Naruto: Traveling Through Time Starting with Seizing the Dragon Vein

"We've got you!"

However, just as Obito's masked fingers were about to touch the two of them...

"Odd Rice Field!"

The boy Obito, suspended in mid-air, had the triangular kaleidoscope pattern in his left eye suddenly spinning!

"Buzz!"

A spatial fluctuation instantly enveloped Kakashi and the young Obito.

Masked Obito's materialized hands seemed to grasp at thin air, "sliding" directly across the back of their necks!

"what?"

Masked Obito was shocked: "This is... spatial intangibility? This is impossible!"

"What's impossible!"

Using the absolute intangibility protection of [Kushida], young Obito suddenly twisted his waist in mid-air and slammed his right leg hard towards the head of masked Obito!

"boom!"

Masked Obito could only raise his arms to block, but the immense force sent him sliding back several meters, carving two deep furrows in the ground.

"asshole……"

Masked Obito steadied himself, feeling the tremor in his arms, and was utterly shocked.

A past version of myself has also awakened the Mangekyou Sharingan?!

Moreover, his eye technique was so similar to his own Kamui, yet completely different!

"What? Are you surprised?"

The young Obito landed steadily on the ground, his Mangekyou Sharingan gleaming with confidence beneath his goggles.

He pointed at the masked Obito and said:

"Senior Yue already told me! The reason you've become this inhuman, ghost-like state is because you lost someone important to you, so you cowardly chose to escape reality and try to create a false dream!"

He glanced at Lin, but ultimately didn't reveal who that important person was; the boy's blush outweighed everything else.

"Do you think you can hide your inner weakness by wearing a mask?!"

The words of young Obito pierced the most sensitive nerve of the masked Obito.

"Shut up! What do you know?" Masked Obito roared. "This world is hell! The world I created is the true salvation!"

"Redemption my ass!"

Young Obito retorted without holding back:

"Look at yourself now! Like a rat in the sewers, you can only hide in the shadows and plot! You don't even have the courage to face reality, so what are you talking about saving the world?"

Every word is like a knife to the heart! Every sentence is a brutal blow!

Masked Obito's body trembled violently.

"Coward... coward..."

He might scoff at these words if they came from someone else's mouth, but they represent his past self.

"Wood Release: Great Forest Technique!"

He no longer held back any of his strength, and countless thick ancient trees burst forth from the ground with a roar!

"Kakashi! Rin! Retreat according to the original plan!"

Seeing that the time was right, young Obito did not choose to fight head-on.

To redeem their future selves, a single battle is definitely not enough; what they need is the protracted war that Teacher Yue spoke of.

Through the results of his continuous efforts to change the world, Masked Obito realized that the path he had taken was wrong.

The "National Stability" in the eyes of young Obito instantly activated!

"Buzz!"

In an instant, the spatial coordinates shifted, and the figures of Obito and his two companions vanished from the black market hall a second before the giant tree could close in.

Watching the three figures disappear, Masked Obito's face turned ugly.

"That fake... what does he know? He knows absolutely nothing!"

Obito gritted his teeth, his fingers digging deep into the flesh of his palm.

"Does he think he can change this ninja world full of betrayal and death with just a few laughable, passionate slogans? Naïve! Utterly foolish!"

"Just wait... Once I create the world of [Limited Tsukuyomi], I will personally pull you in and let you see with your own eyes what true, flawless redemption really is!"

In the corner, Kakuzu dusted himself off and walked out from behind a broken wooden stake, his face expressionless.

Pipa Juzo, carrying his guillotine, followed behind, grumbling and cursing.

"Hey, boss." Kakuzu looked at the frenzied Obito, his tone cold and businesslike. "Your place got wrecked by those brats. We just joined the organization and haven't even had a cup of hot tea yet. What's the deal now? Are we going to hunt them down, or find somewhere else to talk money?"

Hearing Kakuzu's mercenary voice, Obito took a deep breath and forcibly suppressed his surging emotions.

He desperately needs manpower right now, and he needs this group of S-rank rogue ninjas who only care about money and killing to help him gather resources.

"There's no point in chasing them. Those kids have mastered some weird space-time ninjutsu, and they're as slippery as eels."

Obito turned around, his voice returning to its arrogant, hoarse, and cold "Madara-style disguise."

"Our goal is a grander plan. Kakuzu, Juzo, now that you've joined Akatsuki, I'll give you your first mission."

Chapter 212 The End of the Hyuga Branch Family

Obito pulled a scroll from his pocket and tossed it to Kakuzu.

"I want you to go to the black market and the outskirts of the major ninja villages, and at all costs, collect the resources listed here: high-purity chakra-conducting metal, fragments of ancient sealing techniques, and... a large number of living sacrifices that can provide chakra!"

"I will build a massive altar in the Land of Rain, one that can distort reality!"

