Chapter 227: Explosion

Half an hour later.

Konan, along with the three youngsters, arrived at a forest located over ten kilometers outside of Uzushiogakure.

Swish swish.

As she formed a seal and cast her jutsu, countless paper pieces converged, swiftly morphing into a lifelike large tree.

The Divine Paper Emissary Technique.

This jutsu transforms paper into various forms, its intricacy capable of deceiving even the Mangekyō Sharingan.

During the Six Paths of Pain's assault on Konoha, Konan utilized this technique to conceal Nagato within a large tree on the outskirts of the village.

Back then, it was only through tracing chakra in reverse that Danzo managed to discover Nagato's hiding place.

Konan instructed Naruto and the others to hide within the large tree, making no noise.

They would be safe here.

She, on the other hand, turned around and headed back to the ruins of Uzushiogakure.

"Can she handle it alone, with so many enemies... what if..."

Naruto's eyes were filled with worry, his mind in turmoil.

When he heard Konan personally express her intention to avenge the Uzumaki clan against the shinobi world, young Naruto was deeply moved.

"Don't worry, trust in Konan-sensei, she'll come back safely!" Fu patted Naruto on the shoulder, her face still beaming with confidence in Konan.

Gaara remained silent, his expression gloomy, his thoughts unknown to all.

Land of Whirlpools.

Over twenty years after its fall, this barren land today welcomed a group of uninvited guests.

The elite shinobi from the four major villages crossed the seas, landing on this island.

Among them, Konoha had the largest contingent, nearly half of its Anbu forces were deployed, led by the Anbu captain "Shadow" appointed by Danzo.

The other villages also had a significant number of shinobi, led respectively by Darui of Kumogakure, Maki of Sunagakure, and Kitsuchi of Iwagakure.

In total, there were over a hundred individuals.

Such a massive mobilization was due to their target being the three Jinchuriki—

A force potent enough to tip the balance in the shinobi world and alter the course of battles.

However,

As the joint forces rapidly approached the ruins of Uzushiogakure,

Whoosh whoosh whoosh.

Several massive balls of molten rock suddenly descended from the sky into the crowd, exploding on impact, turning the ground into a sea of flames.

Facing this assault, many were injured.

Who was it?

Everyone cast their sharp glances forward, only to see a red figure, like a wild beast on all fours, roaring as it charged out from the forest.

"That is..."

Kitsuchi of Iwagakure was taken aback, quickly recognizing the attacker's identity from the four tails swinging behind him.

The Four-Tails Jinchuriki—Rōshi.

Ever since his fallout with the Third Tsuchikage, Rōshi had left the village, becoming a wandering monk. Iwagakure had sent people to search for him for a long time, attempting to persuade Rōshi to return, but they never managed to find his trace.

Unexpectedly, Rōshi appeared here in such a manner.

"Look at his eyes, he's under the control of the Sharingan. Could the Uchiha clan have gotten here first?"

Maki of Sunagakure tightened her grip on her ninja blade, her palms sweating unknowingly.

"It's not the Uchiha clan, it's Obito."

Darui spoke solemnly, his eyes burning with determination.

Indeed.

Following the rustling sounds from the forest behind Rōshi, two more enemies revealed themselves.

Kisame Hoshigaki and Kakuzu.

"Having to hold off so many enemies is quite a headache, tsk tsk."

Kisame, carrying his Samehada, lamented with a troubled expression.

Kakuzu, expressionless, responded,

"Obito said to buy him ten minutes. Once the time is up, regardless of the situation, I will retreat immediately."

"Well then... let's get to work."

Kisame grinned, revealing his sharp teeth.

As his words fell, his hands swiftly formed seals, and with a breath, he spewed out a lake-like stream of water, sweeping away numerous enemies.

Kakuzu went all out as well, summoning Earth Grudge Fear, splitting himself into five masked beasts, launching a barrage of jutsu at the enemies.

"Roar!"

Rōshi roared, opening his mouth to fire a miniature Tailed Beast Ball.

Boom boom boom.

The combined might of the three was astonishing, managing to hold off the joint forces of over a hundred shinobi.

Meanwhile,

At the entrance of Uzushiogakure.

As a vortex of spatial fluctuations emerged, Obito's figure appeared on the scene.

A few days earlier.

