Naruto: Passerby and Returnee

Chapter 531 All or Nothing

"They're fighting fiercely. Do they think no one can break in here?"

Naruto's appearance was completely beyond Obito's expectations. This was the first time since the birth of Kamui that an external force had intruded into the small world at its core. He had considered that the weakness of the intangible transformation could be exploited, and that it had a time limit, but he never imagined that someone could directly break through the barrier of the small world!

"Kakashi-sensei!" At the sound of the warning, an equally shocked Kakashi immediately rushed towards the rift, not wanting to linger there for even a moment longer. Naruto had arrived just in time; if he had been even a little later, something painful might have happened to him again.

Obito wanted to give chase, but in this small world, he couldn't use his intangibility to save his life. He had to dodge the barrage of wind blades, and could only watch helplessly as Kakashi passed through the rift and returned to the normal world. Having done all this, Naruto withdrew his hand from maintaining the rift, even waving to Obito at the last moment before it closed. Obito sensed no tension from Naruto, as if the war was insignificant to him; as long as he wanted to win, the outcome would never change.

How is that possible? If Naruto Uzumaki has always possessed such immense power, why would he stand by and watch Akatsuki start a war? Wouldn't it have been better to nip it in the bud before it even began?

Obito was questioning his existence, Kakashi was reliving his ordeal, and Naruto was examining his torn arm. The energy required to shatter the spatial barrier was simply too immense; he predicted that even his previous body couldn't withstand such an explosive output, let alone this reanimated form. It was precisely because the physical body has its limits that beings who become "gods" abandon the limitations of their physical forms and exist as energy entities.

However... that form of existence is not yet acceptable to his family and friends, so he'd better find a way to create a shell for himself.

However, this wasn't something he should be worrying about right now. After all, his attempts to persuade Madara Uchiha had failed, Obito didn't seem to have come to his senses, the remaining parts of Black Zetsu hadn't been gathered, and Kaguya was still buried deep within the Golem's lair. Only by dealing with these four could the crisis of the Infinite Tsukuyomi be completely resolved.

“Naruto…that person is…Uchiha Obito, my former teammate.” Kakashi, after recovering, said with difficulty what he knew. “My eyes belong to him, and both eyes lead to the same space. We need to…revise our battle plan.”

Kakashi was covered in dust and looked somewhat disheveled, but his eyes were resolute as he looked up, though a hint of sorrow was hidden in his slightly furrowed brows.

Naruto gently placed his hand on his teacher's shoulder. His chakra, as warm as his smile, instantly filled the void left by his depletion.

"It's alright, teacher. Take a short rest. I've already marked his space. If he dares to show up again, I guarantee I'll be able to drag him out of his shell."

When Obito reappeared, he didn't land where he was, but instead landed in the arena where the Three-Tails and Five-Tails were locked in combat. Once he was fully immersed in his own little world, his connection with the puppets would be severed. These puppets could no longer provide him with any additional vision, nor were they under his control. Therefore, Obito wouldn't hesitate to abandon them. Among them, only the Three-Tails within Yagura was truly important; the lives of the others were no longer relevant.

Sasuke Uchiha, who was flying in the sky, noticed him almost immediately, but his sword was not as threatening as Naruto's. Obito ignored him and directly used the Summoning Jutsu to make the strange golem reappear.

[Deactivate Tailed Beast Mode, be prepared to dodge!]

The golem opened its mouth and spat out several chains of condensed energy, which rushed straight towards the Jinchūriki present.

Isobu was already controlled by the golem, and his chains appeared out of nowhere.

Han and King Mu were very close, and their reactions were swift enough that they changed direction with a tail whip, deactivating their tailed beast mode as they sped away. However, the soul-chasing chains seemed to have a locking function, thinning and shrinking as Han changed, yet still relentlessly pursuing him.

Sasuke, who was the second closest, suffered the same fate, but his Susanoo was the strongest defense, repelling several chain attacks and even cutting the thing into pieces. However, he still couldn't break free and was caught off guard by the chains that kept breaking and reassembling, binding the outer shell of his Susanoo. Sasuke quickly realized the strangeness of these chains; his chakra was slowly draining away, and an extremely aggressive force seemed to want to penetrate his chakra and reach Kurama's location. He immediately abandoned his Susanoo, using the momentum to plummet downwards, aiming directly at Obito atop the golem's head.

That was a feint. He knew very well that only by defeating the golem would those eerie chains disappear!

As for the Jinchūriki who were further away, they were also targeted by the chains. As they used their various skills to dodge left and right, the golden chains, which were completely different from the light purple ones, intercepted these flying dangers. And the source of the gold was clearly Naruto Uzumaki, who was once again suspended in mid-air.

"Kurama, Tailed Beast Ball." This was the first time Sasuke had released the half-complete form of a Tailed Beast in battle. He still couldn't get used to this state, but right now there was no attack that could deal more damage than the Tailed Beast Ball.

"Hmph, I thought you'd forgotten about this old man." Despite his grumbling, Kurama briefly switched into his new form, conjuring a medium-sized Tailed Beast Ball at the fastest speed he could muster, and unleashing it towards the golem. This slightly reduced Sasuke's speed due to the recoil, giving Kurama time to envelop him in chakra to protect him from the subsequent impact.

However, he probably didn't need to worry about the kid's safety. The familiar spatial fluctuations instantly took them away from the danger zone. On the contrary, Naruto, who was entangled with the chains, seemed unable to move and took the aftershocks of the Tailed Beast Ball at close range.

All the living people near the golem were moved to one location. They stared at each other for a moment, and then someone immediately reacted and rushed out like lightning.

"Naruto!" Even though he knew that Naruto was an impure body and wouldn't die from the explosion, Sasuke's heart was still pounding. He rushed towards the battlefield where the smoke hadn't cleared. Only when he saw that Naruto in mid-air was completely unharmed and seemed to have been unaffected by the explosion did he calm down a little and quickly fly back to Naruto's side.

The golden chains extending from Naruto's body were taut, with one end reaching into the center of the explosion, clearly indicating that a single Tailed Beast Ball had not yet dealt with the most troublesome enemy.