Chapter 155: The Battle of Kannabi Bridge

"Earth Release: Rock Dwelling Collapse!"

An Iwagakure shinobi slammed a hand on the ground, causing an explosion of chakra. The cavern shook as massive boulders, the size of houses, began to rain down upon the three young shinobi inside.

"This is bad! Find an exit quickly!" Kakashi yelled, but after only a few steps, he collapsed with a thud.

His left eye was covered in layers of bandages. Just a few minutes earlier, this eye had been rendered useless by an enemy. Kakashi, still unused to seeing with only one eye, was struck in a blind spot by a falling rock. Exhausted from the intense battle, he immediately lost consciousness.

Before blacking out, he saw someone rushing toward him and pushing him aside.

He didn't know how much time had passed, but Kakashi suddenly opened his eyes to see Rin's tear-streaked face. At the same time, he was met with a horrific sight—

Obito lay on the ground, his right side crushed under a massive boulder, blood pooling around him, barely clinging to life.

"Damn it!" Kakashi rushed over, but the boulder both pinned Obito and supported the collapsing cave. With his strength, he couldn't move it.

If he used Chidori to break it, the flying debris would shatter Obito's body as well!

"Save your strength, Kakashi." At the brink of death, Obito, usually seen as the team's weak link, displayed the qualities of an exceptional shinobi. He smiled gently, speaking softly:

"My right side is completely crushed... I can't feel anything..."

As he spoke, Obito coughed up blood, clearly suffering from internal injuries caused by the boulder.

"Damn it!" Kakashi knelt on the ground, overwhelming regret filling his heart. He clenched his fist, pounding it against the rock.

"If I had listened to you and come to save Rin earlier, this wouldn't have happened... I'm not fit to be a captain... I'm not fit to be a shinobi!"

"Ah... Kakashi, I just remembered." At that moment, Obito spoke again, still smiling as if it wasn't his body being crushed.

"When you were promoted to Jonin, sensei gave you a special kunai, and Rin gave you a medical kit and a good luck charm... I've always thought about what to give you... Now I've finally decided. Don't worry, this gift won't be a burden."

"I'll give you... this Sharingan."

"No matter what the villagers say, you and your father, the White Fang of Konoha, are great shinobi... That's what I think."

"Rin, please, do me a favor and transplant this Sharingan to Kakashi..."

"I'm about to die, Kakashi, but I'll be your eyes... so you can see the future..."

...

White Zetsu squatted on the ground, looking up at the rock ceiling.

"Ah... new neighbor, when did you fall from the sky..."

Boom!

While talking to itself, the rock above shattered, and a blood-covered boy fell through the pre-dug tunnel.

White Zetsu quickly caught him and, with a brief glance, winced in pain.

"His right side is completely destroyed, and his left eye is gone. If he dies on the way back, Madara-sama will definitely be angry..."

Holding Obito, White Zetsu ran.

...

At midday.

"So fast." Yuto stood on a tree branch, carefully sensing the chakra reactions in the distance.

He had observed the entire process of Kakashi and Obito rescuing Rin.

However, Yuto had no intention of intervening, allowing events to unfold as they did in the original story. He wasn't a saint; for his own purposes, Obito needed to be brought to Madara by White Zetsu. Only this way, through sensing the Black Receivers, could he locate Madara.

Sensing Obito's sudden increase in speed, Yuto knew White Zetsu had succeeded.

He donned his mask and began digging down with brute force.

Soon, Yuto's fingers hit hard rock.

The Lone Lion appeared, and he used its cutting power to bore through the rock, descending deeper and deeper. Eventually, the ground beneath him gave way, and he fell a long distance, landing in an underground cavern.

Calling it a cavern was an understatement; it was more like a vast underground space.

It was about a kilometer high, and the length and breadth seemed endless, shrouded in darkness. If not for Yuto's quick reflexes, grabbing onto an overhanging stalactite with Ryuun Steel and using the Lone Lion's power to slow his descent, he would have been done for.

"It's huge..." Veins bulged at Yuto's temples as he activated his Byakugan, which granted night vision. He was about to meet Madara, so he wouldn't conserve chakra at this critical moment.

'I need to find Madara, fast. If I can, I'll kill him. If not, I'll at least get some of his flesh and blood.'

With this thought, Yuto sped forward, following the chakra emitted from the Black Receivers.

The only sound in the silent underground was his footsteps. Though he kept a few kilometers' distance from Obito, Yuto didn't make much effort to hide himself. He wasn't good at stealth, and Madara, who controlled many White Zetsu, had likely set up several security lines. He might have already been discovered.

While running, Yuto prepared for an attack. He didn't believe that Madara would surrender easily.

Finally, his run came to an abrupt halt.

A figure appeared before Yuto.

Clad in a black robe, with his back turned, the figure wasn't particularly tall but felt oddly familiar.

In the dim underground, the black-robed figure slowly turned around, revealing his face to Yuto.

Red hair, purple eyes with concentric rings, and a rather handsome face marred with cracks.

—This was the Impure World Reincarnation of Nagato!

During the Fourth Shinobi World War, Madara Uchiha was revived using the Impure World Reincarnation. Kabuto had attempted to control him with a summoning contract, but Madara had easily broken free using the Release technique.

The Release technique for the Impure World Reincarnation was simple: just reverse the hand signs.

Madara's trump card could very well include powerful resurrected shinobi. Yuto had been prepared for this possibility.

But the sight before him was unexpected.

—Nagato was dead!

Yuto felt a chill run through his body.

'What had happened...'

'Wait... could it be that Kitsu is also...'

'No, no... This isn't the time to worry about the Senju clone. Thinking it through, if Nagato was dead, then his Rinnegan would have been taken by Madara... Where could it be? There's no way he wouldn't be using them.'

'This was trouble...'

(End of Chapter)