The Windmill Turns Both Ways

Run

Kisame peered down into the massive hole in the ground that contained the (now completely dismantled) gigantic skeleton of some poor creature from ages past. Black fire was spreading over the bones, enhancing the sinister look of the whole scene. His suspicions about their source were confirmed when Sasuke jumped away from the rubble and out of the hole, straightening his stance and sheathing his sword. Even from this distance, where Kisame crouched hidden in a tree, he could see the Eternal Mangekyo gleaming in his eyes. The kid had really gone through with it, just as Itachi predicted he would.

It didn't much look like he was needed here. Sasuke had busted himself out just fine, and Itachi had specifically said not to approach unless he needed help. For some reason, Itachi seemed set on avoiding Sasuke for as long as possible. Giving a mental shrug, Kisame decided to shadow the kid for just a little longer to see where he was going.

#

For a while, no one moved or said anything. Tobi's mind cycled through his options again. His frustration was almost to the snapping point, but he tried to stay calm. An aggressive move here would not work. He couldn't beat Itachi and Nagato alone. His attempt to throw them had no effect, implying there was something they knew that he didn't.

He hated to admit it, but retreat seemed the only option at the moment. Without the Rinnegan, their plans fell apart like a fragile house of cards. He had to be careful.

Separate them, capture Nagato and rewrite his control tag, or use a genjutsu powerful enough to get him to reveal the Rinnegan's location—

Tobi's thoughts came to a halt when the air in the room shifted. Everyone's attention snapped sharply to the floor next to him, where a blob was emerging. It stretched and grew and molded itself into Black Zetsu.

"What is taking so long here?" Zetsu said, seething with anger. "You need to get back. Sasuke has—"

A red-hot burst of fire licked the air and Tobi twisted out of the way. Black Zetsu sunk back into the ground and the stone floor turned charred, cracking under the heat.

Itachi ran through another set of hand seals too quickly to see and sent a burst of smaller, homing balls of flame where Black Zetsu reappeared on the angel carvings.

Sensing his only opportunity, Tobi dashed toward the distracted Nagato and made his mask intangible for long enough to breathe out a large fireball of his own. He counted on Nagato to react by absorbing rather than dodging it, and that was exactly what happened. Nagato put up his hands and absorbed the fire easily, but the moment it blinked out of existence, Tobi grabbed his outstretched arm.

The space between them bent and crumpled for a fraction of a second after Nagato's purple eyes locked with his one visible Sharingan. Nagato's face pulled into a snarl.

"Shinra Tensei!"

Being completely solid while trying to pull Nagato into the other dimension, Tobi was hit with the full force of the attack and went flying backward into the bed of paper roses. He looked up in time to see Nagato leaping toward him, a mechanical arm bursting from his shoulder. Nagato landed in a low crouch at his feet and took aim at him with a glowing cannon attached to the end of his robotic arm. A high-pitched whine came from the device as it steadily grew brighter.

Tobi took that as his cue to leave. He'd missed the chance, and they would be on their guard now. He sunk down through the crumpled roses and didn't return.

Nagato stood with a sigh and his extra arm shrank back down smoothly into his body.

"He fled."

"The other one, too," Itachi said, walking back over to the memorial. "Hopefully we were able to stall them long enough for Kisame and Sasuke to leave without much trouble."