"Karin." Sasuke called to her, crawling out of the hole Nagato had sent him into.
"Yeah?"
"Shisui. Itachi. They're alive, both of them. Heal them. Please." His expression was miserable.
"Now." Nagato's voice, although soft, cut through the noise of the room easily. "Why would I let you do this…?"
"It's not a matter of who is going to let her." Naruto growled as the smoke cleared away around him. "Do you think we're going to let you stop her?"
His hair stood up slightly behind him, and he was surrounded by a purple aura.
"Me…?" Nagato lifted an eyebrow. "I would say so, yes."
"Let's see about that." Anko roared from above him. Metallic snakes shot out of her sleeves and she fired hundreds of beams of light toward him.
Karin moved.
Hanabi moved.
Sasuke moved.
Naruto moved.
Nagato didn't.
Dagger met tanto.
Sakura swept down with a low kick that Obito jumped over. Ino fell down with a Naginata strike that he caught and deflected.
He elbowed Sakura in the gut, before sticking to her and pulling her toward Ino's weapon. Ino dispelled it, slapping a tag on Obito's arm.
He grunted, applied the counter-seal to it and threw Ino away.
Sakura was in the air again. Her spectral hand flashed through his defenses, twisting like a snake and wrapping around his arms. She bound the arms together.
Ino's weapon, summoned once more, went through his throat like butter.
"Shit!" Ino cursed.
The clone fell away.
The real Obito charged out from in between two floating cubes. Sakura whirled around, her half-blind Sharingan unable to tell her much about his next move.
Lift your hand up! Ino warned.
Sakura did, without question.
The ninja wire Ino had bound to both their gloves sprang into existence, and the Yamanaka adjusted it on the fly. It wrapped around Obito's throat.
Pull! Ino roared.
Sakura did. The Created, extremely sharp cutting wire — dull around their own hands — was supposed to go through Obito's neck. They both knew it wouldn't be so easy, though.
Would he use Kamui to return to the physical world…? Would he summon his Susanoo…? Something else…?
He went for Susanoo. The spectral giant rose around him, starting from his neck. Obito slid a hand under the wire.
Pull me, Ino!
I'm on it!
The wire grinded around the Susanoo. Using her own speed and the strength of Ino's pull, Sakura flew toward it.
'Preta Path!' Sakura thought. She pulled some of the forming Susanoo's chakra to her.
Obito grunted and kicked her away, getting his neck out of the wire loop. Sakura dispelled it, lest Ino be pulled with her too. She flipped through the air and landed on one cube. Ino jumped next to her.
"Thanks." Sakura called out to Obito. The absorbed chakra went straight to her reserves.
"How annoying." He growled. Then threw himself to the right, in order to avoid the jutsu Ino had been weaving; one that relied on a clear line of sight.
"Can't blame a girl for trying." Ino grunted in return. "So. Tell me."
Uchiha Obito's eyes were upon Ino, and with the Rinnegan's power, she met them fearlessly.
"Why do you follow Nagato? You obviously have your own plans." She asked.
"I follow no one." He rumbled.
"Sure, you don't." Sakura nodded. "That's why he sent you to fetch the Bijū like a nice little lapdog."
Obito scowled at her.
"Our ambitions are similar enough, for the time being. And his power is a useful tool." Obito said.
"Ah." Sakura nodded in understanding. "Nothing to do with that dumb Moon's Eye's plan, then?"
Something changed in Obito's eyes.
"Now…" He began, cold and serious. "Just where did you hear about this…?"
"Here and there." Ino shrugged.
"Too bad you're missing some Bijū." Sakura shrugged. "And that you won't be able to find them."
"Oh, no? Your actions brought Uchiha Sasuke to us."
"You're assuming you will be able to take him. He's with Naruto." Ino said. "Besides, he holds the weakest of the Bijū, and the others are still out of reach for you guys."
"We shall extract the location of the last two from Uzumaki Naruto's mind. Or yours."
"You won't." Ino said flatly. "We made sure to obscure it. In all of us. You will find nothing of the sort."
She wasn't sure it would work, really.
Obito said nothing.
"So if your plan relies entirely on getting your hands on the last two Beasts… what are you going to do now…?" Ino asked.
"Destroy everything, I assume…?" Sakura offered.
"Or scour the entire planet until you find Umi, likely."
"I do not care if it takes me years." Obito spat.
"I don't think you still have years in you." Sakura laughed. "A few hours, at most, depending on how this goes. Not that it seems you really have much left to live for. That's… not the kind of plan someone who wants to live comes up with."
Then again, Uchiha Madara had been entirely mad, at that time.
"Does Nagato know about your intentions…?" Ino asked.
