Kamui Gets Ground into the Dirt, Obito Screams and Flees for His Life

BOOM—!!

A deafening blast echoed above the training ground.

Violent chakra currents swept through like a hurricane, tearing up the surrounding turf by the roots.

Obito was like a ragged sack struck by a cannonball, smashing viciously into the ground.

A deep crater more than ten meters across appeared instantly.

At the bottom of the crater, white chunks of flesh mixed with blood had splattered everywhere.

Minato's Super Big Ball Rasengan had struck him squarely in the back.

"Urghhh—!"

A shrill scream rose from the bottom of the crater, making everyone's scalp tingle.

Obito curled up in the scorched earth in agony, his entire body convulsing violently as if electrocuted.

The White Zetsu tissue covering the right half of his body had already been ground into mush.

Pale bone fragments jutted through his skin, an appalling sight.

"With only that much skill, you dared come here in broad daylight to snatch someone?"

Yoru stood at the edge of the crater, looking down at him from above.

He had not even taken his hands out of his pockets, his eyes full of the disgust one reserved for trash.

"Where's that 'I alone reign supreme in heaven and earth' attitude from earlier? Go on, keep pretending."

Obito ground his teeth until they cracked, blood mixed with bits of organs continuously spilling from his mouth.

Pain!

Piercing, bone-scraping pain!

Ever since Madara Uchiha had saved him back then, he had not felt this kind of despair at the edge of death in a very long time.

"Minato... Uchiha Yoru..."

He stared fixedly at the two men by the crater.

The single Sharingan exposed beneath his mask was filled with crazed bloodshot veins.

Kamui had failed.

The spatial phasing he had been so proud of was like a laggy, low-quality game before this man named Yoru.

"How could I... die in a place like this?!"

Obito let out a beastlike roar.

He was going to create a world with Rin in it. How could he die like a stray dog in the back mountains of the Stone Village?!

His remaining left hand slammed fiercely against the ground.

"Wood Release: Cutting Sprigs Jutsu!"

Crack, crack, crack!

Countless sharp, thick wooden spikes instantly burst through the scorched soil.

Like a swarm of bloodthirsty venomous snakes, they shrieked through the air as they crazily stabbed toward Yoru and Minato overhead.

This was Hashirama Senju's Wood Release!

Obito squeezed out every last drop of chakra he had, only hoping to force the two of them back by even half a step.

As long as he could buy one second of breathing room, he was confident he could escape.

"Wood Release?!"

Minato cried out, his expression instantly turning grave.

"Who exactly are you? Why do you know the First Hokage's secret technique?!"

The Flying Raijin kunai in Minato's hand spun instantly as he prepared to take Yoru away with him.

"Brother Minato, don't move."

Yoru's voice was calm and flat, without the slightest ripple.

Faced with the deadly wooden spikes flooding the sky, not only did he not dodge, he even yawned boredly.

"Playing with wood in front of an Uchiha?"

Yoru snorted and casually raised his right hand.

"Buzz—!"

A massive blue skeletal arm rose from the ground without warning.

Violent Yin Release chakra instantly solidified, carrying an incomparable pressure.

Bam!

The Susanoo arm swung casually, as though swatting flies.

The iron-hard Wood Release spikes shattered the moment they came into contact with the giant blue hand.

They were as fragile as a bundle of dry, rotten wood.

They did not last even a tenth of a second.

They were directly smashed into splinters that rained down across the bottom of the crater.

"Using Hashirama Senju's power against me?"

Yoru lowered his hand, and the blue Susanoo arm dissipated with it.

He looked at Obito as if he were watching a ridiculous clown putting on a desperate performance.

"Do you have some misunderstanding about the words 'absolute domination'?"

Obito's heart sank completely.

Wood Release had been shattered in an instant, and Kamui had been locked down.

This was an absolute gap in strength!

Whoosh!

A golden flash lit up before Obito's eyes without warning.

At some point, Minato had used the kunai scattered earlier to teleport directly in front of him.

