Cannot Hesitate
"You're the only one I trust to do it."
"I'm flattered, sensei. Believe me."
"I mean it, Obito. There's only one chance at this. If the mission fails, Cloud will target us next. There's no guarantee I can stop it. I'm putting the village on your back today."
"Are you trying to psych me out?"
"Is it working?"
"No."
Despite the monumental mission he was about to embark on and the fear churning in his gut, Obito Uchiha smiled. His eyes were shining with newfound light; for the first time in almost a decade, they matched.
"Today, I'm going to make sure there's nothing I can't do."
###
There was a pause after the calamity in the Land of Frost, and during that brief but deafening silence all across the world people of every class and creed were asking themselves existential questions.
What had happened to Frost? Could it happen again?
What was going to happen next? Was this the final clash, or were they still just seeing the beginning of the avalanche?
After causing something like that, should ninja even exist?
There were as many answers to those questions as there were people asking them. But the answers that decided the course of things to come came from just a few ninja in the right place at the right time: from those that had been unwittingly trusted with the future.
This won't happen again, Obito answered. I won't let it.
This shouldn't happen again, Nagato answered. If it must, let me be the one to guide it.
This can't happen again, Minato answered. I couldn't stand it.
It was impossible to know what would happen next, Jiraiya answered. They would just have to endure it, as shinobi must.
This had better be the finale, Kushina answered. They should sacrifice anything to ensure it, as shinobi must.
This was the beginning of the next era, Konan answered. It was all their duty to decide it, as shinobi must.
Ninja would always exist, Sasuke answered. Whether they should or not didn't make a difference.
Ninja should be better, Naruto answered. The way forward was to heal the scars of the past and prevent those of the future; that was the only way to make a difference
Ninja shouldn't exist, Sakura answered.
Whoever opposed her, it wouldn't make a difference.
###
Sixteen ninja were warped towards the Land of Lightning with supernatural speed.
Before this day, Obito could count the number of friendly ninja he'd placed in the Kamui on both hands. In theory, it was a huge boon; the ability to move ninja in an undetectable manner across the world, or to draw them into a safe bubble where nothing could touch them, was something plenty of people would kill for (and plenty had tried). But there was an uncomfortable reality to it that he had never been able to turn away from. The Kamui was his space, and his alone. If he died, everything in there would presumably be lost forever, trapped in an inscrutable pocket dimension with no way out… assuming it didn't collapse or fold in on itself with his passing, destroying everyone inside.
That meant that anyone inside the Kamui was completely at Obito's mercy, and the fortune of his survival. His death would directly ensure others, and he'd never been able to accept that pressure. Even after gaining the power to become a ghost, he'd never been convinced of his invincibility, so the risk was just too high.
But today, things were different. There'd been hesitation, but only a little. Rin had pushed him, as she often had lately.
"Obito," she'd said with a smirk. "I
guarantee you're in good health. You're not going to have a heart attack or anything. And it'll be a hell of a lot quicker than running."
So when he popped out into a thunderstorm amidst the thin mountain air, he wasn't followed by fifteen others. Instead, he stood there for a moment, taking everything in with his every sense stretched to absurdity.
The weather was truly horrible, maybe as a result of the explosion that had wracked the Land of Frost. Obito only knew the basics of weather systems, but even he understood that creating that much heat in one place would devastate the climate for a time, though he didn't know if it could cause storms like this. He was in the midst of a vast thunderstorm that stretched as far as his superhuman vision could see, huge roiling black clouds hurling down bolts of lightning that started small fires in the forests that sprawled across the mountainsides before they were extinguished by torrential rain that blew across everything in thick sheets that drenched him to the bone in an instant.
If Obito had been more superstitious, he would have named it an omen for sure, though he couldn't be sure who it was directed at. But today, the freezing rain didn't touch the fire burning inside of him. After making sure the area was clear, he reached to his side, into a hole in reality, and waited until he felt someone take his hand.
He pulled Hinata Hyuuga out, closely followed by both her bodyguards; Neji Hyuuga, and his father Hizashi. The three Hyuuga blinked, shielding their heads from the storm as they activated their eyes and peered about with even more perceptive power than Obito could muster. Obito extended his hand again, and pulled through two more ninja: Kiba and his partner, Akamaru. The dog had had a recent growth spurt, as was common for nin-dogs when they were stressed, and was about the same size as Kiba now.
"Gross," Kiba growsed, and Akamuru sneezed in agreement. "Is the weather always this shitty, or are we just lucky?"
"You're just lucky," Obito said tersely. "Last I was here, it was all blue skies." He found himself looking south, back towards where the blast had originated. Was his team somewhere back there, heading home? Bunkered down, planning their next move?
Or dead, right before he could have saved them?
"Awesome," Kiba said, sniffing at the air. He looked to Hinata, both more familiar with her and a little intimidated by her cousin and uncle. "Something to the north, and east?"
"Two?" Hizashi asked for confirmation, and Kiba nodded after a moment. Akamaru had his nose buried in the mud, his sodden tail lashing back and forth and flinging thick arcs of water in every direction. "Hinata, the north?"
She took a moment to confirm, making a hand-sign to help keep focus. Obito had no idea precisely how the Byakugan worked, but he imagined the rain and mountains all around couldn't help her visual clarity at all, especially when she was scanning such a vast area. Hinata was one of the Hyuuga with the largest range in the entire clan; Rain had even specifically targeted her thanks to that trait before the battle had begun. With that acuity, her father had specifically recommended her for the mission. Obito hadn't been sure she would accept; the Hinata he remembered was not a confident person, and wouldn't have the mindset to invade an enemy country.
But today, she was razor-focused. She hadn't broken down when it had become clear Sasuke might have been vaporized: only become more determined to complete the mission. Like his team and the rest of their generation, she'd been forced in just months to become a superb ninja.
"To the north… I think that's the edge of the Hidden Cloud, Obito-sensei," she said, addressing him directly. "It doesn't have a wall like the Leaf; it's a large grouping of buildings ascending a mountain?"
Obito nodded. "That would be it. There're patrols?"
"Quite a few," Hinata confirmed. "I would say… more than fifty ninja, just from what little I can see. They're circling the mountain; they have those chakra weapons we were warned about."
"Kiba?" Obito said, turning to the boy, and he shrugged.
"The storm's making it harder than I'd like," he said with a grunt. Akamaru made an offended sound, and he looked down at his partner. "Well, harder for me I guess. Akamaru says he's doing fine. There's fifty-six of them: I guess nine four-man patrols? And that's just one edge of the village… from what we're smelling, the whole place must be buzzing. They're probably expecting
something to happen after what they did." He scowled. "Bastards…"
"You said there was something to the east?" Obito asked.
"Whatever it is, it's beyond my range," Hinata said. "What was it, Kiba?"
"Dunno," Kiba said. "A couple scents. Weren't very familiar, but I think a small group. One of them was really…" He wrinkled his nose. "Bloody, I guess is how you'd feel it. Might be a hunter team like us, or an outer patrol. Definitely ninja, though." Akamaru barked an affirmative, and Obito blew a raspberry.
"Well, we'll take them out first then," he said. "Or chase them off if they're another village. No complications today." He turned back towards the Hyuuga. "We'll do our rotation," he said, and all three nodded. "Map out the outskirts, and see if the Cannon's within. Then, that outer patrol. If they're not Cloud, we'll try to pick up a loner for Ino as planned. Any objections?"
