Naruto: The Hyuga Mastermind

Chapter 61: Flying Thunder God and Kamui

"Yakumaru, did you know? Some white monster transformed into you to ambush Minato. At the time, I thought something had happened to you!"

Kushina, who had rushed to the scene, looked visibly upset as she scolded them relentlessly.

"Can't you all learn from Fuji? At the very least, he knows how to send a proper notification…"

"I did notify… uh…"

Yakumaru, clutching the growing lump on his head, started to argue but trailed off when he saw Kushina's increasingly stern expression. His voice dropped to a mumble.

"I sent a shadow clone, but it seems it got ambushed along the way."

"…"

Kushina raised an eyebrow.

The white creature that had attacked Minato while disguised as Yakumaru had claimed to be a shadow clone delivering information.

So, the enemy was lured there by you, huh?

Yakumaru, noticing Kushina's darkening expression, quickly shut his mouth, looking genuinely confused.

But I'm not lying… Why doesn't Lady Kushina believe me?

Off to the side, Kakashi, hearing about the "white creature" from Kushina, immediately thought of the "armor" Obito had been wearing earlier. His heart sank.

Was Obito saved by those strange creatures?

But why did they attack Minato-sensei? What kind of situation has Obito gotten himself into…

Remembering Minato, Kakashi suddenly realized something critical. He turned to Kushina with a sharp look.

"Where is Sensei?"

Could the Kushina standing before him also be a fake?

"You think I'm an impostor?" Kushina's chakra flared, her tone laced with a mix of anger and exasperation. "Minato went to the battlefield with the tailed beast. He was worried about you three and asked me to check on you."

In truth, both she and Minato had assumed the worst after encountering Hyuga Fuji's shadow clone.

Those strange creatures, capable of transforming, posed a significant threat without prior knowledge. To make matters worse, one of them had mimicked Yakumaru's appearance, amplifying her sense of dread.

Fortunately, all three of them were unharmed.

Yakumaru's shadow clone had likely been killed during the ambush, and the enemy had replaced it without immediately targeting them directly.

"I'm sorry." Kakashi clenched his fists. Tears, which he had withheld during battle, now slid down his face. "But I saw Obito… and Rin."

"…"

Kushina's heart sank. She suppressed her rising anger and asked, "What happened?"

"Rin is dead!"

Kushina's expression darkened as she struggled to control her emotions. "Tell me everything. Why was Rin even there?"

As Kakashi began recounting the events to Kushina, Hyuga Fuji stayed silent, lost in thought.

His clash with Obito had provided valuable intel.

Although he had known Obito's abilities in theory, experiencing them firsthand revealed nuances that couldn't be understood otherwise.

For example, knowing the duration of Kamui's intangibility and the nature of the ability wasn't the same as testing its limits in real combat. Misjudgments could be fatal.

Since Fuji had deliberately allowed Obito's descent into darkness to unfold as planned for future strategies, he needed to evaluate the exact level of threat Obito posed.

This was the best time to do so—Obito was at his weakest, having only recently awakened the Mangekyo Sharingan.

And this "test" had yielded significant insights.

For instance: Even with a Flying Thunder God mark, Fuji couldn't immediately teleport into Kamui's dimension without sufficient chakra.

Flying Thunder God, in essence, was quite similar to summoning techniques. There was even precedent in the original story for using summoning to traverse dimensions.

After the battle with Kaguya, the past Hokage had used summoning to pull Naruto and the others out of Kaguya's "starting sphere" dimension.

That feat required multiple Hokage working together, indicating that interdimensional teleportation was extremely challenging.

But it wasn't impossible.

During his fight with Obito, Fuji had considered teleporting into Kamui's dimension when Obito phased out the part of his body marked with the Flying Thunder God seal. However, he had sensed a barrier blocking the way.

It must have been the spatial barrier between the ninja world and Kamui's dimension.

But if such a barrier could be sensed, it could potentially be overcome.

In theory, with sufficient chakra and preparation, and if a Flying Thunder God mark existed as a coordinate within Kamui's dimension, teleportation should be feasible.

Fuji's gaze shifted to the severed arm left behind by White Zetsu. His eyes narrowed.

The Flying Thunder God mark was indeed difficult to erase, but it wasn't infallible. If someone was willing to go to extremes, they could remove the marked area entirely.

If it was marked on a hand, they could sever the hand. If it was marked on their body, they could carve out the flesh.

For someone like Obito, who had access to Hashirama's cells and White Zetsu's "body spare parts," such measures wouldn't be difficult.

The reason this hadn't been an issue in the original timeline was likely that Obito believed Minato was dead, so there was no need to bother.

But now that Fuji was alive and actively using the technique, Obito wouldn't want to leave any vulnerabilities.

Of course, Fuji hadn't expected to leave a lasting mark on Obito in the first place.

…

"Madara, I'm back!"

Madara stirred from his slumber and looked at the drastically changed young man before him, a satisfied smile on his face.

"Then let me tell you how to save the world."

Obito and Madara conversed in the genjutsu space. Obito absorbed Madara's teachings and even witnessed his death before leaving the underground hideout with Zetsu.

Shortly after Obito departed, what had appeared to be Madara's lifeless body reverted to its original state.

"Obito… couldn't even see through such a simple illusion," Madara muttered with narrowed eyes.

Emerging from the ground, a White Zetsu clone tasked with monitoring Obito explained, "That little medic ninja girl was too weak. The Mist ninja we lured easily caught up to her, forcing us to let Obito intervene earlier than planned."

This wasn't how the plan was supposed to go.

Initially, the plan had been to have one of Obito's comrades impersonate him, luring Kakashi to the scene, and then have Obito's most cherished people die in front of him to awaken his Mangekyo.

While the outcome had worked, something still felt off to White Zetsu.

That girl was a chunin. Even as a medic ninja, she should've been able to handle a few Mist genin.

Was it because she had exhausted her chakra earlier?

And the Mist ninja that arrived later—how were they so fast? It was as if they were being chased by something terrifying. If not for the pincer attack, Rin might have lasted longer.

"Still, there's no doubt the girl was the one Obito cared about most. She chose to die by his hand to escape control," Zetsu concluded.

After listening to Zetsu's report, Madara frowned slightly.

No wonder Obito's emotions had exceeded expectations. Killing the person he loved most with his own hands was rare even among the Uchiha who awakened their Sharingan through loss. That kind of pain could easily lead to cold indifference and a desire for destruction.

An unexpected bonus, perhaps?

(End of Chapter)