In the desert, Namikaze Minato stared intently at Uchiha Obito.
His expression was exceptionally serious. Lord Fox had previously informed Minato about Uchiha Madara's subordinates. The current Uchiha Obito was a focal point of that intelligence.
Lord Fox said that without knowing Uchiha Obito's abilities, one could be instantly killed upon first encounter.
Minato thought to himself, As expected of an enemy Lord Fox emphasizes. His abilities are indeed bizarre.
He threw a kunai. The kunai met no resistance, passing through Uchiha Obito's body.
Physical attacks ineffective. Better try ninjutsu.
Minato charged at Uchiha Obito, a Rasengan forming in his palm.
The Rasengan spun rapidly, emitting a crisp, rotor-like sound.
Uchiha Obito's expression was equally serious.
Every ninja carefully concealed their abilities, revealing their trump cards only in life-or-death situations.
His right eye Mangekyō's intangibility had already been exposed to others.
Both Akatsuki and the four great ninja villages knew he could perform space-time travel using his Mangekyō.
However, he had never revealed his left eye Mangekyō's Kamui before anyone.
First, although he had transplanted Hashirama Cells, overusing the Mangekyō would cause his eyesight to deteriorate rapidly.
Second, he didn't want others to know his true trump card.
Intangibility was a support skill; Kamui was his strongest offensive method.
Coming to the Land of Wind, he originally thought he could easily help Rasa fend off Konoha's assassination attempt. Unexpectedly, the ninja Konoha dispatched was so strong.
Namikaze Minato was too powerful, single-handedly holding back Uchiha Obito.
Using only his right eye Mangekyō ability, he could only match Minato evenly, even slightly at a disadvantage.
Uchiha Obito hesitated whether to use his left eye Kamui here.
The next moment, Obito saw Zetsu in a Japanese Lantern Plant in the distance.
Those in Akatsuki all had their own agendas; he had to guard againt them.
Before Lord Madara died, he spoke with Obito alone for a long time and told him to go see a stone tablet in the Uchiha clan shrine. The truth was recorded on that tablet.
He was Lord Madara's true contingency plan. He had to supervise those in Akatsuki to fulfill Lord Madara's ideal.
Zetsu loudly warned, "Obito! Leave quickly! Fox is here!"
The only person Akatsuki feared was Konoha's Fox.
Hearing Fox's name, a vortex appeared in Obito's right eye, his figure rapidly vanishing.
A stream of water shot from far away.
However, Obito's intangibility was still slightly faster. The water stream only cut through the air as Uchiha Obito disappeared into the spatial vortex.
Minato breathed a sigh of relief. Lord Fox had arrived.
Seeing Namikaze Minato intact, Yōkō set aside his worry.
In the original story, even a one-eyed Uchiha Obito pushed Namikaze Minato to the brink. He truly feared Uchiha Obito might pull off a "first encounter kill" on Minato.
"Minato, what's your impression facing Uchiha Madara's subordinate?"
Minato quickly said, "Lord Fox, Uchiha Obito gives me a feeling of extreme danger. His abilities are very bizarre. I thought of a tactic but hadn't practiced it before you scared him off."
Yōkō thought to himself, the tactic Minato thought of was likely the famous scene from the original story: Flying Thunder God Step Two: Rasengan.
"Be even more careful next time you see Uchiha Obito. His abilities go far beyond what you've seen."
Minato nodded and asked, "Lord Fox, what about Kazekage Rasa?"
"Kazekage Rasa was killed by Shukaku during the sealing process. Rasa's death is always so... lacking in value."
In the original story, Rasa was killed by Lord Orochimaru in some corner before the Konoha Crush Plan.
His death was too casual, not even sufficient to highlight Orochimaru's strength.
"Always?"
"I said 'ultimately'. You misheard." Yōkō said:
"Minato, your mission to assassinate Rasa was completed through a twist of fate.
In the coming days, you are responsible for observing Sunagakure's movements.
If Sunagakure continues war preparations, notify the village promptly. If Sunagakure withdraws troops, contact them and be responsible for reaching a peace agreement with Sunagakure's representative."
Yōkō took out a pre-prepared peace agreement scroll and handed it to Minato.
Minato temporarily took on the duties of a Foreign Affairs Advisor.
"Yes, Lord Fox!"
Seeing Lord Fox Body Flicker away, Namikaze Minato headed towards Tori Castle.
Near Tori Castle, Minato saw the three towering trees.
The fiery red maple trees clashed extremely with the desert environment, making them appear even more majestic and robust.
Finding Kakashi and the other three, after observing for several days, Minato confirmed Sunagakure was withdrawing.
Suna-nin were leaving the border in an orderly manner.
Minato contacted Suna-nin and soon met Sunagakure's current person in charge.
Advisor Matsu said, "I didn't expect Konoha to have a peace agreement prepared in advance. Did you already anticipate Kazekage Rasa-sama's death?"
Minato said, "It wasn't prepared in advance. After hearing of the Fourth Kazekage Rasa's death in battle, the village used a secret technique to deliver the scroll to me."
Of course, they couldn't admit Konoha had planned this all along.
Advisor Matsu knew circumstances forced their hand; they had to acquiesce. He couldn't dwell on these details now.
Advisor Matsu said, "Sunagakure's new leader, Fifth Kazekage Pakura-sama, has already received approval from all advisors, awaiting only the Daimyō of the Land of Wind's appointment.
Pakura-sama said peace negotiations with Konoha can begin."
Minato was taken aback. Fire of the Calamity Organization became a village Kage?
Truly an organization founded by Lord Fox, managing to elevate a member to Kazekage.
Fifth Kazekage. Sunagakure's Kage changed hands quickly.
Rasa's death was orchestrated by Lord Fox. Fire becoming Kazekage, Lord Fox was also the driving force.
Since Fire became Kazekage, Sunagakure certainly wouldn't declare war on Konoha.
Both parties exchanged the peace agreement. Namikaze Minato left Tori Castle with the agreement.
The Land of Rivers battlefield could be resolved cleverly through assassination to eliminate the threat. The other battlefields wouldn't have such luck.
Iwagakure, Kumogakure, Kirigakure—Konoha would face three formidable enemies simultaneously.
Somewhere far from Tori Castle in the Land of Rain, a spatial vortex appeared about a meter above the ground. Uchiha Obito emerged.
Soon, Zetsu emerged from a tree trunk.
The Japanese Lantern Plant opened. Black Zetsu stared at Uchiha Obito and said:
"Obito, that white-haired Kakashi, the medic-nin Nohara Rin, and your clansman Uchiha Yōmomo... you were only classmates with them for two years, right?
Why did you spare Nohara Rin's life?
You clearly had better methods to threaten Namikaze Minato, not letting an explosive tag burn slowly.Obito, are you feeling sentimental?"
Uchiha Obito glanced at Black Zetsu. "What I do is none of your business."
White Zetsu quickly said, "Don't argue, don't argue. Let's quickly inform the anti-Konoha alliance about Kazekage Rasa's death.
The plan to attack Konoha from four directions is ruined. I wonder if attacking from three directions can still weaken Konoha."
(End of Chapter)