A vortex in space! The Masked Man arrived

"Looks like you're in a hurry to reach the Pure Land and reunite with Rin."

Those words, part mocking, part chilling, had not yet faded from the air when Chiya vanished from the roof of the Hokage Building.

Flash Step!

The highest-level movement technique in the Death God system, bolstered by his super Kage level physique and perfect Wood Release cells, was even faster than Minato Namikaze's Flying Thunder God: Second Step!

The Morgue, Uchiha Clan Compound.

Originally a place to temporarily house the clan's dead, it was now steeped in an unsettling silence.

Uchiha Itachi's corpse lay motionless on the cold morgue bed. Although Chiya had severed his head with a single slash, the Anbu had roughly stitched it back on. After all, the body was still needed as evidence and to deal with the ensuing complications. Those eyes that had once struck terror into the shinobi world were now tightly shut.

Suddenly.

The previously still space above Itachi's corpse began to twist unnaturally.

Hum-!

A spiraling vortex appeared out of thin air, like a single eye slowly opening in the void. Then half the body of a man in a black robe and an orange Spiral Mask gradually emerged from it.

Obito Uchiha! Or rather, "Tobi," as he called himself now.

Beneath the mask, a sinister light flickered in Obito's single exposed eye.

"Chiya Uchiha..."

"I never imagined the plan would fall apart this badly. Danzo is dead, the Third Hokage is dead, and even Itachi is useless as a pawn now."

Obito looked at Itachi on the morgue bed without a trace of pity, only regret over a broken tool and a barely perceptible hint of wariness.

His original plan had been to wait for Itachi to slaughter the entire clan, then guide him into the Akatsuki under the identity of "Madara." But Chiya's sudden emergence had thrown everything into chaos.

"Still, these eyes cannot be left to Konoha, much less to that Chiya."

"Itachi's ocular power is a valuable strategic resource."

Obito extended his black-gloved right hand, his fingertips touching Itachi's eyelid.

He needed only one second.

With Kamui's space-time properties, he could draw Itachi's corpse into another dimension and take it away. Then both the Mangekyō eyes and the secrets within Itachi's body would belong to him.

However.

At the very instant his fingertips were about to touch that cold skin.

An unprecedented sense of danger shot through Obito's entire body like an electric current!

It was the scent of death!

"Who's there?!"

Obito reacted incredibly quickly, almost instinctively trying to activate hollowfication.

But the newcomer was even faster and more overwhelming than he had imagined!

"You dare touch my spoils?"

With that cold bark, a golden-red blade of light carrying unimaginable heat tore through the Morgue's wall without warning, slashing straight at Obito's outstretched right hand!

Fast! Precise! Ruthless!

There was nothing flashy about this strike, only pure speed and power. Ryūjin Jakka's terrifying heat ignited the fibers of Obito's glove before the blade even reached him!

"That speed..."

Obito's pupil contracted sharply.

If he did not dodge, his hand would be sliced off instantly, and the wound would be burned to charcoal. Even Hashirama cells would be unable to regenerate it!

At the last possible moment.

Obito's Mangekyō Sharingan spun wildly.

"Kamui: Hollowfication!"

Swish!

Ryūjin Jakka's blade, wreathed in golden flames, passed through Obito's arm without resistance, as though cutting through an illusion.

The blade struck the morgue bed below.

Boom!!

The entire bed, forged from refined steel, split in two instantly, molten iron dripping from the severed edges. Itachi's corpse, however, was spared when Obito interrupted his attempt to take it away to evade the attack through hollowfication, and slid aside with the broken bed frame.

"Tch. Crawled into your rat hole?"

Chiya's figure appeared.

He held his sword in one hand. The fearsome Zanpakuto still radiated heat from the slash, scorching the surrounding air until it warped.

Rather than continue his assault, he stood in front of Itachi's corpse like a tiger guarding its kill, staring coldly at the Masked Man floating in midair.

"Chiya... Uchiha."

Obito became solid again, standing in a corner of the room with a frighteningly grim expression beneath his mask.

Their exchange had lasted only an instant, but it had already confirmed one thing for him:

This brat was ten thousand times more dangerous than the intelligence suggested!

Those flames were no ordinary fire release. When the blade passed through his intangible body, he had even felt a faint pain in his soul!

"Your perception is keen."

Obito lowered his voice, imitating Madara Uchiha's aged, commanding tone in an attempt to regain the upper hand.

"And your Body Flicker Technique... is actually a shade faster than Minato Namikaze's."

"If you know how strong I am, why dare put your grubby hands on what's mine?"

Chiya casually twirled his sword, his nonchalant attitude making it clear that he thought nothing of the mastermind before him who called himself "Madara."

"Looks like you're not just a coward who hides behind a mask. You're a thief who doesn't know when to quit."

"A thief?"

Obito's gaze turned cold. "Watch your words, young man. These eyes belonged to the Uchiha Clan in the first place. As an ancestor of the Uchiha, what is wrong with reclaiming a descendant's remains?"

"An ancestor?"

Chiya laughed.

His laugh dripped with scorn.

"Enough. Drop the act."

"Madara Uchiha must be turning in his grave. Did you get his permission to run around using his name to con people?"

At those words, Obito shuddered.

A flicker of suspicion and alarm crossed his single eye.

This brat... does he know something?

No, impossible! My identity is top secret. Apart from Black Zetsu and that person, no one in this world knows I'm not Madara!

"Who do you think you're speaking to?" Obito asked icily, chakra beginning to surge around him. "Your grandfather wasn't even born when I was dominating the shinobi world! Since you refuse to show any respect..."

"What? Want to fight?"

