Chapter 302: 2v2
Battlefield
Chaos and battle raged on every side, but the space between the Hokage and Nagato had become something like a dividing line cutting through the war itself — no one dared approach either of them.
Everyone understood: whatever happened between these two would decide the entire war.
That's really quite the puzzle, isn't it...
The words echoed in Nagato's ears like something whispered by a demon, and his body shook.
He stared at the girl before him, teeth grinding hard enough to crack.
Nagato understood perfectly well what Obito had done. In every sense that mattered, Obito was the one who'd killed Konan.
But did that make the Hokage blameless?!
She'd stood here, shamelessly, deliberately trying to drive a wedge between him and Obito.
Trembling, Nagato reached out and pressed a hand against Konan's stomach. A puff of white smoke rose, and her body vanished from where it lay.
"You. Die."
Nagato's fury had reached its absolute limit.
He had to. He had to end this, as fast as possible.
And then he could turn his full attention to preparing the Outer Path — Samsara of Heavenly Life Technique for Konan.
Shinra Tensei!
An overwhelming force erupted outward from Nagato's body, surging straight toward the Hokage.
But—
The Hokage simply pressed a single hand against the invisible force, her body shifting back by no more than a single step.
...Just one step?
Nagato couldn't accept it.
Back when he'd controlled Pain's full six-body formation against her, that Shinra Tensei hadn't managed to push her back even an inch.
Now, with the Wood Release transplant, his body fully restored—
Was even this version of himself still no match for her?!
"We need to work together."
At that moment, Obito appeared beside him, unnoticed until then.
"...Fine."
Nagato gave the man beside him a long, deep look.
That look alone was enough to unsettle Obito.
This man's already wary of me.
Clearly, the Hokage's earlier attempt to drive them apart hadn't fully succeeded — but it had planted a splinter between them regardless.
"Two of you, hm..."
The Hokage looked at the pair standing shoulder to shoulder before her and let out a sigh.
"Don't hold it against us for outnumbering you. You are the Hokage, after all."
A black rod slid down out of Obito's sleeve, and he looked at the young woman before him.
"Heh."
The Hokage's eyes narrowed slightly.
She raised a single hand, fingers held in a sword-seal before her chest.
Pop.
A figure appeared before Nagato and Obito, standing on a puff of white smoke.
"Why waste breath talking to these two?"
"Just kill them."
"Though speaking of which, that move earlier was pretty satisfying."
"Is the woman dead yet?"
The pink-haired figure rolled her neck with a series of cracks, her green eyes brimming with battle-hunger as she looked between the two men.
"You've got the Rinnegan and a Mangekyō between you."
"And I'm just an ordinary, run-of-the-mill shinobi."
"Two against two — can't say I'm being unfair, can you."
The Hokage smiled, watching Nagato and Obito, both bracing for a formidable enemy.
"So, here's the question..."
"Do you two think she'll go Sage Mode?"
At that, the Hokage and her clone raised fists and bumped them together, right in front of Nagato and Obito's grim, wary stares.
Sage chakra surged from the Yin Seal on Sakura's forehead straight into Inner Sakura's body!
And not only that — blue-and-pink chakra flame ignited across both their bodies simultaneously.
Sage Technique — Yin Seal — Strength of a Hundred Technique!
"I want the redhead."
Inner Sakura called dibs first.
"He's mine."
Sakura shot that down immediately.
She pulled a pair of silver brass knuckles from her pouch and tossed them to Inner Sakura.
"Don't say I never look out for you."
"The staff's with the old man. These are yours."
The words barely finished before Sakura's feet exploded off the ground, and she shot straight at Nagato like a tiger loosed from its cage.
"Tch."
"White-Eyed Wolf. Wanna go a round?"
Watching Sakura already engaged, Inner Sakura's eyes landed on Obito, her tone dripping with provocation.
"Hmph. Sending a clone to deal with me."
"That's a bit—"
Before Obito could finish, Inner Sakura had already closed the distance, impatient.
"CLONE, clone, CLONE!"
"I'll give you a clone!"
A savage burst of force erupted from the brass knuckles on her fist, and Obito's eyes snapped wide, instinctively activating Kamui.
The violent force of the punch sent his robe snapping wildly in the wind.
Inner Sakura's fist passed straight through Obito's intangible body.
Obito stared at his own robe, still fluttering from the shockwave, eyes narrowing.
Even having activated Kamui in time, the sheer force of the punch — before it had even connected — had been enough to whip his clothes around like that.
This clone...
Isn't ordinary at all.
"Which is exactly why I wanted the redhead."
"This ability of yours is disgusting."
Having passed clean through Obito's body, Inner Sakura eyed him with visible distaste.
"Running away, running away — typical, coming from you."
"Face one tiny problem and you start blaming the whole world for it."
"Acting like the world owes you something."
"Poor Rin Nohara, falling for a guy like you. Talk about eight lifetimes of bad luck."
