Chapter 156 (Patreon)

“Mihawk-kun, are you all right?”

The moment Nerona Mihawk landed, Hinata hurried over to him. Concern filled her face as she carefully examined his eyes.

“Did using your eyes take too much out of you?”

Mihawk smiled and shook his head.

“Don’t worry. I’m fine.”

While serving as the Ten-Tails’ jinchūriki, Obito had been unable to use Kamui’s intangibility. The moment either his Truth-Seeking Ball defenses or his Six Paths body revealed a line of death to Mihawk’s eyes, his defeat had become inevitable.

Mihawk possessed detailed knowledge about the Ten-Tails’ jinchūriki. Because of that, he had not even needed to swing his sword more than a few times before the battle was effectively decided.

From there, Naruto’s strength and his ability to reach people’s hearts had pushed Obito to the edge of defeat with remarkably little cost.

Hinata carefully studied Mihawk’s face. Only after confirming that he was not concealing any pain did she release a quiet sigh of relief.

She then turned toward Naruto, who remained locked in a tug-of-war with Obito. The entire Allied Shinobi Forces had gathered behind him and were lending him their strength.

“Mihawk-kun, should we go and help them?”

“No. There’s no need.”

Mihawk shook his head before narrowing his eyes.

“For now, we wait…”

He leaned closer to Hinata’s ear and whispered his instructions.

Hinata listened without interrupting. As Mihawk continued, the expression on her face gradually became serious.

Nearly ten seconds later, she nodded firmly.

“Yes. I understand.”

Obito was currently in an extremely unstable state.

He looked dazed.

No—confused.

There was even a trace of regret within him.

For a man whose will had remained unbroken throughout so many years of hatred and preparation to suddenly fall into confusion was almost unbelievable.

If his opponent had been Mihawk, Kakashi, or practically anyone else, Obito would never have revealed such emotions.

Unfortunately for him, the person standing against him was Naruto Uzumaki.

Naruto was the protagonist Mihawk remembered from the original story, but more importantly, he closely resembled the boy Obito had once been. In certain ways, the two were almost identical.

Naruto’s existence had awakened the part of Obito that he had buried beneath years of hatred.

No matter how kind someone might be, darkness and resentment would always exist somewhere within their heart.

Likewise, no matter how deeply someone had fallen into darkness, some fragment of light would always remain.

Naruto and Obito represented those two extremes better than anyone.

Naruto dreamed of becoming Hokage. He wanted to be acknowledged as a hero and eventually became the person capable of saving the entire shinobi world.

Yet beneath his energetic and cheerful nature, hatred had once existed.

That was why, when Naruto trained at the Waterfall of Truth, he had encountered the dark version of himself born from the loneliness and resentment he had carried since childhood.

Obito stood at the opposite extreme.

He had helped massacre his own clan, caused the deaths of his teacher and Kushina, unleashed the Nine-Tails upon Konoha, and manipulated countless people from the shadows.

He had committed enough atrocities to become an embodiment of darkness itself.

Yet buried beneath all of that darkness remained a capacity for love every bit as pure as Naruto’s—or as Madara’s love for Izuna and Itachi’s love for Sasuke.

Obito had loved Rin Nohara.

He had shown genuine kindness toward the elderly villagers of Konoha.

He had once loved his village and dreamed of becoming Hokage.

The deeper someone loved, the deeper the darkness left behind when that love was torn away. It was a truth Madara understood all too well.

Of everyone in the original story, perhaps no one had fallen farther than Obito.

Now Naruto had entered Obito’s spiritual world. His words were awakening the boy Obito used to be and pulling him back from the darkness.

Mihawk did not know how quickly time passed within that spiritual world compared to reality.

After giving Hinata her instructions, he sat cross-legged on the ground and began recovering the small amount of energy he had consumed.

Obito was merely the opening act of the final battle.

He had always been nothing more than a pawn in the plan Madara Uchiha had spent decades preparing.

Madara, in turn, was merely another victim caught within a conspiracy that had begun a thousand years ago.

Even so, the most dangerous enemy Mihawk intended to face remained Madara.

More specifically, Madara after obtaining the power of the Six Paths.

Knowing what was coming, Mihawk naturally had no intention of standing aside and allowing Madara’s plan to proceed unhindered.

For the moment, however, there was little he could do.

Naruto and the Allied Shinobi Forces were still pulling the chakra of the nine tailed beasts out of Obito. Attacking Obito now would accomplish nothing.

Worse, it could have the opposite effect.

