Chapter 78: The Hokage Reduced to Ashes, the Entire Sarutobi Clan Wiped Out, and Obito Is Dumbfounded

The explosion was enormous, its thunderous roar spreading throughout the entire Konoha!

A small mushroom cloud rose around the Sarutobi clan compound.

Even those who had been asleep inside Konoha Village were jolted awake by the tremendous shaking.

Uchiha Clan Compound.

"What... happened over there...?"

Obito was fighting Uchiha Fugaku while maintaining his intangibility.

Although Fugaku had awakened the Mangekyō Sharingan, as long as he could not break through Kamui, there was nothing he could do to Obito.

Obito himself wasn’t particularly concerned about the battle on his side. Instead, he was puzzled by the situation tonight.

The original plan had been for Sarutobi Hiruzen’s forces, Uchiha Itachi, and himself to join hands and wipe out the Uchiha clan.

Yet things had turned into this mess instead!

Uchiha Itachi and Uchiha Reiji had both disappeared!

The people Sarutobi Hiruzen had sent to exterminate the clan had all been killed by the prepared Uchiha!

Even more frighteningly!

The Uchiha knew that he would attack tonight.

They knew about his ocular technique.

And they had even devised a battle strategy specifically designed to counter it!

That was terrifying!

Although he really didn’t want to admit it, Obito understood that the vast majority of his strength relied on the ocular technique known as Kamui.

If Kamui were countered and his enemies became prepared for it, his overall strength would be drastically reduced.

That was also why Obito was still lingering here.

He wanted to figure out why the details of his ocular technique had been exposed, but he also wanted to kill everyone who knew about it!

If everyone here died, the secret of his ocular technique would once again be safe.

However.

With his opponents already aware of his ocular technique, there was nothing he could do.

What’s more, although Uchiha Fugaku couldn’t counter Kamui, he still possessed the Mangekyō Sharingan, making him extremely difficult to deal with.

"Your ocular power is almost exhausted, isn’t it? The Uchiha really have fallen this far."

Looking at Uchiha Fugaku, who had already begun to breathe heavily, Obito spoke leisurely.

With Hashirama’s cells, although he had been continuously using his ocular technique, the strain on his ocular power was much lower.

Thus, Uchiha Fugaku was already nearing his limit, while Obito still had strength to spare.

However.

Obito couldn’t see any trace of worry on Fugaku’s face.

Not only Fugaku.

The other Uchiha were also looking toward the distant Sarutobi clan compound, their faces filled with anticipation.

Just as Obito was wondering what was going on—

A figure rapidly arrived!

Uchiha Reiji!

"The operation is complete."

Seeing the anticipation on the faces of the clansmen, Reiji nodded.

"Sarutobi Hiruzen is dead. He didn’t even leave a corpse behind. He was blown to pieces."

"Uchiha Itachi is still carrying out the extermination. I’ve ordered him to kill the entire Sarutobi clan and then commit suicide."

Instantly!

The Uchiha clansmen present erupted into cheers!

At this point, the operation could basically be considered a complete victory!

Thanks to Reiji, Sarutobi Hiruzen had been dealt with single-handedly.

Even more importantly, he had controlled Uchiha Itachi, that damned traitor, and made him turn around and exterminate the Sarutobi clan!

After learning that Uchiha Itachi had received the Hokage’s order to exterminate the Uchiha clan, every clansman had been furious!

Now everything had been settled!

Sarutobi Hiruzen was dead, his clan was being exterminated, and the one carrying it out was none other than Itachi, that traitor!

Only Uchiha Fugaku looked somewhat troubled. He sighed softly.

Itachi...

In the end, he had still chosen the village and raised his blade against his own clansmen.

Even though Fugaku was the clan head, there was nothing he could do at this point.

The clansmen would never forgive Itachi, the traitor of the Uchiha clan.

Even if Reiji hadn’t ordered Itachi to commit suicide in the end...

"I see."

Obito suddenly understood.

From those few short sentences, he had pieced together the details of tonight’s operation.

"Uchiha Reiji, I’ve really underestimated you."

Obito spoke with a hint of admiration.

"You controlled Uchiha Itachi and had him exterminate the Sarutobi clan, while you went alone to kill Sarutobi Hiruzen."

"I’m curious. With your strength, how exactly did you manage to kill Sarutobi Hiruzen, the Hokage, inside Konoha?"

There was curiosity in Obito’s voice beneath his mask.

Eight Gates?

Probably not.

Reiji showed no signs of exhaustion from using the Eight Gates.

