Mask, Blast & Blood



The village of Konohagakure is cloaked in the hush of the moonlit night, its silver glow casting elongated shadows over the empty streets. A masked figure appears, gliding silently across the rooftops. Obito has been waiting for several months since overhearing Kakashi's confessions at Rin's grave. Hatake revealed that Kushina, the wife of Minato, the 4th Hokage, was pregnant and that he was charged with protecting her meanwhile. Piecing together intelligence, the Uchiha learned that as a Jinchūriki, the seal would weaken during childbirth. The elders, fearing a Kyūbi's escape, deemed it necessary for her to give birth in a remote cave, sparing the village from potential destruction. Driven by a cold blend of lingering rage over Rin's death and a desire to hone his Sharingan's potential, the Uchiha aims to exploit the seal's weakness to unleash the Kyūbi on the village.

A flicker of movement below catches his eye, a familiar brown-haired silhouette darts through an empty street, sprinting desperately through the stillness. He freezes, pressing himself flat against the tiles as a squad of Root ANBU rounds the corner in relentless pursuit. The girl throws a quick glance over her shoulder, revealing her face to Obito, stirring a faint memory of a vague acquaintance from the academy's days, now a target in the night.

The trio of Root ANBU, their pale masks glinting faintly in the moonlight, hurls a volley of kunai toward her, the sharp blades slicing through the still air with menacing whistles. A projectile streaks past, its edge scraping across her Konoha hitai-ate headband with a harsh scrape, leaving a bold horizontal gash. Faint sparks dance from the metal as it narrowly misses her. Startled, her breath hitches. Yet in a split second, the kunoichi weaves a subtle genjutsu, her chakra threading an illusion so vivid that her pursuers perceive her struck, a phantom image of her collapses, blood pooling on the cobblestones.

In a heartbeat, the ANBU falter, their coordinated advance grinding to a halt mid-stride, masks tilting as their zori scuff the ground. They realize they had underestimated the young chūnin as their gloved hands, shooting forward, eagerly grasp at nothing but empty air. Yet, well-trained and experienced, they respond with quick precision, each forming the "Ram" hand seal, disrupting their chakra flows to dispel the illusion. Obito, who sees through the deception from the very beginning, curiously follows her as she uses the short moment of confusion to sneak away.

He spies on her from a nearby roof as she hides in a small alley. Unfortunately, the ROOT's men easily sense her position and rush to the back street. Panic grips the girl as they round the corner. She tries to get away, but a precise yet powerful kick in the ribs sends her flying, bouncing off a wall with a dull thud. She flops on the dirt, her head pounding, a metallic taste on her tongue.

As she struggles to her feet, they surround her, holding threatening kunai in her direction. In a swift move, one of the men closes the gap, grabbing her by the hair, knocking her onto the wall yet again with a thump that reverberates painfully through her skull. Her vision blurs as she peers into the dark void of the holes in his pale mask. "You calm down now, little trash!" he hisses as she writhes furiously. "You're a danger to Konoha. If you won't come with us to Danzo, our orders are to eliminate you." Her limbs go numb at the realization: They're really here to kill me! she thinks. Tears threaten to fall from the corner of her eyes as she pleads, "I'm no threat to the village! I'm grateful to Sakumo and Lord Third because I wouldn't even be there without them. That's why I wanted to be a ninja... To help the village that saved me..."

The ANBU, unmoved by her words and satisfied by the effect of his own on the now limpish girl, tilts his mask slightly upward, revealing dark sinister eyes. He leans in close, his mask nearly brushing her face. She can almost feel the cruel grin forming underneath as he whispers, almost softly, "Then giving those special eyes of yours to Danzo is probably the best thing you can do for the village. A poor orphan like you has no bright future anyway." Chills run down her spine, her heart pounding with terror.

Desperate, she lands a sidekick to the man's knee, buckling it. His grip loosens just enough for her to break free. Her head shoots backward as the man secures his hold, breaking her momentum. A sharp pain draws a shrill cry right out of her lung as a blade jolts upward with a wet tear, deflected by her scapula. Her body slumps, knees trembling as she clutches her shoulder, blood seeping through her fingers. She looks at her slimy fingers, dark and glistening eerily in the moonlight.

