Orochimaru's base.
Subordinates were packing the items they needed to take with them, while Orochimaru observed their actions carefully to ensure no equipment or documents were left behind.
Suddenly, croaking frog sounds approached. Orochimaru's ears twitched slightly as he raised his eyebrows.
"Has Jiraiya sent another message?"
Muttering to himself, he walked outdoors.
A messenger frog slowly hopped over. Calmly, Orochimaru asked, "Did Jiraiya send you?"
The messenger frog wobbled slightly before spitting out a severed finger from its mouth. Then it began speaking, "This was given to me by Minato for you."
Orochimaru picked up the severed finger lying on the ground and instantly understood.
"Is this Rin's? Looks like I won't have to abandon this place after all."
The messenger frog didn't respond again and vanished directly in a puff of smoke.
"If he managed to send this using a frog, he should've been able to escape on his own too. So why didn't he come here himself?"
Orochimaru fell into deep thought alone.
As he pondered, he rotated the severed finger in his hand.
A symbol etched onto it caught his attention.
"This is an encrypted script we used during the Third War," Orochimaru said with a smile as he deciphered its meaning. "'Release'? Does he want me to cancel the Impure World Reincarnation for him?"
"So it seems Minato is still staying at Konoha but doesn't want to be trapped there..."
He gazed off into the distance.
...
Meanwhile in Konoha Village.
Unable to find any way to free Obito from the Impure World Reincarnation, Minato finally decided to use Tailed Beast Transformation.
Throwing Rin's corpse aside, the Nine-Tails' chakra surged from Minato's body.
Tsunade couldn't help but click her tongue, "How in sync could he be with the Nine-Tails?"
Then she ordered Kakashi, Izumi, and other Ninjutsu users who hadn't appeared yet, "Move further back. Prepare defensive Ninjutsu at any moment."
"Yes." Though confused, the ninja nodded seriously.
Kakashi carefully picked Rin up again before retreating together with others.
"Have people been evacuated?" Tsunade continued asking.
"Hokage-sama, please rest assured."
As Tsunade was giving instructions, Minato had already completed his transformation.
The very sight that haunted every resident of Konoha emerged.
"It's the Nine-Tails!"
"Damn it!"
The giant fox with nine tails appeared amidst terrified screams and curses from the villagers.
"How could this happen?"
At the very moment the Nine-Tails appeared, it lunged directly at Susano'o. Even Obito seemed caught off guard as he leaned backward to retreat, crashing through several buildings.
When they collided, all techniques gave way to raw, brutal hand-to-hand combat.
A battle between a humanoid giant and a massive red fox.
Tsunade tried to suppress a chuckle. "With how old Obito is now, his battle experience shouldn't be any less than Minato's. He really seems clumsy."
"It must be because he relies too much on the Sharingan," Izumi guessed beside her.
Seeing those houses destroyed by the wide-range attacks between man and beast, Tsunade couldn't help twitching her brow. "I hope I'm not the one who'll have to rebuild these houses?"
Then she remembered someone in Anbu had the Wood Release. Instantly calmed down, she decided, "I'll leave it to that guy."
Boom! Boom! Boom! Fists clashed violently, shaking even the space itself.
Susano'o proved completely incapable of suppressing Minato, who was channeling the Nine-Tails' power.
Internally furious, Obito wondered why, according to Madara's account, the Nine-Tails should have been so easy to defeat? Why was dealing with him so difficult?
As for Kamui, it turned out useless too.
Even if Minato couldn't overpower him, he could still effortlessly evade.
Realizing he couldn't win, Obito started planning his retreat.
After all, he was a man with a great goal—there were still ideals to realize. What was Minato anyway?
Right, he also needed to take Rin with him.
Izumi stared at him intensely through her Mangekyo Sharingan.
"Obito, why don't you just die already?" she shouted loudly.
Her voice traveled clearly to both Minato and Obito inside Susano'o.
"Rin's already dead. It's time for you to join her."
"The path to the Pure Land must be so cold and dark. Don't you worry about her? She must be scared."
"If you truly loved her, you should learn from your opponent—the Fourth Hokage."
Obito cast his eyes toward her, his crimson gaze filled with icy hostility.
"The Fourth Hokage truly deserves to be called a worthy lover, a worthy husband. As for you, hmph."
"You're nothing but a selfish coward who fears death."
"Do you really think the world can't go on without you? Stop being so arrogant. You're overestimating yourself!"
"Without you, the world will keep turning just fine."
"Say whatever you want." Tsunade frowned and interrupted.
Izumi continued ruthlessly, "If we're talking about importance, wasn't the Fourth worth way more than you?"
"He gave up everything—even his life—to accompany his loved ones. Why can't you do the same?"
"All you love is yourself, not Rin. No, you don't love her at all—you only love yourself..."
[Fire Release: Blazing Wind Dance]
Spinning flames burst from Obito's mouth, distorting the surrounding space and creating whirlwind-like gusts flying directly toward Izumi.
"I told you to shut up already." While speaking, Tsunade used Wood Release to move her away.
"He won't escape. There's no need to deliberately provoke him."
As Obito, overwhelmed with rage, released another jutsu toward Izumi and others, Nine-Tails raised his head high, black chakra beginning to condense.
"Everyone watch out—it's the Tailed Beast Ball!" The tension among the ninja rose sharply.
The Tailed Beast Ball was fired, its dangerous aura making everyone involuntarily swallow hard.
"Can this break through Obito's defense?" Kakashi mumbled to himself.
Kakashi felt conflicted—whether Obito would fall by Minato-sensei's hand or Minato-sensei would die at Obito's.
Faced with the devastating Tailed Beast Ball, Obito merely scoffed.
"Take this one for me."
His Mangekyou spun rapidly as Kamui activated.
As the Tailed Beast Ball was about to strike him, space began distorting. The ball slowly got absorbed into his eye.
Then, it reemerged from the space behind his eye, growing back to its original maximum size with barely any loss in speed, now shooting straight toward Izumi and the others.
At this moment, everyone stood in shock, unable to comprehend how he had done it.
Tsunade's scalp prickled with dread. Her mind raced—was there *any* way to stop this thing?
After careful thought, she recalled [the Four Red Yang Formation].
However, this barrier required four Kage-level chakra-capacity ninjas to perform. Even if she could use a shadow clone to cover one spot, there were still three missing.
Moreover, none of the other shinobi knew this jutsu, so they couldn't possibly coordinate with her.
"Is there really no choice but to..."
Meanwhile, Izumi also found herself in a difficult situation.
"Damn you, Obito! Did I hit the nail on the head?"
She took a deep breath, forcing herself to stay calm, locking her gaze onto the incoming Tailed Beast Ball.
"If his abilities can do it, then maybe I can too."
The next second, the Tailed Beast Ball vanished from everyone's sight, while Izumi clutched her eyes, staggering unsteadily.
"Crazy woman, still got some guts left?" Obito laughed loudly, provocatively challenging Minato: "Come on! Try again!"
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