"None," Hizashi said dryly. He was still favoring his injured arm, but there hadn't been any question that he and his son would be Hinata's bodyguards. "If you wouldn't mind getting us out of the rain?"
Obito obliged, reaching forward and tapping each of them on the shoulder in turn with a pleasant burning sensation in his temple. With both his eyes revving at full power, the pull of the Kamui was unbelievably quick; they were yanked inside in less than a second, vanishing from the midst of the storm.
He breathed out, trying to suppress a chuckle that he was sure would make Kiba think he was a lunatic. It was just too easy, too fun. Like he'd been living without his thumbs for years without knowing it. Using his eyes came even more naturally than breathing; feeling this good while things were so uncertain and so dangerous had to be wrong.
"You too?" he asked Kiba, and the boy and the dog shook their heads simultaneously.
"We'll head east," he said, and Obito nodded. "Be easy to avoid anyone in this weather. Meet up when you're done?"
"Yeah. Stay safe," Obito said, and for the moment they went their separate ways. Obito popped into the Kamui, finding the rest of the force patiently waiting within.
"Oh, so the weather's good. Lovely," Rin said, and Obito managed a chuckle. The rest were scattered about: Gai was leading his team in stretches, while Ino, Shikamaru, and Choji were in the midst of a quiet conversation with Kurenai: very quiet, since her throat hadn't yet recovered from being cut open, and she could barely speak above a whisper. Shibi Aburame and his son were meditating, seeming like carbon copies of one another. In the back, Yari Uchiha was silent, watching everything with crossed arms and giving Obito a nod when he reappeared.
It had seemed absurd to him that Mikoto had asked that he take a bodyguard of his own on this mission, but Obito had known that it was easier to accept the proposal than it would be to push back against Mikoto and cause trouble for no good reason. Though of course, now that he'd given an inch the clan would probably take a mile. There was a very real possibility someone would always be assigned to be waiting inside his eye in case of danger from now on.
Just like how Minato's own guard had been taught a version of the Hiraishin to fly to his side-
Obito dispelled the thought, the flame of ambition burning a bit too bright for a moment, and refocused on the mission.
Over the next fifteen minutes, he methodically circled the Hidden Cloud, leaping out of the Kamui and then removing the Hyuuga and anyone else who wanted to come along when he was sure the coast was clear. On the second occasion, he came out too close to what was surely a Cloud patrol, but vanished into the ground and resurfaced elsewhere before they could figure out what they might have seen. A picture of the village steadily became clear in all their minds.
Firstly, Kumogakure was now probably the most fortified Hidden Village in the world. Not only were a vast number of ninja, over a thousand not including various summons and ninja-animals (primarily trained eagles) patrolling its outskirts, doubtlessly communicating by radio or jutsu given their coordination, static defenses had been mounted across the mountains around the village. They were cannons of their own, though much smaller than the one Katasuke had described, each manned by a single ninja. Their destructive power couldn't be estimated at a glance, but frankly Obito didn't want to find out what they were capable of.
Secondly, the Chakra Cannon itself was nowhere to be found. The village was too large for Hinata to appraise without significant time, but the Cannon would have been easy to spot, and it wasn't present. That meant it had to have been moved to a more secure location; a designated redoubt that was doubtlessly defended by an elite force. Where that could be, Obito had no idea.
He pondered the problem for a moment before shrugging it off. They had interrogation specialists for a reason, so finding the Cannon wouldn't be a huge hurdle. Next on the priority list was checking off the rogue patrol Kiba had picked up.
Traveling through the Kamui, it didn't take him long to navigate back to where he'd left Kiba and begin following his trail. Obito moved fast, his steps so light that he didn't even leave footprints in the mud. He traced through the storm like a ghost, only occasionally revealed by flashes of lightning that lit the entire mountainside in stark black and white, and slipped down into a gully that was partly shielded from the rain.
Kiba and Akamaru's tracks were well-concealed enough that a normal Sharingan probably wouldn't even have found them, but with his eyes burning with seemingly unlimited power, Obito found it childsplay. He traced them for three minutes at a careful pace, covering a mile and some before he came to a stop, shock rippling through his chest. He could hear voices up ahead through a tangle of brambles, hushed and further concealed by the storm. Had Kiba been captured? It seemed unlikely, but Obito still took it slow, slipping through the brambles as the Kamui carried his body away and poking an eye through, peering as only he could into the sparse grove beyond.
Kiba was there, laughing and slapping someone on the back. Akamaru had tackled another to the ground and was furiously licking them while several others looked on.It took Obito a whole second to understand what the hell he was seeing.
His team was here.
Sasuke and Kiba were talking, the both of them grinning; Naruto was on the ground, trying to push Akamaru off and failing. Beyond them, Jiraiya and Sakura were watching, one gladly and the other dourly, and behind them-
How the hell had Kisame Hoshigaki ended up here?
Against his better judgment, since he was sure this had to be
some sort of illusion, Obito fully walked through the hedge, and everyone in the copse turned towards him.
"Look who I found," Kiba said with an unvarnished grin. "Guess you weren't the only one who decided it was time to head into Lightning, Obito-sensei."
Obito shook his head as Sasuke approached him and, after a moment where he obviously struggled to decide what to do, gave him a nod. "We didn't die," he said, stating the obvious, and Obito nodded mutely. "It was a close thing, but Kisame saved us." He glanced back at the rogue ninja, and Obito did too: their eyes locked, and Kisame gave him an unsettling smile. "But I guess you're really to thank for that, Obito?"
"Guess so," Obito said quietly, giving Sasuke's shoulder a squeeze. "Never thought I'd see him again. But you guys decided to head towards Lightning? That was… stupid of you. I would have thought-"
"We were going to head back to the Leaf," Sasuke said quietly. "Sakura convinced us otherwise. We didn't want to…" He couldn't find the right word, but his hands clenching told Obito everything he needed to know. "We were right at the center of it. Again. We couldn't just walk away."
"Okay," Obito said, not having time to unpack that and so immediately accepting it instead. He moved fully into the group, bending over Naruto who gave him a thumbs-up from beneath Akamaru. "You've been keeping everyone in one piece?"
"Yup," Naruto confirmed, finally managing to sit up. Obito couldn't tell if he was soaked in rain or slobber: probably both. "Good to see you, sensei. You're up here to take out the Cannon, like you said?"
"That's the plan," Obito said, standing up and crossing his arms as he looked over Jiraiya and Sakura. Jiraiya, he wasn't too surprised by. His one-time sensei was hardened, looking jovial but entirely focused on the path ahead. He met Obito's eyes but didn't say anything, the two of them communicating everything they needed to in an instant. The Toad Sage had done his job; he'd kept his team as safe as he could in a warzone, and salved his own consciousness by helping Rain fight back against their killers.
But Sakura…
Sakura's eyes were like chips of jade in her head. Her pink hair, burned short by the very Cannon he was here to destroy not so long ago, was a sea of blades, and her whole body radiated violence and purpose. She stood there, monolithic amongst the rest, not showing a heartbeat of hesitation in the face of his Eternal eyes. Her mouth was set in a straight line; she was the only one, even compared to Kisame, that didn't seem happy to see him.
She was wearing her Akatsuki uniform, here as a true believer. Obito found that he didn't even know how to approach her; there was a wall between them as thick as it was invisible. Like with most walls, he tried to step right through it.
