In an instant, the masked man surged forward, unleashing his full might upon Kakashi Hatake and the assembled Anbu Black Ops.
"Fire Release! Explosive Gale Dance!!!"
The air itself seemed to scream as he merged the space-warping power of Kamui with a raging firestorm. Tornadoes of searing flame twisted violently, devouring the earth and air alike. The technique was a perfect fusion of dimensional distortion and fire-style jutsu, a cataclysm that could engulf an entire squad of elite ninja without mercy.
Kakashi's pupils widened. This was the man responsible for the Kyuubi' assault, the murderer of his mentor, Minato Namikaze. He had always known the weight of Obito Uchiha's threat,but to see him strike with such overwhelming power from the very start was terrifying.
Instantly, Kakashi formed hand signs in a blur and slammed his palms to the ground.
"Earth Release! Earth Flow Wall!"
Chakra surged through his body like a river breaking its dam. The ground erupted into a massive wall, carved in intricate detail with the image of a wolf's head, standing as a bulwark against the hurricane of fire. Behind him, the elite Anbu mirrored his defensive formations, unleashing water array walls and other countermeasures to suppress the inferno.
"Earth Release! Earth Flow Wall!!!"
"Water Release! Water Array Wall!!!"
"Fire Release! Great Fire Technique!!!"
The clash was cataclysmic.
The Uchiha district cracked and shattered under the intensity. Buildings crumbled into dust, stones flew like missiles, and the streets were torn asunder by the explosive convergence of jutsu. Even the combined force of Kakashi and the Anbu, the finest of Konoha's shadows, was nearly overwhelmed, blasted backward by twisting firestorms and roaring hurricane winds.
Kakashi struggled to regain his stance, brow furrowed as he met the enemy's gaze.
"Who… are you really?!" he demanded, voice carrying over the deafening chaos.
This attack had been only a fraction of the masked man's potential. If Obito unleashed his full control over Kamui, Kakashi,still mastering space-time manipulation,might have been erased in a single strike.
Fated adversaries, their paths destined to collide, now met prematurely, orchestrated by Chiba's cunning manipulations, each battle a prelude to total devastation.
The masked man's expression remained calm, almost coldly indifferent.
"Hmph. You don't need to know," he muttered.
But the Anbu behind Kakashi were not idle. Codenamed Elephant, one of them executed a secret technique:
"Lightning Release! Four Pillar Restraint!!!"
Massive stone pillars, glowing with crackling electricity, shot down from above, forming a cage of thunder around Obito. Lightning surged violently, paralyzing muscle and nerve, ready to shred even the strongest ninja to the bone.
Kakashi couldn't help but nod. "Well executed," he murmured.
But the masked man, as if mocking fate, slipped silently through the pillars, unharmed and untouched.
"Huh?!" Kakashi's heart clenched. "A space-time jutsu…?!"
Another Anbu immediately struck, unleashing their wind-style technique:
"Wind Release! Wind Cutting Technique!!!"
The chakra blades cut through the air like jagged knives, a hurricane of invisible steel.
Yet Obito did not flinch. The wind blades passed through him harmlessly, as though they were nothing more than a breeze. The Anbu froze in stunned silence.
Kakashi's eyes narrowed, calculating. "A corporeal intangibility ability… he is phasing his body into elemental form!"
Obito's strategies were simple in their brilliance: he combined Kamui's space-time distortion, elemental fire, and intangible movement into an unbreakable triad. Each attack, each jutsu, worked as both offense and defense, forcing Kakashi and the Anbu to react constantly.
Yet Kakashi had trained for such battles. He adjusted rapidly, weaving hand signs to combine earth, water, and lightning jutsu,a layered defense designed to exploit openings in the masked man's form.
The battlefield had become a symphony of destruction:
Flames whirled and twisted, scorching everything in their path.
Earth walls shattered, debris flying like lethal missiles.
Lightning cracked across the sky, seeking a gap in Obito's defenses.
Wind blades cut with surgical precision, a blade for every angle.
The masked man laughed softly, almost bored, as he phased, countered, and struck back. Every movement was calculated. Every strike, a psychological assault as much as a physical one.
Kakashi realized this was no ordinary fight, it was a dance of strategy, perception, and sheer willpower, where one misstep could mean death.
"So… this is a secret technique capable of nullifying all attacks…"
"This is going to be troublesome."
The masked man's lips curled into a cold, mirthless smile. "Kakashi Hatake… stand aside. Today, I do not wish to kill you."
And yet, he spoke the truth.
Obito Uchiha, despite the seething resentment in his heart toward Kakashi, had no intention of taking his life. Otherwise, he would not have waited until the chaos of the Fourth Great Ninja War.
His feelings toward Kakashi were a complex tapestry of friendship and bitterness. On one hand, he still regarded him as his sole comrade and friend. On the other, he harbored searing hatred for the death of Rin Nohara, blaming Kakashi for failing to protect her. Yet deep down, Obito knew that Rin had chosen her fate, dying by Kakashi's hand. In truth, there was no blame to place.