Chiya took a step forward, his reiatsu and chakra erupting with a roar.

Despite the cramped room, he did not care in the slightest whether he destroyed it.

"Perfect. Killing those useless old men barely warmed me up."

"Since you're an Uchiha too, let me see whether your Mangekyō... deserves to survive in this shinobi world!"

"Fire Release: Majestic Destroyer Flame!"

Obito attacked first.

He opened his mouth and expelled an enormous fireball that hurtled toward Chiya like a meteor. This was a powerful fire release technique once used by Madara Uchiha, potent enough to burn down an entire forest in an instant.

"Playing with fire in front of Ryūjin Jakka?"

"You really never learn."

Chiya could not even be bothered to dodge.

He merely gave the sword in his hand a light swing.

"Flame Barrier: One-Way Shield!"

Whoosh-!

A wall of golden flames appeared out of thin air before Chiya.

The ferocious Majestic Destroyer Flame struck the fiery shield and vanished without a trace, like a stone sinking into the sea.

And that was not all.

Chiya's blade continued its motion, sweeping back into a horizontal slash.

"Nadegiri!"

A tightly concentrated wave of fiery sword energy tore through the air, heading straight for Obito's throat.

Obito furrowed his brow and activated Kamui's hollowfication again.

The sword energy passed through his neck and struck the wall behind him, blasting an enormous hole through the Morgue's entire rear wall and revealing the sky just beginning to brighten outside.

"Physical attacks don't work on you, do they?"

As Chiya watched the unscathed Obito, his smile grew wider-the expression of a hunter who had found interesting prey.

"Space-Time Ninjutsu... Kamui."

"You can transfer part or all of your body into another dimension, making you immune to every physical attack. That really is an unfair ability."

Hearing Chiya name "Kamui" outright, Obito truly lost his composure this time.

"You... how do you know this technique's name?!"

Obito's voice was no longer low, but filled with shock he could not conceal.

Even Kakashi doesn't know this technique's true name! Where did this Uchiha brat, who has never left Konoha, learn such a closely guarded secret?

"I know far more than you imagine."

Chiya pointed to his eyes. His Mangekyō, which had incorporated Kotoamatsukami's ocular power, now shone with a light that seemed to see through everything.

"I also know..."

"You're no Madara Uchiha."

"You're the one who had half his body crushed by a boulder while saving a comrade during the Battle of Kannabi Bridge, then gave his eye to Kakashi..."

"The dead last, Obito Uchiha!"

Boom!!!

If hearing "Kamui" had merely shocked Obito, the utterance of that name was a thunderbolt from a clear sky, shattering his psychological defenses!

His body froze in midair, the pupil of his exposed eye trembling violently, as though he had seen the most terrifying ghost in existence.

His identity had been exposed!

The greatest secret he had kept for more than a decade had been casually revealed by a younger clansman!

"You... who the hell are you?!"

Obito's voice grew shrill and distorted. "Did Zetsu tell you? Or did Madara?!"

"Does it matter?"

Chiya shrugged, the mockery in his eyes deepening as he watched the mastermind before him begin to lose control.

"What matters is that you keep talking about creating a new world and bringing peace, when you're really just a pathetic wretch who wants to drag the whole world into the grave because the girl he had a crush on died."

"Shut up!!"

Obito roared, his aura turning savagely violent.

Rin was his untouchable sore spot! The only pure sanctuary in his heart! No one was allowed to defile her!

"What? Hit a nerve? Too embarrassed to do anything but rage?"

Chiya gave him no chance to breathe. Every word was a knife, driven precisely into Obito's heart.

"What were you doing when Rin died?"

"Recovering in that dark underground hole? Or busy letting Madara brainwash you?"

"You caused the Nine-Tails' Rampage and killed your teacher, Minato Namikaze, and his wife, Kushina Uzumaki. Is that what you call love?"

"If I were Rin and saw what you've become, neither human nor ghost, only capable of hiding behind a mask and plotting..."

Chiya paused, his expression twisting with utter disgust.

"I'd feel nothing but revulsion!"

"Aaaaaah-!!!"

Obito snapped completely.

His heart, once cold and hard as iron, was torn open by Chiya's words, leaving it raw and bleeding.

Rage!

Utter rage!

"Chiya Uchiha! I'll kill you!!"

Obito abandoned his air of unfathomable mystery and charged at Chiya like a madman.

Countless sharp wooden spikes grew from his arm, which was formed from White Zetsu.

"Wood Release: Cutting Sprigs!"

He would impale this bastard who knew everything and dared insult Rin, making him wish he were dead!

Facing the rampaging Obito, Chiya's gaze remained exceptionally calm.

This was exactly the effect he wanted.

Only by making his enemy lose reason could he expose an opening. Kamui was troublesome, but as long as Obito was desperate to attack, he would have to become tangible!

"Come on, then!"

"Let's see how long you can stay intangible after losing your mind!"

Chiya drove Ryūjin Jakka into the ground.

"All things in the universe, turn to ashes!"

"Ryūjin Jakka: Flame Hell!!"

Rumble-!!!

This time, it was more than a single attack.

Dozens of enormous pillars of flame erupted skyward from the cramped Morgue's floor, instantly turning the area into a fiery cage with no gaps to escape through.

Every inch of air, every inch of space here was filled with heat intense enough to melt steel!

Want to use Hollowfication?

Go ahead!

But the instant you materialize to attack, these omnipresent flames will put you in your place!

"Obito, since you want to go to the Pure Land to see Rin..."

Chiya stood at the center of the sea of fire, like a demon king commanding the flames.

"Then I'll send you on your way-and let you see just how ugly you truly are in her eyes!"