"Sakura. I guess you got everyone headed this way?" he said, stepping forward, and she looked up at him, her expression softening ever so slightly.
"We didn't have a choice," she said, every word so sincerely delivered that it made Obito's heart hurt. "Lightning can't keep killing people. We can't let them." She gestured at Jiraiya, and then at the rest of the group, including Kisame. "Jiraiya was in Sage Mode when the Cannon fired. He got a good idea of where it was. We were close enough for that."
Obito looked over at Jiraiya for confirmation while Sakura continued, and got a nod. Well, that was two birds with one stone right there. "Naruto fixed us all up; we would have died if it weren't for Fuu and the Mist's Jinchuriki. They intercepted the Cannon's shot with their own Bijuudama, and blew it up in midair. That's what caused…" She paused, like a record skipping a beat. "That's what caused the blast. Fuu connected with the Hachibi Jinchuriki, the one powering the Cannon. I don't know how, but she convinced him to run. Right now, Cloud's got no Tailed Beasts; they can't fire the Cannon again."
She bared her teeth in something that would never be mistaken for a smile. "So we decided we had to take care of it before they got the Hachibi back."
Obito took that all in, and as was becoming habit for him accepted it, folded it in, and moved on.
"Where's Fuu?" he asked, and Sakura grunted in apparent annoyance.
"She went with Konan. Rain retreated: too many casualties," she said, as if Konan had done something foolish or cowardly instead of obviously sane. Obito tried not to react as his student continued. "And of course, Konan did not want her traveling with us with Itachi around."
"Itachi's here?" Obito said sharply, and Jiraiya chose that moment to step in.
"He turned up after the blast, badly injured," he said cautiously. "But against
my better judgment, Naruto fixed him up. Naturally, he ran off; promised he'd be shadowing us. I didn't try to make an issue of it."
Translation: Jiraiya hadn't been confident he could take down Itachi, or that Obito's team would have helped him do so. Obito couldn't blame him for that, but the thought that his cousin was prowling around out there…
Didn't set him ill at ease, he found. He almost laughed.
Let Itachi come, if he wanted to. He'd given Shisui's eye back, after all; if he tried to get in Obito's way now, or hurt
anyone else, Obito would crush him. He felt no doubt at all now that he was capable of it.
"Alright," he said, just about caught up. He looked over at Kisame, finding the Daimyo-killer patiently waiting for him. "And you're here because…?"
"I happened to be killing people in the right place at the right time," Kisame rumbled. "And I liked the kids' style." He fixed Obito with a challenging glare. "Does there need to be anything else?"
"Fair enough," Obito said, deciding not to question good fortune. "Well, it's good to see you again, I'd say."
"Hmph." Kisame shifted his sword, seeming at a loss for words for a moment. "You too."
Good enough. "Where is it?" Obito asked, turning to Jiraiya. Now that he knew his team was safe, there weren't any lingering doubts; he felt himself letting go of every concern beyond the mission at hand, an almost nostalgic focus.
"Northeast, about thirty miles," Jiraiya said, gesturing through the rain. "It's possible it's been moved, depending on how big it is, but that's where I felt it when it fired."
"It won't have been moved," Obito said firmly. "Katasuke was sure of that. You all…" He hesitated, thinking of Kisame. There was no way the rogue ninja would go for it, but that was fine by him. "Into the Kamui. Rest." It was obvious they'd gone without sleep to make it this far into the country on their own. "Kisame and I will go the rest of the way."
Naruto frowned. "Will you let us back out?" he said. "We didn't come all this way to get sidelined." He was looking at Sakura as he spoke, Obito noticed.
She hadn't come all this way. Compared to the rest, Sakura seemed tireless. Not energetic, just static: neither growing tired or rested. Frozen. Just like Naruto had said, she'd been like that since killing Haku. It reminded him of something, or someone, but the comparison only traced the periphery of his mind, refusing to solidify.
"I'll be letting everyone out," Obito promised. "This mission can't fail. I just want to give you a chance to rest."
Naruto hesitated, but Sakura made the decision for him.
"Fine," she said, approaching him and holding out a hand. "Thank you, sensei."
Cautious, and not sure why, Obito took Sakura's hand and secreted her away within the Kamui. Naruto, Sasuke, and Jiraiya followed, along with Kiba and Akamaru. That left just him and Kisame standing in the rain, eyeing each other. To Obito's surprise, the rogue ninja turned his back on him, trudging north-east.
"You coming?" he called over his shoulder, and Obito found himself following. They moved through the rain in complete silence for several miles before he gave voice to his curiosity.
"I'm surprised you're out here," Obito said. "Given how attached you were to Hiyama. I figured that if you were involved, you'd be staying and protecting the town."
Kisame stopped. Obito wondered if he'd made a mistake.
"I was," Kisame suddenly said, danger boiling off him. "This was the best way I could. Staying there would have made it a target."
"Sure, I won't contest that," Obito said. He started walking again, hiking past Kisame up the rain-slicked slope as another crack of thunder shook the mountains. "But I thought you were done with all this; I figured you would just lay low. That sword can conceal you, after all."
Kisame started after him. "They sent ninja there in the first couple days. Even a little town like that: Cloud sent two shinobi to scare it into compliance. That's how confident they were." When Obito glanced back, he was sure he went a little pale: the look on Kisame's face was just that murderous. "I couldn't stand it. That confidence, that surety in being shinobi. I tore them to pieces, and I set out to do the same to the rest of the stupid bastards.
That was how I decided to protect my home."
Obito let that sit for a moment as they leapt a gulch and climbed another mountain, the storm only growing darker and fiercer. "Maybe you should just head back now then," he said, feeling Kisame's eyes bore into his back. "I've got it from here. If you died before returning to them, I'm sure everyone would be heartbroken."
That was, he internally amended, if Hiyama had survived the blast that had wrecked the entire country. There was no guarantee of that, and the both of them knew it.
"Don't patronize me," Kisame said, his voice low. "I set out to do a job: I'm going to finish it." He surged ahead, coming level with Obito. "My final job, one way or another. Once that Cannon is smashed, I'm going to Cloud proper. I'm going to rip that damn village's heart out, and eat it right in front of every one of them."
"You'll die if you try that," Obito said bluntly.
"Shinobi are defined by death," Kisame shot back. "They exist to deal it out, and all anyone will remember about them is how they die. If that's how I'm gonna die-"
"I thought you said shinobi were a blight," Obito said, cutting the rogue ninja off. "Now here you are, buying into it all again." He didn't look over at Kisame as they jogged to the apex of the mountain, stopping to look around for their target. "I'm a little disappointed, Kisame."
He never would have said it if he weren't invincible, but it got the reaction he wanted. Kisame's murderous rage couldn't be hidden, his chakra screeching like a beast out for blood.
"I guess neither of us are the same as last time," Obito continued as Kisame tried to kill him with his gaze alone. "I'm even stronger, if you can believe that. But you really opened my eyes, you know. That whole year did. So seeing you be happy to run off and die for no good reason, yeah, it's pretty disappointing."
"You don't know a thing," Kisame hissed. "What is this morality play? You want to
spare those Cloud fucks?"
"No," Obito said simply. "I'm here to kill whoever gets in my way. But after that, well, Cloud's done for. The other villages will tear it apart, or it will disintegrate on its own. What it's done can't stand. But you dying after finding a home of your own, that would be a tragedy." Now, he looked back. "Or are you just assuming Hiyama's gone?"
