"Sasuke, Lord Gakuya asked me to pass you a message—tomorrow, he'll be appearing under the identity of the Akatsuki. Make sure you keep your disguise in check. And that person you've been thinking about all this time… he'll be there too."
White Zetsu emerged from the ground, speaking in a low, amused tone.
"…Understood." Sasuke nodded, his eyes igniting once more with the flames of vengeance.
After three years at Gakuya's side, Sasuke had come to trust him deeply. Gakuya didn't just train him—he supported his desire for revenge. And in the future, Gakuya had promised to resurrect his parents. That alone made it impossible for Sasuke to turn away.
Now, Sasuke was one of Gakuya's most loyal followers.
"Hehehe… good to hear." White Zetsu chuckled and vanished back into the earth.
He had been sent by Gakuya to remind Sasuke, just in case his impulsive nature caused trouble during tomorrow's operation.
...
Six teams were combing the waterways of the Land of Tea, each searching for any sign of the Three-Tails. It was just a matter of who found it first.
By midday the next day, Obito arrived at a large lake. From a distance, he watched as a few Konoha shinobi worked tirelessly, using sealing jutsu to detect the beast's presence beneath the water.
Suddenly, the sealing formation began to pulse and flicker.
A massive shadow stirred in the lake.
With a deep rumble, the enormous form of the Three-Tails emerged from the water, thrashing violently as it tried to break free of the seal above its head.
"RRAAAAH!" Its tail lashed out repeatedly, hammering at the seal with brute force.
"Guess I'll lend you a hand." Obito activated Kamui and appeared beside one of the Konoha ANBU shinobi maintaining the seal.
With a twisted motion, he snapped the shinobi's neck. The sealing jutsu instantly collapsed, and the Three-Tails, now unbound, roared in fury and launched into a rampage.
Nearby, the operation's escort units—Team Seven and Team Three—immediately sprang into action.
"You again?!" Naruto summoned a shadow clone and began forming a Rasengan as he charged toward Obito.
"Naruto, don't rush in!" Kakashi shouted, quickly coordinating a counterattack.
The other Konoha shinobi joined the fray in unison.
"Parasitic Insects!"
But Obito remained unfazed. His intangibility allowed him to phase through every attack. He wasn't here for a real fight—his goal was to expose the Three-Tails' location to the world.
The real battle was only just beginning.
With a single leap, Obito landed on the back of the rampaging beast. In the blink of an eye, his Mangekyō Sharingan activated—and the Three-Tails' lone eye turned scarlet, mirroring his.
"Naruto… don't you remember? This is exactly how I used my Sharingan to control the Nine-Tails when you were born."
Obito spread his arms wide, taunting him. If he could push the Nine-Tails into a rampage too, the chaos would only grow.
Naruto's eyes narrowed into vertical slits, his voice seething with fury.
"Someday, I'm going to tear you apart, piece by piece!"
"Obito… just come back with me. Rin wouldn't want to see you like this." Kakashi tried to appeal to what little humanity he hoped remained.
"You have the nerve to say Rin's name?!"
His fury exploded. The Three-Tails beneath him—once sealed within Rin—was now under his control again. And before him stood the man who'd let Rin die.
Everything he'd suppressed since meeting Rin again in the Pure Land—everything he'd been denied—came roaring back.
"Kakashi, the Three-Tails once dwelled inside Rin. Let me show you the pain I felt!"
The beast opened its maw, an immense surge of chakra swirling inside.
It was charging a Tailed Beast Bomb.
"Scatter!!"
The Konoha shinobi quickly dispersed.
With a deafening roar, the Tailed Beast Bomb blasted across the lake, tearing through the calm water like a missile. It slammed into a distant hill with apocalyptic force.
BOOM!
The explosion rocked the entire region. The ground trembled as the hill was obliterated, reduced to flat earth. Smoke and debris shot into the air, forming a colossal mushroom cloud.
Obito had held back—he wasn't here to kill Kakashi. Not after learning the truth of the Pure Land. He didn't want Kakashi reuniting with Rin before him.