"What does it matter?"
"A no, then?"
"Kamui." He called, aiming at Ino.
Sakura's own eye bled. She canceled it. She felt woozy and pulled more chakra from her seal.
…She really shouldn't be doing that too much.
"What…?" He muttered, before steeling himself.
"Get fucked." Sakura muttered back.
Then Obito blurred forward.
"Earth Release: Earth Spikes!" Ino called.
It was harder for her to summon Earth here, Sakura knew. A blade appeared in Obito's hand and he used it to cut through the earth constructs, which were more brittle than usual.
Sakura rushed to meet him, her dagger extending with a water edge. With her spectral hand, she weaved hand seals. Obito's eyes widened in surprise, and she held back a small grin.
"Water Style: Multiple Water Bullets!"
Chakra coursed through Obito's blade and he deflected all of them using his Sharingan to predict their trajectories. Sakura kicked, aiming at his face. He dodged and tried to stab her leg. Up this close, she saw it coming and did a full split in the air in order to avoid it.
"Earth Release: Earth Fist!" Ino called.
A human-sized fist of condensed rock erupted from behind Obito and slammed into his back. There was a shimmer of blue chakra, and Sakura realized he had only summoned part of the Susanoo's ribcage.
His control over it was improving, which was a bad thing.
Obito's sword almost cleaved through Sakura. She anchored a water thread on a nearby cube to pull herself back.
"What's the matter?" Obito growled. "If that's the best you two can do… That's not nearly enough!"
"We got plenty more in reserve, you piece of shit!" Sakura grinned despite herself. Her Sharingan spun, and she countered every single following strike. Obito was fast, sure. But so was she. As long as she handled the melee combat, Ino would be able to support her.
"Water Style: Streaming Jet!"
A small condensed stream of water erupted from her mouth, aimed at piercing Obito's leg. He dodged it.
Ino!
I know, I know… I can read your harebrained thoughts… and schemes.
Ino made Obito's spatial awareness just a little bit worse. Sakura kept her control over the puddle her jutsu had created, and slid it underneath Obito's foot. Then she pulled.
He tripped, and his eyes widened.
Sakura's ghost hand shaped itself into a point. She roared and fell upon him. There was a whirring sound and he disappeared.
Her hand stabbed nothing but a cube, with a clanging sound.
"Fuck!" She cursed.
So he can only use Kamui to go in and out from here…? Ino asked.
Yes. Sakura confirmed. Move closer to me, he will come back with a surprise attack when we least expect it.
Obito didn't wait. He reappeared back into the Kamui dimension with a cross slash that bit through Ino's back.
"Ino!" Sakura howled.
Obito followed with a thrust aimed at her heart.
Sakura couldn't use Kamui the same way she could in the physical world. Otherwise she would have tried to make his sword disappear. Instead she rushed toward them, her hand extending uselessly.
Ino held a half hand sign up and Obito froze in place for a short moment. Sakura could see exertion on her face, veins popping up on her forehead.
Sakura's ghost hand wrapped around his foot. Ino twisted around and tried to grab him. A shimmering blue shield appeared in front of him, preventing her from reaching. Sakura sucked as much chakra as she could during the time they were in contact.
Obito whirled away once more.
Ino let out a ragged breath and summoned fire to her hand wordlessly. She dispelled her armor, held the flame to Sakura who took control of it and pressed it to her naked back in order to cauterize the cross wound. The wound was not as deep as it should have been.
Her armor had shielded her from most of it.
Sakura restored Ino's chakra quickly and she summoned a fresh set of armor from the Mindspace once more. She didn't show it to Ino, but her coils hurt.
Well.
Yeah.
At least as long as we're here, he won't dare fight outside. It would set him up for a counter.
So he will come back here to finish us before anything, then. Ino thought.
For sure.
Unless he intends to wait it out.
He probably won't.
He does intend to betray Nagato once there's an opportunity, I saw it. Ino added.
I don't think it takes being a mind reader to figure that out.
Here goes! Above!
Both Sakura and Ino threw themselves to the ground, backwards. They pushed off the floor with their hands, in an identical rising rick.
Part of the Susanoo shimmered into existence, protecting Obito's chin. He grabbed one of each woman's legs and slammed them against each other. They grunted when their heads collided.
Why is your forehead so damn thick?!
I could ask you the same thing!
Obito jumped before they could grab him.
"Fire Release: Sprawling Fire!"
An orb of flame exploded out of his mouth, scattering along the cubes and turning the world of fire.
He was aiming at separating them. Sakura began weaving hand seals using both hands, her physical one, and the spectral one. Together.
"Water Release: Tidal Wave!"
