Obito was like a country bumpkin visiting a grand estate for the first time, his face full of curiosity. If the white mask on his face hadn't hidden his expression as he looked around,
he might even have jumped up and shouted. Yahiko, on the other hand, had seen a fair bit of the world. The stands were packed with tens of thousands of spectators.
[Kakuzu VS Obito Uchiha + Yahiko]
[The match begins now]
As soon as those words were spoken, the two were transported to the center of the arena. Kakuzu was suppressing his anger. In this single day, he had endured a lifetime's worth of humiliation.
"No matter what you two brats are up to, today I'll make sure you know there are some people you can't afford to mess with," Kakuzu threatened.
Kakuzu then jumped back to open up some distance, intending to wear them down with Ninjutsu first.
"Earth Release: Earth Dragon Bullet!"
The previously tranquil ground began to crack, and an earth dragon emerged from it and charged at Obito. Kakuzu had originally meant to test him first.
No matter how much Kakuzu might underestimate an opponent strategically, he would never underestimate them in battle. After all, even a lion used its full strength to hunt a rabbit.
Obito wanted to test his future abilities. Just as the Earth Dragon Bullet was about to hit him, he made his body intangible.
The Earth Dragon Bullet passed right through Obito with ease.
Kakuzu stared in disbelief. It had clearly hit him, so why was he completely unharmed?
The spectators were also baffled by what Obito had done. After all, they knew nothing about the Kamui Mangekyō that Obito had awakened.
[Mei Terumi: No way. Why did the Earth Dragon Bullet pass through Obito's body?]
[Uchiha Fugaku: Could it be Genjutsu? But my Sharingan can't see any trace of Genjutsu at all.]
[Rin: Go, Obito! Kakashi and I are rooting for you.]
[Kakashi (reluctantly): Yes, Rin's right.]
Kakashi had a nagging feeling that something bad was about to happen. Surely not. Surely not.
Kakuzu didn't remain shocked for long. Seeing that Ninjutsu wasn't working, he decided to use Taijutsu to subdue Obito Uchiha.
But who was he fighting now? This was White Mask, a man who could hold his own against Might Guy. What gave Kakuzu the nerve?
No matter how Kakuzu attacked, Obito dodged everything by turning intangible. After going back and forth like this, Kakuzu's patience finally ran out.
"What, brat? Is dodging all you know how to do? Come and fight me!" Kakuzu taunted.
If that's how it is, don't blame me for not holding back, Obito thought.
"Fire Release: Blast Wave Wild Dance!"
Obito combined his Mangekyō Sharingan with Fire Release Ninjutsu. First, he used Kamui to warp the surrounding space and create a swirling storm. Then he used Fire Style to spit a rotating serpent of fire from his mouth. The swirling storm and the rotating fire serpent combined to form a massive spiral of flames.
The technique covered an area more than ten times larger than an ordinary Fire Style technique. Kakuzu had no avenue of escape and could only steel himself and withstand it.
"Water Release: Water Dragon Bullet!"
A torrent gushed from Kakuzu's mouth. He intended to block the attack by exploiting the elemental countering principle of the Five Nature Transformations, but he didn't know that the principle no longer worked at this level.
Take Lord Madara's Fire Style, for example. Even a thousand Water Release ninja couldn't suppress it, so how could you, Kakuzu, possibly suppress my Fire Style?
Kakuzu's Water Dragon Bullet was steadily consumed by the flames, but Blast Wave Wild Dance kept spewing forth.
Seeing that he was about to be overwhelmed, Kakuzu hurriedly used a secret Earth Release technique.
He hardened his skin and entered a defensive state; Kakuzu's arms turned black when hardened. The Ninjutsu that could normally withstand a barrage of attacks with ease seemed useless against Obito.
Scorching flames roasted Kakuzu's body. His physical condition was far better than that of an ordinary ninja; otherwise, he couldn't have withstood such a Fire Style attack at all.
"Wood Release: Hellish Rampage!"
Obito paid no attention to the spectators' shock and used Wood Release right before everyone's eyes.
A massive tree created by Wood Release slowly rose, then came crashing down, threatening to strangle Kakuzu to death.
When Kakuzu saw that the young Uchiha before him could actually use Wood Release, a Ninjutsu that only the First Hokage could use, he instantly remembered the moment the First Hokage had beaten him senseless.
Kakuzu failed to dodge and was pierced by countless thorns.
When Kakuzu tried to use Ninjutsu, he discovered that the countless thorns could actually absorb his Chakra.
As more and more of his Chakra was absorbed, Kakuzu finally unleashed his ultimate Ninjutsu, Earth Grudge Fear Mode.
Kakuzu placed the Fire Style mask and the Earth Release mask on his shoulders. The Fire Style mask then unleashed a continuous stream of Ninjutsu, clearing away all the thorns on his body.
But he no longer had the courage to fight this strange young man, and he couldn't withdraw either. Kakuzu bitterly regretted insisting on teaching these two brats a lesson.
Now he was stuck with no way out.
Kakuzu steeled himself and resolved to launch another attack.
Kakuzu's hands separated from his arms, and he unleashed a dense mass of black threads from his arms, firing them at Obito in an attempt to pierce his heart in a single blow.
But to Obito, all of it was futile. He only needed to use Kamui to dodge it easily.
Yet when the black threads passed through Obito, they turned at a bizarre angle and flew toward Yahiko.
If I can't hit you, surely I can hit your companion, Kakuzu thought.
Just as his Ninjutsu was about to hit, Pain slowly raised a hand and spoke in an unhurried voice.
"Shinra Tensei."
Then everything centered on Kakuzu, including the Ninjutsu, was blasted away by a gravitational force.
Kakuzu was caught in it too and hurled more than twenty meters away. If not for the arena's indestructible boundary, who knew how far he would have flown?
Before Kakuzu could recover, another gravitational force seized him and pulled him right in front of Pain.
Pain gripped Kakuzu's neck with both hands, while Kakuzu struggled desperately to no avail.
The Fire Style mask on Kakuzu's shoulder tried to release another Ninjutsu, but Pain gave him no chance. Another Shinra Tensei sent Kakuzu flying.
Kakuzu stared in horror at his pierced heart. He hadn't expected Pain to have immediately discovered the key to Earth Grudge Fear Mode.
Kakuzu's five hearts each corresponded to one of his five masks. Once a heart was destroyed, its corresponding mask could no longer be used.
Pain's attack had shattered his Fire Style mask, the one he was most skilled with.
Left with no choice, Kakuzu created another Lightning Release mask instead.
The Earth Grudge Fear Lightning Release mask monster then fired a sharp spear of lightning from its mouth, sweeping the lightning from near to far. The power of Lightning Release Ninjutsu was far beyond that of ordinary Ninjutsu.
Seeing the Lightning Release strike Pain, Kakuzu finally breathed a sigh of relief.
[Yugito Nii: He missed even that? What's wrong with Kakuzu?]
[Ōnoki: No, something's wrong. He seems to be caught in Genjutsu.]
Ōnoki saw at a glance that something was wrong with Kakuzu's condition and explained.
[Uchiha Fugaku: When did it happen? He could actually trap someone in Genjutsu without them knowing?]
For some reason, whenever Uchiha Fugaku looked into Obito's and Yahiko's eyes, he felt immense pressure, as though a higher bloodline were suppressing a lower one in a way engraved into its very bones.