That finally got Kisame to pause, and to breathe. "It's gone," he said after a moment.
"You went back to check?" Obito said, and Kisame shook his head.
"I couldn't. But I know."
"You shouldn't trust your gut," Obito said, not trying to be brutal but hearing it in his own voice nonetheless. "Last time we met, I trusted my gut and let the man who built that Cannon walk into the Land of Lightning in the first place." He looked away before he could read Kisame's face, not wanting to know what the rogue thought of that. "Once we're done with the Cannon, go home, Kisame. Go find out for sure whether it's gone or not before you decide to die."
Kisame didn't respond, and Obito had nothing more to say. They undertook the rest of the journey in silence, accompanied by nothing but the thunder, rain, and hail.
Eventually they came to a stop, thirty miles covered in grueling weather and across near impassable terrain. Obito opened the Kamui, reaching in until he felt a familiar hand take his. Once more, he pulled through Hinata and her clansmen. This time, Sasuke came through as well.
Sasuke had Hinata's other hand, and she had an adorable blush lighting up her face. Obito couldn't help but grin, even as Sasuke grimaced at him. Hinata didn't pay them any mind. She, Hizashi, and Neji all activated their Byakugan again, peering through the pouring rain. There was an immediate reaction from Hinata.
"It's there," she said, gesturing to the east. "About four thousand feet. Uncle, can you see it?"
"I can," Hizashi confirmed, his brow tightening as he scanned something beyond Obito's line of sight. Looking east, all he could see was a series of sharp rocky formations, like jagged teeth piercing up towards the sky. Kisame was staring that way as well, one hand up and resting on his sword's hilt. "It's concealed in an artificial chamber," he told Obito. "Carved into the mountains; a huge dome. It looks like-"
"A spider?" Obito finished, and Hizashi nodded. That fit Katasuke's description: the Cannon was apparently a huge apparatus, a barrel mounted on eight spiderleg-esque support struts that helped secure it when it fired. "Alright. Any entrances?"
"None that are still intact," Hinata said. "It's all sealed up. But the ninja there, they're already moving." She pursed her lips. "They must have sensed us. There's a barrier around it too, and two ninja that I think are sensors. They're all moving into defensive positions. There's…" she took a moment to count. "About a hundred defenders. But they all seem experienced. I think one might be the Raikage?"
"It's him," Hizashi confirmed. "It's a hell of a defense, Obito. Even you couldn't just walk in there."
"That's where you're wrong," Obito said, and Hizashi raised an eyebrow. He drew himself into the Kamui for just a moment, eyes sweeping over everyone within. Sakura was talking with some of her friends, Ino and Tenten, while Naruto did the same with Choji, Kiba, Shino, and Lee. Everyone looked at ease and rested, except for Sakura; still just as tense, and still just as frozen.
"Everyone out," Obito said, and one by one the entire assault team was ejected from the Kamui. He returned to them on the storming mountainside, looking over them expectantly. Gai was practically bouncing up and down in anticipation, while Rin wore a smug grin. Jiraiya, wisely, had taken the time to enter Sage Mode anew. He looked to the east with a grim expression.
"The Cannon's right over there, protected by a barrier," Obito said, gesturing. "I'm sure you can feel it, Jiraiya."
The Sage nodded, and Obito continued without more preamble. "I'm going to walk in," he said, and Hizashi chuckled. "Attempt to negotiate a surrender if at all possible. It probably will not be. Regardless of how that goes, I expect you all to break through the barrier and destroy the Cannon no matter what. Killing Cloud ninja is not the goal here; as soon as the thing is smashed beyond recovery, retreat to me or straight south, whichever is safer. If you go south, I'll find you once everything is done."
Obito could tell there weren't any questions, so he tapped his fingers against his hitai-ate with the ghost of a grin. "Stay safe, and good luck," he said, and then he vanished back into the Kamui.
He popped back up just three thousand feet away as the rest of the assault team split up, and moved towards the barrier. Now that he was closer and knew what he was looking for his eyes could pick the barrier's chakra, a large dome that bisected the sky and earth. It was a powerful defense that could probably resist even something like a Bijuudama, but Jiraiya would doubtlessly be able to overcome it.
Obito, of course, just ran right through it.
He kept going, piercing into a stone wall and sprinting through, his feet making contact with ground that only existed in the Kamui. In moments, he was through every barrier, and he burst out into a large chamber. Just as the Hyuuga had described, it was a huge dome with the Cannon in the back on a dais of stone, hooked up to all manner of machinery and batteries. There were about twenty ninja in the chamber itself, but there must have been more beyond, and Obito slowed to a jog as he took everything in.
"Wow," he said, loud enough for everyone within to hear as he approached the Cannon. "It's a little melodramatic, don't you think?"
As if on cue, someone leapt from the Cannon, crashing down right in front of Obito and bringing him to an instinctive stop. The man reared up, nearly seven feet of rippling muscle wearing a traditional white hat marked with the symbol of Lightning.
"Obito Uchiha," the Raikage said, crossing his arms. He was wearing armor unlike Obito had ever seen in his life, a complex construction of steel and wires that looked almost organic in places, with thick cords running from the small of his back and his neck hooking into his arms and legs. Places where chakra was usually molded or directed, Obito noted; the armor was another product of Cloud's weapons program, maybe a prototype of some kind given that it looked half-finished. "If you value your village, you will turn around."
Obito crossed his arms, looking up at the Raikage with his twin Eternal eyes, and he saw the towering man notice the difference despite smartly avoiding eye contact. They had only met once before in a brief battle that Minato had ended before either of them had touched the other, but he knew the Raikage would not have forgotten his eyes' original pattern.
"I know that the Hachibi's gone," he said bluntly, and the Raikage narrowed his eyes. "You can't fire that thing again, can you?"
"I will destroy your entire home if you speak another word," the Raikage said, not willing to show even a hint of weakness, but Obito pressed on.
"Give it up, A," he said, feeling a strange calmness filling him. "Let me dismantle it. Withdraw from Frost. At this point, it's the only way to spare your village." He stepped forward and then through the Raikage, the ninja spinning on him with a furious look. "If you fight, you'll lose. There's no point in letting this go any further."
"That's not how this will go," A declared. "You were a fool to come here, Uchiha."
Obito sighed. "Well," he said clearly enough for everyone there to hear him.
"I gave you a chance."
The Raikage grunted, lightning erupting from his body, and charged. He had to know the Kamui made it pointless, but as electricity arced across the suit Obito realized A wasn't feinting. The first blow soared clear through Obito's head, followed by a constant, unbreakable string of them.
It was just like the guardians of Myoboku, Obito noted. A really was intent on just attacking until the Kamui failed. That would take some time, a little more than three minutes now that he had Shisui's other eye, but the Raikage was truly relentless: his entire family was legendary for their stamina. It might really be possible.
The dome began to shake, and someone called out a warning from deeper within; the barrier had been broken through in two places. The battle was going to begin in earnest any second; Obito made up his mind to end it as quickly as possible.
He lashed out, a feint that sent the Raikage rocketing back in a wash of ozone. The chakra-powered armor whined, steam bursting from it as A's Lightning Armor charged it, and the Raikage began circling like a living lightning bolt at an unbelievable speed. With a mere Mangekyo, Obito wouldn't have been able to track him.
