Obito didn't understand what was going on—but that didn't stop him from getting on with business.
The sphere containing the sealed One-Tail was hanging from Gaara's gourd. Obito activated Kamui and silently closed in from behind...
"What do you think you're doing?"A voice rang out next to his ear, making Obito bristle like a cat.
"Who's there?!"
Shhhk!
His answer came in the form of a flash of quicksand, striking like lightning. Caught completely off guard, Obito's human arm—his real, flesh-and-blood arm—was violently torn off.
He leapt back instantly, clutching his mangled shoulder. Blood spilled across the ground in a widening pool.
"So it's you, Uchiha Obito."
Hovering above him, Gaara looked down with a cold smile, like a cat toying with a trapped mouse.
Being exposed so abruptly made Obito's temper flare.
"How... how do you know the name 'Obito'? Was this whole city your doing? How utterly twisted."
Gaara shot him a disdainful glance.
"A villain acting shocked when his villainy gets pointed out... Is that not the first lesson? From the way you're talking, you sound like you think you're one of the good guys. That's a sickness—you should get that checked."
Obito gritted his teeth. Sure, maybe he'd killed his own teacher, gotten his teacher's wife murdered, unleashed the Nine-Tails on the village, and even helped Itachi wipe out their clan... but deep down, he was still a good person!
All he ever wanted was to save this filthy world, to bring it ultimate salvation. How was that wrong?
Everyone who had died would be reborn in the world of the Infinite Tsukuyomi. Mortal minds just couldn't comprehend the greatness of Uchiha Obito's dream!
When the grand plan was complete, he would be the savior of this world. So why shouldn't he see himself as the hero?
These thoughts shot through Obito's mind in a flash—but what concerned him more right now was how Gaara had discovered his true identity. How much did he know?
"Was it Uchiha Sasuke who told you?" Obito asked, trying to probe for answers. During the Collapse of Konoha, Gaara had cooperated with Sasuke every step of the way. It was obvious they had dealings in private. And with Sasuke's petty personality, he'd have every reason to leak something like this.
"Don't say that idiot's name in front of me!" Gaara snapped.
With a wave of his hand, golden sand surged into the sky like a tidal wave and came crashing down toward Obito.
Obito didn't hesitate—he instantly slipped into the Kamui dimension. But the very next second, his expression changed. His eyes filled with shock, then confusion, then dread.
In that single instant where he shifted from reality into the other dimension, a small amount of sand had come with him. The grains hit the ground and rapidly corroded all nearby inorganic matter, spreading and multiplying—until a new sand sea had formed right inside Kamui.
Out from it rose a sand clone of Gaara. With no hesitation, it launched a relentless attack on Obito.
And the pressure it exerted... was no less than the real thing.
Why had a monster like this been born in Sunagakure? Obito was completely baffled.
The trump card he relied on to dominate the entire shinobi world had just been neutralized with ridiculous ease. Like a soldier disarmed on the battlefield, his pride and confidence vanished together.
Boom!
While distracted, Obito took a direct hit from the sand and went flying. His head rang like it had been split open.
This wasn't a fair fight. It was a cat-and-mouse hunt—and he was the mouse.
Obito attempted a counterattack, unleashing Wood Style. Thick vines and thorny branches erupted and tangled with the sand. The result was a spectacular, chaotic clash of nature and chakra.
But Gaara's response was deadpan: "So this is supposed to be... Wood Style Technique?"
"This jutsu's not bad, though. It actually made me move more than one finger."
"You don't look so good. Kidney issues? Want to take a break?"
That did it. Obito's mental defenses cracked.
There was something disturbingly familiar about Gaara's sharp tongue. It took Obito mere moments to go from seething to numb.
The moment the golden sand wrapped around him, he stopped resisting.He hung there like a salted fish, utterly defeated. But worse was still to come.
"This is Puppet City. A city without sorrow. All living beings who enter are granted my blessing."
"Pain, grief, confusion—these things exist because people think. But once you stop thinking... the suffering disappears."
"I've purged this city of all its pain."
"Obito-san, I sincerely invite you to stay and become a permanent resident of this place. What do you say?"
There was a fanatical light in Gaara's eyes.
Obito's answer was brief: "Lunatic."
Gaara nodded seriously.
"I knew you'd agree."
Obito roared in anger.
"Don't just decide that on your own! When the hell did I agree?!"
"I know you're in a hurry. But calm down," Gaara replied, his face bearing that smug, punchable expression of someone who thought they'd just given you the world's greatest gift.
"The City Without Sorrow welcomes all who join with sincerity."
Obito: "#%@#￥..." (a long stream of curses)
Gaara's smile dropped. "You really are an ungrateful little b*tch. Maybe go look at your damn beta face in a mirror before talking to me like that. I was doing you a favor."
"But fine. Someone like you would only bring chaos and drama to this place. Since you refuse to follow the rules... I guess it's time to punish you for trespassing in my city."
Obito fell silent. There was no point arguing with a lunatic.
"I'm a merciful person," Gaara said. "Even though your sins are unforgivable, I'm not the kind to kill recklessly."
For a moment, a sliver of hope stirred in Obito's heart. As long as he survived, there was still a chance to escape!
"I've always wondered..." Gaara mused. "Your eye lets you move through space-time. But what would happen if I destroyed your Mangekyō Sharingan after you entered your alternate dimension? Could you still come back?"
His next words were whispered like the devil's lullaby.
"Let's call this your punishment. If you manage to return, then I'll graciously forgive you."
"No!!!" Hope turned instantly to horror. Obito couldn't stop the scream that tore from his throat.
But Gaara didn't stop. With a twist of his hand, the sand closed in and—squelch—crushed Obito's eye.
The sand clone vanished.
And Obito was left all alone in that desolate other world.
The One-Tail retrieval mission had failed.
...
What Obito didn't know... was that he wasn't the only one facing a nightmare.
Elsewhere, over in the Land of Earth, another tragedy was unfolding.
The stars of the show? Deidara and Sasori of the Akatsuki.
As defectors from Iwagakure, Deidara should've been intimately familiar with the terrain of the Land of Earth.
But to his utter surprise, the moment he and Sasori crossed the border—they were discovered, surrounded, and thrown straight into battle...
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Pls Drop some Power Stones
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