Chapter 427: Despair, Hashirama Kneels
Whoosh!
"It's too late!"
Minato changed direction, throwing a Flying Thunder God kunai at the black hole space sphere thrown by Li Yao's Obito clone and teleported after it.
Whoosh!
Teleporting again, Minato appeared beside the falling black hole space sphere. He reached out—rip!—his hand was instantly consumed upon contact with the sphere.
With a focused thought, Minato activated Flying Thunder God to teleport the black hole space sphere away.
Whoosh!
Minato reappeared beside one of his kunai a thousand kilometers away.
"Ugh!!!"
"It didn't work!"
Sensing the emptiness around him, Minato shouted in shock and immediately teleported back to stand beside the First Hokage, Hashirama.
"This is bad—we can't stop it!"
Tobirama, who had been preparing to teleport the black hole sphere himself, realized from Minato's failed attempt that he wouldn't succeed either.
Whoosh!
Tobirama teleported back.
Now, all they could do was hope the wood-style jutsu, enhanced with Sage Mode, could stop Li Yao's black hole space sphere.
Rip!
Like a sharp blade slicing through tofu, the black hole sphere cut through Hashirama's Wood Style shield without slowing down, and dropped into the center of the town.
Boom!
The black sphere rapidly expanded, turning into a five-kilometer-wide black orb, enveloping the entire town.
"No!"
Hashirama and the others roared in grief and rage, but there was nothing they could do to stop the tragedy.
Snap!
The expanded black orb suddenly contracted inward, letting out a sharp, finger-snap-like pop.
"This…"
Hashirama and the others stared blankly at the scene before them.
The town had completely vanished, replaced by a massive circular crater, smooth as glass. It was like the dark silhouette of a lunar eclipse had devoured a chunk of the earth—and inside that crater had once been a town of over twenty thousand people.
Dead.
All dead.
Without pain, without even realizing they had died.
The people of the town passed away peacefully. But in Hashirama and the others' hearts, a profound fear took root.
"What exactly do you want!!?"
Senju Hashirama cried out in fury, clapping his hands together.
"Sage Art: Wood Style—True Several Thousand Hands!"
A towering Thousand-Armed Buddha rose from the ground, standing tall over the land, throwing countless punches toward the Li Yao Obito clone floating above the crater.
"You really think I'm scared of you?!"
Facing the barrage of gigantic fists, the Li Yao Obito clone's expression turned cold. "If a tiger doesn't show its fangs, do you really take me for a sick cat?"
With a thought, the Li Yao Obito clone activated Kamui. Countless spatial distortion vortices appeared, matching each of the Buddha's incoming fists.
Crack!
Wood splinters flew everywhere.
Before the twisting force of Kamui's space—
What Sage Art?
What Thousand-Armed Buddha?
What Tailed Beast Bomb-level fists?
All of it was garbage. The Buddha had its fists completely torn away and still couldn't overcome the vortexes of Kamui.
Shred!
A massive Kamui vortex materialized right at the Buddha's head.
In an instant, the Buddha's head exploded like a human skull struck by a Barrett sniper rifle.
Only thanks to Tobirama's quick reaction, teleporting Hashirama and the others away, did they avoid being caught in the blast.
Whoosh!
Minato reappeared ten meters behind the Li Yao Obito clone.
As expected of the Yellow Flash of the Yuzu —his speed was astounding. He had taken advantage of the Obito clone's clash with Hashirama to close the distance.
But… so what if they got close?
Fully wrapped in the black hole space cloak, what could they do now?
The Li Yao Obito clone didn't dodge this time.
Whoosh whoosh!
As planned, Minato switched places with Tobirama. Tobirama brought Uchiha Itachi with him.
Whoosh!
Itachi arrived with his Mangekyō Sharingan activated, summoning Susanoo. From within, the Totsuka Blade was already drawn, thrusting toward the Li Yao Obito clone.
"So that's it."
The Li Yao Obito clone smiled. In an instant, he understood that Itachi's trump card wasn't just Izanami—his Totsuka Blade, which could seal anything, was also a killer move.
The moment the Totsuka Blade appeared, the clone sensed its unusual nature.
It wasn't a chakra sword. It wasn't even physical. It was a truly ethereal blade. That meant the black hole space cloak likely couldn't keep it out.
If struck, the Li Yao Obito clone would be sealed.
And even if he managed to escape the seal, the connection formed through the Totsuka Blade would allow Itachi to use Izanami on him.
Each step led to the next. No wonder Uchiha Itachi was considered the greatest battle genius of the Naruto world.
When it came to combat instinct, even Minato couldn't compare.
But what a shame—
Itachi wasn't facing an ordinary person. The Li Yao Obito clone's reaction speed was far too fast. Just the motion of Itachi raising the Totsuka Blade with Susanoo gave the clone enough time to analyze his tactics several times over.
What's more, the clone was still maintaining Time Mirage space-time ninjutsu. The Totsuka Blade wouldn't work. Neither would the Izanami illusion.
But… the Li Yao Obito clone wouldn't repeat the original's mistake.
"Kamui!"
Before the Totsuka Blade could reach him, the clone activated Kamui. Tobirama and Itachi were both caught in the spatial vortexes.
In an instant—
Susanoo shattered. Tobirama barely managed to teleport away using Flying Thunder God, while Itachi tried to dodge, but half his body was ground into powder by the Kamui vortex.
Whoosh whoosh!
Tobirama reappeared, grabbed the half-bodied Itachi, and teleported them both back to the ground where Hashirama and the others waited.
"Do you feel despair now?"
"Any regrets?"
The Li Yao Obito clone hovered above the five, looking down with a cold expression.
"..."
The five looked up in silence. No one made a move.
That brief clash had already shown them the overwhelming gap.
In terms of raw power, even a Thousand-Armed Buddha with the might of a thousand Tailed Beast Bombs couldn't overcome Kamui's vortexes.
In terms of reaction speed, the Li Yao Obito clone left them utterly hopeless.
In that situation just now, Itachi and Tobirama had both been blown back by the sudden Kamui vortex. If this happened again, they might not even get another chance to approach.
And now that the Totsuka Blade had been revealed, the clone clearly knew of its sealing power.
That meant Itachi likely wouldn't get a second chance to attack with Susanoo.
"Konoha has already been destroyed. Everyone's dead. All those who opposed you are gone… but the people of the Land of Fire are innocent. Please, I beg you to spare them."
Thud! Thud!
At the critical moment, the First Hokage Senju Hashirama showed the resolve of both a Hokage and a man of the Land of Fire. Seeing that there was no hope left, he decisively knelt down and pleaded with Li Yao to spare the innocent civilians.
(END CHAPTER)
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