But Obito didn't have a mere Mangekyo anymore, and even as living lightning, the Raikage couldn't vanish from Obito's sight. He struck out twice, a picture-perfect punch and kick, and caught the man in the chin and kidney, sending the Raikage stumbling. Obito pursued, relentlessly striking. The peace that had filled him hadn't vanished; if anything, it felt like it was growing, filling him with a weightless light as his body moved on its own. His breathing was steady and untroubled as he became a whirlwind of violence.
Ten, twenty, thirty, forty strikes. The Raikage's body was harder than steel, and his famous Lightning Armor struck back with a backstroke on every punch and kick, singing Obito's body and covering his arms and legs with small burns. But A couldn't regain his balance and counterattack. His armor crumpled like cheap aluminum wherever Obito struck it, not nearly as tough as the legendary physique of the man wearing it.
Other Cloud ninja threw themselves into the fight, coming to their Kage's defense as they dogpiled Obito from every side. But he felt untouchable. He
was untouchable. He spun and stepped and struck like he was dancing to music only he could hear, slipping through dozens of attacks as he was hounded from every angle by charging shinobi, hurled weapons, vicious ninjutsu. The pace of his attacks only increased as he finally began breathing hard, hearing nothing but his own heart and seeing nothing but the moment. Every attack that missed him was counterattacked, ninja taking strikes to the temple or the heart or the gut that flung them away with superhuman strength. One man came flying in from above with a sonic boom, a long fishing-pole like lure of lightning extending from his hand; Obito caught his hand gently, like a teacher guiding an inexperienced student, and used the man's one-handed Tiger sign to complete one of his own, spitting fireballs out into the chamber and devastating the ceiling and walls.
Two, he sent towards the Cannon, but they were intercepted by a lightning dragon and a wall of stone respectively, stopping them in their tracks. Rather than growing frustrated, Obito just continued to increase his pace.
He flung the man he'd caught away, pinwheeling him back into the shattering ceiling, captured another in a headlock, and flipped over his back as yet more shinobi attacked. The wall of stone rushed forward like a tidal wave, and Obito let himself be carried over it like water. The Raikage retreated, his armor sparking and grinding in places. Obito glanced over in his direction with a small smile, but noticed someone rushing to A's side.
A tall woman with gray hair, wearing a traditional vest but carrying no weapons. Obito recognized her deceptively young face; Mabui, one of the Raikage's Head Ninja. Her skills were unknown, but she was perhaps a medic, given the urgency she was moving to support the Raikage with.
In the same instant, the dome came under attack. The ceiling had crumbled in places thanks to Obito's effort, stones raining down on the dome and providing more obstacles to avoid, but quite suddenly that crumbling became a full disintegration. A wave of destruction rippled out, and ninja began falling in along with stone, hail, and torrential rain; shinobi from both Konoha and Kumo.
Rin and Naruto led the way, having ripped the dome apart with twin punches. Sakura was the first behind them, her hail-blade whirring with such intensity that the high-pitched sound filled the whole shattered chamber. Kisame was second, his eyes locking on the Cannon and ignoring everything else. The rest of the assault team spilled in, some already battling Cloud shinobi that had been patrolling above, others splitting off on their own. Jiraiya summoned a squad of toads armed and armored like old-fashion samurai, directing them towards the Cannon; Shibi and Shino were surrounded by a swarm of insects that were already dispersing, filling the cavern with buzzing black clouds that drained chakra like a plague; Hinata, Sasuke, Shikamaru, Ino, and Choji hurled themselves into the battle without hesitation, along with Gai, Lee, Neji, and Hizashi; Tenten followed after Sakura, guarding her back with a hooked polearm; Kurenai made a beeline towards Obito himself, her gaze locked on the Raikage and his assistant and her hands already forming a powerful genjutsu; Yari was doing the same, ripping off her blindfold as she leapt from a falling stone with unbelievable grace.
It was pandemonium, the flash of lightning and the boom of thunder filling the chamber as dozens of ninja suddenly clashed. Everything happened in a heartbeat, and Obito refocused on the Raikage as Mabui came to his side. She made a single Ram sign and slammed her hand down on A's back; a simple act given much more importance by what the Sharingan revealed. Mabui's chakra boiled, arcing around her in rings of light, and the Raikage's armor was transformed, shining with an invisible radiance as an ethereal line burst from it, directed by Mabui's will.
Obito blinked, and the line connected with his chest as he took a step forward, ready to launch himself into the fight once more. He had enough time to raise an eyebrow as the Raikage shouted out the technique's name, a focusing kiai.
"Lightspeed Lariat!"
There was no transition, and no warning beyond the invisible tether that only the Sharingan could see. The Raikage covered the distance between them faster than even Obito could follow. The Kamui was an automatic defense; Obito had never encountered something that had been able to touch him before his body recognized the attack and carried him to safety.
Until today.
A's arm made contact with Obito's chest, and he was transported back in time all the way to the Hidden Waterfall, the last time he'd had a brush with death. Time slowed down, and in the near-frozen world he looked down to find the A about to tear his chest open with the impossible force of his strike. A rib broke: the skin of Obito's chest was bruised before A even fully touched it, just from how fast the Raikage was moving.
Obito breathed out, his body taken elsewhere. As A passed through him, he coughed up blood, feeling his breath cut short by two fractured ribs. If this hadn't been the best day of his life, he would have died without a doubt. He'd gotten cocky, trusting the Kamui to defend him as usual, and paid for it.
"Yeah, that's not allowed," he muttered, and raised his voice, ignoring the pain in his chest.
"Gai!" he shouted, pointing at Mabui. "Handle her! I'll get the Raikage!" As he spun on A and unsheathed the White Fang, spitting blood and rubbing it from his lips. "The rest of you, focus on the Cannon!"
There was no time for more words: the Raikage was on top of him, relentlessly striking as Obito barely stayed ahead of his attacks, stuttering in and out of the Kamui as he tried to reestablish the pace that had felt so effortless before. But he was bleeding internally, in pain and slower for it, and he and the Raikage were stalemated: he couldn't afford to let the man by and wreak havoc on the assault team, but he couldn't push him back either. They were locked sword to fist, with Obito only getting slower by the second. He nearly slipped amidst the rain and hail, his body shaking. The glancing hit from the Raikage had been more damaging than he'd first realized.
But that was fine; he only needed to stalemate A until the Cannon was destroyed, and Sakura and Jiraiya in particular had taken his words to heart, scything through Cloud ninja in their path as they fought their way to the Cannon. The battle would be over in less than a minute, one way or another, and then they'd retreat. Simple as that.
Yari had rushed to his side, and despite Obito wanting to shout out a warning the Raikage's constant attacks left him no time. She leapt into the battle wielding a long metal spear and fired off a rapid series of jabs and slices, forcing the Raikage back a step and buying Obito time to take one full breath before A struck out and elbowed the head of the spear off as it slipped past him. Yari stumbled to the side, off balance, and Obito's predictive vision saw the Raikage punch a hole clean through her chest.
"Nope," he grunted, stomping his foot with four nearly simultaneous handsigns. The ground beneath Yari collapsed, and she fell out of sight as A's jab soared just over her head. The Raikage spun with a fierce look, teeth bared-
And there was a distant
boom.
The sound was far away and faint for it, but so deep and so loud that Obito felt it rattle every bone in his body. The same thing happened to every ninja in the cavern. Consciously or not, they stopped mid-battle, their hearts skipping a beat as one even if in the midst of the fight. Obito looked back and up towards where the sound seemed to have come from, taking his eyes off the Raikage for just a moment.