The real purpose of that attack was to send a message to the other forces nearby:
The Three-Tails has appeared. A new storm is coming.
...
Han, the Jinchūriki of the Five-Tails, looked up at the rising mushroom cloud.
"That's the Three-Tails," he said, motioning to his companions. "That was a Tailed Beast Bomb. Someone's already found it. Let's move."
"Yes, sir!"
The tall, heavily armored man's crimson armor gleamed as they broke into a run.
...
"Let's go. The Tailed Beast from Kirigakure isn't something we'll let others get their hands on."
Mei Terumī marched forward, her long legs moving with purpose. Behind her trailed two bodyguards and over a dozen Kirigakure shinobi.
...
"Itachi-san, should we head out now?" Kisame asked, glancing toward his partner.
"Let's finish this mission quickly." Itachi nodded coldly.
...
Sasuke stared at the mushroom cloud in the distance, a wild smile spreading across his face.
"So it's finally begun. The Akatsuki must be making a move too… If Itachi shows up—I'll kill him right here and now."
"Sasuke, are we heading over there?"
"Let's go. I've waited long enough."
...
"Wahoo! What a beautiful explosion! The power of a Tailed Beast… it's pure art!" Deidara cheered from atop his clay bird.
"Gakuya, let's go already. That was too good—I can't wait any longer!"
Beside him, Hyuga Gakuya simply nodded. Thanks to Obito, he already knew the whole plan.
And he had to admit—Obito had done well this time.
...
Back by the lake, the Konoha shinobi who had survived the Tailed Beast Bomb were still shaken.
Naruto, Kakashi, Hinata, and Kurenai crouched beneath a thicket of brush, hurriedly planning their next move.
"We should retreat. With both Obito and the Three-Tails working together, we don't stand a chance," said Kakashi, the de facto leader of the mission.
...
"Sensei, I've already made a deal with the Nine-Tails. This time—I will kill Uchiha Obito." Naruto's voice was firm.
Kakashi hesitated. He knew Naruto had been building a relationship of mutual trust with the Nine-Tails ever since the failed attempt to trap Obito two years ago.
"…Are you confident?"
"I am. I trust the Nine-Tails."
Deep inside Naruto's mind, the Nine-Tails lay on its belly, eyes narrowing.
"…Tch. Brat."
Suddenly, Kakashi raised a hand. "Wait—don't move."
He'd heard footsteps—lots of them.
All of them poked their heads out from the underbrush.
One by one, shinobi stepped out from the trees and gathered near the lake's edge.
The stage was set.
"There he is! Sasuke!" Naruto's heart leapt the moment he spotted his long-lost friend.
Ignoring Kakashi's warnings, he dashed forward.
It was already too late to stop him.
"From Iwagakure—the Five-Tails Jinchūriki, Han. From Kirigakure—Mizukage Mei Terumī. From Akatsuki—Uchiha Itachi and Hoshigaki Kisame… They're all here." Kakashi listed the arriving threats grimly.
"You forgot two names." A voice rang out behind them.
Everyone whipped around.
Two figures approached slowly from the distance.
It was Hyuga Gakuya—and Deidara.
This time, Gakuya wasn't hiding behind illusions or disguises. He revealed himself completely.
Hinata's body tensed as she laid eyes on him—the man who had murdered her parents.
For the first time in years, she saw his real face.
She instinctively shifted into a battle stance, ready to throw her life away if it meant taking him down with her.
"How cold. Already forgotten me?" Gakuya sneered with twisted amusement. "I'm your big brother, remember?"
"You… why did you do it?" Hinata demanded, voice trembling. Her mind flashed back to the days when Gakuya used to play with her, Neji, and Hanabi like a caring older sibling.
She couldn't understand—how had that gentle brother become the butcher of the Hyuga Clan?
But what she didn't know… was that those memories weren't real.
Those sweet, idyllic moments had never existed.
They were illusions—planted deep into her heart by Gakuya himself.
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Pls Drop some Power Stones
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