Victory and Defeat

After Uchiha Yusuke's Zanpakuto had passed completely through Obito's body, Obito immediately reached for Yusuke's left shoulder. The moment he touched Yusuke, he would dispel his Hollowfication and pull Yusuke into the Kamui Dimension.

When Obito's right hand successfully landed on Yusuke's left shoulder, he felt a surge of delight and immediately dispelled his Hollowfication. But in that instant, he suddenly felt a searing pain as flames scorched his body.

It turned out that the flames Yusuke had unleashed with his horizontal slash still lingered in the air, not yet fully dissipated. Obito naturally couldn't feel them while intangible, but the moment he became tangible again, the residual flames clung to his body.

These flames had all been produced by the Zanpakuto Ryujin Jakka, and their temperature was extremely high. Not only did anything they touched immediately catch fire, but once they found something combustible, they spread rapidly until their target was completely consumed.

In the blink of an eye, Obito's entire body was engulfed in flames!

"Ah!!!"

After the flames ignited his whole body, Obito let out a cry of agony and immediately stopped trying to use the Kamui Dimension to capture Yusuke.

His reflexes were also extremely quick. He promptly used the Substitution Technique and abandoned the black cloak he was wearing, barely escaping being swallowed by the flames.

But Yusuke had no intention of giving Obito a chance to catch his breath. He immediately pursued him with the Body Flicker Technique, swinging Ryujin Jakka again and again. The blade trailed a brilliant crimson ribbon, leaving long streaks of fire in the air with every slash.

Obito had just escaped the flames that had nearly taken his life and hadn't had time to recover when Yusuke came after him again, blade in hand, leaving him no opening at all. He had no choice but to quickly make himself intangible once more.

Obito was deeply troubled. The trails of flame left by Yusuke's slashes couldn't linger for long, but they were deadly to him. If he became tangible while touching one of those fiery trails, they would ignite him just as they had a moment ago.

Could he know how my ability works and be using this method to counter me? Obito wondered. But he soon dismissed the thought.

After all, aside from Obito himself, only Uchiha Madara and Zetsu had ever seen his ability. There was no way Yusuke could know about it.

As a transmigrator, Yusuke of course knew about Obito's Kamui ability. He also knew it had a time limit of about five minutes.

As long as he kept pursuing Obito and gave him no chance to catch his breath, then when the time was up, Obito would be forced to become tangible. Yusuke could take that opportunity to finish him off.

Faced with Yusuke's powerful assault, Obito could only remain intangible, not daring to reveal his physical form at all.

Every time Yusuke swung Ryujin Jakka, he carved out a wave of flames that shielded him. Obito had no chance to attack, and could only keep moving, hoping to put some distance between himself and Yusuke so he could become tangible again.

This can't go on. I have to find a chance to become tangible soon. I can't keep dragging this out! Three minutes had passed, and Obito still hadn't found an opening to attack Yusuke or managed to shake him off. He was beginning to grow impatient.

Yusuke was hardly having an easy time of it, either. To keep Obito from becoming tangible, he had to pursue him with all his strength, consuming a great deal of stamina and Chakra. At this pace, Yusuke himself could only keep up the assault for fifteen minutes at most.

In a normal ninja battle, many fights were decided in an instant, with the victor clear at once. Yusuke's battles had always ended quickly, and he had never before been locked in a drawn-out struggle like this.

Obito's ability was simply close to unbeatable. Without wearing him down this way, there was no way to hurt him.

"Your attacks are completely useless against me. You're just wasting your stamina and Chakra," Obito taunted. He hoped to trick Yusuke into abandoning his relentless assault.

But Yusuke paid no attention to Obito's bluster and simply kept hounding him.

Another minute passed. Obito knew he couldn't hold on much longer. Once he was forced to become tangible, he wouldn't be able to withstand Yusuke's attacks with his current abilities. Yusuke could kill him in fewer than five moves.

How can this be happening? I can't even beat a mere Uchiha Yusuke! Obito was unwilling to accept it, but he still couldn't think of a way to turn the tables.

Just as Obito was falling into despair, a half-black, half-white figure appeared atop a large tree not far behind Yusuke. It was Zetsu, who had come to support Obito because he was worried about him.

Zetsu's sudden appearance distracted Yusuke for an instant, causing his movements to falter. Obito immediately seized the opening. He leapt backward to put some distance between himself and Yusuke, then became tangible, winning a moment to catch his breath before launching a deadly counterattack.

"Wood Release: Cutting Technique!" Now that he was tangible, Obito immediately drew on the power of the Hashirama Cells in the White Zetsu attached to his body and unleashed one of Wood Release's most lethal techniques against living targets.

With the Cutting Technique, the user extended a long wooden spike from their arm and thrust it into the enemy's body. It then split and grew wildly, impaling the enemy from within—a brutally cruel technique.

Watching Yusuke, who had no time to dodge, a triumphant glint flashed in Obito's eyes. The wooden spike extending from his arm struck Yusuke squarely in the right shoulder, and blood immediately soaked the fabric there.

"Die!" Obito roared. He was certain the spike had struck Yusuke's physical body. At last, the enemy he had never been able to defeat was going to die by his hand.

Seeing Yusuke struck by the Cutting Technique, Zetsu, standing some distance away, didn't think he had any chance of surviving, either.

But before the triumphant look could fade from Obito's eyes, he noticed the murderous intent in Yusuke's gaze, and his heart suddenly tightened.