His mouth dried up, not quite able to comprehend what he was seeing. At near the same moment, the weather dried up too, the hail and rain and thunder vanishing as the sun beamed down upon them all, illuminating the chamber in harsh natural light.
The storm clouds above were racing away like frightened animals, fleeing in every direction and leaving only clear blue skies behind. They were ripped apart, a curtain unceremoniously pulled back with impossible speed; the hurricane that had embraced the Land of Lightning since his arrival vanished.
"What?" Obito whispered, looking back and finding the Raikage just as transfixed as him. They met eyes for the first time, but he didn't take the advantage to cast a Genjutsu upon the man. Whether out of shock or solidarity, Obito would never be able to say. "Was that-?"
The Raikage blinked, his fury reasserting itself. "That came from Kumogakure," he said, though Obito really had no idea how A could know. He supposed if he were thirty miles from Konoha, he'd be very confident about a sound like
that coming from it. "What have you done?!"
Seeing that the detente across the chamber was holding for the moment, Obito held up his hands with a concerned look. "Nothing," he said truthfully. "We just came here to destroy the Cannon; we had no interest in Kumogakure." He looked around as Yari cautiously poked her head out of the hole nearby. "Maybe you have bigger concerns right now…?"
"That's…" The Raikage paused, looked around. Obito recognized the expression, and the hesitation. Even someone like A had to make an impossible choice every once in a while: return to his village, which might be under attack, or guard its strongest guarantee of its security? He tried to help along as best he could.
"Hinata!" he called, making sure he could be heard by every ninja present. The entire assault team was still in one piece, if beat up; several Cloud ninja lay dead or dying, but not as many as there could have been. Hinata was untouched; she'd been defended by Neji, Hizashi, and Sasuke for the course of the battle, a comically competent group of guards. "What happened?"
Her Byakugan was already active, but the distance was surely too far for her to see Kumogakure properly. Nonetheless, Hinata spoke. "I don't know," she admitted. "There's a lot of debris. Something blew back all the clouds at once in every direction; it hit Kumogakure too."
It looked like A was going to make a decision, but Obito couldn't know which way he could go. He wheezed, getting ready for another fight as the Raikage also looked around, taking stock of the situation, his lip twitching. Obito could not claim to read the mind of a man who had killed as many as A had. He didn't understand his full motivations, if there were any beyond greed or fear of losing power, but knew the Raikage at least valued the lives of his ninja and was an ambitious man. Because of that, he hoped that A would throw the fight, and they could both live to kill each other another day.
But the decision was made for both of them with a pulse of energy that only Obito, Sasuke, and the Hyuuga could see. It washed over everyone present, passing through the ground and the Cannon with a pervasive, invisible portent, and Obito found himself crouching to the ground on instinct. The burst of chakra was tremendous, bigger than any technique he'd seen in his life, and he had no idea what it had done.
For about a second, at least. After that, Obito figured out exactly what the technique was doing.
He floated off the ground, drifting into the air weightlessly. As he struggled to reconnect with the earth, the same thing happened to everyone in the shattered dome. More than a hundred ninja and one dog floated away, flailing and shouting in alarm as they were lifted off their feet. The stone and earth began to rip upwards as well. Like some sort of horrific rapture, the earth ruptured, and ninja were drawn up into the sky, friend or foe.
Obito looked up, his mind whirling, and found the man responsible for the impossible event. Despite being two thousand feet away, floating high in the sky in blatant defiance of gravity, Nagato Uzumaki seemed to lock eyes with him.
Others followed Obito's gaze, pointing and shouting. Some prepared Ninjutsu or weapons, ready to throw them at the distant figure. Their eyes weren't as acute as his, but it was obvious there was a ninja up there to anyone; only someone with more acuity could see that Nagato was holding something in his right hand. It was an orb without shape, weight, or color; light curled around it, defining it by absence, but Nagato held it as if it were an ordinary ball.
As Obito watched, Nagato raised his free hand, his face set in a stern visage, and pointed directly at him.
Obito's weightlessness as he was drawn upwards immediately faded, and he dropped, landing on his feet after a three story fall without issue. He couldn't tear his eyes away from the expression of control: Nagato's chakra had surrounded all of them, and now the man was reaching down like he was expertly playing an instrument as he severed those he pointed at from his gravity's grasp. He moved methodically, picking out only ninja of the Hidden Leaf while Cloud's ninja struggled and screamed curses as they were remorselessly drawn up into the sky. It was equally beautiful and terrifying.
Nagato lingered only once: when he came to Sakura. She was eerily calm, her eyes closed and her sword stilled as she drifted into the sky, but came alive when the inverted gravity released her, and looked up. Just as Obito could have sworn he had, her and Nagato's eyes seemed to meet as she fell. She landed amidst Ino and Naruto, who had both been calling after her in fear. No one had any idea what to do; what they were witnessing was so far beyond reality that it had left even Jiraiya paralyzed.
The Raikage was shouting and trying to drift towards Mabui, kicking off stones and men that tumbled near, but the both of them were too distant to meet. Doubtlessly, he was trying to have her transport him up to Nagato, but the god-like technique the Amekage unleashed had made that impossible. As Obito watched, nearly too stunned to think, a creak jolted him from his trance.
He looked back, grateful to be embraced by ordinary gravity once more, and found the Cannon jostling, the stone beneath it tearing away. Well, that was a relief; Nagato technique would destroy their objective for them. It wasn't quite how he'd figured the mission would go, but-
The Cannon tore away wholesale, unharmed and untouched despite the ground beneath it being torn to pieces, and the nightmare-like trance fully broke. Before he'd even made a conscious decision, Obito was running.
He leapt atop the Cannon as it drifted up. Now that all the Leaf ninja had been freed, the inverted gravity was increasing: Cloud ninja, the earth that had been torn away, and the Cannon were suddenly rocketing up in the sky, and as Obito looked back Nagato dropped the black hole he'd created in his hand, standing atop nothing as it fell beneath it before suddenly halting several hundred feet below.
Obito wasted no time, reaching out towards the Cannon. There wasn't time to be clever or gentle: he tried to rip pieces of it away with his bare hands or the Kamui, his eye boring into it as he tried to destroy it. But it was sheathed in Nagato's power, raw gravity rendering it just as untouchable as he could be: even his ranged Kamui, which he'd almost been afraid to use, bounced off it, its power fruitlessly redirected by fundamental forces.
Above him, a small moon was rapidly forming.
'Like the creation of the moon.'
Would Mikoto have liked to be here to witness what she'd found so marvelous? Or would she have been just as horrified as him?
Perhaps because there was nothing else he could do, Obito started laughing. It wasn't a very sane sound, but no one that heard it would live to tell the tale anyway. The foundation of the moon was stone, but almost as soon as a core of stone formed around the black hole, Cloud ninja started slamming into it.
Men and women were stretched across the moon, their bodies twisting in impossible ways as ruthless gravity tugged on them before they were smashed to a pulp by more stones. Obito couldn't tear his gaze away from the horror as Cloud ninja were crushed to death; there was no time for final words, meaningful curses, or any real way to fight back. Even as they struggled and smashed away earth and stone, shouting in defiance or fear, the Raikage and eighty-nine other ninja were interred in a vast stone coffin more than a thousand feet in the sky.
