swirl of smoke.
Collapsing onto the stone platform, he signaled White Zetsu to remove that second Rinnegan and restore his Mangekyō Sharingan. It wasn't possible for him to keep both Rinnegan, given their massive chakra drain and the life force he'd spent reviving Madara.
When Obito re-equipped his Mangekyō, the newly revived Madara opened his eyes. At once, a fierce aura rippled through the underground chamber, full of domineering energy.
Surveying the scene, Madara noted that Obito had brought him back; that wasn't surprising in itself, but he'd expected to see Black Zetsu around as well. He was further intrigued that Obito seemed to have used the Rinnegan of his own free will, with no manipulation from Black Zetsu.
Nonetheless, he quickly noticed Obito was heavily weakened, sporting some injuries. Coldly, Madara asked, "You've done well. But what's with your injuries? And where's Black Zetsu?"
Mention of Black Zetsu made Obito want to curse. But since he still needed Madara's power to carry out his plan, he kept silent about that. Grumbling, he sat up and said, "Black Zetsu's less useful than White Zetsu these days. Aside from some intel, he's contributed almost nothing to our plan. Lately he's been wandering around with a sack, picking junk for some reason."
He was about to keep complaining, but Madara cut him off. "Enough. I'm alive again. That's all that matters. The rest is trivial."
As far as Madara was concerned, Black Zetsu's greatest use was as his failsafe and intelligence gatherer. It was normal for Black Zetsu not to help Obito in other ways.
Madara began pacing in that familiar subterranean space, continuing his cold questioning: "So about your injuries—what's the plan's status?"
Obito sighed. "It was going well at first, until the ninja world happened upon one Uzumaki Senshi, who's unbelievably strong—monstrous, really. Even fighting my hardest, I couldn't beat him. If not for luck and some well-timed conspiracies with White Zetsu, I'd never have managed to seize the Rinnegan and resurrect you. And these injuries come from someone in Senshi's mercenary group."
Madara's expression implied "What a disappointment."
Uzumaki Senshi? Never heard the name. If this "Senshi" was just some upstart post-Warring States, that didn't seem cause for such dread. Madara gave Obito a stern look. "Don't whine about how strong the enemy is. Look at your own failings."
Inside, Obito wanted to protest that it wasn't his failings—it was that these guys had become unbelievably strong. But outwardly, he held his tongue. "Anyway, I accomplished part of our plan," he continued. "We have the Rinnegan, and the Gedo Statue is here. But capturing Tailed Beasts hasn't gone well."
Madara: (O_O)???
He was bewildered. What do you mean, capturing Tailed Beasts hasn't gone smoothly? Those are easy to catch. Perhaps he was starting to think maybe Obito wasn't so incompetent after all—maybe some extraordinary upstarts rose after his own era.
Soon, though, Obito dashed that illusion. "It's not just that I haven't seized the Eight-Tails or Nine-Tails. Actually, aside from the Three-Tails, none of the other nine Tailed Beasts are in our possession."
Madara: (O_O)???
For a moment, Madara doubted his hearing. So, in all these years, the nine Tailed Beasts—only the Three-Tails had been captured? Madara's expression darkened. He asked coldly, "Why?"
In the old days, Tailed Beasts were apparently trivial for him to capture personally—but he hated the idea of having to do it himself. Meanwhile, if not for at least stealing the Rinnegan, Obito would have done basically nothing.
Obito explained, "It's all thanks to this Uzumaki Senshi. He's a huge wildcard. Long ago, he just took Kiri's Three-Tails on his own. I was worried about the chaos that might cause, so I held off…"
Madara had already stopped listening. So even the Three-Tails wasn't seized by Obito? In that case, Obito had basically accomplished zero over these years. Disappointed, Madara snapped, "Obito, you've let me down. You've been far too slack. A shinobi's excuse cannot be that the enemy is too strong."
Obito wanted to say it was not slack—he'd been doing everything he could, but always blocked by Senshi.
Yet he swallowed his frustration, offering up the critical intel he possessed. "I've done many operations to push our plan. I defeated the One-, Two-, and Six-Tails Jinchūriki in turn—yet never got the Tailed Beasts. They'd apparently been stolen away by some unknown method courtesy of Uzumaki Senshi."
Hearing that, Madara found it tiresome. All this talk about how "the enemy is so strong, it's so hard to progress" – not once did Obito reflect on himself.
And the notion that Tailed Beasts were stolen from their Jinchūriki while leaving the hosts alive seemed absurd. Part of Madara suspected Obito might be losing it from stress.
But given how often Obito mentioned "Uzumaki Senshi," perhaps he should investigate.
Meanwhile, he needed to hear from Obito and Zetsu about the current ninja world's changes so he could set his next moves.
So Madara casually said, "Tell me about the current state of the ninja world. Also, who exactly is Uzumaki Senshi?"
Hearing that, Obito's drowsiness vanished. Indeed, the ninja world had changed drastically—"even you, Lord Madara, might not handle it easily," he thought.
