After a face-to-face encounter, the two figures suddenly separated, each landing a few meters away.
Without complicated Ninja Tools, without the assistance of psychic beasts, in this kind of caught-off-guard soul Encounter Battle, even the top Ninja like them have relatively simple fighting methods, relying more on the direct collision of Taijutsu, basic Nature Transformation and combat wisdom.
Obito Uchiha narrowed his eyes slightly and quickly evaluated the information obtained from the brief confrontation in his mind.
'Hatake Sakumo... is worthy of being called the man called 'Konoha's White Fang'. Swordsmanship is pure and sharp, even above Kakashi.
Moreover, his Chakra's reserves and recovery speed are quite impressive. Compared with Kakashi who may have been physically restricted during his lifetime, Sakumo at this moment may have a stronger ability to sustain combat.'
'However,' Obito thought, 'His fighting style is obviously more focused on physical skills and sword skills. The use of ninjutsu is relatively simple, and it is far less proficient in thousands of ninjutsu and versatile than Kakashi. This may be a breakthrough.'
On the other side, Hatake Sakumo stood holding a knife and breathing steadily.
Although the fight just now was short, he had already roughly figured out the combat characteristics of Obito in the Pure Land state: Sharingan's dynamic vision was still sharp, and Space-Time's ability seemed to be limited by the environment, and his activation was not as fast as before in life, but the threat was still huge.
If there was a companion with similar strength to him... no, even if Jiraiya was by his side before his first death, he could cooperate with him and take down the opponent easily.
'He has rich combat experience and difficult abilities, but he is not invulnerable.'
Sakumo judged in his heart, 'As long as we play steadily, don't be led by his Space-Time ability, and gradually apply pressure, we have a chance to suppress him.'
He glanced at the gray sky in the distance.
'This trouble must be solved as soon as possible. The changes in Pure Land are not trivial. We must deal with this quickly and find several Lord Hokage to exchange information and discuss countermeasures.'
A thought flashed through: 'I hope Dan Katō can successfully bring the information here back to Shinobi World and inform Naruto them...'
Both sides ended their brief thoughts almost at the same time, and the fighting instinct drove their bodies again.
"Wood Release·The Art of Cutting!"
Obito was the first to attack. Left Hand's arm instantly became lignified, and sharp wooden thorns extended out. With the sound of breaking through the air, it stabbed Sakumo several meters away!
Sakumo's eyes were focused, but he did not force the attack. He made a mistake in his steps, and his figure floated to the side and back like a ghost, accurately avoiding the attack trajectory of all wooden thorns.
At the same time, Chakra erupted under his feet!
"Body Flicker Technique!"
There was only a faint afterimage left on the spot, and Sakumo's real body had already appeared on the right side and behind Obito, which was an excellent position for a close attack.
The Ninja Blade in his hand was held backwards, with the tip of the knife pointing downwards. His whole body was like a tiger ready to go, with Chakra condensed on the tip of the knife!
"Hatake Style·Heavenly Fang!"
With a low cry, Ninja Blade turned into a sharp cold light, which went from top to bottom and pierced Obito's shoulder and neck with a thunderous force!
This blow embodies the essence of White Fang's lifelong Swordsmanship. It is fast, accurate, and ruthless. It is like a tiger pouncing on food, its fangs exposed, and it is about to kill with one blow!
However, in the face of this dangerous blow, Obito not only did not panic, but the corner of his mouth curled up with a hint of success.
'Senior, you have been fooled!'
At the moment when Sakumo's "Heavenly Fang" was about to hit his body, the ground under Obito's feet suddenly erupted into violent Chakra fluctuations.
"Wood Release·Hellish Rampage!"
Rumble--!
With Obito as the center, countless thick and ferocious giant wooden stakes with sharp barbs are like out-of-control poisonous dragons, breaking out of the ground crazily in a spiral shape, growing, circling, and strangulating rapidly!
These wooden piles not only instantly wrap Obito itself in a relatively safe inner core, but are also like a death Uzumaki that is constantly expanding rapidly outward and full of spikes, ruthlessly involving and tearing everything around it!
Puff! Puff!
Sakumo's extremely sharp "Heavenly Fang" thrust, together with his figure, was immediately pierced by several Hellish Rampage wooden thorns that grew violently.
However, the expected blood or soul fragments did not appear, and the pierced "Sakumo" dissipated like a bubble, turning into a ball of white mist with a "bang".
"Shadow Clone?"
Obito's eyes glanced left and right between the gaps between the heavy wooden piles without any surprise. He did not expect that this move could easily solve Hatake Sakumo.
The main purpose of Hellish Rampage is, first, to force back or disrupt the opponent's offensive rhythm, and second, to create favorable terrain and chaos.
Taking advantage of Hellish Rampage's expansion momentum to slow down a bit.
Whoosh!
A cold Ninja Blade stabbed out from the ground at the feet of Obito like lightning without any warning.
It is a variant application of Earth Release·Double Suicide Decapitation Technique--Earth Release·Ground Thorn.
Sakumo lurked underground in advance and launched this fatal blow.
Obito dwarfed and nimbly slipped out from the gaps between several huge wooden piles like a swimming fish, leaving the core area of Wood Release and landing in a relatively safe periphery.
Obito saw Sakumo's eyes through the last crack in Hellish Rampage.
Unwilling and cold.
He looked again at the "Hellish Rampage" Wood Release area that was still slowly squirming and closing, and the curvature of the corner of his mouth became a little cold.
"Senior, the ground is also covered and penetrated by my Wood Release root system."
Obito said calmly, "Does this mean you can't go back the way you came, or are you continuing to lurk?"
He stood at a safe distance, looking at the Wood Release cage that was gradually shrinking but still terrifying. There was no joy in defeating his opponent in his eyes, only indifference. "After all, I am the better one. I seem to have predicted your tactics."
At this moment, a calm voice came clearly from the other side of the jungle of wooden piles formed by "Hellish Rampage":
"What a terrifying young man, Obito."
Following the words, the figure of Hatake Sakumo calmly walked out from the shadow of the wooden pile jungle, breathing smoothly and unscathed.
Obito's pupils shrank slightly.
It turns out that not only was the "Sakumo" who made the first close attack a shadow clone, but the one who later lurked underground and launched the "Earth Stab" turned out to be a shadow clone as well.
From beginning to end, the body of Hatake Sakumo has never really stepped into the danger zone of "Hellish Rampage", let alone sneaked into the underground where it might be controlled by the root system of Wood Release.
As a veteran Elite Jonin who has experienced countless lives and deaths, Hatake Sakumo's caution and combat wisdom far exceeded Obito's expectations.
He will never easily put himself in a dangerous situation that he cannot control.
Two attacks and two clone tests further tested the information of Obito.
The real battle, or in other words, Sakumo's serious "restraint" operation, may have just begun now.
Obito's eyes became completely serious, and the previous sense of relief that "the plan succeeded" was gone.
He knew that facing the experienced Senior with Swordsmanship mastery and extremely stable fighting style in front of him, any negligence might be paid for.