The chains were yanked straight out of Uzumaki Sora's abdomen, but the Sage Body's powerful vitality soon healed the wound.
Yet the solemnity in Sora's eyes didn't diminish in the slightest.
Intelligence!
For the first time, Sora felt the shock of being caught off guard by a lack of information.
Izanagi?
No. Turning an unfavorable situation into a dream didn't fit what had just happened.
Deep Forest Emergence hadn't restrained Obito, and his chains hadn't touched Sora before then.
But there had been six space-time coordinates in total. How had he figured it out?
This was a power beyond Sora's memories.
"Surprised?"
Seeing the giant trees stop attacking, Obito looked coldly at Uzumaki Sora. "It's a shame I didn't aim for your head this time, but who knows what'll happen next time? I imagine even with the First Hokage's full vitality, getting your head blown apart would have the same result, right?"
Sora's eyes narrowed slightly. "Is this what you're relying on to keep me here? I'm curious, though. How did you do that just now?"
Obito smiled and replied, "I'll explain it to your corpse after you're dead."
As he spoke, Masked Obito activated his Mangekyou ability again.
For a time, Deep Forest Emergence barely affected him, while the Flying Thunder God Jutsu seemed to be countered by some ability of his.
For the first time, Sora felt suppressed.
"Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique!"
Countless trees swallowed the enormous fireball hurtling toward them.
But Uzumaki Sora, behind the giant tree, was far from at ease. If this kept up, it seemed like they could fight forever.
And Deva Path Pain and Konan were still standing by over there. If Obito hadn't been showing off, and if the two of them hadn't also been testing him, things would have been even more troublesome by now.
Should Sora risk it?
As long as his clone and original body didn't both die before midnight, he could use the Secret Scroll again once midnight had passed.
Obito had gained a new ability. This situation was probably a butterfly effect caused by Sora.
In this world, unless someone possessed overwhelming power like Hashirama and Madara had in their later years, intelligence determined the outcome of most battles.
"Whoosh!"
Another Flying Thunder God Jutsu. This time, the coordinate wasn't a Kunai...
It was Obito's chain!
The instant Sora had pulled the chain from his abdomen earlier, he had marked it with the Flying Thunder God Formula.
This time, he had caught Obito by surprise.
"Bang!"
The chain shot out.
"Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique!"
The moment he appeared, Sora realized the distance was wrong. A heartbeat later, flames that had already appeared all around him engulfed him.
"Bang!"
Uzumaki Sora hit the ground, his entire body aching. As the first person to be hit by the Great Fireball Technique, he would have been in serious trouble if he hadn't had a Sage Body.
But...
The instant after using Flying Thunder God, he had appeared at the wrong distance and been engulfed by the flames of the Great Fireball Technique.
This situation...
"You've already figured some of it out? Still, I didn't expect you to appear right on my weapon. Otherwise, that wouldn't have been the only Fire Release Ninjutsu I used."
Obito slowly reeled in the chain and continued, watching Sora recover. "My ability means you can't hit me at all, and I've seen through your Flying Thunder God. So... all your struggles now are pointless."
Sora slowly got to his feet. His burns peeled away, patch by patch, as new skin formed beneath.
The vitality of the Sage Body was truly astonishing.
But even with a Sage Body, just as Obito had said, having his head pierced or cut off would still kill him.
"Looks like there's no chance of borrowing something today."
Sora glanced at the clearing, now little more than ruins, and sighed. "I still don't understand where you got that power, but I miscalculated this time."
"Then let's end it here. With the power of all three of you, I can't get what I want."
As he spoke, Uzumaki Sora vanished from the spot.
Masked Obito turned sideways and asked, "Did he leave using Space-Time Ninjutsu?"
A black-and-white figure slowly rose from the dirt beneath the crater. "He's gone. If someone has an ability like spatial movement, there aren't many ways to stop him."
Pain, who had watched the battle from the sidelines, glanced at them both. "If the power of God truly descends, no one will escape unscathed."
With that, Pain turned and left. Konan followed behind him, forming Hand Seals and leaving without a word.
Konan's Paper Clone gathered the shuriken inscribed with formulas and prepared to dispose of them. Leaving things like those in the village was too dangerous.
"Whoosh!"
"Bang!"
In an instant, Uzumaki Sora reappeared beside Obito's chain, having returned after reversing his movement.
A long blade cleaved through the chain and down into Obito, cutting a huge gash from his shoulder to his abdomen.
"Splurt!"
Blood gushed out at once. Sora spoke through the chain, which had been pulled taut to block the blade. "It's an active ability, not a passive one? You still dared to keep a chain marked with my formula beside you. You got careless."
The exposed eye behind Obito's mask grew even more vicious. "Uzumaki... Sora! You're asking for death!"
Shinra Tensei!
The sudden repulsive force sent Sora and Obito flying together. Pain, who had returned, was just as furious.
"Uzumaki Sora, you've provoked the dignity of a god time and time again. Do you... want to die?"
Sora flipped over and got to his feet, then smiled. "I've died more than once already. Dying one more time wouldn't be a big deal. But... can you actually kill me?"
Masked Obito said darkly, "Then leave your life here—just this once!"
In an instant, Obito charged again.
But Sora smiled and vanished from the spot, leaving Masked Obito with the sensation of punching empty air.
"Absolutely disgusting!"
Zetsu spoke again from the side. "He's gone. He's quite far away."
Obito glanced at him. "You don't have to tell me this time. Space-Time Ninjutsu. It's disgusting."
White Zetsu said at the wrong moment, "Speaking of Space-Time Ninjutsu, it seems like you also..."
He didn't get to finish. One look from Obito scared him into silence, and White Zetsu held up his hands to show he'd keep quiet.
Masked Obito glanced at the chain he'd dropped earlier, then looked at Konan. "Dispose of mine too. It's useless now."
Konan, who had returned with Pain, nodded. "I need all the information you have about this person."
Obito shook his head slightly. "I already told you everything I know. I don't know anything else. But the next time we meet... he won't get off so easily."
The gaping wound had stopped bleeding thanks to Hashirama Cells, but Obito would remember the two humiliations.
Can anyone guess? Leave a comment below!
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