Obito was thrilled to discover that the Uchiha clan, who had been residing within the Kamui dimension, had moved out.

His most dreaded adversary, Uchiha Dan, was nowhere to be seen.

Upon confirming repeatedly that this wasn't a trap laid by the Uchiha, Obito could finally use Kamui with ease to travel to Uzushiogakure at the fastest speed.

Walking amidst the ruins, Obito remained vigilant, scanning his surroundings. It didn't take long for him to sense a familiar chakra emanating from the village center.

It was Konan.

His eyes sharpened as he quickened his pace towards the village center.

From afar, he saw Konan, her back facing him, extending her slender, pristine hand to caress a small flower growing from a crevice in the rocks.

"Life is indeed humble yet tenacious," she murmured.

Upon hearing footsteps behind her, she calmly turned around, seemingly unsurprised by Obito's arrival.

"We meet again, Konan."

Obito halted a short distance from Konan. After exchanging pleasantries, he cut to the chase, "You should be grateful. I am the first to find you. I am a generous person. Just hand over Nagato's Rinnegan to me, and I'll let everything else slide, including... your life."

So, he was after the Rinnegan.

Konan had already anticipated Obito's intentions. She shook her head, responding indifferently, "The Rinnegan was awakened by Nagato, a gift from the heavens to the Akatsuki. Why should I hand it over to you, a traitor of the Akatsuki?"

"Heh," Obito chuckled, shaking his head.

"What's so funny?" Konan inquired.

Obito's laughter ceased as he looked at Konan with a pitying gaze, slowly articulating, "I laugh at your naive ignorance.

Well, since you've decided to reject my goodwill, I'll reveal the truth to you, considering you'll be dead soon.

Firstly, I was the one who secretly facilitated Yahiko in establishing the Akatsuki.

From the beginning, you three were merely pawns in my game.

Moreover, the Rinnegan wasn't Nagato's to begin with. It was bestowed upon him by Uchiha Madara before his death.

Madara's intention was to use Nagato as a vessel for the Rinnegan, and someday harness the power of those eyes to resurrect himself."

As Obito laid his cards on the table, Konan's pupils dilated with shock, her expression growing more astonished.

"It can't be, this can't be true..." she whispered, her heart trembling.

However, Konan quickly regained her composure, her eyes sharpening, "Whether what you say is true or false, I've already entrusted Nagato's Rinnegan to someone trustworthy, following his last wishes. And I can assure you, that person is definitely not you, Uchiha Obito."

"What? Who did you give the Rinnegan to? Never mind, I've lost my patience. I'll capture you and extract the information slowly."

Obito furrowed his brows, advancing towards Konan with determined strides.

Facing Obito's approach,

"I knew you'd come for me, I've been waiting for a long time. Uchiha Obito, today will be your end."

Konan declared coldly, spreading her arms as a multitude of paper flew out from her body, forming an impenetrable defense around her.

The entire shinobi world was aware of Obito's Kamui ability, which allowed him to become intangible, immune to all forms of attack.

His only weakness was the moment he decided to strike, his body would materialize.

Thus,

Konan prepared herself in this manner, ready to exploit Obito's vulnerability.

Obito, however, scoffed dismissively, "Even if everyone knows the weakness of my ability, only the Uchiha can counter me. Who do you think you are?"

Before his words could settle,

Obito suddenly accelerated, phasing through the countless papers between him and Konan. In an instant, he materialized, swiftly and precisely grasping her throat.

Then,

Hum.

Obito activated his ability, attempting to suck Konan into the Kamui dimension. Once there, she would be at his mercy.

But at that moment, Konan, whose throat was clutched by Obito, revealed a mocking gaze.

The next second,

Boom!

A burst of white light enveloped Konan as she detonated herself without hesitation, the ferocious energy engulfing Obito as well.

Moments later, as the dust settled,

"Heh... heh..."

Konan gasped for breath, with only her upper body floating in the air. Continuous streams of paper flew towards her, slowly repairing her body.

Obito on the other hand, wasn't faring much better. The explosion had cost him an arm, his clothes were tattered, and he looked utterly disheveled.

"So you were prepared to perish with me all along, I underestimated you," Obito admitted solemnly, acknowledging his oversight.

Fortunately, he managed to deactivate his ability just in the nick of time, avoiding being dragged down with Konan.