This was the sort of jutsu that Karin was more suited to use, generally. But Sakura had a vast pool of chakra sealed away for her personal use.
Ino came closer to her. A swirling vortex of water covered most of the area around them, turning the flames to nothing but raging mists.
It was hard to see through them, even with the Rinnegan. Chakra saturated the area, even though the Kamui world usually was devoid of it. Ino kept her senses extended, trying to see what Obito would do next.
Above again!
They rolled away, dodging the crushing weight of the Susanoo that slammed where they had been less than one second before.
"Earth Release: Twisting Spires!"
Ino summoned hands of mud that spiraled around the Susanoo's large form. Sakura rode on their back, with her hand extended, passing through the spectral summon in order to absorb its chakra. The mud hands became drier and drier as they twisted around it, holding it into place.
Obito dispelled it again.
"Earth Release: Pellet Rain!"
The rock broke apart into smaller pebbles that shot forward in every direction. Sakura directed her spectral hand through them, aimed at Obito.
He jumped away, twisting in between the attacks.
Ino's weapon extended, its tip covered in fire, as she slammed it down where Obito had been just one moment before. She flipped upside down, extended chakra through it and balanced on top of it to launch herself into a kick.
Obito parried and Sakura rose from under him.
"Lightning Release: Magnetic Flight!"
A tanto flashed from Obito's sleeve, forcing her to flip backwards. Obito anticipated her move and a knife slammed into her chest. But she had seen that coming and gathered chakra through her armor. Instead of slamming through her plexus, the blunt impact took her breath away.
Sakura really had to hand it to Naruto, this armor was a true masterpiece. They would have died a few times over already, without it.
Obito summoned a roaring ball of fire to his hand, which he hurled toward Ino.
"Water Style… whatever!" Sakura called, summoning a pillar of water to shield Ino.
Ino stepped on it, and Sakura guided it forward with one hand, as she continued dashing toward Obito. She heard Ino call out another jutsu, summoning Earth inside Sakura's own Water.
"Earth Release: Mud Wolves!"
The creatures leaped from the raging wave onto Obito. Sakura engaged him into melee range again.
Ino weaved more hand seals, obscured by the waves.
'Demon Illusion: Three Thousand Voices.' Sakura heard her think.
There was no real point in screaming you were about to use an illusion, after all.
Sakura knew that the super sonic voices that currently tricked Obito's nerves could cause Obito's eardrums to burst. She saw his face scrunch in pain.
And she also saw the roots that erupted from his body, the ones that almost managed to impale her. Sakura flipped backwards.
What the fuck? Ino asked.
What the fuck? Sakura answered.
I knew from Naruto that Madara put some of these… Senju cells thing in him… But Kabuto didn't know shit about this.
Yeah, I imagine only Nagato did.
That complicates matters a bit.
Eh, at this point…
They cut it off. Obito flew toward Sakura with a flurry of slashes. She parried the first three with a grunt. His left hand came from nowhere to punch her right forearm. She dropped her dagger unwillingly.
Obito's blade struck again, missing her face by a few centimeters. His elbow slammed into her face, and the back of her head hit the surface of a cube.
Shit. Am I this close…?
Ino was weaving hand signs.
Obito's Kamui whirred and suddenly both Sakura and he were flying through the air. Sakura saw clouds as they went through one and Obito's red eyes, like twin tracers in the dark.
Sakura?! She heard Ino call.
No worries, he's only trying to drop me from high up
It might be a workable solution, too, on shinobi who didn't have access to summons, reverse summons, or many other options—
- or maybe he's going tu use Kamui to remove my head.
No, wait. That's not what he's doing. He was just making them gain momentum.
"Kamui!" Sakura called on herself, warping herself back to the dimension without conserving her speed.
"I think he intended on warping us both here again, in order to let the fall crush me." She breathed out to Ino.
"To the left!"
Ino threw herself to the right, her Naginata flashing forward. Sakura summoned a weapon to her stump, in less time than it took to blink.
Don't! Ino warned, panicking.
Sakura lifted the ornate dragon cannon, took aim and fired.
"What — Gunpowder…?" Obito muttered in surprise.
The cannonball shot forward with a roar. Obito summoned his Susanoo's ribcage. It exploded against it in a cloud of smoke.
Ino cursed.
Really…?!
Sorry. Sakura winced. It was the best opportunity for it, unfortunately. Help me contain it?
"Wind Release: Typhoon Gale!" Sakura called.
"Earth Release: Mud Walls!" Ino completed.
A compact tornado sprang to life around Obito, surrounded by rising walls of earth. Sakura twisted her hands and created a vacuum. The walls folded inwards, pressing flat against the Susanoo.
