Chapter 494: A Tiny Accident

Chapter 494: Chapter 494: A Tiny Accident

"ROAR...!"

A crimson-red Susanoo erupted from beneath the ground together with the enormous flaming blade, unleashing a deafening roar!

The flaming blade pierced straight into the heavens, its dazzling radiance illuminating the surrounding night sky. With that blade in its hand, the Susanoo looked like a true god descended upon the mortal world!

"This...!?"

The sudden development left all the surrounding Konoha shinobi stunned.

Just like the emerald-blue Susanoo from before, this crimson Susanoo was something none of them had ever seen. It had never appeared in any of their intelligence reports either—it was a completely unfamiliar Susanoo.

"Another Susanoo?"

"What’s going on?!"

"Is it an enemy?"

The surviving Konoha shinobi stared at it in alarm and uncertainty.

After Obito’s wanton slaughter just moments ago, the mere sight of a Susanoo was enough to instinctively fill them with fear!

But they soon noticed that beneath the crimson Susanoo, which held a gourd in one hand, stood a mysterious shinobi wearing a black cloak trimmed in gold and a mask patterned with flames.

"It’s someone from the Kamigami!"

"Judging by the pattern on that mask... it should be Homura, right?"

The high-strung Konoha shinobi collectively breathed a sigh of relief.

Although the Kamigami’s allegiance was difficult to determine and they were hardly an organization Konoha could fully trust, at the very least, tonight, the Kamigami were not Konoha’s enemy!

In the distance, Kurenai seemed to have all the strength drained from her body. She dropped to the ground and let out a long sigh of relief.

"Thank goodness... Furin’s comrade finally made a move!"

When Furin had been in danger just now, her heart had practically leapt into her throat.

Meanwhile, the injured Kakashi, still lying on the ground, carefully searched the surroundings for any trace of the Akatsuki member who called himself ’Uchiha Madara.’

He had been the Konoha shinobi closest to the battlefield. Although he was severely wounded, his mind was still clear, so he had seen Homura of the Kamigami launch that surprise attack with his own eyes.

He had clearly seen that flaming blade pierce straight through the Akatsuki member who called himself ’Uchiha Madara’—and then instantly suck him inside.

"Could that guy calling himself ’Uchiha Madara’... have been killed by Homura of the Kamigami?"

After searching without finding anything, the thought flashed through Kakashi’s mind.

Yet he could hardly believe it.

An overwhelmingly powerful enemy who could slaughter Konoha’s jonin at will, someone who had left the entire village helpless against him...

Had just been dealt with that effortlessly?

It almost felt like a dream.

After their initial shock faded, the other Konoha shinobi also noticed that Obito had disappeared. They gradually realized that Homura’s attack just now had already taken care of the terrifying enemy who had driven them to despair.

At that moment, one Konoha shinobi muttered, "An Uchiha from the Akatsuki was taken down by an Uchiha from the Kamigami, but... aren’t the Uchiha supposed to belong to our Konoha?"

Hearing their companion’s muttering, the surrounding Konoha shinobi all looked rather awkward.

The scene before them truly was an enormous irony for Konoha!

Kurenai, who had just breathed a sigh of relief, suddenly realized that Furin had disappeared from the battlefield as well. She hurried over to the crimson Susanoo and asked, "Where’s Furin?"

Inside the Susanoo, Itachi, wearing the flame-patterned mask, was utterly speechless.

Naturally, the surprise attack just now had been planned in advance by Itachi and Kagami.

In order to get a complete grasp of the situation on the battlefield, before arriving, Itachi had discreetly used an inconspicuous ninja crow to silently pull Kagami into a genjutsu.

Within the genjutsu, Itachi learned about the current battle situation from Kagami and informed him that he had obtained the Totsuka Blade. The two then worked out their strategy together inside the illusion.

And that was how the scene just now had come about.

Kagami knew very well that aside from himself, there was no longer any bait on the entire battlefield tempting enough to make Obito risk taking action.

So Kagami could only use himself as bait to lure Obito out.

And Kagami was absolutely certain that Obito would never let such an opportunity slip away.

After all, the strength displayed by his Type-A Wind Release clone was simply too overwhelming.

In taijutsu, it was capable of suppressing Hiruko, who possessed five different kekkei genkai.

In terms of ninjutsu, it possessed Magnet Release, which could not only greatly enhance its mobility but also provide large-scale offensive and defensive capabilities.

On top of that, it could use the forest of bones created by the Shikotsumyaku secret technique, Dance of the Seedling Fern, to freely travel through the battlefield and evade Kamui’s space-time attacks.

In other words, although this Type-A Wind Release clone had no way to directly counter Obito’s Kamui, it was effectively immune to Kamui’s surprise attacks.

That made it a genuine threat to Obito.

Putting himself in Obito’s shoes, Kagami knew that if their positions were reversed, he wouldn’t let the Type-A Wind Release clone survive either.

On top of that, the Type-A Wind Release clone truly was being ravaged by its bloodline disease. Kagami didn’t even need to put on an act in front of Obito to tempt him into making a move and eliminating him once and for all.

And just as Kagami had predicted, when faced with a severely wounded Furin who seemed almost incapable of resisting, Obito ultimately couldn’t hold himself back. He dropped his intangibility, giving Itachi—who had been lying in ambush underground the entire time—the perfect opportunity to strike!

Everything went flawlessly.

Except for one tiny accident.

No one had anticipated that while Obito was using Kamui to attack Kagami, he and Kagami—the target of Kamui—would enter a strange kind of linked state.

The instant Obito was struck by the Totsuka Blade and dragged into its illusionary world, Kagami was somehow caught up in it as well and pulled into the Totsuka Blade’s illusionary space along with him.

Itachi now found himself in quite the predicament.

He had only just obtained the Totsuka Blade and was still unfamiliar with how to use it. He had no idea whether he could release the comrade he had accidentally caught inside.

At the same time, he was worried that if he tried to release Kagami, Obito—the actual target—might escape from the Totsuka Blade along with him!

...

In the distance.

Watching Obito vanish without a trace after being struck by the flaming blade, Black Zetsu frowned from within the shadows.

"I never expected it to be the Totsuka Blade. This really is troublesome!"

White Zetsu looked somewhat confused. "An attack of that level shouldn’t be enough to hurt Obito, right?"

Black Zetsu replied gravely, "The Totsuka Blade is a sealing blade also known as the Sakegari Blade. Legend says that anyone pierced by it will fall into a dreamlike world of genjutsu... and be sealed there for eternity!"

Only then did White Zetsu realize that something was wrong. He exclaimed, "Obito was sealed?!"

Black Zetsu replied, "Yes. At least, that’s how it looks right now. I never imagined the Kamigami would actually find a divine artifact like this. It seems they had already planned out a way to deal with Obito long ago."

White Zetsu said gloomily, "Then what are we supposed to do?"

Staring at the crimson Susanoo in the distance, Black Zetsu said coldly, "If we seize the Totsuka Blade, perhaps we’ll be able to rescue Obito! Besides... it seems Obito wasn’t the only one who fell into the Totsuka Blade just now..."