A poorly timed attack might force the nine tailed beasts’ spiritual forms back inside Obito, allowing him to regain control and further master his Six Paths power.

As long as his objective was ultimately accomplished, Mihawk did not care how long it took. Nor did he care whether he needed to cooperate with others.

He simply refused to allow the white light of the Infinite Tsukuyomi to shine upon him and leave his fate entirely in the hands of Naruto and Sasuke.

There was another reason he could not end everything too soon.

Black Zetsu.

Mihawk intended to eliminate that schemer completely.

If he killed Madara before Black Zetsu revealed itself, it would simply retreat into hiding. With its patience, Black Zetsu could conceal itself at the farthest reaches of the world and wait for another opportunity. Even Mihawk would have tremendous difficulty locating it then.

Black Zetsu’s combat strength was unimpressive, but its patience and ability to manipulate others made it a potentially endless nuisance.

It was better to allow events to continue for a little longer.

Once Black Zetsu finally emerged from hiding, convinced that victory was already within its grasp, Mihawk would erase it completely.

The process did not matter.

Only the result mattered.

“All right… We got them out!”

After an unknown amount of time, Naruto’s excited shout reached Mihawk and Hinata.

Naruto, still surrounded by Kurama’s enormous chakra avatar, had finally won the tug-of-war.

With the combined strength of the Allied Shinobi Forces, he pulled all nine spectral forms out of Obito’s body.

The emerald-green spiritual forms crashed onto the battlefield. Different colors rapidly spread across their bodies, restoring seven of them to their original forms as complete tailed beasts.

The chakra belonging to the Eight-Tails and Nine-Tails returned to Killer B and Naruto.

With the chakra of all nine tailed beasts extracted, Obito lost the ability to remain airborne. His body slowly began falling from the sky.

Naruto watched him descend with a complicated expression, seemingly lost in thought.

Mihawk opened his eyes.

“Hinata, now.”

The two of them moved simultaneously.

Hinata raised both hands without the slightest hesitation. Golden motes of light rapidly gathered above her palms, condensing into several narrow clusters of repulsive force.

She aimed directly at Obito’s head.

The golden clusters shot forward like beams of light.

At the same moment, Mihawk drew his sword and rushed toward Obito, his body transforming into a blurred afterimage.

Their true objective was Obito’s left eye.

The Rinnegan.

“Wood Style: Deep Forest Emergence!”

Just as Mihawk and Hinata launched their attack, two figures—one black and one white—suddenly erupted from beneath the ground.

They had evidently been hiding there for some time.

The spiral-faced White Zetsu known as Tobi slammed both hands against the earth and unleashed one of the rarest techniques in the shinobi world—a power only three people had previously been known to possess.

Rumble—!

Countless roots of every thickness burst from the ground.

They twisted together at astonishing speed, transforming the empty battlefield into a dense forest. The rapidly growing trees swallowed Hinata’s golden beams, blocking every one of her attacks.

Mihawk was also forced to change direction.

He stamped his foot against the empty air.

Geppo!

The air beneath him exploded, sending his body soaring above the newly formed forest.

At the same time, Black Zetsu separated from the white figure and attached itself to Obito’s weakened body.

It looked up at Mihawk racing through the air and released a low, hoarse laugh.

“Nerona Mihawk… Hinata Hyūga… I already knew what you were planning.”

Black Zetsu tightened its hold over Obito.

“You wanted to prevent Lord Madara’s resurrection, didn’t you? Unfortunately for you, it’s already too late!”

The weakened Obito’s hands began moving against his will.

“The entire reason Tobi and I remained hidden was for this moment…”

His Rinnegan flared.

“Outer Path: Samsara of Heavenly Life Technique!”

The Rinne Rebirth activated.

Mihawk showed no concern and continued diving toward Obito.

Black Zetsu had already succeeded in resurrecting Madara, but it suddenly realized that Mihawk had not slowed down at all.

Its expression changed.

“No! His true target is the Rinnegan!”

Even if Madara had returned to life, he still needed his original eyes to complete the next stage of his plan.

“Obito, retreat!”

Black Zetsu did not wait for Obito to respond.

Ignoring Naruto entirely, it forcibly seized control of Obito’s body.

“Kamui.”

Space twisted around them.

Obito and Black Zetsu were pulled into the spiraling distortion and disappeared into the Kamui dimension.

Mihawk halted in midair, standing upon the empty sky through Geppo.

“Tsk.”

A trace of displeasure appeared on his face.