Naruto and Tobi's fight turned into a game of cat and mouse. Neither could finish off the other before they ran out of chakra.
After a period of recovery, and without the heavy burden of the Mangekyō Sharingan, Shisui had grown considerably stronger at chaining ninjutsu together and using the Body Flicker Technique.
Kisame had power but nowhere to use it. Shisui always managed to deftly evade his Shark Impact with the Body Flicker Technique.
The Uchiha had few fighters left by now. Most of the survivors were ordinary people who couldn't extract chakra, let alone awaken the Sharingan.
Karin loudly ordered the men to take their families and quickly gather at the designated location. "The enemy is very strong. You must follow my orders. I'm a member of the medical team specially assigned by the Fourth Hokage. My comrades are fighting the enemy up ahead. So that I don't distract them, you must evacuate to a safe area. I'll treat everyone, too."
"The Fourth Hokage still cares about us. We can't be a burden to our leaders!" shouted a young man who idolized the Fourth Hokage. He fell in behind Karin of his own accord and helped keep order.
Suddenly, Kisame spotted the group in the distance and sneered. "Water Release: Exploding Water Colliding Wave!"
Kisame leaped high into the air, opened his mouth wide, and spewed out enough water to form a lake. The three-meter-high flood surged down the road toward the crowd.
Shisui reacted at once, using the Body Flicker Technique to appear beside the rushing water. "Wind Release: Great Breakthrough!"
The gusting wind pushed against the flood and changed its course.
"Annoying flies. This time, I'm going to use a real move." Kisame immediately closed the distance to Shisui. "Water Release: Great Exploding Water Colliding Wave!"
Waves churned around Shisui and Kisame, forming a gigantic oval water prison in the open space.
A boy spotted Shisui and jumped up excitedly. "That's big brother Shisui! I know him. He's amazing!"
"Hurry up and move! Don't dawdle! Do you want the fighters to get distracted protecting you?" Karin shouted furiously. She'd said the enemy was strong, but until now, she hadn't really understood what that meant. Seeing the enemy casually unleash a wide-area ninjutsu finally made her panic.
How was Naruto doing? Was the enemy he'd encountered even stronger?
Amid broken branches and fallen leaves, Naruto darted around like a little wild boar in the woods, charging this way and that without pause.
Hidden away, Tobi had been maintaining Wood Release for five minutes. "I didn't expect to run into another person with a huge amount of chakra, like Kisame. In that case, I'll have to change tactics. Otherwise, I won't be able to feel the urge."
"Release!" Tobi laughed. His body swelled slightly as he rapidly gathered a massive amount of chakra. "Wood Release: Wood Human Technique!"
"Destroy everything! Feel the urge!"
Broken trees converged in midair and soon formed a gigantic Buddha statue with countless arms. The statue glared ahead, a pointed lump resembling a turd jutting from its head. Standing on top of the point, Tobi spread his arms and felt the wind roar past his ears.
"What is that?"
"How can a ninjutsu be that powerful?"
When the gigantic Buddha appeared, the people at the center of the crowd—already numb with despair—grew even more hopeless. They felt as if the end of the world had arrived.
Facing the gigantic Buddha, Naruto glanced at the ten-centimeter Rasengan in his hand and felt a little ashamed. "This is nothing to show off. You think that's really Tathagata's palm? I'm not getting caught in your grasp that easily!"
A gigantic arm descended from the sky, blotting out the sun. It struck almost as quickly as Naruto could move.
Boom!
A whole block of apartment buildings was smashed into rubble.
The giant hand swept across again. Naruto was still moving, but it struck him hard, like a fly caught by a swatter. If there hadn't been an open space ahead, he would've been crushed to pulp.
Super Self-Healing didn't lessen the pain.
Naruto slowly rose from the rubble. The immense force had caught his thigh and snapped the bone, which had cut through his muscle.
Enduring the excruciating pain, Naruto set the bone back in place, then took a deep breath to suppress the agony.
Sweat dripped nonstop from his forehead. Naruto flickered away with the Body Flicker Technique, narrowly evading the Buddha's giant hand once more.
The Buddha had five faces, each with a different expression: joy, anger, love, hatred, and fear.
Tobi continued forming Hand Seals.
The Buddha opened its mouth.
A vast wave of flames burst forth.
Naruto leaped to evade the inferno, only to be caught between two enormous hands as they clapped together.
"Finally, I've got you." Tobi raised a finger. The Buddha's central face opened its mouth and unleashed a bolt of purple lightning.
The lightning struck the water-covered giant hands, creating a brief surge of high voltage that blasted half of Naruto's body black.
Destruction and healing.
Naruto hadn't yet developed a will as strong as steel. The agony of dying and coming back to life over and over tormented him, and he let out miserable cries of pain. "Damn it!"
Tobi was stunned. "You're still alive? What incredible vitality! I want to ask you: what do you think the urge is?"
Naruto's newly healed body gave off an even greater amount of chakra. Under the high voltage, the Gate of Pain finally began to loosen. He was just a little short of opening it completely.
Naruto needed even greater power to break the deadlock. "I'll answer your question."
"Eight Inner Gates: Gate of Pain, open!"
The blue steam that an imperfect Eight Inner Gates technique could only produce upon opening the Seventh Gate of Wonder now rose from Naruto's body.
A pillar of chakra shot into the sky and forced apart the giant hands.
"Air Cannon!" Naruto punched, compressing the air around his fist into an incredibly fast projectile. It pierced through the giant hand and struck the pointed lump resembling a turd beneath Tobi's feet.
Tobi jumped in fright. "Is this still Taijutsu? This could be a problem."
The Buddha didn't stop attacking.
Naruto was now moving faster than the giant hands could cover. He landed on one, kicked it apart, then used it as a springboard to soar into the sky. "Eight Inner Gates: Wind Style: Rasenshuriken!"
The Buddha was sliced in half down the middle, and Tobi was split into two pieces and fell to the ground. His eyes filled with disbelief. "Could this be what the urge feels like?"
Naruto had just reached the place where Tobi had landed, but Tobi sank into the earth, concealing his presence.
"He escaped?" Naruto lifted a foot and cautiously stepped toward the ground.
The ground collapsed, but there was still no trace of the enemy's chakra.
Naruto understood. His opponent had already fled. "So there are this many powerful enemies in the Shinobi World. I wonder how big brother Shisui is doing. I have to hurry and help him."
A massive blaze continued to burn nearby.
Uchiha Obito had Uchiha Itachi trapped. "My offer from before still stands. Can you bear to watch your mother die with your own eyes? Orochimaru isn't merciful. Aside from the child who awakened the Sharingan, who has some talent, Orochimaru won't care about the rest. And you can't escape me. Any sensible person knows what to choose."
Uchiha Itachi gritted his teeth. He hadn't given up yet. "I believe Sasuke can protect our mother. And I'll be the one to defeat you."
Before you continue