Obito realized he hadn't been able to unleash the Cutting Technique's follow-up attack. After the wooden spike pierced Yusuke's right shoulder, nothing happened. It didn't split into branching spikes.

Suddenly, flames appeared at the wound in Yusuke's right shoulder. They burned the spike embedded in the wound and rapidly spread all the way up Obito's arm, from which the spike had grown.

Obito was shocked and immediately leapt backward again. Zetsu was also stunned by the turn of events. Neither of them had expected Yusuke to change the nature of the Fire Release Chakra inside his own body, counter the Cutting Technique, and then launch a counterattack.

"Scorch Release: Flame Run Technique!"

Seeing that Obito had been caught, Yusuke quickly formed a one-handed seal with his left hand and unleashed his true killing move.

Scorch Release: Flame Run Technique was a fire-based ninjutsu Yusuke had developed. Anywhere connected to the flames produced by Ryujin Jakka in his hand could serve as a route for him to travel through the fire, almost as if teleporting.

The flames rising from the wound in Yusuke's shoulder had been ignited by Ryujin Jakka in his hand, and they had spread along the wooden spike all the way to Obito's arm. That gave Yusuke the perfect opportunity to pursue him in an instant!

"Watch out!" Zetsu saw a flash of fire where Yusuke stood, and Yusuke vanished. Then half of Yusuke's body emerged from the flames burning on the wooden spike attached to Obito's arm, his eyes fixed intently on Obito.

"Flame Ash!"

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

Obito, cut across the waist by Yusuke, hadn't been severed in two. He remained standing bolt upright, motionless.

Did Obito become intangible just in time? That shouldn't be possible. He couldn't have reacted in time, could he? Seeing that Obito seemed unharmed by the slash, Zetsu was puzzled.

But the answer came to him the next moment. Obito's body suddenly turned charred black. The flames had roasted him from the inside out, evaporating all the moisture from his body and leaving him a burnt corpse.

Yusuke seemed to lose interest in Obito's body and immediately turned his gaze toward Zetsu, not far away.

Seeing the unfriendly look on Yusuke's face, Zetsu chuckled to himself. You think Obito's been defeated just like that? Carelessness always comes at a price.

Just then, Obito's charred corpse slowly vanished from the ground, and Obito suddenly appeared behind Yusuke, who had his back turned to him, seemingly unharmed.

Obito's eyes were filled with fury and murderous intent. He had never imagined Yusuke would leave him almost no chance to fight back—and force him to use the forbidden technique Izanagi!

Izanagi was an ultimate genjutsu cast with the Sharingan. It recorded the user's state, then, for a limited period after activation, negated any damage the user suffered—even death—and restored them to the state recorded when the technique began.

But once used, the Sharingan that recorded the user's state would close forever and lose its power.

Obito had just sacrificed one of the Sharingan transplanted into his body to cast Izanagi, negating the damage Yusuke had inflicted on him.

What Obito didn't know was that Yusuke understood his abilities very well. Yusuke had deliberately turned his back on Obito's corpse to give him a chance to attack from behind!

Just as Obito thought he was finally about to succeed, Yusuke once again defied his expectations, leaving Zetsu, not far away, staring in stunned disbelief.

A crimson blade flashed. Obito's mask split vertically in two, then burned to ash in the flames clinging to the blade. Their eyes met for an instant, and from the sensation transmitted through his sword, Yusuke knew Obito had activated the Kamui Dimension at the last possible moment, narrowly saving his life.

Watching Obito cover his now maskless face with one hand as he gradually twisted and shrank into the spatial vortex, Yusuke sighed to himself. As expected, Obito isn't that easy to deal with.

Obito, however, was filled with frustration. He had never imagined that even after awakening the Mangekyō Sharingan and gaining the power of the Kamui Dimension, he could still lose to this former rival.

"Do you really think an illusory world can bring people true comfort?" Just as Obito was about to be completely drawn into the Kamui Dimension, Yusuke looked straight at him and suddenly asked softly.

Yusuke's words shook Obito to the core, and his pupils contracted. He had no idea what Yusuke meant by them.

Does he know about our plan? When he slashed my mask, did he see my face? Carrying a head full of questions, Obito finally vanished before Yusuke.

After Obito escaped, Zetsu immediately sank into the ground and fled as well. He wasn't known for his combat strength, and he didn't dare stay here to fight Yusuke, who had toyed with Obito as if he were in the palm of his hand.

Yusuke let out a long breath. The battle had been far from easy for him, either. He had not only needed every bit of cunning he could muster, but had also expended a great deal of stamina and Chakra.

If Obito had been able to catch his breath two more times, then Yusuke, running low on Chakra, would have been the one forced to flee.

Besides, Yusuke knew very well that Obito had only recently been brought back to life by Uchiha Madara. He relied entirely on Kamui to fight, and his strength and experience were still far below what they would be when he appeared in the original story.

Once Obito grew stronger, Yusuke wouldn't be able to defeat him as he had today.

Yusuke was about to rest where he stood when he suddenly felt a violent tremor beneath his feet. It came from a valley not far from where he was.

Accompanied by a loud, resonant roar, a gigantic, dark-gray monster that looked like a statue suddenly rose in the valley ahead. Its enormous body towered over the surrounding highlands and even the nearby peaks.

The blade light from the protagonist's slashes—those of you who've seen Demon Slayer can use the blade light Tanjiro unleashes when he powers up as a reference. (ˊωˋ*)

Here's a little doggerel, too:

My writing's not quite up to snuff; I wanted to add an illustration. But Dian Dian wouldn't let me, so I could only stamp my feet in frustration.