"Damn it!"
Obito's expression beneath his mask grew increasingly ugly.
For some reason, Hyuga Chiba knew a great deal of information about him—especially the fact that he could not activate Intangibility while attacking, and that his Intangibility could only last five minutes.
Now, the Third Kazekage Puppet's Iron Sand, Rasa's Gold Sand, Sasori's Fire Scroll and Water Scroll, the dozens of Human Puppets he controlled, and Deidara's Explosive Clay were all attacking Obito without pause.
Even if Obito wanted to imitate his earlier method of burrowing underground and emerging from a safe location, he could not.
The underground had long since been filled with Gold Sand and Iron Sand, while the ground within several hundred meters was littered with who knew how many kunai bearing Flying Thunder God Marks.
Most critically, there was likely a Flying Thunder God Mark left by Hyuga Chiba on Obito's back as well.
The moment Obito stopped using Intangibility and tried to counterattack, Hyuga Chiba might appear behind him at any moment.
What enraged Obito the most was that Chiba remained in the air, looking down on him from above. He rarely made a move, as though Obito were merely a clown being chased all over the place by Rasa and Sasori, someone who did not even deserve his intervention.
Second by second, Obito's Intangibility had already lasted beyond five minutes. Left with no choice, he activated Izanagi through the Three-Tomoe Sharingan he had implanted in his left eye beforehand, allowing him to erase all unfavorable factors over the next five minutes.
"But Izanagi can only last five minutes, and I only prepared one Three-Tomoe Sharingan. I need to find a way to escape."
Now that information about him had been exposed, Obito was destined to have a hard time dealing with Hyuga Chiba.
Only when the time was right in the future—through deception or a surprise attack—would he have a chance.
Besides, if this continued, he truly would not be able to hold on much longer.
Of course, even if Obito wanted to flee now, it would not be easy.
"Obito, we've come to help you!"
At that moment, white humanoid creatures with similar appearances emerged from the ground one after another, standing in front of Obito.
"What are these things?"
Rasa stared at the white humanoid creatures still continuously emerging from the ground—or rather, White Zetsu—with a look of astonishment.
He had never imagined that such incomprehensible creatures existed in the Ninja World.
"Those are... White Zetsu!"
Deidara, who had spent quite some time in the Akatsuki, quickly recognized them. "They're a group of humanoid... creatures led by Zetsu?"
"They possess the properties of grass, trees, and vegetation, and can move freely underground. Zetsu often uses them to gather intelligence, yeah."
"I never expected so many White Zetsu to emerge and help... Obito?"
"It seems the Akatsuki runs far deeper than we originally imagined." Sasori seemed to realize something as well and sighed. "But for now, none of that concerns us."
"As expected, they made their move." Chiba glanced toward where Black Zetsu was hiding, unsurprised by the appearance of these White Zetsu.
Obito was one of Black Zetsu's important pieces for carrying out the Mother Rescue Plan.
Before confirming that the Tenseigan could truly split the moon apart, and before confirming that Chiba was trustworthy, Black Zetsu would never abandon Obito.
"Hyuga Chiba, and all of you bastards, just wait."
"I'll be back."
Under the cover of the many White Zetsu, Obito was finally able to stop maintaining Intangibility.
After delivering Grey Wolf's classic line, his figure vanished amid a burst of spatial distortion.
"After Obito returned to the Kamui Dimension, did my Flying Thunder God Mark temporarily become ineffective?"
After Obito disappeared, Chiba carefully sensed his surroundings and murmured thoughtfully.
On second thought, that was only normal.
The Kamui Dimension belonged to a separate space, after all. How could one freely travel between the inside and outside with just the Flying Thunder God Technique?
Of course, when Obito happened to open the Kamui Dimension and still had a Flying Thunder God Mark on him, Chiba should be able to travel into the Kamui Dimension.
"Still, I remember that in the original story, the spatial passage connecting the moon and Earth was created through Otsutsuki Toneri's Tenseigan."
Recalling some details from his previous life, Chiba pondered, "Does that mean the Tenseigan should possess spatial abilities?"
"Then why don't I have them?"
"Is it because I haven't tried to develop them yet, or do I need to wait until my Tenseigan enters its next stage of awakening?"
Chiba's Tenseigan was ultimately different from Otsutsuki Toneri's, so he could not simply apply the latter's abilities to himself.
But Chiba believed that as long as the Tenseigan truly possessed spatial abilities, he would eventually be able to use them.
When that time came, even without Flying Thunder God, he would have a way to enter Obito's Kamui Dimension.
Obito's Intangibility would no longer be nearly as troublesome for him either.
Just then, Kakashi and Hyuga Nozomu arrived as well, witnessing Obito's escape under the protection of the many White Zetsu.
"That Masked Man was forced away just like that?"
"What were those white humanoid creatures?"
"Wasn't that blond boy with the Masked Man earlier? Why had he turned around and attacked the Masked Man?"
"And who was that red-haired boy?"
Because Kakashi and Hyuga Nozomu had missed too much of the "story," the scene before them immediately left them with many questions.
In truth, after shaking off Obito's entanglement, they could have arrived even sooner.
However, briefly exchanging intelligence with the First Hokage and Second Hokage had taken some time.
It was also from those two that Kakashi and Hyuga Nozomu learned what had happened in Sunagakure.
Otherwise, they would have been shocked to see Rasa acting alongside Hyuga Chiba.
After exchanging information, the two Hokage continued on their way back to Konoha.
Curious about the situation here, Kakashi and Hyuga Nozomu had boldly come over to take a look.
To prepare for any eventuality, Kakashi was ready at any time to have the ninja hound Pakkun use Reverse Summoning to send him back.
As for Hyuga Nozomu?
From the moment he had considered asking Hyuga Chiba to help remove his Caged Bird Curse Mark, he had already given up any intention of returning to Konoha normally.
"Konoha's Copy Ninja, Hatake Kakashi, and a Jonin from the Hyuga Clan's Branch Family?"
After noticing Kakashi and Hyuga Nozomu's arrival, Rasa frowned slightly before asking Chiba, "Lord Chiba, should we deal with them?"
If it had only been Kakashi, he might have already made a move.
But Rasa was currently unsure of Hyuga Chiba's attitude toward the Hyuga Branch Family.
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