Victory and Defeat

As soon as the blade of Yusuke's Zanpakuto passed completely through his body, Obito reached out to grab Yusuke's left shoulder. He intended to deactivate his intangibility the moment he made contact, dragging Yusuke into the Kamui dimension.

When Obito's right hand successfully landed on Yusuke's left shoulder, a surge of joy filled his heart, and he immediately deactivated his intangibility. However, in that very instant, Obito was struck by a searing, agonizing pain as if his body were being scorched by flames.

It turned out that the flames unleashed by Yusuke's horizontal slash were still lingering in the air, having not yet dissipated. While Obito's body was intangible, he naturally couldn't feel them, but now that his intangibility was deactivated, his body immediately came into contact with the residual fire.

These flames were fueled by the Zanpakuto Ryujin Jakka and burned at an incredibly high temperature. Not only did they ignite upon contact, but once they found a combustible medium, they spread rapidly, threatening to consume the target entirely.

In a single heartbeat, Obito's entire body was engulfed in flames!

"Ah!!!"

After being ignited by the fire, Obito let out a pained scream and immediately ceased his attempt to capture Yusuke using the Kamui dimension.

His reflexes were sharp; he promptly performed a Substitution Technique and discarded his outer black cloak, barely managing to escape the fate of being devoured by the flames.

However, Yusuke had no intention of giving Obito a moment to breathe. He immediately used the Body Flicker Technique to pursue him, swinging Ryujin Jakka continuously. It looked as if he were dragging a brilliant, crimson ribbon, with every slash leaving a long trail of fire in the air.

Having just escaped the flames that nearly cost him his life, Obito had not yet had a chance to recover when he saw Yusuke chasing him down with his blade, leaving no room for error. He had no choice but to activate his intangibility once again.

Obito was feeling extremely frustrated. Although the trails of fire left by Yusuke's slashes could not linger for long, they were lethal to him. If he were to deactivate his intangibility while touching these trails, the flames would ignite him just as they had before.

Does he know my ability, and is that why he's using this method to counter me? Obito wondered, though he quickly pushed the thought aside.

After all, aside from himself, only Uchiha Madara and Zetsu had ever seen this ability; it was impossible for Yusuke to know about it.

As a transmigrator, Yusuke was, of course, aware of Obito's Kamui ability. He also knew that the ability had a time limit, lasting approximately five minutes.

As long as he could keep up the pressure and deny Obito any chance to catch his breath, then once the time was up, Obito would be forced to deactivate his intangibility, giving Yusuke the perfect opportunity to finish him off.

Facing Yusuke's relentless offensive, Obito had no choice but to remain intangible, not daring to manifest his physical form for even a second.

Every time Yusuke swung Ryujin Jakka, he unleashed a wave of fire to guard himself. Obito had no opportunity to counterattack and could only keep moving, hoping to create enough distance to safely deactivate his intangibility.

"This can't go on. I have to find a chance to deactivate my intangibility; I can't drag this out any longer!" Three minutes had passed, and Obito had yet to find an opening to strike or shake off the persistent Yusuke. He couldn't help but feel a growing sense of urgency.

In reality, Yusuke wasn't having an easy time either. To prevent Obito from materializing, he was attacking with everything he had, consuming a massive amount of stamina and chakra. At this intensity, Yusuke could only sustain the assault for fifteen minutes at most.

In standard ninja combat, most battles were decided in an instant, with victory or defeat determined in a heartbeat. Yusuke's previous fights had always been quick, and he had never engaged in this kind of prolonged skirmish.

It could only be said that Obito's ability was nearly unsolvable; without this method of attrition, there was simply no way to harm him.

"Attacks like these are useless against me; you're just wasting your stamina and chakra for nothing," Obito taunted. He hoped to trick Yusuke into abandoning this relentless style of combat.

However, Yusuke ignored Obito's bluffing and continued to hound him without pause.

Another minute passed, and Obito knew he couldn't hold on much longer. Once he was forced to deactivate his intangibility, he wouldn't be able to withstand the opponent's onslaught with his current capabilities; he would be cut down in less than five moves.

How can this be? Am I really unable to defeat even a mere Uchiha Yusuke? Obito felt a deep sense of resentment, yet he couldn't think of a way to break the deadlock.

Just as Obito was sinking into despair, a half-black, half-white figure suddenly appeared on a large tree not far behind Yusuke. It was Zetsu, who had come to provide support, worried about Obito.

Zetsu's appearance caused Yusuke's focus to waver for a split second, and his movements stalled. Obito immediately seized this opening, retreating to put distance between himself and Yusuke. He deactivated his intangibility, winning a moment to breathe, and took the opportunity to launch a lethal counterattack.

"Wood Release: Cutting Technique." Once materialized, Obito immediately utilized the power of the Hashirama Cells within the White Zetsu attached to his body to unleash the Wood Release: Cutting Technique, a move with devastating lethality against living targets.

The Cutting Technique involved the user extending a long, wooden spike from their arm, stabbing it into the enemy's body, and causing it to branch out and grow wildly, piercing the enemy from within—a truly cruel method.

Watching Yusuke, who was unable to dodge in time, a look of triumph flashed in Obito's eyes. The wooden spike extending from Obito's arm struck Yusuke's right shoulder accurately, and blood immediately soaked through the fabric of Yusuke's clothes.

"Die!" Obito roared. He was certain he had struck Yusuke's physical body. This enemy, whom he had once been unable to defeat, was finally going to die by his hand today.

Seeing Yusuke struck by the Cutting Technique, Zetsu, standing not far away, didn't believe he had any chance of survival either.

However, before the look of triumph could fade from Obito's eyes, he noticed that Yusuke's eyes were filled with equal killing intent, and his heart suddenly skipped a beat.

