Rei vs. Obito (Part 1)

The person posing as Uchiha Obito was, of course, not the real Obito, but Uchiha Rei.

After receiving the secret message from Kurama Yakumo, Uchiha Rei immediately activated the "Telescopic Technique" and conducted long-range coordinate observations outside Konoha. He quickly locked onto two locations.

Thanks to the Genjutsu mark he had previously planted on Uchiha Itachi, he could easily tell which one was real.

At the patrol base, on top of a telephone pole, was Uchiha Itachi;

while the one wandering near the Clan Compound, seething with killing intent, was unquestionably Uchiha Obito.

Uchiha Rei quickly weighed his options and made his decision in an instant. He knew Uchiha Itachi bore a Genjutsu mark, so as long as Itachi was in the village, Rei could sense and find him at any time. Obito was different. He possessed "Kamui," an almost unbeatable space-time Dojutsu that let him travel freely between another dimension and reality. If Rei let this opportunity slip, he might never find him again.

So Uchiha Rei promptly made arrangements for Tsunade and Shizune, then put on a mask and quietly headed for the Uchiha Clan Compound.

By the time he reached the family grounds, the air was already thick with the smell of blood.

Uchiha Obito had just finished fighting Root, and the ground was littered with charred corpses.

Among the bodies lying with their eyes wide open, most were Root ninja. The battle had clearly been fierce.

Uchiha Rei concealed himself in the shadows and silently followed Obito. With his strength, defeating Obito would not be difficult, but "keeping" him there would be.

Obito's Kamui ability was simply too strange. He had almost complete control over when they fought.

So Rei changed his strategy.

He would impersonate Obito and save Uchiha Izumi first.

If he could provoke Obito's arrogant, conceited nature and stir up his competitiveness and obsession, Obito would never leave easily.

After freeing Uchiha Izumi from her chains, Uchiha Rei stood on a high branch, watching the hesitant figure not far away.

As expected, Obito attacked at once, sending his chains lashing out. But the next second, his expression changed dramatically.

The attack passed straight through Uchiha Rei's body.

"...?"

Was that "Kamui"? Obito's pupils contracted slightly, and a trace of unease rose within him. He whipped out a second attack, but it still missed.

It was like striking at air—there was nothing solid to hit.

"Something's wrong..."

Obito's nerves instantly went taut.

Obito calmly retreated, once again slipping into his intangible state.

But in that brief exchange of attacks,

Uchiha Izumi clung tightly to Uchiha Rei. Her body trembled slightly, her face pale, and the beauty mark beneath her eye seemed all the more fragile and alluring through her tears. Her cheek rested against Rei's chest, warm from her recent crying, soft and damp; even her breathing trembled with his heartbeat. Her fingers clutched his clothes before she could stop herself, as if he were her only foothold on the path to survival.

The soft body that had been so proud moments ago had lost all its pride, replaced by an almost instinctive dependence. Izumi wrapped both arms around Rei, as if trying to bury herself in his chest. Her fingers trembled several times, but she still could not bring herself to let go.

Uchiha Rei frowned.

"Women really are a nuisance."

In the suffocating silence, Obito quietly emerged from Kamui Space. As expected, he had not left. Instead, he had chosen the spot Uchiha Rei would have the hardest time defending.

Behind him!

A hand reached through the void and struck precisely at Uchiha Rei's shoulder, intending to pull him into Kamui Space in an instant.

"This time, you won't escape."

Obito's gaze was as cold as still water.

But!

Once again, he missed.

That touch was like grasping at clouds and shadows, or clutching at wind and frost—there was nothing solid there.

Obito's expression finally grew serious. He suddenly realized that the man before him not only had a space-time ability similar to "Kamui," but wielded it with even greater precision and flexibility.

In the short term, he could neither defeat him nor take him away.

He began to get a headache.