After the storm of his rage had passed, his mind returned to cold, merciless calculation.
"Today, my target is the Uchiha clan. You… an outsider… are irrelevant," he declared, voice like ice.
Kakashi's tone was calm but resolute. "I already said it. When I witness injustice… I will not stand idle."
Obito's smile darkened, almost imperceptibly. "Do you truly wish to die?"
"Every day," Kakashi replied, voice steady, devoid of fear. "Death… holds no power over me."
Obito fell silent, understanding fully. Kakashi had already endured more suffering than most could imagine: his father Sakumo Hatake's suicide, his own apparent death, the loss of Rin Nohara, and the fall of Minato Namikaze. Death was merely another form of release.
Obito's eyes gleamed coldly. "Then I will not let you die. No… you will live to witness the suffering of this world."
With that, he vanished, activating Kamui, slipping through space-time with silent, unnerving grace.
Kakashi's brow furrowed. Why did this man harbor such inexplicable hatred for him? And why did he seem to know him so intimately? Who… or what… was he?
But there was no time for contemplation. Kakashi turned to his Anbu team. "Save the survivors. Aid the Uchiha civilians still breathing."
A brief hesitation followed. "Captain… are we really doing the right thing? We're openly defying the Hokage's orders."
Kakashi's voice was unwavering. "I will bear the responsibility. Save them first."
"Yes, sir."
From the distance, a young boy came sprinting, tears streaking his face as he confronted the streets drenched in crimson. The carnage,the blood-soaked pavement, the lifeless bodies,drove him to the brink of madness.
It was Uchiha Sasuke, the youngest of the Uchiha.
"Why… why is this happening?" he screamed. "What… what has occurred?!"
Kakashi's chest tightened, but he held back. To intervene too hastily might compound the disaster.
Sasuke's eyes caught sight of them. "It's… it's you!!! Did you do this?!"
Kakashi said nothing. Only: "Go home."
Confusion and desperation battled in Sasuke's mind as he ran toward his house. Upon arriving, he found only his mother, Uchiha Mikoto, consumed by grief and tears.
"Mom! What… what happened?! Why… why is everyone… gone?!"
Mikoto embraced him tightly, her body trembling. "Sasuke… you're safe… that's all that matters…"
Sasuke collapsed into her arms, trembling and sobbing. "Tell me… tell me what's happening!"
Her voice was cracked and broken, but truth could not be hidden. "The Uchiha have risen against Konoha… your father leads the clan against the village."
Sasuke froze, the truth striking him like a lightning bolt. The nightmare he had always feared had come true.
"But… the civilians… they weren't ninja! Why… why were they killed? Was it… Konoha?"
Mikoto shook her head, heart breaking anew. "No… the civilians… they were slaughtered by the masked man claiming to be Madara Uchiha, and… your brother Itachi, conspiring with him."
Sasuke's face drained of color, as if struck by thunder. "Brother… did this?!"
"No… it's impossible!" he screamed, disbelief cracking his voice.
Mikoto exhaled a grief-laden sigh, tears streaming down her face. "I know you cannot believe it… I cannot believe it myself… but now is not the time for questions. Your father and the clan are still fighting with their lives. I stayed behind only to keep you safe. Now, we must go help them."
Sasuke gripped her hand tightly. "Mom! Don't leave me! I… I want to fight with you!"
After a brief pause, Mikoto nodded. Leaving him behind was more dangerous than anything. Together, mother and son ran toward the battlefield, hearts pounding, eyes burning with anguish.
At the front of the Hokage's office, the carnage raged, crimson and relentless. The tide of slaughter, however, was nearing its grim conclusion.
The Uchiha clan had suffered catastrophic losses. Their might could not withstand Konoha's elite forces. The legendary Uchiha Shisui had fallen to Danzo Shimura, and the prodigious Itachi Uchiha had betrayed his own.
Uchiha Fugaku, the clan leader, fought with every ounce of his strength, watching helplessly as his kin were slaughtered. The storm of grief and rage within him threatened to consume his reason, yet he still had to shield those in the rear from annihilation.
"Ahhhh!!!"
He saw Uchiha Tetsuya, the loyal clan warrior, struck down by the combined might of the Sarutobi clan's acting leader and Danzo Shimura. Even as death approached, Tetsuya drove his blade into the enemy, taking his foe with him. Both collapsed, lifeless, into the blood-soaked earth.
"Tetsuya!!!" Fugaku's roar echoed like thunder. His blade, fueled by rage and sorrow, swung at Danzo Shimura with unrestrained fury.
Danzo smirked coldly, infusing a kunai with Wind Release chakra, creating his signature Vacuum Blade Technique.
The weapon, sharper than ten ordinary kunai combined, sliced through the air with lethal precision.
"Bang!!!"
