Blood Shadow

Izanagi.

A rare genjutsu cast upon oneself, blurring the line between illusion and reality.

Thus, once an unfavorable factor such as death or injury occurs in reality, one can reverse the genjutsu and reality, rendering these unfavorable events "nothing more than an illusion," leaving the caster completely unharmed.

"Finally, it's done!"

Obito's face was filled with nothing but endless numbness and exhaustion.

Using Yin Release to sever chakra and soul, cutting off their connection to himself to make them independent.

It sounds simple, but in practice, 100 out of 100 people would die; there was absolutely no chance of survival.

Obito had relied on the immortality provided by Izanagi, only barely succeeding after hundreds of failed attempts, and the price—

"Only three left?"

Obito glanced at the multiple blinded Sharingan on his chest, then dispelled Izanagi with a pang of heartache.

As the genjutsu time of Izanagi ended, his Mangekyō suddenly gushed with droplets of fresh blood, which slid down his cheeks and dripped onto the ground.

His Eye Power plummeted to the lowest point since he had awakened his Mangekyō.

It wasn't just his eyes.

His hands, his chest, and his back were all continuously overflowing with scarlet blood.

Having lost too much blood in an instant, Obito collapsed to the ground. Strangely, however, the blood flowing from his body left no trace on him, instead quickly pooling on the floor.

These bloodstains seemed to possess a consciousness of their own, gathering together drop by drop until they transformed into a jelly-like red colloid.

"Ahahahahahaha. Cough, cough. Hahaha!"

Despite his Eye Power being weaker than ever before and his face as pale as paper, Obito lay on the ground and roared at the sky:

"Uchiha Chen!"

His voice, though lacking in strength, was filled with the joy of surviving a catastrophe.

"You cannot control me!"

A long time passed.

Under the chakra provided by the Sage Body on his left side, Obito finally regained some ability to move.

He struggled to stand up and activated his Sharingan to observe the "child" he had split off, but after a long while, he couldn't see anything about this strange lifeform that resembled himself.

"Forget it! This thing has already become a puppet of Uchiha Chen; keeping it is just a disaster!"

Obito formed hand seals. It took a great effort to refine enough chakra to release a Great Fireball, and he spat a ball of fire toward the blood-colored colloid.

Amidst the flames, a small vortex appeared briefly before vanishing.

A few seconds later, seeing nothing left on the ground but charred black earth from the fire, Obito, suffering from a splitting headache, nodded and staggered away.

The plan to control Yagura and the Three-Tails had failed, and he still had many things to do.

"Summoning Jutsu!"

"Meow!"

After the smoke of the Summoning Technique dissipated, a tiger-sized... no, it was just a slightly larger cat.

The snow-white Persian cat stretched lazily, its cute triangular ears wobbling. Its bright, gem-like green eyes scanned the surroundings vigilantly before landing on the face of Uchiha Chen.

"It's Chen, my dear. What do you need from this palace for summoning me? I don't see any enemies around."

"Amane, I wanted to ask you to deliver a letter to Shisui!"

Uchiha Chen waved the folded letter in one hand, while his other hand, acting on impulse, took advantage of the cat's lack of guard to stroke the silk-like, soft fur on Amane's lower neck.

"Purr!"

A sound came from Amane's throat, and she wagged her tail in great enjoyment.

"Hmm! Delivering a letter costs 2,000 ryō, and 5,000 ryō for express. You know, the clan is currently trying to increase revenue."

Amane stuck out her tongue to lick her paw, and after taking the letter, her cute, large paw remained propped up in front of Uchiha Chen.

The Ninja Cat Clan had always been like this—

Fighting after signing a contract was free, as the cats loved to fight; but all other additional services required payment.

Uchiha Chen knew the cat's habits, handed over the prepared banknotes, and urged:

"This is urgent! As fast as possible!"

"When have I ever delayed your affairs?"

Amane rolled her eyes at Uchiha Chen with a charming look, dispelled the Summoning Technique, and vanished from before him.

"The letter will arrive at your Uchiha camp on the eastern front by this afternoon. I will wait until Shisui returns to give it to him!"

After Amane disappeared, Uchiha Chen covered his eyes with a heavy expression.

[Prosthetic Eye-001]

[Eye Power: 25/1000]

Since the permanent Kotoamatsukami had been used on Obito, Uchiha Chen could now only use Kotoamatsukami: Light to simultaneously control Karatachi Yagura and Suikazan Fuguki, requiring him to refresh the ocular jutsu on both of them every other day.

Each use of Kotoamatsukami consumed five points of Eye Power, meaning ten points for the two of them; the speed at which the Nine-Tails Chakra replenished the Prosthetic Eye's Eye Power could not keep up with this rate of consumption.

Therefore, Uchiha Chen could only hope that Shisui would rendezvous with him quickly so he could use his Kotoamatsukami: Shadow Erosion to permanently alter the will of Karatachi Yagura.

I wonder how long it will take for Shisui to arrive? I need to save some Eye Power just in case. Should I... tearfully execute Suikazan Fuguki?

Just as Uchiha Chen was debating whether to finish off Suikazan Fuguki, who was no longer of much use, to conserve Eye Power, a furious shout from Pakura suddenly erupted not far away!

"What kind of monster is this? Scorch Release: Fireball!"

The erupting Scorch Release flames swept across a large patch of dead trees, and amidst the surrounding fire, the sounds of Pakura's continuous attacks could still be heard.

Uchiha Chen was somewhat confused.

He only heard the sounds of Pakura's attacks and her ninjutsu, but he could neither see nor hear any signs of the enemy fighting back.

Could it be that Obito, whom he had controlled, had returned? His Kamui could indeed make him move like a ghost.

Uchiha Chen leaped forward several times to get closer to Pakura, finally seeing the entity she was fighting.

It was a blood-red figure that barely possessed a human shape, drifting back and forth in mid-air while being pursued by Pakura.

Amidst the flying Scorch Release fireballs, Pakura's brows were furrowed, her expression grave.

All of her attacks passed through this strange Blood Shadow without any resistance, failing to inflict even the slightest bit of damage.

"Who exactly are you?"

The Blood Shadow did not respond, but suddenly, as if it had sensed something, it turned its body and drifted straight toward Uchiha Chen.

Why did this suddenly turn into a horror movie?

Uchiha Chen raised his hand and threw several Kunai, but just like Pakura's ninjutsu, they passed through the Blood Shadow without any resistance, failing to slow it down for even a moment.

"This ability... Obito?

No, that can't be right? Could this really be Obito?"

Uchiha Chen was momentarily at a loss.

Seeing the Blood Shadow getting closer and closer, Uchiha Chen clenched his fists. "Susanoo!"

When in doubt, summon Susanoo!

A skeletal arm wreathed in deep red flames stood between the Blood Shadow and Uchiha Chen, yet the Blood Shadow only seemed to grow more impatient, accelerating its drift toward him!

The skeletal arm of the Susanoo struck out; the Blood Shadow did not dodge or evade, nor did it pass through the Susanoo again, but was instead gripped directly in the palm of Uchiha Chen's Susanoo.

Ding!

The text that suddenly popped up from the Prosthetic Eye left Uchiha Chen momentarily dazed:

Foreign Eye Power detected. Do you wish to imprint?

Unnamed Eye Power storage device detected!