"Cough, cough, cough—"

"What the hell is going on?"

In the distance, inside Kusagakure, every Grass shinobi froze, stunned by the sudden appearance of a massive beast bursting through the village wall.

They couldn’t make sense of how the thing had appeared, but with a single brutal charge, the wall had already collapsed.

The shinobi stationed on the wall were the unluckiest of all—after taking a hit like that, survival was unlikely.

The Grass shinobi immediately went on high alert. This was no ordinary situation; they had to proceed with extreme caution.

[Boom—]

But then, the beast that had smashed their wall suddenly burst into a puff of smoke and vanished without a trace, making them instantly realize something.

"A summoned beast?"

"You’ve got to be kidding me—something that big?"

"Is someone fighting? Damn it, just what level of battle is this?"

The surrounding shinobi muttered anxiously, clearly shaken by the sight. At that moment, the head of Kusagakure stepped forward.

"Karin, what’s going on?"

His voice was cold as he approached her, demanding an answer.

As village leader and head shinobi, he knew a thing or two about Karin’s abilities.

Not only did her blood possess powerful healing properties, but she was also an exceptionally skilled sensory type.

"Someone’s fighting…"

Karin’s voice trembled slightly, fear growing within her. The chakra flooding outward had already spread all the way to their position.

But that answer clearly failed to satisfy the head of Kusagakure.

"Be more specific—what exactly did you detect?"

"There are seven people fighting. One of them has already killed someone and is now hunting down the others. They’re heading straight this way!"

"They’re heading here?"

The Kusagakure leader’s expression shifted, but before he could say anything more, he too suddenly felt an intense surge of chakra—

And then—

[Boom—]

Not far from the village, the ground shook violently as a deafening explosion thundered through the air.

A massive tremor rolled outward, sweeping the area in a storm of dust.

The faces of every Kusagakure shinobi paled, for with that earthquake-like shock came an invisible shockwave, carrying countless fragments and chunks of stone, hurtling straight toward them.

"Run!"

"Get out of the way!"

"Damn it—what’s going on?"

"Who the hell are these people?!"

Amid the shouts and screams, the Kusagakure shinobi scattered in all directions, scrambling to take cover.

But no matter how fast they ran, there were always the unlucky ones—caught by the force of the blast, or struck down by flying debris and stones—dying without even knowing how.

"Everyone, clear the area and await orders!"

The village head barked the command in fury. His mood was foul—he didn’t even know what was going on.

Taking a hit like this out of nowhere left a bitter taste, but for now, he had no choice but to hold back. If the chance came, he would definitely act.

"Yes!"

Karin nodded and ran outside at once. But she couldn’t help glancing back at the group of combatants drawing ever closer.

There was something she hadn’t told the Kusagakure leader—

In her sensory perception, several of those chakra signatures were exactly the same.

'What’s going on here?'

'And that chakra—warm like the sun itself—what is that…?'

...

"Are you trying to lead me away from your real body?"

At the center of the battle, Kitagawa Gen was now truly pressing the attack. After taking down the Animal Path, the remaining Paths had engaged him in a drawn-out clash.

Through the constant back-and-forth, he realized he was getting closer and closer to Kusagakure—and the thought actually made him chuckle.

But he said nothing until he had closed the distance further. Then, he finally spoke.

"By the way… are you sure you’re going the right way? That’s Kusagakure over there."

"Looks like you’ve got a plan. Kusagakure has built a good diplomatic relationship with Konoha, but…"

As he spoke, Gen’s chakra stirred.

In the next instant, several raging streams of fire, like colossal dragons in a frenzy, roared toward the Paths of Pain and Raiga.

Raiga instantly formed seals, sending a massive sphere of lightning hurtling toward one of the fire dragons.

It was clear he was fighting with everything he had, while on Pain’s side, the Preta Path leapt forward, raising a hand to greedily absorb the incoming flames.

But the Deva Path frowned—there were far too many fire dragons. One Preta Path alone wouldn’t be enough.

[Boom—]

In the next instant, on the opposite side, another lightning sphere was shattered and sent surging toward them again!

"Damn it."

The Deva Path gave a cold snort. He was well aware they were getting closer to Kusagakure, but it hadn’t been his focus.

All he had wanted was to widen the gap from the main body, giving himself more room to react.

As for Kusagakure—it didn’t matter. No matter which village it was, they would all be enemies in the future.

'And I can’t afford to lose any more Paths.'

Raising his hand, the Deva Path unleashed a powerful wave of repulsion. He had to admit, Kitagawa Gen’s words—‘Concentrated force can pierce solid rock’—were true enough.

All he could do now was ensure the survival of his remaining bodies.

"Shinra Tensei!"