Obito's Susanoo formed entirely, making the structure detonate.
The cloud of noxious smoke exploded outwards.
"Shit!" Sakura cursed.
I fucking told you! Ino roared, even as both of them disappeared through Sakura's Kamui. This was the worst shit you could have done!
Don't be so sure. I can surpass myself yet.
I fucking—
They reappeared in the Uzushiogakure gardens.
"You do realize…" Uchiha Obito began. "How much stronger I am out of the Kamui realm, don't you…?"
"Yeah." Ino said dryly. "At least, I do." She glared at Sakura.
"I'm trying new things." She just answered.
"Well then." Obito smirked. "I do hope you're fast enough to dodge the full speed of my long-range Kamui."
Obito became intangible again, and the jutsu that Ino had been weaving passed through him harmlessly.
Ino shook her head. Then she grinned.
…Well, let's make the most of it, then.
See…? I told you!
It doesn't make it — DOWN!
Sakura threw herself to the floor and barely dodged the Kamui that would have taken her head.
Obito blurred forward and thrust his weapon in front of him. He was narrowly stopped by Ino's naginata, as she deflected the strike that would have buried itself into Sakura's heart. Obito chuckled.
"I told you you would—"
He dropped to a knee. Ino wasted no time and swung for his head.
He twisted and slammed her into the ground. Sakura jumped from behind him and all she got for her troubles was a kick to the gut. She flew into the side of a building, blood flowing free from her mouth.
"Fire Release: Piercing Hellstrike."
His jutsu built up inside his mouth. Ino saw what he intended to do. He was aiming to burn through Sakura's head, while she was too dazed to absorb it. Ino managed to twist her left arm free.
'Earth Release: Bare Knuckle Style!'
A little gift from Karin. Ino's knuckles turned black. She punched upwards, almost dislocating her shoulder in the process. Ino punched Uchiha Obito right in the chin.
Part of the jutsu still flew away from him, but his aim was thrown off. A bolt of fire still went through Sakura's shoulder and Ino heard her friend howl in pain. Through their shared bond, she could smell charred meat.
Obito tried to use Kamui on her. Sakura forced the portal shut.
Then Obito howled in pain.
"Water Release: Boiling Wave!"
Obito threw himself off Ino, and Sakura's jutsu still burned the other side of his face red; raw.
"To match the other side, ugly!" Sakura roared, standing up despite her injuries. There was a bad looking, burned hole in her left shoulder. Still better than her right arm.
Meters away from them… Obito's Susanoo flickered… and then crashed down.
"What—What the hell…?" he muttered.
"Ah, so you noticed—" Sakura began.
"No fucking gloating, Forehead!" Ino said, standing up and rushing toward the Uchiha.
"…Yeah, got you!" Sakura threw herself forward, and quickly caught up to Ino. Their weapons extended toward the Uchiha.
"Izanagi." The man called with a grunt, and half-blind eyes.
Uchiha Obito reappeared on top of a building, looking entirely whole again. And angry. One of his eyes faded to white.
Sakura groaned.
"Oh, of course you would have something like this up your sleeve. We were warned." She said.
"What did you just do…?" Obito asked, his voice rumbling.
Sakura smiled smugly and took a breath—
"Don't." Ino warned. Sakura glared at her.
"We knew you'd be an overconfident fucking idiot." She jeered instead of monologuing.
"A poison, wasn't it…? I see." Obito asked again, in clipped tones.
"The power of science." Sakura drawled.
"Yes, I think I see it now. What you did."
"With only one eye…?"
It had been a poison, in fact. Another thing they had made using the Creation of All Things, and sealed into a cannonball. It was a dangerous weapon, and a bit too risky to use near allies. Not that it had stopped Sakura this time.
Uzushio's books on chemicals really had come in handy many, many times.
The poison was based on osmium tetroxide, and was an incredibly volatile metal complex that caused blindness upon exposure by messing with the retinal in your retina. Its gas form, which they had tried out using clones, was even riskier to use because it hung in the air for a while. And it worked much faster.
It wouldn't do anything but one specific thing. Cause blindness. And Obito had breathed it in a few too many times, apparently. Now of course, it was reversible for ninja, but the man didn't know it yet.
In simple terms… Uchiha Obito had panicked when he found his sight fading. And he had sacrificed one of his eyes for it.
They had counted on it.
"No matter." The man growled, free from the poison. "I fought with only this eye for more than a decade. It will be more than enough for the two of you."
"Bold words, considering the shit job you did with two." Sakura grunted back.
Ino sighed and stood up straighter. They would be fine.
She would make sure of it.