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Chapter 82: Success
At this moment, the giant blue water prison floating in the sky was already half ice-white. A figure dropped out from the unfrozen side of the water prison, landing next to Obito and the others. It was Kisame Hoshigaki. Holding Samehada, he had exited his fused state.
"Mr. Madara, my apologies. I've disappointed you. I failed to kill the White Tiger."
Obito forced himself to calm down. "It's fine. This isn't your fault. This traitor's strength has grown too quickly. It's perfectly normal that you aren't her match." He was very patient with Kisame. Back in his Village Hidden in the Mist days, Kisame knew he was controlling the Fourth Mizukage and had pledged allegiance to him. Later, under his arrangement, Kisame joined the Akatsuki to work towards the Eye of the Moon Plan. Kisame was an excellent subordinate: powerful, followed orders, and was meticulous in his work, far better than the traitorous brat beside him.
Obito glanced coldly at Sasuke. "Sasuke, you're not in good condition. The White Tiger's strength is strange. We'll retreat for now and fight another day."
Sasuke stood up, pushing away Karin's supporting arm. "Don't look down on the Uchiha!!" He glared fiercely at the water prison in the sky. "Amatera..."
"Ahhh...!" A wretched scream. Sasuke suddenly clutched his left eye, which was bleeding profusely, his face twisted in pain. The activation of Amaterasu had failed. His Mangekyō had only half-opened before immediately shutting down. He had overdrawn his visual prowess too much and could no longer use his Mangekyō's techniques.
Karin quickly steadied him, her voice filled with pity. "Sasuke... don't force yourself anymore. You're in a terrible state. You can't fight."
Sasuke released the hand covering his eye, holding it in front of his face. "My... my eyes..." At such a close distance, he could barely make out the outline of his own hand. He was only one step away from complete blindness.
"No!! My eyes...!" His perpetually cold expression finally broke. He looked around wildly, but all he could see was a faint blur of light. He couldn't even clearly see Karin, who was right in front of him. "No, no! I can't go blind! Not yet! I haven't gotten my revenge!! Danzō, Konoha, I haven't gotten my revenge! I can't go blind! I can't lose my Mangekyō!" The thought that he might go blind was something Sasuke simply couldn't accept. He was like a man possessed, shouting in a state of mental chaos.
Obito stepped forward, reaching for Sasuke. Karin immediately jumped in front of him, saying defensively, "Don't you dare harm Sasuke, or I'll kill you!!"
"Hmph! I'm taking you all to retreat. The White Tiger is about to break free. In Sasuke's current state, do you think you can escape the pursuit of a flying White Tiger on your own two legs?"
Karin hesitated and finally chose to step aside. Without the masked man's space-time ninjutsu, they had no way of escaping. As for Suigetsu, he stood obediently behind Sasuke. He was usually flippant and looked down on everyone, but he knew what was what. This masked man was not someone to be trifled with. If they angered him, he might not just leave them behind; he might kill them on the spot. He didn't want to die yet. He had just been half-blasted to death by the Exploding Tags and had used a large amount of chakra to maintain his hydrated form. He couldn't fight anymore. It was better to hitch a ride and get out of here quickly. That woman was too terrifying. So many of them still couldn't beat her. She was absurdly strong. If he ever saw her again, it would be best to take a detour. Suigetsu was already traumatized by the explosions.
"Let's leave," Black Zetsu urged.
Obito nodded and activated his Kamui. A translucent vortex enveloped everyone beside him. He took one last look at the water prison in the sky, which was now almost completely frozen. "White Tiger, I'll settle this score with you sooner or later. Just you wait. Next time, I won't be at this level. I will take your life!"
With this parting threat, everyone, including himself, was transported into the Kamui dimension and vanished.
Boom!
Three seconds later, the blue water prison in the sky... no, the white ice prison... plummeted. It smashed heavily onto the ground, creating a massive tremor. Dust flew, and the ground cracked. A visible white mist spread out in all directions, and the temperature dropped sharply.
Crack! A fissure suddenly appeared on top of the ice prison. It quickly expanded, forming a circular hole. Konan flew out in an instant. She hovered in mid-air, scanning the surroundings, searching for any sign of Obito and the others.
Alex floated out from her chest: [It seems they've escaped.]
Konan's tense expression relaxed, and she let out a sigh of relief. Her chakra was also nearly depleted. If Alex hadn't been continuously replenishing her, she might not have lasted this long. Fighting three Kage-level experts in a row had been perilous, and she was physically and mentally exhausted. Thankfully, she was the final victor.
Alex also relaxed. This trip was only intended to get Sasuke's bloodline. He hadn't expected to draw out Obito and Kisame. And they had both arrived so quickly, with such a perfectly timed sneak attack. The chakra he normally had in reserve was also almost used up. Three Kage-level experts. This battle had truly been difficult. If not for Sasuke's arrogance and his reckless abuse of his Mangekyō's power, he wouldn't have just stood there and taken the Ice Release bombardment, leading to his own massive depletion. If he had cooperated with Obito and Kisame from the start, the final outcome would have been uncertain. Alex glanced at the white smoke rising in the distance. It was the sign of a summoning beast appearing and disappearing. It seemed that after the blue snake saw Sasuke retreat safely, it had released its own summoning and returned to the Ryūchi Cave.
Konan looked at Alex, her voice full of worry. "Alex, are you alright..." The large, empty hole in the center of his paper body looked shocking. She was extremely worried about his condition. If something happened to him because of this, she would die from self-blame.
Alex wobbled his body: [Don't worry. I'm your chakra creation, after all. Although I'm more special than other paper, as long as I'm nourished with chakra, I can recover easily.]
Konan let out a huge sigh of relief. "That's good. As long as you can recover. As soon as my chakra recovers a little, I'll replenish you immediately." She then looked at the chaotic battlefield, disappointed. "Although we drove them off in this battle, we didn't achieve our goal for this trip. We only managed to capture Jūgo. We didn't get a bloodline sample from Sasuke Uchiha. It will probably be even harder to try and capture him in the future."
"As for Konoha..." Konan hesitated, not continuing. Danzō of Konoha's Root also had Uchiha bloodline samples. But that place was very dangerous. If she and Alex were to attack Konoha now, they would face an even more perilous battle than the one they just had. The Kage-level Danzō, Naruto, and Kakashi, plus a large number of Konoha's jonin who worked seamlessly together. And the biggest threat, the most terrifying one, Might Guy. It would be difficult to win.
Alex shook his paper body: [We don't need to go to Konoha. The Uchiha bloodline has already been obtained.]
Before Konan's astonished eyes, the deep-red ground where Sasuke Uchiha had been standing shed its camouflage, turning into a sheet of white paper. It was a sheet of paper stained red with blood. Under Alex's control, it flew up and floated gently in front of Konan. When Sasuke had been frantically using his Susanoo and his eyes were bleeding profusely, how could Alex have missed such a good opportunity? He had used the Ice Release bombardment as a cover to secretly have one sheet of paper land beneath Sasuke's feet, then used the Paper Person of God Technique to camouflage it to match the color of the ground. This was a disguise that not even the Mangekyō could see through. It was the same principle as the six hundred billion Exploding Tags; Obito had stepped right onto the camouflaged sea surface and hadn't discovered a thing.
Konan collected the bloody paper and gently tucked Alex back into his original place, whispering, "Since we got it, let's leave now. Alex, you get some rest."