Fugaku's blade shattered on impact. Simultaneously, the wind blade severed his arm, crimson blood arcing violently through the air.
"Clan leader!" the surviving Anbu shouted, voices filled with horror and disbelief.
The remaining members of the Uchiha clan were a storm of rage and desperation. Their eyes burned red with fury, hearts pounding with hopelessness. Each one of them, from hardened shinobi to trembling civilians who could barely lift a blade, threw themselves forward in a desperate, suicidal charge against Danzo Shimura.
At that exact moment, Uchiha Inabi, previously locked in a deadly struggle with Aburame Ryoma, captain of Root, let out a roar that split the air. Flames erupted from his mouth in a brilliant Fire Release, forcing Ryoma to stumble back, shielding himself from the onslaught.
Inabi didn't hesitate. With a blazing determination, he turned his fury toward Danzo, joining the chaotic dance of blades and chakra that consumed the battlefield.
Meanwhile, Chiba arrived with quiet, unshakable authority, dragging along the battered and frozen Uchiha Itachi, whose body had been shattered and encased in ice after Chiba's brutal assault.
It was no coincidence. Chiba had brought him here for a reason,to witness the true horror of war, the cost of rebellion, and the weight of betrayal.
The scene was nothing short of hell.
Blood slicked the streets. Smoke and dust choked the air. Corpses, torn and broken, littered the battlefield like discarded dolls.
Itachi's gaze, cold and detached, was forced to confront the nightmare before him.
Every second was a torment.
Every breath carried agony.
Every heartbeat hammered a drum of despair into his chest.
Rage, guilt, grief, and helplessness,all collided in his mind, threatening to shatter what little remained of his composure.
And yet… Chiba did not allow him to look away.
"How is it?" Chiba's voice cut through the chaos, calm and unflinching.
"This… is what you call rebellion."
"This… is what you call war."
"WHY?!" Itachi roared, voice raw and fractured.
"Why are you doing this to me?!"
Chiba's lips curved into a faint smile, devoid of warmth.
"Because I enjoy it."
He did not hate Itachi simply for the Uchiha's rebellion. It was personal. It was moral judgment made flesh. To a man who killed his own parents and slaughtered innocents with cold calculation, mercy was a foreign concept.
Now, he had the chance to exact not just punishment,but to make Itachi feel the crushing weight of helplessness, to force him to watch the cost of his sins.
Itachi was frozen, utterly immobilized, powerless to intervene. His eyes could only witness the carnage as Uchiha after Uchiha fell.
The Sarutobi clan, brave but outmatched, collapsed under the might of the assault.
Shimura clan members fell beside them.
Even ANBU and Root operatives, trained for death itself, were scattered and slaughtered like leaves in a hurricane.
Despite the Uchiha's desperation, the combined might of Konoha's upper ranks was immense. Yet even they were bleeding, their ranks broken, their strategies tested to the limit.
Itachi wanted to act,but there was nothing he could do.
His gaze grew hollow.
Two streams of blood flowed unbidden from his eyes, yet he didn't cry out.
"Kill me…" he hissed, voice dripping with anguish.
"Just end it…"
Chiba's smile widened.
"I told you, death is far too simple for you."
"Living…" he whispered, voice calm but merciless.
"…that is the true punishment."
The pain was absolute. It reached past flesh, past bone, deep into the soul itself.
It was then that Itachi's Mangekyō Sharingan began to evolve under the unbearable torment.
"AAAAHHHHHHH!!!"
He screamed as his eyes snapped open, crimson fire exploding from his sockets.
A power that had never awakened,third within the Mangekyō Sharingan,flared into life:
Susanoo!!!
The agony, the desperation, the unbearable pressure of helplessness had forced a dormant force into awakening.
With a roar of exertion, Itachi unleashed every ounce of chakra he had left.
The blood-red Susanoo erupted into being, towering, wailing, a storm of wrath and despair.
RUMBLE,!!!
CRASH,!!!
BOOM,!!!!!
But before the Susanoo could even fully materialize…
Chiba moved.
A blade of ice manifested in his hands, as if conjured from the very air itself, and slammed into the half-formed Susanoo, suppressing Itachi instantly.
And then,
CRACK,!!!!!
With terrifying precision, Chiba ripped both of Itachi's Mangekyō Sharingan from his sockets.
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!"
Itachi's scream was a raw, primal sound that tore through the battlefield.
Blood gushed from his hollow eye sockets, his soul screaming in agony as the Susanoo collapsed into jagged shards, disintegrating before his eyes.
"You… you took my eyes?!"
Chiba did not speak. Calmly, he encapsulated the stolen eyes in a block of ice, preserving them perfectly, a cold trophy of inevitability.
Chiba's lips curved once more.
"Didn't you say you didn't want to watch anymore?"
"I've merely… granted you release."
And yet, the release was not freedom.
It was a sentence.
Itachi was left to bear witness to everything, to live and endure the pain of seeing his world unravel,a punishment far crueler than death.
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