Kakuzu opened the scroll and glanced at it, his green eyes narrowing slightly.

Kakuzu: Boss, this masked man wants quite a lot of things, and many of them are controlled contraband. It seems he's really planning to make a big splash. Should we help him gather them?

Far away in Loulan, Uchiha Yue was leisurely enjoying his afternoon tea when he saw Kakuzu's report, and a pleased smile appeared on his lips.

[Uchiha Yue]: Of course we should help! Not only should we help, but we should also give him a 20% discount so he can set up that lab as soon as possible. Whatever materials he needs, you can "smuggle" them to him from the Loulan warehouse, and while you're at it, squeeze every last penny out of his budget at prices higher than the market price, and keep all the profits.

[Kakuzu]: Hehehe... Boss. Don't worry about it, leave it to me.

……

Meanwhile, in the Land of Fire, in Konoha Village.

Some time has passed since Minato Namikaze secretly launched that "bloodless coup" and regained control of Konoha.

On the surface, Hiruzen Sarutobi is still the kind Third Hokage, but Konoha's core strategies are now under Minato's will.

The main residence of the Hyuga clan.

Hiashi Hyuga knelt on the tatami mat in the quiet room, oblivious to the fact that the tea in front of him had long since gone cold.

In his mind, everything that had happened over the past year kept replaying.

From the coercion of the Cloud Village delegation, to the higher-ups' decision to sacrifice Hizashi, to the mysterious Uchiha Tsukito appearing like a divine intervention to save Hizashi, and even casually erasing the supposedly unsolvable "Caged Bird" curse mark...

All of this is too dreamlike.

"elder brother."

The paper door was gently pulled open, and Hyuga Hizashi, dressed in casual clothes, walked in.

“Hizashi…” Hiashi raised his head, looking at his younger brother in front of him, a complicated look flashing in his eyes.

"The Fourth Hokage has already sent a clear signal." Hizashi sat down opposite Hiashi: "Minato is carrying out sweeping reforms to Konoha's outdated customs and practices. He believes that the Hyuga clan's branch family system is a malignant tumor that hinders the development of the clan and may even cause internal strife in the village."

Hiashi stood up: "Indeed, it's time."

"I have contacted the heads of the Ino-Shika-Cho clans, as well as the Aburame and Inuzuka clans. Under the secret instructions of the Fourth Hokage, they are all willing to provide us with external political pressure at tomorrow's clan meeting!"

"Tomorrow will be the day when the Caged Bird is finally put to an end!"

The following day, the underground ancestral hall of the Hyuga clan.

Several elderly members of the clan, their hair now gray, sat on a high platform, angrily striking the ground with their canes.

"Hiashi! Have you gone mad? Abolish the branch family system? Abolish the caged bird system? This is a rebellious act against the decisions of our ancestors!"

The elder was trembling with rage. He pointed at Hiashi Hyuga, who was standing in the center, and cursed, "Without the Caged Bird Seal, who will protect the Byakugan from being taken away by outsiders? Who will guarantee the absolute authority of the main family? You are going to destroy the entire Hyuga clan!"

"Elder, what truly destroyed the Hyuga clan was this arrogance that treated its own kind as slaves!"

Hiashi met the elder's gaze without flinching: "The Kumogakure incident has proven that sacrificing the branch family for a temporary peace only makes outsiders think that we Hyuga are weak and easily bullied! We are Konoha ninjas, and our eyes should be used to see through the enemy, not to monitor our own flesh and blood!"

"Nonsense! As long as I have a breath left, I will never allow you to..."

"What if the caged bird has lost its meaning of restraint?"

A calm voice suddenly interrupted the elder's roar.

Amidst the horrified gazes of all the senior members of the main family, Hyuga Hizashi slowly emerged from the shadows of the main hall.

"You... Hizashi? Aren't you already dead? Where's your Caged Bird Seal?!"

The elder was so frightened that he fell to the ground, his eyes almost popping out of their sockets.

"The cursed seal has been lifted." Hizashi coldly looked at the elders. "If I were to reveal the method for lifting the cursed seal to all branch families... Elder, what do you think will become of the Hyuga clan?"

This is a blatant threat!

Moreover, outside the ancestral hall gate, a report came from the secret service.

"A decree from the Hokage! It is said that the Hyuga clan is discussing reform plans today, and the clan heads of all the Konoha clans are waiting outside, ready to witness the 'new look' of the Hyuga clan!"

Externally, there is political pressure from the Hokage and all the powerful families in the village; internally, there is a deadly crisis of the Caged Bird Seal being broken!

However, the old fogies still refused to compromise.

It wasn't because they couldn't see the situation clearly, but because given their exploitation of the branch family, once the branch family lifted the caged bird's seal, they would have no way to survive.

Faced with life and death, they could only stand firm on their principles.