The overwhelming repulsive force burst forth again, scattering and dispersing the fire dragons coming from Raiga’s side and the flanks, leaving the ones directly ahead to the Preta Path.

"Hm?"

But soon, he sensed something was wrong—the Preta Path’s body was gradually growing rigid, the stiffness spreading until it began to petrify.

"What… is this?!"

Nagato couldn’t figure out what was happening, but the next moment, there was no time to think—

Because Kitagawa Gen, bracing against Shinra Tensei itself, had already appeared right in front of them!

'What? Shinra Tensei can’t push him back?!'

"Your force seems a bit lacking… and my chakra isn’t that easy to absorb."

Gen’s blade flicked out in a blur, and the Asura Path stepped in at once to intercept.

"Ha!"

A surge of massive power erupted from the Asura Path, its body bristling with countless hidden mechanisms as a volley of bombs and missiles primed to fire.

Yet in the blink of an eye, the Asura Path was torn apart, and as Gen’s figure vanished again, the bombs and missiles detonated midair with a deafening roar—

[Boom—]

A mushroom cloud billowed upward, its immense shockwave sweeping violently toward the rear.

Gen reappeared in an open clearing, his white eyes gleaming as if piercing through the haze of smoke.

"You looked like you were having fun just now…"

"Now—it’s my turn."

...

While Kitagawa Gen unleashed a flurry of attacks, Kakashi and Obito’s battle was also steadily escalating.

“Kakashi!”

“Obito!”

Their figures kept shifting between the real world and Kamui’s dimension, their fight advancing in a constant clash of reality and illusion.

“Damn it… so the offensive aspect of Kamui is on Kakashi’s side.”

In this kind of exchange, Obito was clearly at a disadvantage—despite his powerful body and Wood Release.

Kakashi’s combat skills and tactics far outstripped his own; in close-quarters taijutsu exchanges, Obito couldn’t gain the upper hand.

In the past, he could use Kamui to evade, but now Kakashi wielded his eye and could counter to some extent.

Now, he finally understood exactly what Kakashi’s version of Kamui was capable of.

'My Kamui is for transfer—more suited for defense. But to send a target into the space, I have to risk getting close.'

As he dodged, Obito’s mind worked quickly.

Kakashi can attack from long range. That’s bad.

In the midst of his thoughts, Kakashi suddenly hurled several kunai charged with Lightning Release, drawing a cold snort from Obito.

“Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique!”

The Great Fireball was just a basic Fire Release jutsu, but in his hands, its power was immense.

The massive flames surged forward, engulfing the kunai. Even Kakashi, in that instant, pressed both hands to the ground.

“Earth Release: Earth Flow Wall!”

A wall of earth with dog-head carvings rose up from the ground. The moment Obito’s eyes fell on those carvings, his fists clenched.

“So it really was you, you bastard, who taught him that!”

“?”

Kakashi was baffled, though he couldn’t see Obito’s expression. The wall not only blocked the fireball but also cut off their line of sight.

In the next moment, Obito phased through the wall and lunged at him—yet just before his strike could land, he let out another cold snort.

“As expected… your shamelessness runs in the same vein!”

“…”

The Kakashi before him dissolved into a mass of lightning, while the real Kakashi burst from the ground at his feet.

But the same trick wouldn’t work twice—

At least, not against Kakashi.

Kamui twisted violently as Obito grabbed hold of Kakashi. At the same time, Kakashi activated his own Kamui.

In an instant, the space around them warped—one trying to enter Kamui, the other trying to close it.

Reality and illusion blended again, and finally, both vanished from their spot.

When they reappeared, they stood in the middle of an open field.

“This is…”

“Here?”

Looking at the unfamiliar yet hauntingly familiar surroundings, both fell into silence. This place carried a pain they could never erase.

Because this… was where Rin had died.

“How ironic… you worthless piece of trash actually brought us here.”

After a long silence, Obito suddenly sneered, his scarlet Sharingan locking onto Kakashi with icy contempt.

“You worthless piece of trash—you broke your promise back then. Maybe this really is the best place for us.”

“Yes… I broke my promise. I failed to protect Rin.”

Kakashi took a deep breath and spoke with the same cold detachment.

“But I never betrayed her will. She guarded Konoha until her dying breath. You, on the other hand, betrayed her—and everyone else.”

“Yes… this is a fitting place.”

As his words fell, their chakra flared violently once more.

Even someone like Kakashi, who was “low on chakra,” seemed to feel no exhaustion at this moment.

But just as they were about to clash, they suddenly noticed a massive sphere rising from the ground in the distance, floating into the air.

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I will post some extra Chapters in Patreon, you can check it out. /TitoVillar

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