"You have too many openings."

Minato's cold voice exploded beside Obito's ear.

A specially made kunai gleaming with cold light was clenched in his hand.

Without the slightest hesitation, the kunai shot straight for Obito's throat!

Move! Move already!

Obito roared madly in his heart, the Mangekyō Sharingan in his right eye nearly bleeding.

He wanted to forcibly activate Kamui and twist space, even if he could only transfer away a vital part of his body.

But Yoru's crimson, cross-starred eyes were staring him down.

The laws of space had been brutally welded shut.

Obito discovered in despair that the air around him was like solidified cement.

He could not move even a finger!

"Your space ninjutsu is a joke in front of me!"

Yoru shouted coldly, mercilessly pronouncing his death sentence.

Screech—

The kunai tore through the air, and the chill of death had already pressed against Obito's neck.

There was nowhere to dodge.

Nothing he could block with.

"Damn it! I can only use that move!"

In the final tenth of a second between life and death.

Obito's left eye beneath the mask flew open.

It was a spare three-tomoe Sharingan he had secretly collected.

"Izanagi!"

Obito roared desperately in his heart, his ocular power burning wildly.

Slash!

Minato's kunai sliced through Obito's throat without resistance.

Blood gushed out like a fountain.

Obito's body stiffened abruptly, and the life in his eyes instantly faded.

The crisp sound of bones breaking rang out as his entire body went limp and collapsed.

"Is it over?"

Minato pulled back his kunai, but his brow furrowed slightly.

Something felt wrong!

There had been none of the real sensation of cutting through flesh and blood. It felt as though he had sliced through an illusion.

The next second.

The corpse on the ground, its throat slit and back mangled, suddenly turned transparent like a wisp of smoke.

Illusory. Distorted.

Then it vanished completely!

As if everything that had just happened had been nothing more than a dream.

"Hm? A forbidden technique that rewrites reality?"

Yoru stood at the edge of the crater, raising a brow as a trace of surprise flashed through his eyes.

Instead of getting angry, Yoru began applauding.

Clap, clap, clap.

The crisp applause sounded especially mocking in the silent training ground.

"He even used Izanagi. This rat is quite willing to pay the price."

Under the shade of a tree more than ten meters away.

Space rippled violently like water.

Obito's figure stumbled out in a sorry state.

The left eye beneath his mask had completely lost its light, turning into a dead, grayish-white blind eye.

The price of one Sharingan had forcibly rewritten the reality of "being killed" into an illusion.

But he was still not feeling well.

Although the fatal part of the Rasengan's devastating damage had been negated, his battered body still hurt so badly that he was nearly passing out.

Mouthful after mouthful of blood overflowed from the edge of his mask, dripping onto the grass.

"Minato... Uchiha Yoru..."

Obito clutched his chest and let out a shrill, venomous roar like a beast driven into a corner.

"I'll remember this debt!"

Taking advantage of the tiny gap created when Izanagi distorted reality and forced open the laws of space.

Obito frantically activated the Mangekyō Sharingan in his right eye.

Kamui's vortex finally formed again.

But this time, the vortex was pitifully small, barely large enough for him to crawl into.

"Trying to run? It won't be that easy!"

Minato's gaze turned cold.

He instantly gripped three Flying Raijin kunai in his hand.

His wrist tensed as he prepared to forcibly interrupt Obito's teleportation.

"That's enough, Brother Minato."

A hand firmly pressed down on Minato's arm.

Minato turned his head and looked at Yoru in confusion.

"Yoru, he's badly injured right now. This is the perfect opportunity!"

Yoru watched Obito crawl and scramble into the tiny Kamui rift like a defeated dog.

That severed White Zetsu arm was still left outside, making him look as ridiculous as possible.

A relaxed smile, as if everything were under control, curled across Yoru's lips.

He patted Minato on the shoulder, his tone as casual as if they were discussing what to eat tonight.

"Let the line run long to catch the big fish. No need to chase him."