Chapter 42 — The Alliance Between Konoha and Sunagakure
After defeating their enemies, Obuya returned to the group, where the two of them were met with gazes filled with awe and reverence.
"I never imagined… without even realizing it, Obuya has already become this strong. I thought that after evolving my Sharingan to two tomoe, I'd finally be able to fight alongside him…"
Obito's emotions were complicated.
He felt both happiness at Obuya's growth—and a quiet sense of frustration at the widening gap between them.
Kakashi remained silent from beginning to end.
Outwardly, he appeared calm and composed, but only he knew the storm raging within his heart after witnessing the terrifying strength of his former teammate.
The only one unaffected was Rin. At this moment, she felt nothing but pure happiness, without a trace of conflicting emotion.
The group continued on their journey.
"Strange… In the war between Konoha and Kirigakure, why would Killer B and the others involve themselves for no reason? By stopping Minato from reinforcing Konoha, what does Kumogakure gain?"
"Could it really be as I suspected earlier—has Kumogakure formed an alliance with Kirigakure?"
Obuya voiced his doubts.
Shisui replied, "War is complicated. Schemes and calculations run deep—who can truly say for certain…"
"But in my opinion, Kumogakure likely wants the conflict between Konoha and Kirigakure to drag on as long as possible, so both sides suffer maximum losses. That would benefit them the most."
"And once Minato joins the battlefield, that war would undoubtedly end quickly. After all, the title 'Yellow Flash' isn't just for show—he has the ability to fight a hundred enemies alone."
Obuya nodded.
And that "hundred" did not refer to ordinary shinobi—but a hundred jōnin.
Minato Namikaze's space–time ninjutsu made him a harvesting machine on the battlefield. Numbers meant little to him—it was simply a matter of whether he needed one minute or two to finish the job.
The rest of their journey passed without incident.
After escorting the group safely to their destination, Obuya and Shisui parted ways with Rin and the others, returning to Konohagakure to report the completion of their mission to the Hokage.
...
There are no secrets in this world, and no intelligence that shinobi cannot obtain.
On that very day, news that the "Obuya-Shisui" duo had defeated the "Killer B" duo arrived on the desks of high-ranking officials in every major ninja village.
The title of the number one duo in the shinobi world began to echo across every corner of the land.
The most frustrated of all were Killer B and A themselves.
Deep down, they knew they had never been able to display their true strength in that battle.
At the time, their attention had been drawn away by Obuya's sudden words, and in the next instant, they were struck by Uchiha Shisui's genjutsu. Though they broke free immediately, that brief delay had already given Obuya enough time to prepare his ultimate attack.
Before they could even counterattack, they were engulfed in a devastating explosion that left them disoriented and severely injured.
And even then, they were given no chance to retaliate—Shisui followed up with a lightning-fast Body Flicker assault, pushing them into complete defeat.
It could be said that they never truly had the opportunity to fight back. From beginning to end, they were overwhelmed by a relentless chain of tactics, until they could only flee for their lives.
But to the outside world, no one cared about the process.
Only the result mattered.
The name "Obuya-Shisui" rose to prominence, shaking the entire shinobi world.
At the same time, another name became a nightmare to every nation outside of Konoha—
The Yellow Flash, Minato Namikaze.
In the battle between Kirigakure and Konoha, Minato alone had slain over twenty jōnin from the Mist Village—in less than five minutes.
On the battlefield, the enemy saw only a flash of golden light, and in the next moment, their heads were already severed.
Such a terrifying record caused Minato's reputation to skyrocket, solidifying his authority within Konoha and laying the foundation for his eventual succession as the Fourth Hokage.
At the same time, a practical problem had been troubling Obuya for quite a while.
He still had not found an opportunity to obtain a second kekkei genkai.
More than half a year had passed since he acquired Explosion Release, and he was eager to obtain another bloodline limit to further enhance his strength.
Yet this goal remained out of reach.
In that half-year, he had carried out no fewer than a hundred missions, but had only encountered two individuals with kekkei genkai. One was Gari, the user of Explosion Release, and the other was Mei Terumi.
But Mei Terumi possessed quasi-Kage-level strength. Defeating her was already difficult—capturing her alive to strip away her bloodline limit was nothing short of impossible.
The Third Great Ninja War continued to escalate.
Soon, a full year had passed since the war began.
During this time, all five great nations of the shinobi world had, to varying degrees, been drawn into the conflict for the sake of their own interests. Each had suffered heavy losses in both manpower and resources.
Among them, the Land of Wind had suffered the most severe losses.
More precisely, the internal turmoil within the Land of Wind had played a major role in igniting the Third Great Ninja War.
The cause of that turmoil was the mysterious disappearance of the Third Kazekage, which triggered invasions from neighboring nations.
Without a central leader, the Land of Wind had become like scattered sand. Though many brave warriors emerged, they paid a price several times greater than the other nations.
But after a year, the Land of Wind finally saw a turning point—a new Kazekage took office.
The first action of the newly appointed Kazekage was to send envoys to Konoha, seeking a wartime alliance to jointly resist the Land of Earth's Iwagakure.
Obuya did not know what the Hokage had discussed with the envoys, but he later heard that the two nations had officially formed an alliance, joining forces against the most aggressive invader—Iwagakure.
With the alliance established, the Third Great Ninja War gradually entered its latter stages.
One year later.
Inside the Hokage's office.
Obuya and Shisui stood before Hiruzen Sarutobi, who wore the Hokage's ceremonial hat.
"The alliance between Konoha and Sunagakure was conducted in great secrecy. But if nothing unexpected has happened, the intelligence has already reached the leadership of every major ninja nation. The joint forces must act against Iwagakure as quickly as possible… otherwise, the enemy may devise countermeasures."
Standing before the floor-to-ceiling window, Hiruzen gazed outside as he took a slow drag from his pipe, exhaling a thick cloud of smoke. His tone sounded as though he were speaking to them—yet also to himself.
Behind him, Obuya and Shisui nodded in agreement.
If Konoha and Sunagakure could form an alliance, the other three nations could do the same. They had to destroy one of their enemies before such a coalition could take shape, securing as much advantage as possible.
"So, I have an extremely important mission for each of you."
When Hiruzen mentioned the word "mission," his tone grew particularly grave—it was clear that this task carried immense significance.
"Hokage-sama, please give your orders!"
Obuya and Shisui spoke in unison.
Hiruzen said,
"Obuya, Shisui—I want each of you to travel separately. One to Kirigakure of the Land of Water, and the other to Kumogakure of the Land of Lightning. Each of you will deliver a letter from me… a proposal for negotiations."