Tsunade was equally enraged as she stared at Tobi—the man claiming to be Uchiha Madara. Without hesitation, she shouted,

"You won’t be escaping from here today,"

and drove her fist forward with overwhelming force.

Her punch passed straight through Obito’s body, meeting nothing but empty air as his form phased seamlessly—Kamui activating at the precise moment to nullify her attack.

As Tsunade pulled her arm back, her expression darkened with fury.

"Damn it... that phasing ability of his," she growled. "But it doesn’t matter. We know the weakness of that technique." Her fists clenched tighter. "If I keep attacking him nonstop and keep him busy, once his ability hits its five-minute limit, I’ll be able to capture him."

I just need to keep the pressure on.

Before she could act on that thought, Obito spoke again, his tone cold and composed.

"Almighty Push."

An invisible shockwave erupted outward. Tsunade was blasted backward violently, her body slamming into the wall behind her. The impact shattered stone and metal alike as she was driven deep into the structure, cracks spiderwebbing around her embedded form.

Meanwhile, the Raikage—who had been sent flying earlier by the same technique—forced himself back to his feet. Lightning crackled around his body once more as he re-entered the meeting room at blinding speed, charging straight toward Obito with killing intent.

But just as he closed the distance, something appeared in Obito’s hand.

A body.

The Fourth Raikage skidded to a halt mid-charge, his eyes widening as he stared at the lifeless form being held so casually before him. His breath caught in his throat.

It was Killer B.

The Jinchuriki of the Eight-Tails.

Obito let the body drop and spoke calmly, almost indifferently.

"By the way, you can keep the body of your Kumogakure Jinchuriki." His masked gaze remained fixed on the Raikage. "What I wanted from him—the Tailed Beast, the Eight-Tails—I have already obtained."

He tilted his head slightly. His tone filled with sarcasm.

"At the very least, out of respect for you, Fourth Raikage, I can return his body."

Hearing this, the Raikage’s rage exploded, his chakra surging violently—but before he could say anything, Obito spoke once more, his voice carrying the weight of his assumed identity.

"We will meet again on the battlefield," he said. "One month from now."

With those words, the room fell into a stunned, suffocating silence.

While Obito was still addressing the Raikage and the other Kage in the room, more than half of his body had already been swallowed by the Kamui vortex. Space twisted around him unnaturally, and within moments, his form vanished completely—drawn into the swirling distortion in his characteristic vortex-like movement. With his final words spoken, he disappeared from the meeting room as if he had never been there at all.

The Raikage stood frozen, staring at the lifeless body of Killer B lying before him. Rage boiled inside his chest, but there was no enemy left in front of him to unleash it upon. With a thunderous shout,

"Damn it!"

he grabbed the table to his right and flung it aside with overwhelming force. The table smashed into the wall, embedding itself deep within the stone.

He then walked toward Killer B’s body, his steps heavy. Kneeling beside him, the Raikage looked down at the unmoving form of his brother. The lightning around his body faded, leaving only raw grief behind. His heart felt completely shattered.

Tsunade forced herself free from the wall she had been embedded in, stone fragments falling away as she landed back on her feet. She turned and looked toward the grieving Fourth Raikage, her expression grim.

Onoki, meanwhile, barely had time to process what had just happened. For the first few moments, he remained completely stunned after hearing Madara’s voice. The shadow of Uchiha Madara still loomed large in his mind—the memory of being looked down upon by that monster resurfacing vividly. Because of that lingering fear, he hadn’t even been able to move when Obito stood before them, masquerading as Madara.

One by one, the Kage silently expressed their condolences for the death of Killer B. His loss weighed heavily on all of them. It was also devastating news—Killer B had been captured, meaning only the Nine-Tails remained before the Ten-Tails could take form.

Yet, amidst the dread, there was a small sense of relief.

The Nine-Tails was under the protection of Inoiki.

As powerful as the remaining Akatsuki members were, capturing the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki under Inoiki’s watch would be exceedingly difficult. Still, none of them underestimated the threat.

Inoiki needs to know about this, several of them thought simultaneously.

This matter could not wait.

Tsunade immediately turned toward Kakashi and spoke without hesitation.

"Send word to Inoiki at once. Inform him of everything that happened here and tell him to stay on full alert." Her voice hardened. "Also, send another message to Konoha. Have Might Guy assemble a team of Konoha shinobi and dispatch them immediately for Naruto’s protection."

At that moment, the Raikage stood up as well. The rage burning inside him was barely contained, his fists clenched so tightly they trembled.

"Send out my orders," he said through gritted teeth. "Protect Naruto Uzumaki at all costs. No one—no one—should be allowed to go anywhere near that island. It must be secured without exception."

Darui nodded firmly after hearing the Raikage’s command.

"I will take care of it immediately."

The Raikage then continued, his voice carrying through the room like rolling thunder.

"Send out the proposal approved by all the major villages. Every small country and every minor ninja village is to search for Akatsuki members within their territories. The moment they find even a trace, they are to report it to me without delay." His eyes burned with killing intent. "I will kill that Madara bastard with my own hands."

Normally, this would have been the final order marking the end of the Five Kage meeting, but they had no choice except to remain seated and continue, as the war had been forced upon them by ’Madara’.

...

Elsewhere, within a hidden base shrouded in darkness, space twisted once more as Obito reappeared. Kisame and Zetsu were already waiting for him, standing silently as the distortion faded and Obito’s form fully emerged. 𝙛𝓻𝒆𝒆𝒘𝙚𝓫𝙣𝙤𝒗𝙚𝓵.𝙘𝙤𝙢

Before either of them could speak, a third voice echoed from deeper within the hideout.

"So... how did things go at the Five Kage Meeting?"

From the shadows stepped a man covered in snake-like scales, glasses glinting faintly in the dim light. His presence carried an unsettling calm as he revealed himself.

It was none other than Kabuto Yakushi.

Obito spoke calmly, his voice steady beneath the mask.

"Everything went exactly as planned. I’ve informed them about the Fourth Shinobi World War." He then turned his attention toward Kabuto. "What matters now is your end of things. How are the preparations I asked you to complete progressing?"

Kabuto adjusted his glasses with his index finger, a confident smile spreading across his face.

"Everything is going smoothly on my side as well. The Golden Horn and Silver Horn Brothers can be reanimated whenever you give the order."

Obito gave a slow nod.

"Good. Start making the final preparations for the war," he said coldly. "Don’t disappoint me." After a brief pause, he added, "I also have my own preparations to take care of."

With that, he turned and walked away, his footsteps fading into the darkness of the hideout.

After Obito left, Kabuto made his way toward his research room. Inside, several bodies of White Zetsu lay arranged methodically across the floor and tables. It was clear that Kabuto was deeply immersed in studying them, his focus entirely on his experiments.

As he continued his research, the land behind him stirred.

From the shadows of the room, Black Zetsu emerged silently from the ground. In his grasp was something massive and ominous—a large coffin.

----

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