For a half-second, Obito considered stepping in. He wasn't the kind of person who could watch people get crushed to death in front of him without at least thinking that. He could pull them out with the ranged Kamui, if necessary.
But watching the Raikage being buried alive, he also couldn't help but think that the man, and those who defended him, were responsible for more than one-hundred thousand deaths. That the destruction he'd unleashed had gutted Rain and Leaf, and savaged the Land of Frost.
So even as A vanished from sight, pinned to the moon and covered in stone that compressed atop him, Obito didn't step in.
The Cannon didn't suffer the same rough treatment. It and Obito were gently delivered into the side of the new moon, which then rotated to place the Cannon at the apex. Obito didn't move throughout the whole process. Despite himself, he couldn't help but feel fear. What he was experiencing wasn't something ninja should be capable of. It was much stranger and more terrible than that.
Nagato was there, having moved with the moon or only now deposited on its surface. Obito stood up as the Amekage crossed his arms, and they regarded one another in silence. This high up, it was peaceful but not quiet, wind whistling past the moon and whipping both their hair and clothes about.
"Obito Uchiha," Nagato eventually said. "A pleasure to meet you after all this time. I would appreciate it if you stepped off the weapon." It was only then that the sheath of gravity over the cannon faded, and the whole moon groaned: the jutsu had finally ended, at least the active part. The small moon was still held aloft by Nagato's will, its core stable and unaffected by ordinary gravity.
"Amekage," Obito said. It was true; this was the first time they'd met face to face. He'd heard plenty about Nagato, but none of the stories had captured his intensity or the obvious power that bled off him. The Rinnegan, framed by his flowing red hair, shone with a chakra as bright as a lighthouse to Obito's eyes. Being pierced by it made Obito feel like a bug uncovered beneath a rock, despite his new power.
He couldn't stand it. He stood straighter, ignoring his broken ribs and meeting Nagato's authority with his own. The air between them trembled, their chakra meeting for the first time in a shockingly physical crash.
"I came here to destroy this thing," Obito said, and Nagato nodded. "I take it that's not your goal."
"No," Nagato said. "I considered it, but something like the Cannon is too valuable to destroy. Unfortunately, the Nation of Rain requires it."
The moon was moving, Obito realized. It was drifting west with increasing speed. He had a premonition that his ninja were following down below since he hadn't returned.
"After what it did to Rain, you'd take it for yourself?" Obito asked, trying not to let judgment infect his voice. "I'd think that you of all people would understand just why it shouldn't exist."
That gave Nagato pause, but only a little. "That's true," he admitted. "But I did not come here to discuss my actions, Obito: only to take them. Do you intend to stop me?"
"I intend to complete my mission," Obito said truthfully. Nagato cocked his head.
"Then maybe a discussion
will be worth it," he responded. "I wish to use this weapon towards a greater good. I do not intend to target any village with it, nor the government of the Land of Fire. Is that amenable to you?"
"It's not," Obito said, a little surprised at the words coming out of his mouth. "Honestly, I think I'm against the thing on principle."
"This weapon is only a perfection of Ninjutsu. Are you against that?" Nagato said, remaining placid.
"We've both learned under Jiraiya, and my sensei was Minato. You know the answer to that question," Obito countered. Nagato shrugged.
"Then we're in agreement, but cannot agree on how to proceed towards the goal. As all us disciples have been since the beginning," he said, a bit of power entering his voice. "I'm tired of this circular firing squad, so I'm going to make the definitive move; you all are free to follow or not." He stepped forward, the step was made with enough impact that Nagato could have weighed several tons. His chakra exploded off him, promising death, and cracks spiderwebbed through the moon as Obito met it with his own burst of intent. "I'm going to make a better world, Obito. Step away from the weapon; leave the rest to me. I promise you, it will be easier."
"I refuse," Obito barked, and without conscious thought his chakra began to take definite form around him: a brilliant orange light sprang into existence, roaring off of Obito's body like a hungry animal, and spectral ribs surrounded him in a cage of ghostly bones. "I don't want to fight you, Nagato. I don't think my team would like that. But if you really try to keep this
thing, you won't give me a choice."
"No one is going to fight me," Nagato said quietly. "The threat will be too great. And if you do, you'll be starting a fight without allies, without hope: you will die."
Obito had been speaking of the moment: Nagato beyond it. Obito filed that away to consider later, when he wasn't faced with the most dangerous man in the world. Nagato continued, perhaps thinking his moment of consideration was hesitation.
"I don't want to upset your team either, certainly not by killing you, Obito," he said. "They're all important to me, especially Sakura. She's a brilliant ninja, one that could be a visionary if given the time and patience." Nagato took a deep breath, obviously holding fast to a decision he'd already made.
"But at this point, I cannot discriminate. Anyone who tries to stop me, whether they're friends, family, even of the Akatsuki… I can't afford to spare them. So, take this as my sincere and final warning.
Walk away."
Obito's face twisted into a snarl, his Susano'o groaning around him. Spectral flesh roped over the bones, strengthening it as chakra poured out of him. His own ribs groaned, but his body was
buzzing, filled with power and joy at the feeling of finally manifesting the legendary armor without pain. It was a different kind of invincibility than the Kamui, an implacable invulnerability that filled him from head to toe and raised goosebumps across every inch of skin.
"If that's the way it will be," Nagato said, and he raised his hand.
Obito spun, his Susano'o striking out at the Cannon. As he did, Nagato's body sprouted additional limbs running through handsigns, and a wall of magma was raised to shield the weapon. But to both Nagato and Obito's surprise, the Susano'o's punch smashed right through the molten stone, denting the Cannon's barrel. Where it had struck, a piece of metal was sucked away, vanishing into the Kamui and leaving a torn hole.
An invisible force took hold of Obito from within the Kamui and jerked him out of the armor, fast enough to produce a sonic boom as he flew through the air. The armor crumbled away as Nagato reached out to take hold of him, but Obito vanished into the Kamui and phased through him, rolling to his feet behind Nagato as he spun to attack. The Kamui reached out from Obito's eye, seeking to rip one of Nagato's arms off, but the Amekage grabbed the distortion in space with his bare hand and crushed it. For such a moment, Obito felt his own chakra drain as well, Nagato somehow connecting to his physical eye through the dimensional rip.
"Enough!" Nagato said, leaping away. His hand came up, pointing down: not at Obito, but at the earth far below. "Another step, and I'll kill them, Obito! I spared them before, but I can't let you stop me here!"
Obito stopped, but only for a moment.
"Try it," he found himself growling, carried away by his new power and fury at Nagato's hypocrisy. "If you hurt a single one of my people, I'll rip your head off."
He flung himself as Nagato, the Susano'o reforming with a shuriken formed of chakra in one of its hands. Obito flung the weapon at the Cannon, knowing in his heart whatever it struck would be sucked into the Kamui as well.
But Nagato moved too, and just as fast as Obito. He flung a black rod and made three handsigns in the same moment with his extra arms, teleporting to the rod and intercepting the shuriken in the same second. Obito recognized the Hiraishin, but even though he knew Nagato had stolen the technique, the moment was still shocking. It stalled him just long enough for Nagato to curse and fling both his human hands over the edge of the small moon, his chakra surging with impossible strength.
There wasn't enough time to reach Nagato directly, so Obito did the only thing he could think to do: he flung himself into the jutsu's path, his eye reaching out one last time to try and rip Nagato's arms off.