Obito led Madara in front of the Gedo Statue. Madara observed it thoughtfully while Obito stood off to the side, describing the times, explaining everything about how the world had changed.
Deciding to start from Amegakure—since that was the place that changed the most. In fact, the entire world's transformation had come largely from the group at Amegakure.
…
In the Land of Earth, at a certain black market.
After a long journey, Senshi's party arrived. At the black-market entrance, Karin put out her hand and said seriously, "Senshi, you used the fruit of my wisdom. Don't you owe me a commission? After all, I came up with a perfect plan to help us accomplish our mission from the village!"
Senshi glanced at her outstretched hand and casually smacked it away. Since when did he, Uzumaki Senshi, ever pay a commission to someone else? That was a matter of principle—nonnegotiable.
Anyway, Karin was quick-witted; she just hid her hand behind her back and grinned. She understood it was tough to get money out of Senshi, so she had only been testing him.
Whether she got something or not, she wouldn't fuss further. They'd arrived in the Land of Earth, one of the Five Great Nations. Surely there would be no shortage of new commissions.
While Karin teased Senshi, Musen casually asked, "Senshi-sama, there are quite a few black markets here in the Land of Earth. Should each of us handle a few black markets?"
Senshi: (O_O)?!?
Seriously, each person in charge of multiple black markets? Did Musen think everyone was on the same overpowered level as him, handling multiple entire black markets?
Upon hearing Musen's words, Lanyu rubbed his temples in exasperation while Lanwu sighed. If not for the fact that Uzumaki Senshi (who also used Wood Style) seemed normal, they'd suspect Wood Style rotted the brain.
Meanwhile, Raimon Yukika muttered in her mind, Idiot… Then, as if it weren't enough, her brother Raimon Hayate turned to Senshi with equal earnestness: "Yes, Senshi-sama, how about each of us handle tasks from several black markets?"
Startled, Senshi realized there was more than one "genius" at the table. Raimon Yukika looked about ready to explode. Am I really blood siblings with this moron?
Meanwhile, Sasori and Deidara, standing behind Senshi, found themselves thinking, These youths might surpass us… Because initially they, too, had wanted to each farm a single black market. Maybe that had been too conservative!
At Musen and Hayate's question, Senshi explained how they'd succeeded in the Land of Lightning's black market.
"Listen up, everyone. This time, we'll focus on turning this single, ordinary black market in the Land of Earth into its prime black market. The real need of clients is to have their commissions completed quickly, yes? If all of us from the mercenary group gather here to farm tasks, the completion rate of this black market's missions will shoot through the roof, attracting more and more clients."
As he spoke, Lanyu, Lanwu, the Raimon siblings, Sasori, and Deidara all listened intently. Musen even pulled out a notebook to take notes.
At first, Senshi felt pleasantly surprised—Finally, Musen's doing something right. He knows he's not bright, so he's writing things down. Then he noticed Musen was actually "writing" meaninglessly.
It was all an act, no real content. Senshi nearly snapped. Ultimately, he held himself in check, recalling that fussing with Musen over trivial matters was pointless and might raise his blood pressure.
And he finally understood why that Uzumaki Tousen always had the 川 wrinkles on his forehead: with a nephew like Musen, of course he'd have a constant headache.
Once Senshi finished, Karin planted her hands on her hips: "Yes, if we do that, we create two growth loops. The more tasks we complete, the greater the black market's influence in the Land of Earth. The more its influence grows, the more clients will choose it, giving us even more tasks."
Senshi nearly wanted to drag Karin behind him—these were precisely the words he'd used back in the Land of Lightning. She was quoting him directly.
But everyone else—Sasori, Deidara, the five "knuckleheads"—were once again full of admiration, finding this idea immeasurably superior to "everyone just handle your own black market."
Obviously, it was the best approach: out of practical sense, future clients in the Land of Earth or nearby would come to this black market first, drawn by how quickly tasks got done. Why wouldn't they choose the black market with better service for the same pay?
Seeing the group fully absorbed in his high-level plan, Senshi declared, "So from now on, let's thoroughly implement the Will of Rain here in the Land of Earth's black market."
Hearing this, Musen and the rest straightened up, chanting quietly: "Where there is life, there must be missions; the Will of Rain shall be upheld!"
With that, everyone entered the black market. Inside the main hall, the black market manager—whose name was Iwasa—spotted five kids in red-cloud cloaks stepping in.
He adjusted his glasses uneasily. He'd heard the story of how the Lightning Country black market boss, Bodo, nearly ended up on a rooftop, so seeing these red-cloud-robed children set off his alarms.
Thanks to that "moron" Bodo, Iwasa would not be foolish enough to offer these brats any special conditions. But then he calmed himself: Wearing the red cloud doesn't necessarily mean they're Akatsuki members. Even if they are, maybe they're not that rumored "Uzumaki Senshi" level.
Perhaps he was letting his imagination run wild…
~~~
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