Inner Sakura had never known the meaning of restraint, and against Obito, she went all in without hesitation.
"What did you just say..."
Obito had planned to stay cautious against this clone. He hadn't expected it to know this much about him.
"I SAID!"
"Rin Nohara falling for you was eight lifetimes of bad luck!"
"What, want me to say it again?!"
"And Minato Namikaze — he should've killed you off way earlier!"
"Kakashi's an idiot too, hesitating over a white-eyed wolf like you!"
"All those years of friendship you had with Kakashi and Rin, back in Konoha — and Madara Uchiha talked you out of it with a few sentences?"
"Truly, a white-eyed wolf without a single brain cell to its name."
"You and Itachi Uchiha make quite the perfect pair, don't you — a match made in heaven."
!!!
Obito's eyes snapped sharp with shock.
Something's wrong here.
How does the Hokage know about Madara?!
"How much do you actually know?!"
Obito could no longer hold himself back.
"What do you think..."
Inner Sakura toyed idly with the brass knuckles in her hand, her expression full of malicious amusement, watching Obito.
"The..."
"Eye..."
"Of the Moon..."
!!!
In that instant, Obito was truly, genuinely shocked.
Only Madara, Black Zetsu, and himself had ever known about the Eye of the Moon Plan.
Why did the Hokage know?!
Could Zetsu be working for her?
No, no, that wasn't right.
Zetsu was Madara's own will made manifest.
Madara had been dead for twenty years already.
There was no reason — no reason at all — for the Hokage to know.
Watching Obito's expression cycle rapidly through emotion after emotion, Inner Sakura's smile only deepened.
She was stalling.
Buying time for Kamui to run out, or for Obito's Kamui reserve to burn dry.
All she had to do—
Was wait for the crack in his defense to show, just once.
The moment it did, he'd be met with an unrelenting storm of attacks.
"Building yourself a little dream world."
"How pathetic, really."
"Not even realizing a dream is still just a dream, in the end. It always ends when you wake up."
"And when you do, reality — the one you hate so much — will be right there waiting for you."
"A self-important clown, dragging everyone else down with him just because his own life went wrong."
"Why does trash like you even get to exist in this world?"
"If you wanted to keep dreaming so badly—"
"Couldn't you have just found a dark, filthy gutter somewhere to quietly rot in, all by yourself?"
"Honestly, just knowing I share a world with someone like you makes me lose my appetite."
"Look how skinny I've gotten!"
Inner Sakura kept goading him while flexing her decidedly unimpressive arm as evidence.
"Mad yet?"
She strolled right up in front of him, apparently unconcerned that he might snap and attack her at any second, staring at him with open, provoking disgust.
"Wanna hit someone?"
"Come on, then. Hit me."
"I'm BEGGING you, come hit me."
Obito ground his teeth, glaring at the maddening pink-haired menace before him, still baiting him relentlessly.
A clone reflects the original's own consciousness.
The calm, steady — if reckless — Hokage he'd fought before... had a side like THIS?!
This wasn't a shinobi.
This was a street thug.
"Scared?"
"Chickening out?"
"Guess that tracks — exactly your style."
"The Uchiha massacre had you in it too, you know — I'll skip mentioning that weasel Itachi for now, since he's not here."
"But did the Uchiha clan ever wrong you?"
"Skimp on your meals? Your water?"
"Or you think that ancient grandmother of yours actually had the strength to raise you all by herself?"
"That Sharingan you're carrying — that came from the massacre, didn't it?"
"Set aside just in case you needed Izanagi someday, right?"
"Figures. Some people are just born rotten."
"A whole clan raising you your whole life, and you still turned into a wolf pup who never learned to bite the hand feeding it."
"Even a lamb knows to kneel and thank its mother for milk. You're worse than an animal."
"Oh~~~"
"My mistake, my mistake~~~"
"I shouldn't insult animals like that~~~"
"Animals actually know gratitude, after all~~~"
"You? You don't~~~~"
Inner Sakura kept circling him as she talked, and with every sentence, Obito's face darkened further.
Her exaggerated, over-the-top body language made every word land like a deliberate slap — even an idiot could see this was pure, undiluted provocation.
Obito's fists clenched, white-knuckled.
His Sharingan burned with barely-restrained, savage killing intent.
"Stop talking..."
Obito finally spoke, his voice strained under the fury he was fighting to hold back.
"Oh?"
"Stop what? Can't hear you, speak up — haven't eaten today or something?"
"Want me to have Kushina whip you up a meal?"
"I bet Auntie Kushina remembers exactly how Minato's old team used to describe you — 'little brother Obito always gets hungry.' She'd have food ready for you in no time~~~"
"Isn't that right~~~"
"Little~ Brother~ O~bi~to~"
Kushina's name proved to be the final straw, and Obito's restraint finally snapped completely.
And in that same instant—
Kamui.
Deactivated.
(End of chapter.)
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