Kamui was his trump card, the reason he could remain undefeated, and the power he relied on to manipulate the Ninja World. But now, it was as if he were facing another "himself"—someone who could vanish into nothingness and toy with space in the same way.

"Who are you, exactly?" Obito asked. For the first time, uncertainty crept into his voice.

Uchiha Rei stood on a treetop, the woman in his arms still clinging tightly to him. He looked down at Obito and spoke in a voice as calm as the wind, yet somehow oppressive:

"I am Obito."

"A dead hero of Konoha."

Obito slipped back into his intangible state, emerged from Kamui Space, and landed on the ground, silently putting some distance between himself and Uchiha Rei.

Those words—"I am Obito"—were a dull knife, slowly slicing through what remained of his sanity.

He did not want to hear them or think about them, yet the scene before him forced him to see a ghost from the past.

The next moment, Obito vanished and entered Kamui Space once more, preparing to launch a second attack.

If a single attack could not overcome the Masked Man's "Kamui," then he would try another method. He coldly made up his mind.

He could have left.

He should have left.

But when Obito saw that ninja, and the woman beside him, he did not want to go.

Obito thought of Rin—the girl he had once held in his arms, only to lose in the end.

For a moment, he almost thought the woman in the other man's arms was not Uchiha Izumi, but Nohara Rin, the girl he loved.

Uchiha Izumi still had not let go. Instead, she clung to him even tighter. She buried herself in Uchiha Rei's arms, her cheek resting against his chest as she gently rubbed against it, as if trying to confirm something, or perhaps seeking warmth.

That lingering, reluctant gesture was like a barb driven into Obito's heart, cruelly merging the past with the present.

The sudden intimacy pierced his nerves and sent his rage into full eruption. Watching them nestled together, he felt humiliated, hateful, jealous, and resentful all at once.

It was as though the woman locked in that embrace were not Uchiha Izumi, but Rin.

And the man holding Rin was the phantom he most wanted to tear apart.

"This ends now," he said coldly.

Entering Kamui Space once more, Obito quietly appeared around Uchiha Rei.

A roar erupted, and a dazzling red light flashed suddenly.

Countless Explosive Tags covered in spell formulas flew in from all directions, surrounding the space around Uchiha Rei in layer upon layer, like maple leaves drifting down in an autumn wind.

These were no ordinary Explosive Tags. Obito had modified them himself; once activated, they would detonate in an endless chain, forming an unavoidable barrage like a tidal wave. Each explosion unleashed a shockwave that seemed capable of tearing apart the entire space and turning it into a sea of fire.

"If a single attack won't work..."

"Then let's see how you like... a hell that burns without end."

The blazing fire and deafening booms almost swallowed the whole scene. Yet at the center of that storm of light and flame,

Uchiha Izumi was terrified. She thought of the Night of the Nine-Tails, and clung to Uchiha Rei even tighter, as if ready to give him her whole heart.

Her body trembled slightly, her cheek pressed against Uchiha Rei's chest, as if to say: No matter whether it's a sea of fire or a mountain of blades, I won't let go.

Uchiha Rei, however, remained calm. Beneath his mask, his eyes were still as an abyss. He did not even dodge; flames raged around him.

The unending explosions burst like brilliant fireworks, illuminating the rosy blush on Uchiha Izumi's face.

Izumi lifted her face in his arms, trying to move closer. Her lips were less than an inch from his mask.

She gazed up at him, her eyes carrying a hint of intoxication and a silent plea.

Uchiha Rei turned his head slightly, deliberately avoiding her. Now was not the time. Women only caused trouble.

Izumi did not seem to mind. Blushing, she pressed her face even closer, her arms tightening around him as if she wanted to entwine herself with his very bones and blood.

In the firelight, the scene looked unbearably tender—and painful to see.

From a distance, Obito stood watching, his face beneath the mask turning red with rage.

His Explosive Tag barrage had done nothing, while the intimacy between the man and woman stabbed at his eyes like a needle.

"Today, he's not leaving!"