A quiet rage rumbles behind her eyes. I never wanted to use that ability again, but they've forced my hand. No more running... she thinks. Her sclera turns bloodshot, glowing a vivid red, her irises pitch-black with a pulsing purple glow at their core. As she turns towards the ANBU, revealing her Dōjutsu and grim expression, the ANBU freezes, eyes widening at the cursed glow. The kunoichi seizes the wrist of the man still loosely grabbing her hair, digging her nails into his flesh. She can see it now, the map of blood vessels pulsing beneath his skin, her chakra pumped rapidly by his heart as she infuses it in his bloodstream.

His skin becomes livid, bluish veins running across it. He drops his kunai, his body limpish, his eyes expressionless under his mask. Seizing the fallen blade from the dirty alley's ground, the girl slashes him with a broad sweeping motion. The gash weeps dark, bubbling blood, swelling unnaturally under her chakra's influence. His body inflates grotesquely, consumed by a pitch-black corruption, a strange orange glimmer pulsing through it.

The kunoichi turns around to run away, but the two other ANBU are blocking the way. Obito, eyes wide with disbelief, realizes the gruesome mass of flesh is likely going to explode. Instinctively, he leaps down, sweeping the young shinobi up in a cradled carry, his Mangekyō Sharingan flaring as he uses his Kamui. Its red glow intensifies, space and time distort and swirl around the single hole of his yellow mask as the void ripples to engulf them through it into a dimensional rift.

They swirl back into existence on top of a large tree, the vortex's wind whistling eerily through the leaves. Her startled eyes dart to the masked figure, and she gasps in surprise. As he gently puts her down, he stares into her eyes just as they fade to normal, Is that some kind of Dōjutsu? How interesting... He thinks. She sways as she takes in the forest surrounding her, disoriented and nauseous, her head still spinning from the warp.

She almost falls off the thick branch when a detonation, coming from the village, shakes the forest. He secures her against the trunk of the tree, and they both look in the distance at the dark purple hue surrounding the bright orange core and fiery tendrils that lash from the explosion. Some buildings collapse, sending debris scattering into the air. As quiet returns, only flames and smoke rise into the night sky. The girl's periwinkle eyes stare intently at the destruction that she has unleashed, a mix of awe and guilt flickering within. Light-headed, she dreamily remarks, "You.. You really saved my skin out there!".

Before Obito can say anything, a distant but powerful roar resonates, coming from the opposite direction from the village. They notice plumes of dust rising in the far-off expanse. "Damn, I'm too late!" Obito curses under his breath. He mutters, "I'll be back!" Without even glancing at her, he dashes off, his cloak billowing.

Confused, she looks in his direction, unsure what to do next. What on earth is going on? she thinks, I guess I'll know soon enough... It's not like I'm in any condition to go anywhere right now. A stabbing pain surfaces as the adrenaline subsides, and her hand drifts to her shoulder. I need to take care of that first, she thinks, focusing her chakra into her hand. A faint green aura softly glows from her fingers, and her wound slowly starts to heal.

As Obito draws closer to the secluded area where the howl echoed, he pauses, blending into the shadows to prevent detection. Minato, backed by multiple Shinobi, battles to restrain the colossal nine-tailed fox, Kyūbi, who stands tall as a mountain, dominating the landscape. With each swipe of its tails, Kyūbi uproots trees as effortlessly as plucking grass.

Obito's blood boils with anger. His strategy to clear the ANBU in charge of protecting Kuchina before engaging Minato has gone awry. He doubts he can defeat the 4th Hokage single-handedly, especially with so many other shinobi supporting him. Lingering here would be foolish since more Jōnin are more than likely closing in at this very moment. He swears under his mask, his fists clenching with rage, Why did I waste time on that girl I barely know? he thinks. He rests his back on a tree, sighing deeply.

She has very rare abilities, it's true. That unknown Dōjutsu, I could really use it, but even so... This was a unique occasion to weaken Konohagakure, his jaw clenches resentfully. Still, with the current circumstances, I'm likely going to attract unwanted attention from the most powerful nation. No way I can warp kyūbi into the village without being seen by all those ninjas. The Akatsuki is simply not ready for that kind of pressure, he rationalizes.

Resigned, he concludes that destroying Konoha was not the strategic option anymore. He needs powerful allies if he ever wants to achieve his goal of Infinite Tsukuyomi. That girl might be what he needs. A sharp pain in his chest makes him stagger, as if a spectral hand is crushing his heart. Breathing hard, he falls to his knees. The pain subsides after a moment, and, confused, he thinks, the hell was that? Uncertain, he exhales sharply. He slowly turns his back to the Bijū, his resolve hardening once more as he takes off without glance behind.