Chapter 146 (Patreon)

After hearing Yujiro’s words, Obito’s expression darkened.

He stared up at Yujiro, his eye burning with the desire to kill him. Yet after witnessing those unfathomable abilities firsthand, Obito knew he had no chance of succeeding.

“Damn it... How did Yujiro become this powerful?” Obito muttered bitterly.

He had come here fully confident that the Akatsuki would capture the Tailed Beasts.

“Never let your guard down during a battle.”

A cold voice suddenly came from behind him.

In the next instant, a red-and-black slash tore through the air.

Obito’s body was cut in half!

However, not a single drop of blood spilled. The severed sections of his body were completely white.

In the distance, the Akatsuki members’ expressions changed when they saw the masked man being killed.

They knew that Pain was the organization’s official leader, but they were no fools. This mysterious masked man claiming to be Madara Uchiha was the true mastermind operating behind the Akatsuki.

Yet both Pain, whom they had believed to be invincible, and the masked man pulling the strings behind him had proven helpless before Yujiro.

None of them could easily accept what they were witnessing.

Yujiro calmly looked down at the bisected Obito beneath his feet.

“So Izanagi activated again?”

Before long, Obito’s body began to fade before disappearing without a trace.

Yujiro clicked his tongue. Izanagi combined with Obito’s Kamui was an absurdly troublesome combination.

Kamui allowed Obito to phase through attacks, while Izanagi could rewrite his own death. With both abilities at his disposal, he could enter and leave almost any battlefield as he pleased.

Still, that would not stop Yujiro from cutting him down.

“One-Sword Style: Wind Demon Flash!”

“Thunderous Flames, Devour!”

“Kirin: World Destruction!”

Over the next five minutes, Yujiro killed Obito countless times.

By then, Obito was exhausted both physically and mentally, while his soul had suffered severe damage. The agony of having his very soul repeatedly torn apart tormented him with every resurrection.

When Izanagi finally reached its limit, Obito had no choice but to acknowledge his defeat.

He activated Kamui and vanished into the distorted space.

The plan to capture the Tailed Beasts had utterly collapsed.

No—it had become nothing more than a farce.

Yujiro merely smiled as he watched Obito escape. He then descended onto the battlefield where the remaining Akatsuki members had gathered.

At that moment, they could only stand there, uncertain of what to do.

“As expected of you, Yujiro. It appears I still underestimated you.”

Orochimaru’s snake clone gave a hoarse chuckle before its body broke apart into countless tiny white snakes.

“I look forward to our next meeting.”

With those final words, the white snakes scattered and quickly disappeared.

“Orochimaru! I already told you that snake couldn’t be trusted, hm!” Deidara snarled as he watched him flee.

“They say snakes are treacherous creatures. It seems they were right.”

Carrying his Triple-Bladed Scythe over one shoulder, Hidan casually walked over to Yujiro.

Aside from Kakuzu, the other Akatsuki members stared at him in disbelief.

Was Hidan truly unafraid of dying?

The man standing before him was Yujiro—a monster who would cut someone down without the slightest hesitation.

“Lord Yujiro, how did I do this time?” Hidan asked, looking at him with open admiration.

“You did well enough,” Yujiro replied with a nod.

“Hey, Hidan! Don’t tell me you’ve betrayed us!” Deidara shouted.

“Betrayed you? This is called choosing the right side!” Hidan shot back with a grin. “You should do the same, Deidara. Join Lord Yujiro while you still have the chance.”

“What?”

Deidara froze. However, after everything he had witnessed, a trace of hesitation appeared in his eyes.

Hidan straightened his clothes before turning to address the remaining Akatsuki members.

“What is there left to consider? Serve Lord Yujiro, and you won’t have to worry about a thing. Wouldn’t that be better for everyone?”

Without saying a word, Kakuzu walked behind Yujiro and closed his eyes, making his allegiance perfectly clear.

“I have no intention of serving you.”

Hoshigaki Kisame, who had remained silent until now, spoke in a cold voice.

He immediately began forming hand seals.

“Water Release: Exploding Water Colliding Wave!”

A massive surge of water erupted across the grassland.

Kisame clearly intended to use it to escape.

Yujiro watched him calmly.

“Ice Release: Frozen Heaven and Earth.”

In an instant, the temperature plummeted by dozens of degrees.

The water beneath Yujiro’s feet froze, and the ice spread with terrifying speed, rapidly closing the distance between them.

Kisame had no time to form another hand seal. He swung Samehada and smashed apart the approaching wave of ice.

“Water Release: Great Exploding Water Colliding Wave!”

Kisame rapidly formed another series of hand seals, releasing an even greater volume of water. Within moments, the surrounding grassland had been transformed into a vast body of water.

Seeing Yujiro continue to approach, Kisame immediately unleashed another technique.

“Water Release: Water Shark Bullet Technique!”

A massive shark formed from the surrounding water and lunged toward Yujiro with its jaws wide open.

“Absolute Zero.”

Yujiro continued walking toward Kisame without slowing down.

Just as the water shark was about to reach him, it froze in midair.

It was not the only thing affected. Kisame felt the temperature surrounding him plunge to an unimaginable degree.

The cold spread too quickly for him to react.

In the next instant, Hoshigaki Kisame had become a lifelike ice sculpture before everyone’s eyes.

Yujiro stopped in front of the frozen Kisame and did not lower the temperature any further. Had he continued, Kisame truly would have died.

Yujiro held a certain degree of appreciation for Hoshigaki Kisame.

Kisame had only joined Obito because he had been deceived by the false world the masked man promised him.

If Yujiro could bring Kisame back to Konoha, he would undoubtedly become one of the village’s strongest shinobi.

Naturally, Yujiro already had an idea of how to deal with him.

“Release.”

Yujiro raised one hand, and the ice encasing Kisame immediately shattered.

After regaining his freedom, Kisame remained where he stood with a grim expression. He made no further attempt to attack or escape.

“If you intend to kill me, then get it over with,” Kisame said, rolling his stiff neck.

“You will never obtain any information from me.”

Yujiro merely smiled.

As expected, Hoshigaki Kisame’s resolve had not changed. In the original story, he had willingly allowed his own sharks to devour him rather than risk having the Akatsuki’s intelligence extracted from his mind.

His loyalty and determination were beyond question.

A man like Kisame had to be brought under his command.