Obito realized he hadn't been able to trigger the follow-up strike of the Cutting Technique. After the wooden spike pierced Yusuke's right shoulder, there was no reaction at all; the spike did not branch out as intended.

Suddenly, flames erupted from the wound on Yusuke's right shoulder, not only burning the spike that had pierced him but also spreading rapidly along the wood toward Obito's arm.

Obito was shocked and immediately retreated. Zetsu, watching from afar, was also stunned by this turn of events. Neither of them had expected that Yusuke could perform fire-style chakra nature transformation within his own body, allowing him to counter the Cutting Technique and launch a counterattack.

"Scorch Release: Flame Run Technique!"

Seeing that Obito had fallen for the trap, Yusuke immediately formed seals with his left hand to unleash his true finishing move.

The 'Scorch Release: Flame Run Technique' was a fire-style jutsu Yusuke had developed himself. As long as there was a connection to the flames fueled by his Ryujin Jakka, he could teleport through the fire to any position almost instantaneously.

The flames erupting from the wound on Yusuke's shoulder were fueled by the blade in his hand, and they had traveled along the wooden spike to Obito's arm, providing Yusuke with the perfect opportunity for a sudden strike!

"Watch out!" Zetsu only saw a flash of fire where Yusuke had been, and then he vanished. The next moment, half of Yusuke's body emerged from the flames burning on the wooden spike in Obito's arm, his gaze locked firmly onto the Obito before him.

"Flame Ash!"

Without hesitation, Yusuke swung his blade in a horizontal slash, passing through Obito and appearing behind him.

Obito, who had been slashed across the waist, did not fall apart; he remained standing upright, motionless.

Did Obito manage to turn intangible in time? That's impossible; he shouldn't have had enough time for that. Zetsu watched Obito, who seemed to have suffered no damage from the slash, feeling confused.

But the next moment, he received his answer. Obito's body suddenly turned charred black, the moisture within him completely evaporated by the intense heat, leaving behind nothing but a scorched corpse.

Yusuke seemed to lose interest in the body, his gaze shifting toward Zetsu not far away.

Zetsu looked at the menacing Yusuke and chuckled inwardly: Do you really think Obito was finished off just like that? Arrogance always comes with a price.

Just then, the charred corpse of Obito on the ground slowly vanished, and Obito appeared behind Yusuke, who had his back turned, as if he hadn't been injured at all.

Obito's eyes were filled with rage and killing intent. He never imagined that he would be pushed to the brink by Yusuke, and even forced to use the forbidden technique, 'Izanagi'!

Izanagi is an ultimate genjutsu cast by the Sharingan. It allows the user to record their own state using the Sharingan and, within the effective duration of the technique, negate any damage received—even death itself—by reverting the user to the state recorded at the moment of activation.

However, once cast, the Sharingan used to record the state will close forever and lose its function.

At this moment, Obito had sacrificed one of the Sharingan transplanted into his body to cast Izanagi, thereby negating the damage Yusuke had inflicted upon him.

But what Obito did not know was that Yusuke was well aware of the abilities he possessed. Yusuke had intentionally turned his back on Obito's corpse precisely to give him an opportunity to launch a sneak attack!

Just as Obito thought he was finally about to succeed, Yusuke once again shattered his expectations, leaving Zetsu, who was watching from not far away, dumbfounded.

A crimson blade flash streaked through the air, splitting Obito's mask in two before the flames attached to the blade reduced it to ash. In that instant, the eyes of Yusuke and Obito met. Based on the sensation transmitted through his blade, Yusuke knew that at the very last split second, Obito had successfully activated Kamui to save his own life.

Watching Obito cover his exposed face with his hand as he gradually twisted and shrank into the spatial vortex, Yusuke sighed inwardly, As expected, Obito is not so easy to deal with.

Obito, meanwhile, was filled with a sense of frustration. He had never imagined that after awakening the Mangekyou Sharingan and mastering the power of Kamui, he would still be defeated by this former rival.

"Do you really think an illusory world can provide anyone with true solace?" Just as Obito was about to be fully sucked into the Kamui dimension, Yusuke looked directly at him and asked softly.

Hearing Yusuke's words, Obito felt a violent tremor in his heart, his pupils constricting. He did not know what meaning lay behind Yusuke's question.

Does he know about our plan? In that moment when he slashed my mask, did he see my face? Carrying a belly full of questions, Obito finally vanished from before Yusuke.

After Obito fled, Zetsu also immediately escaped into the ground. Not known for his combat prowess, he dared not remain here to face Yusuke, who had been able to toy with Obito in the palm of his hand.

Yusuke let out a long breath. The battle just now had been anything but easy for him; not only had it required all his cunning, but it had also consumed a significant amount of his stamina and chakra.

If Obito had been given two more chances to catch his breath, it would have been he himself, suffering from a lack of chakra, who would have been the one to flee.

Furthermore, Yusuke was well aware that Obito had only recently been saved by Uchiha Madara and was relying entirely on the power of Kamui to fight; his strength and experience were still far from what they would be in the original story.

Once Obito grew stronger in the future, it would be impossible for him to defeat his opponent like he had today.

Just as Yusuke was preparing to rest on the spot, he suddenly felt a violent tremor beneath his feet, originating from the valley not far from his current position.

Accompanied by a high-pitched roar, a massive monster with a dark gray, statue-like body suddenly stood tall within the valley ahead, its enormous frame towering even higher than the surrounding highlands and peaks.

For the blade light swung by the protagonist, those who have watched "Demon Slayer" can refer to the blade light swung by Tanjiro when he unleashes his power. (ˊωˋ*)

Additionally, here is a doggerel poem:

The author lacks the skill to draw, and wishes to attach an illustration. Alas, the platform forbids it, leaving me to stomp my feet in frustration.

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