It was fruitless once more: an invisible aura ate Obito's chakra as the Kamui manifested, keeping Nagato safe from harm. At the same time, Nagato's attack struck him head on, an invisible gravity pulse that even the Sharingan could barely see.
It struck Obito, and froze.
He and Nagato both strained against one another, the Susano'o rippling with more and more chakra as its arms dug into the moon, bracing it against the wave of destructive gravity. Obito
pushed, desperate to throw the force back and fling Nagato away, and Nagato pushed back with just as much desperation.
"
Bastard!" Obito growled, feeling like his eyes would burst from the strain. Another rib broke, both on the Susano'o and within his chest, but he still pushed back against the invisible energy; if it passed him, it would be flung downwards with enough force to level a mountain, obliterating everything below.
"
Sorry," Nagato said, his entire body vibrating with the force of their clashing chakra. "
But it has to be this way."
The Push exploded, the force flung out in every direction at once. The Cannon rocked, nearly torn off the moon, but miraculously stayed intact. Nagato was flung back, but his artificial arms dug into the surface of the moon and stopped him in his tracks after digging a deep groove in his surface. Obito, along with the brunt of the jutsu, was thrown over the side and downward beneath a waterfall of brutal force that dragged him towards the earth at ridiculous speed.
He roared in denial, slamming both the Susano'o's arms together in front of him in a seal, and continued to fight gravity itself. Obito rattled with the force of it, nearly blacking out as he tried to repel the jutsu, pouring every drop of his heart and soul into the singular effort.
You're a ghost, Obito-
No.
Obito's eyes snapped wide open, brilliant gilded armor wrapping around the Susano'o. He could see the
Push above him, flinging him down, ready to explode and take everyone from him.
He was sick of it.
He was done being a ghost.
With a final shout of effort and the taste of his blood filling his mouth, Obito
pushed back and flung the gravity away, up and out. It missed the small moon, now flying away at intense speed, and burst through the sky.
A heartbeat later, he slammed into the ground like a meteor from heaven. A massive crater formed around him as he was nearly buried beneath the earth, but the Susano'o kept him safe from everything; he was snug and secure at the center, and a fall of a thousand and some feet helped along by the Almighty Push only broke another three ribs and bruised his spine.
It took a second for Obito to understand that he was still alive; that everyone was still alive. When it sank in, he started laughing. This time, the sound was significantly less deranged than it had been above.
"Obito!" Above him, Rin crested the ridge of the crater he'd created and skidded down to the center with impressive speed, sliding to a stop beside him. More ninja followed her, his team first among them. "You're-?!"
"I'm good!" Obito coughed, the taste of blood still not dimming his raw joy. "I'm the best. Everyone's okay?"
"We're all fine!" Rin said, kneeling down to get a better look at him, scanning for injuries. Her eyes were wide with fear as Obito sat up. "What-?"
He leaned over, not thinking, and kissed her. After a second, Rin kissed him back. He heard someone whoop, almost certainly Gai.
He pulled back; there was a bit of his blood on Rin's lips. "Sorry," he said, but she just shook her head, wiping it off on the back of her hand.
"I don't mind," she said, some of the fear fading in favor of a smirk. "What happened up there?"
Obito lay back down, the pain in his chest finally registering. "It's Nagato," he said, and Rin nodded. "He's taken the Cannon; I'm not sure why. Said he wasn't going to use it on Konoha, at least. But he threw a damn… gravity wave at you all. To get me to back off."
He couldn't help but grin. "I got out in front of it. I stopped it. I'm not the only person I can keep safe anymore."
Rin stared down at him, and then facepalmed. "You're still taking it too literally," she said, but Obito didn't mind; she was smiling beneath her hand, after all.
"Yeah," Obito chuckled, then grunted in pain. "Yeah."
"I can't believe Nagato would take the Cannon," Naruto cut in from somewhere behind him. He was bending over now too, checking Obito over alongside Rin. "Wow, you're really messed up sensei. But seriously: how could he not want to destroy it?"
"It's all the same to him," Sakura said quietly from beside Naruto. She fixed Obito with her frozen green eyes, and Obito nodded with a grimace. "Ninjutsu, the Cannon, everything else: they're all evils that need to be dealt with anyway. So there's no harm in using them in the meantime." She let out a little laugh, too girlish for the subject. "I was thinking something similar, if it helps, Naruto."
"Not… really…" Naruto said, laughing along but clearly not enjoying it. Obito couldn't blame him; if she'd folded something like the Cannon into her beliefs, Sakura had obviously gotten more radical than either of them had understood. Then again, she had been interested in supreme weapons since returning to the Leaf: he doubted that anything she'd experienced since then had moderated her.
"It doesn't matter right now," Sasuke interrupted. "He's too fast for us to catch." He came to Obito's feet, and Obito looked up at his student. "What should we do, Obito?"
"You're clearly not on Nagato's priority list, no matter what he says," Obito grunted. "He would have killed you if I hadn't stopped him, so I can't recommend you guys return to Rain at this point, even if your mission to Frost went well. We need to head back to the Hidden Leaf and let Minato know what happened: I have no idea what Nagato's going to do with the Cannon, but I doubt it will be good."
Sasuke nodded, his impassive face betrayed by his expressive eyes. "Kumogakure is devastated," he said with some distaste. "We passed it; I'm sure you didn't see it up there, but Nagato… smashed it. Like an egg."
"And the Raikage is dead," Obito noted. "This place will be even more chaotic soon. If the village can't hold itself together-" Something came to mind that he hadn't noticed in all the chaos.
"Where's Kisame?" he asked, and Sasuke shook his head.
"No idea. He got released from the reversed gravity, and ran off after that. Maybe Konan told Nagato about him somehow, but I lost track of him in everything." He bent down. "I'm surprised Itachi hasn't shown up either. He said he was following, but… he must really be scared of you, I guess."
"Him, or his shadow," Obito muttered back. "It doesn't matter now. We've gotta get out of here." He tried to sit up again, and both Rin and Naruto pushed him back down with the same superhuman strength.
"You can open the Kamui if you want," Rin said with a mean grin. "But you're not walking for a bit, Obito."
"Don't worry, sensei!" Naruto said brightly. "We'll carry you!"
"Can't you just do the Adamantine thing?" Obito groused, and Naruto shook his head.
"Only if you're dying: shortens your life, remember? Besides, I'm still working on something better," he said, thumbing a finger in Jiraiya's direction. "So c'mon, let us in. We'll run you back to Konoha."
Obito did, drawing every member of the assault team into his personal realm, and the journey south began in a somewhat humiliating way: with several of Naruto's clones carrying him as the original and Rin mended his ribs (and a broken leg, which Obito hadn't even noticed). It was a migration of ninja across the darkness of the Kamui, and looking around Obito felt infinite pride for each and every one of them. Even if the mission had failed, they'd all conducted themselves well, proved themselves in the face of a deadly enemy and a bizarre situation.
The mission
had failed, despite his cocky words to Minato. He'd made the same mistake with Nagato, nearly biting off more than he could chew. The power of the Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan was intoxicating, pushing him too far and too fast, but Obito was infinitely grateful he'd learned that today instead of a deadlier lesson.
Even if the Cannon was now in Nagato's hands, Obito had the power to face him and destroy the damn thing. He settled in for the journey, banishing his pain with gratitude.
He'd saved everyone, even in the face of a god in human form. He wasn't a ghost any longer.
If the day came, if he took up the mantle of Hokage, he would be ready.
