Jet-black chains surged from Obito's wrists, snaring Minato Namikaze's ankles. The sealing formula engraved upon the metal locked down the surrounding area, causing the Flying Thunder God formula to lose its effect.
"Caught you."
Obito's voice carried a hint of twisted, uncontrollable joy. He had finally captured him—the legendary Yellow Flash. If he wished, he could drag this man into the Kamui dimension in the next second, where he would remain for all eternity.
Minato glanced down at the chains around his ankles. His deep blue eyes remained so calm that Obito felt a flicker of unease. There was no trace of the expression Obito had hoped to see on his face.
"So that's how it is. Another application of space-time ninjutsu?" Minato's voice was as steady as ever. "A troublesome ability."
This reaction instantly dampened the satisfaction rising in Obito's heart. It felt like punching the air; there was no resistance, no sense of impact. Why is this man's reaction so dull? I've already caught him!
To counter the Flying Thunder God, Obito had prepared those sealing formulas on the chains well in advance. At any moment, he could pull his opponent into the Kamui dimension. Once there, Minato's life would be entirely in his hands!
So why was he still so composed?
"Troublesome?" Obito took a step forward, his face almost pressing against Minato's. "Minato Namikaze, is that all you have to say?"
His voice turned abruptly cold, filled with the arrogance expected of Uchiha Madara. Minato focused his gaze on Obito's exposed eye but still offered no reply. The disappointment in Obito's gaze sharpened into pure rage.
"Then just get in there!"
The Mangekyo Sharingan in his right eye spun violently, and a massive suction force erupted from his pupil. The space around him warped drastically, forming a giant vortex that threatened to swallow Minato along with him.
In the distance, beneath the shadow of a massive tree...
A mass of black substance lurked, devoid of any signs of life. Black Zetsu's consciousness peeked out from the shadows, scrutinizing everything happening atop the Hokage Rock.
Obito's behavior was becoming increasingly strange. Ever since his obsession with seeing Kakashi Hatake, a streak of paranoia had taken hold of him. Now, facing Minato Namikaze, that paranoia had turned into a reckless series of provocations.
What exactly is he trying to test? Black Zetsu couldn't understand it. In its long existence, human emotions had always been the most cumbersome of things.
It recalled the name Minato Namikaze had whispered six months ago.
'Obito.'
Black Zetsu had been nearby at the time and heard it clearly. For a moment, it thought Minato had recognized the boy and was about to strike. However, the subsequent events were strange; Minato hadn't done anything unusual afterward. It was as if that mutter had been nothing more than an unconscious slip of the tongue.
But Black Zetsu could never have anticipated the truth. Since Gamakon had already leaked the entire future to Jiraiya and Minato, how could he possibly have left out the most critical player in the shadows?
Over the past half-year, the correspondence between Minato and Jiraiya had never ceased. They had prepared several contingency plans. Everything Minato was doing today was the most vital part of the strategy—acting. They were performing for the benefit of the creature hiding in the dark, the one who believed it was pulling all the strings.
Black Zetsu's gaze returned to the battlefield. It saw Minato bound by chains, about to be sucked into the alternate dimension. It saw the expression on Minato's face—calm to the point of being cold.
There was no recognition of an old friend. No hesitation toward an enemy. It was entirely the posture of a shinobi dealing with a nameless intruder.
The last of Black Zetsu's doubts finally vanished. It seemed that the whisper six months ago really had been a coincidence. Perhaps Minato had simply spent too much time at the Memorial Stone, missing his dead student so much that he uttered the name aloud. Humans were, after all, such complicated emotional creatures.
Even so, I should reinforce the control over Obito with more cursed seals, Black Zetsu noted. That brat is becoming more and more disobedient.
"It's over, Fourth Hokage."
Obito watched as Minato was pulled toward him bit by bit, his voice dripping with the satisfaction of revenge. The suction of the vortex intensified, dragging Minato's body forward. He seemed to have given up on resisting.
But just a split second before Minato's body would have collided with Obito, his right wrist flicked.
Shing!
A cold glint flew from his hand. It wasn't aimed at Obito; instead, it flew in the opposite direction, stabbing into the distant night. It was a specialized Flying Thunder God kunai.
The single eye behind Obito's mask narrowed for a moment, but his arrogance quickly suppressed any concern. It's useless. Once you're inside my Kamui dimension, no matter how many markers you leave outside, they are worthless. You aren't coming back out.
The massive suction swallowed Minato whole. In the next heartbeat, Obito's silhouette vanished into the vortex as well. Only the shattered stone statues and a mess of debris remained atop the Hokage Rock, as if the battle had never happened.
The vertigo of spatial displacement lasted only a moment before Minato's feet hit solid ground. He immediately steadied himself and surveyed his surroundings.
He was met with a strange, hazy gray space. There was no sky or earth here. Only countless gray blocks floated in the void, forming the platforms beneath his feet and the backdrop of the horizon. A heavy sense of oppression washed over him.
"Welcome to my world."
Obito's figure emerged a short distance ahead. He stood on a higher platform, looking down at Minato with an air of peerless arrogance.
"In here, your Flying Thunder God is useless." He spread his arms, clearly relishing the feeling of being the master of all things. "Minato Namikaze, your greatest reliance is gone. Now, tell me: where is the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki?"
Minato didn't answer. He simply scanned the space calmly, and the tension in his blue eyes actually seemed to relax significantly.
"I see." He spoke, his voice ringing clearly in the dead silence. "So this is the truth behind your ability?"
"An independent dimension separate from the reality of the world. When your body turns intangible, you are actually shifting yourself here."
Minato's words caused the smugness on Obito's face to freeze. Shouldn't he be panicking? Shouldn't he be in despair after falling into a dead end? How can he still be calmly analyzing my technique?
"You don't seem surprised at all," Obito said, realizing something was wrong.
"Why should I be surprised?" Minato looked up, meeting Obito's gaze. Behind that calm stare was the sharp edge of a drawn blade. "I let you catch me specifically so I could get in here."
"What did you say?" Obito's body shook violently, his Sharingan shrinking in shock.
"If I didn't enter this space, I could never truly grasp the essence of your technique or find a way to counter it." Minato held a standard kunai across his chest, dropping into a low stance. "Now, the intel I wanted is in my hands."
A fierce battle intent ignited in his azure eyes.
"It's true that this place is cut off from the outside world, but that also means..."
"There won't be anyone else here to interfere."
"Am I right... Obito?"
Outside the Hokage Rock.
In the shadows, Black Zetsu confirmed that the chakra signatures of both Obito and Minato had vanished. The vortex closed, and everything returned to silence.
The battle is decided, Black Zetsu concluded. Minato Namikaze had been sucked into that unknown dimension. With the masked man's control over space-time ninjutsu, the Yellow Flash would not be coming out alive.
It was time for the next step. Its body turned into a pool of black liquid, silently seeping into the earth and heading toward the outskirts of the village—toward the true birth site protected by the Four Violet Flames Formation.
The tool had finished its job of distracting the most troublesome enemy. Now, it was time for Black Zetsu to harvest the final fruit.