Chapter 298: Three-Front War
Meanwhile
Land of Fire — Konoha
Watching the dense swarm of dots steadily closing in on Konoha from the distant sky, Tobirama stood atop the village wall, his narrow eyes thoughtful.
"Sorabune forces. Didn't expect them to choose this exact moment to strike."
As the Second Hokage — having lived through both the Warring States era and the founding of the hidden villages — Tobirama placed them immediately from memory.
"Back in the Second Great Ninja War, they tried to attack Konoha and got wiped out by Sakumo Hatake's unit. Didn't realize this bunch survived after all."
Tsunade said, arms crossed, watching the hundreds of Sorabune soldiers approaching through the air, expression calm.
Hm?
Something flickered across Tobirama's face — that particular detail, he genuinely hadn't known. By the time the Second Great Ninja War rolled around, he'd already been dead a good while.
"Doesn't matter. They're just trying to pick off Konoha while we're stretched thin fighting on two fronts and the village is left undermanned."
Tobirama waved a hand, and immediately sent word out to the shinobi stationed in Konoha, preparing to meet the incoming attack.
"They're up in the sky. How do we even fight that?"
Tsunade asked, curious, watching Tobirama with no trace of alarm at all.
To her, her great-uncle seemed capable of handling just about anything. Whenever a problem was beyond her, going to Tobirama was always the safe bet.
Unlike her own grandfather, whose solution to everything had been throwing a punch at it — or dragging her to the casino.
"Someone, go tell Tōno to bring over the batch of scientific ninja tools we finished developing."
Rather than keep her in suspense, Tobirama gave a direct answer — putting their newest research to immediate practical use, and testing it in real combat conditions at the same time.
Though the specialized jutsu scrolls needed to power the scientific ninja tools weren't yet in mass production, there should be enough on hand for a single defensive engagement.
"Tsunade. Once these Sorabune forces are repelled, take that Uchiha girl and eight hundred shinobi and follow them back to their base."
"If possible, bring back whatever flight technology they're using."
Clearly, Tobirama's curiosity about how Sorabune achieved flight ran deep.
"No problem."
"Though that'll leave the village with only two hundred defenders..."
Tsunade said, hesitant.
With Konoha fighting on two fronts, manpower was already stretched thin — even the main base currently had only a thousand shinobi holding it down.
"It's fine. Leave it to me."
"Two hundred will be enough."
Tobirama waved the concern off.
If they could unlock the secret behind Sorabune's flight, it wouldn't be long before the sky itself became Konoha's battlefield too.
That was a risk worth taking.
Meanwhile, with so many of Konoha's shinobi deployed elsewhere, security at the Uzumaki Annex tower had dropped to half its usual strength as well.
"So boring..."
A green-haired girl lay sprawled across the floor in a starfish shape, staring blankly at the ceiling.
Yuki had been kept here with her, once.
Now even Yuki was gone.
That left Fū — naturally lively and restless — even more thoroughly bored than usual.
The shinobi stationed here were about as talkative as a wall; no matter what Fū said, none of them would come out and chat with her.
I genuinely don't understand how Yuki lasted three whole years in this place...
At that moment, in one corner of the Uzumaki Annex, a distorted vortex appeared out of nowhere.
Hm?
The strange sight immediately caught Fū's bored attention.
What's this about?
Having never once faced any real danger inside Konoha, she wandered over, curious.
The distorted vortex vanished almost as quickly as it appeared, right before her disbelieving eyes, and in its place stood a stranger — a man in a black cloak with red clouds.
"Uh, who are you?"
Fū studied the man before her, curious.
"Seven-Tails jinchūriki. You're coming with me."
Obito Uchiha regarded the girl before him, calm.
"No thanks."
Fū liked to have fun, but she wasn't stupid. A total stranger appearing out of nowhere and casually announcing her exact identity — you'd have to be out of your mind to go along with that.
And besides, staying here had always been safe, at least. Yuki had stayed put for three whole years without incident.
This guy — bad news, obviously.
"Somebody! Help!"
"Someone's trying to kidnap me!"
With her chakra sealed, Fū was, for the moment, essentially an ordinary girl, and she ran for the annex's entrance, shouting for help the whole way.
But the moment her foot crossed the threshold of the tower, her body froze in place.
The ten-layered barrier — originally built to contain the Nine-Tails — blocked her path completely.
At that same moment, five or six figures materialized out of nowhere, cutting off any path forward.
"Obito Uchiha!"
The ANBU squad leader recognized the S-rank fugitive instantly.
"Heh. Troublesome."
Obito regarded them, cold, and vanished on the spot.
Within moments, using the speed of Kamui and the black rod tied to his Yin-Yang Release, he'd cut down every one of the ANBU members present.
But the burst of chakra from his sudden movement had already been picked up by the barrier — it wouldn't be long before more Konoha shinobi arrived.
"Hmph. Useless, all of them."
Glancing coldly at the ANBU lying in pools of blood on the ground, Obito reached out and placed a hand on Fū, still frozen by the seal.
A ripple of distorted space, and both Obito and Fū vanished from where they'd stood.
—
Land of Rain
Dark clouds pressed low over the sky, torrential rain pouring down, punctuated by occasional rolls of thunder.
Under that oppressive weight, several figures streaked through the sky at tremendous speed, locked in a high-speed chase.
Sakura's target was clear — Konan, ahead of her, wings spread, flying at full speed.
Deidara and Ōnoki chased desperately after the two of them.
Countless paper cranes and clay birds detonated around Sakura, but a faint golden glow enveloped her body entirely — attacks at this level, she could simply ignore.
They couldn't even so much as tear the hem of her robe.
The only thing worth watching for was Ōnoki's Dust Release.
"Something's wrong."
"The Hokage has intelligence on Konan."
Ōnoki gritted his teeth, straining to keep pace with the Hokage's speed.
From the moment Konan had begun setting up her technique, this Fifth Hokage had gone straight for her, with clear, deliberate intent.
Clearly, she already understood exactly what Konan was planning.
But according to Akatsuki's own intelligence, Konan had never once shown her hand in front of Konoha shinobi — never once, in fact, fought with any real seriousness since making her debut.
By any reasonable account, the Hokage shouldn't have had any way of knowing about her secret technique at all.
Watching the blue-haired woman ahead of her, steadily closing the gap, Sakura's mouth curled into a cold smile.
She didn't know what it meant to show mercy.
Anything standing in her way — she'd kill it outright.
"Extend!"
The Adamantine Staff in her hand instantly stretched into a rod dozens of meters long, and with her swing, the wind and rain themselves churned violently in its wake.
Just as she was about to bring it down on the woman flying erratically ahead of her—
CRACK.
The staff vanished from her hand entirely, without warning.
And the pink-haired Hokage's expression went instantly, thoroughly dark.
Edo Tensei!!!
(End of chapter.)
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