Besides.

Even the Eight Gates shouldn’t have been enough.

Sarutobi Hiruzen was the Hokage of Konoha. He could easily mobilize the village’s shinobi.

Killing Sarutobi Hiruzen inside Konoha meant potentially having to face the entire village.

The brief burst of power provided by the Eight Gates alone couldn’t accomplish that.

"You should worry about yourself first."

Reiji didn’t answer.

He simply drew his short blade and pointed it at Uchiha Obito.

"You want to attack me?"

Obito scoffed disdainfully.

Even Uchiha Fugaku, despite possessing the Mangekyō Sharingan, had been unable to do anything to him.

What could Uchiha Reiji, who only had the Three-Tomoe Sharingan, possibly do?

"Everyone here knows the details of your ocular technique. Don’t you want to find out how they learned about it?"

The corners of Reiji’s mouth curled upward, his smile full of amusement.

"I told them."

"I told them everything about your ocular technique, including its duration."

"Don’t you want to know how I learned all of this?"

Obito’s brows furrowed as he fell into thought.

As far as he knew, the only people who should have known about his ocular technique were Uchiha Madara and Zetsu.

Other than them, the only person who might know about it was Kakashi, who possessed his other eye.

But that was impossible.

For Kakashi to know the details of his ocular technique, he would have needed to awaken the Mangekyō Sharingan himself and master its ocular technique.

And furthermore!

The ocular techniques of the two Mangekyō Sharingan should have different abilities.

Even if Kakashi had mastered the Mangekyō’s ocular technique, there was no way he could have guessed the details of Obito’s technique.

If it wasn’t Kakashi, then who had leaked the information about his ocular technique?

Could it be... Zetsu had betrayed him?

Obito suddenly shuddered.

Uchiha Madara was already dead. There was no way he could have revealed this information.

That meant the only one who could possibly have leaked the details of his ocular technique was Zetsu!

But!

That shouldn’t be possible!

How could Zetsu do something like this?

Neither Black Zetsu nor White Zetsu should have any reason to betray him!

For a moment, Obito’s mind became a complete mess.

He was almost dumbfounded.

His gaze hardened as he stared at Reiji.

"As long as I capture you, I’ll find out."

Once he captured Reiji, he could simply use the Sharingan to interrogate him.

Reiji chuckled softly.

He immediately used the Shadow Clone Technique, creating more than a dozen shadow clones that surrounded Obito from all sides.

"For your ocular technique, if I can’t hit you while you’re in another dimension, then there’s only one way to defeat you."

"That is—speed!"

Namely, Namikaze Minato had defeated Obito with the Flying Thunder God Technique by relying on his speed!

In an instant, he had used the Flying Thunder God Technique to teleport behind Obito, striking him before Obito had time to make himself intangible.

To accomplish that, one needed extreme speed—speed faster than Obito’s reaction time!

While Obito was maintaining his intangible state, within those five minutes, he only needed a single thought to freely transfer his body between the real world and the Kamui dimension.

If one could strike Obito with extreme speed while his body was in the real world, before he had time to react, then it was possible to defeat him.

Obito’s expression became extremely grim.

For the first time, he felt genuine apprehension.

His opponent understood him far too well!

"How about it? Want to give it a try?"

"Let’s see whether your reactions are faster, or my speed."

"You can try grabbing one of them. It might be the real one, or it might be a shadow clone."

"But if you make a move, you’d better consider whether your reaction speed is fast enough."

More than a dozen Reijis stood around Obito, all wearing amused smiles.

Ever since Uchiha Obito had awakened the ocular technique known as Kamui, this was the first time he had felt so aggrieved!

So aggrieved!

Even when he had fought his teacher, Minato, back then, he hadn’t been this frustrated!

And now his opponent was actually provoking him and telling him to try!

He might have to make several attempts before finding Reiji’s real body.

But every time he acted, his opponent could seize the opportunity to cut him down!

"...Uchiha Reiji, I’ll remember you."

Obito’s eyes were filled with coldness.

His intangible figure slowly sank into the ground.

Reiji used the Kagura Mind’s Eye he had obtained earlier to sense the surroundings.

After confirming that Obito had truly left, he finally breathed a sigh of relief.

The crisis of the Uchiha Clan’s extermination night had finally come to an end.

However.

Although Sarutobi Hiruzen was dead, death was not the end.

Even in death, Sarutobi Hiruzen would have to die carrying the infamy of his name, just like his good friend Shimura Danzō!

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