In the midst of their grievous injuries, as both tried to recover faster than the other,

Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh.

Hundreds of figures suddenly stormed into the ruins of Uzushiogakure, encircling both Obito and Konan tightly.

Clearly,

After a fierce battle, the Akatsuki trio were inevitably outnumbered, unable to withstand the elite forces of the four major ninja villages.

"That woman is the remnant of the Akatsuki, codenamed Angel! And Uchiha Obito is here too," pointed out a member of the Leaf's Anbu.

Huh.

The captain of the Leaf's Anbu, "Shadow," noticed that Obito and Konan seemed to have fought each other, both severely injured.

This was undoubtedly a golden opportunity to eliminate them.

He immediately gestured, ordering the Anbu to prepare to strike.

Konan surveyed her surroundings, her cold gaze sweeping over the individuals from the four major ninja villages. She felt it was about time.

Then,

Under everyone's watchful eyes, she slowly floated into the air, sternly addressing the crowd below:

"For so long, the five major ninja villages have always been high and mighty, recklessly wielding violence, bringing endless pain to smaller countries and villages, never showing remorse.

Rain, Hot Water, Grass... and this village.

Take a good look around you. This is Uzushiogakure, once destroyed by the major nations. Countless souls are buried beneath these ruins. Can you hear their cries and wails?"

As her words echoed,

Rumble, rumble.

With a ground-shaking roar, a massive fissure suddenly appeared on the ground of Uzushiogakure, resembling a prehistoric behemoth opening its gaping maw.

It swallowed the unprepared elite forces of the four major ninja villages.

"What?!"

Only now did everyone realize that the buildings, trees, rivers, and even the ground within the ruins of Uzushiogakure were all fake.

All were disguised by Konan's Divine Paper Emissary Technique.

To be precise, over the past few months, Konan had used her chakra to create three hundred billion explosive tags.

She then used them to disguise the ruins of Uzushiogakure, meticulously setting up this trap.

"Terrifying woman."

Seeing the countless explosive tags around, even Obito felt a chill, no longer able to maintain his composure.

"Run! Evacuate immediately!"

The ninjas from the four major villages were terrified, desperately trying to escape "Uzushiogakure."

Too late.

Konan coldly looked down at the people scurrying like ants below, without any hesitation, she detonated the three hundred billion explosive tags she had prepared.

Boom, boom, boom!

A sky-shattering chain of explosions commenced.

"Water Release: Water Formation Wall!"

"Earth Release: Earth-Style Wall!"

Many Leaf Anbu shouted angrily, attempting to use various defensive techniques to withstand the explosion's impact.

However, they soon despaired, realizing their efforts were futile.

Surrounded by three hundred billion explosive tags, even if the Nine-Tails were here, it would be blown to smithereens, let alone the frail human bodies.

"Ahhhh!"

With screams resonating, one after another, the Leaf Anbu were engulfed by the explosions, their bodies reduced to ashes, sinking into the ground.

Even the Anbu captain "Shadow," after a resentful roar, was reduced to ashes.

The elite forces from other villages also met a similar grim fate.

Maki, Kitsuchi, and Darui, too, followed "Shadow's" footsteps, perishing in the sea of explosive tags.

In less than a minute,

Over a hundred elite ninjas from the four major villages were annihilated, not a single one survived.

The only survivor was Obito.

The moment Konan detonated the entire Uzushiogakure, he activated Kamui's intangibility, transferring his body to another dimension, evading the explosion's impact.

However,

Since Obito would materialize for a moment while absorbing himself, facing the omnipresent explosions, he had no chance to seize the opportunity to escape into the Kamui dimension completely.

He could only maintain his intangible state, waiting for the explosions to cease.

Thus,

Between heaven and earth, apart from the continuous explosions, only Obito and Konan remained, staring at each other across a distance of hundreds of meters.

Over the years, Konan had been secretly collecting information on Obito, analyzing his abilities.

As far as she knew, Obito's intangibility, although seemingly invincible, couldn't last indefinitely and had a certain time limit.

That's why she prepared three hundred billion explosive tags, aiming to create a continuous explosion lasting several minutes, leaving Obito with no room to breathe.

Next, whether Obito would give in first, or the explosions would cease first, was left to fate.