"Then I'll send you on your way-and let you see just how ugly you are in her eyes!"
With Chiya's quiet words of judgment, the dozens of towering pillars of fire around them abruptly contracted, like countless golden fire dragons baring their fangs and claws as they converged on Obito.
"Ryūjin Jakka: Flame Hell!"
Rumble-!!!
The entire Morgue was reduced to nothing in an instant. A wave of scorching air tore off the roof, turning the area into an open-air volcanic crater filled with lava.
Yet at the very center of the sea of flames...
The body of the man wearing the orange Spiral Mask turned eerily transparent.
The raging flames passed through his body as though through empty air. Aside from the ground beneath him constantly burning away, forcing him to use chakra to cling to rubble suspended in midair, he remained completely unscathed.
Kamui.
The most unfair Space-Time Ninjutsu in the Naruto World truly possessed a defense that could drive ordinary shinobi to despair.
"Hmph..."
Obito flickered away, appearing atop an untouched tower several hundred meters away.
He looked down at Chiya standing amid the flames, the lone eye beneath his mask narrowing slightly. Though his gaze brimmed with murderous intent, it held even more of a brooding reassessment.
He forcibly suppressed the sudden fury that had overtaken him.
He was the mastermind behind the scenes, the player controlling the Shinobi World's chessboard. He could not let a few words from a younger man throw him off balance.
"Chiya Uchiha..."
Obito drew a deep breath and adjusted his voice.
When he spoke again, his voice had lost its shrill, furious edge. It had become deep and gravelly, filled with an ancient, weathered authority.
It was the voice of "Madara Uchiha."
"Your power has indeed surprised me."
Obito folded his arms and stood in the night breeze, letting his robes flap around him. With that posture, he tried to reclaim the imposing presence of an "ancestor."
"I thought Itachi was the Uchiha Clan's sharpest blade. I never imagined that the true monster had been hiding in a corner all along."
"You killed Danzo and the Third Hokage. Even that ungrateful Itachi died at your hands."
Obito pointed at Konoha's central district below, now reduced to ruins, his tone carrying a hint of temptation:
"Look around you, Chiya."
"You have destroyed Konoha's foundations with your own hands. Now you are a traitor to Konoha, an enemy of the entire Shinobi World. Those hypocritical villagers, those shinobi who fear your power, will soon band together to hunt you down."
"Konoha has no place for you anymore."
At that, Obito extended a hand toward Chiya in invitation:
"Join Akatsuki."
"Only there will you find a place to belong."
"I am gathering the strongest rogue shinobi in this world to carry out a great undertaking-the Eye of the Moon Plan."
Obito's voice grew impassioned, as though he were describing a perfect utopia:
"This world is filled with lies, betrayal, and suffering. Shinobi are vessels of tragedy. Just look at yourself. Despite your immense power, your village rejected you, and its leaders plotted against you."
"Join us. We will gather the nine tailed beasts, resurrect the Ten-Tails, and cast Infinite Tsukuyomi upon this hopeless world!"
"In that world, there will be no war, no death. Everyone can obtain everything they desire in their dreams! The dead can return to life, regrets can be made right... that is true peace!"
Obito grew increasingly absorbed in his speech.
This was the same routine he had always used to brainwash Nagato and Kisame.
He exploited the hatred in their hearts and their despair toward reality, then offered a seemingly perfect path to "salvation."
To him, Chiya, who had just carried out a massacre and personally slain the enemies of his entire clan, had to be filled with emptiness and confusion. This was the perfect moment to exploit his vulnerability.
However...
The response he received was an exceptionally grating-
"Huh?"
Standing atop the burning ruins, Chiya casually twirled Ryūjin Jakka in his hand and sliced a boulder on the ground in half.
He raised his head and looked at Obito above him as though he were an idiot.
"Say, Obito..."
"Have you worn that mask so long that your brain's starved of oxygen?"
Obito froze, and his air of inscrutable mystery shattered instantly.
"What did you call me?" he asked, trying to maintain his "Madara" persona.
"Enough. Drop the act. It's exhausting to listen to."
Chiya dug at his ear, his face full of impatience. "Save that pyramid-scheme pitch for some three-year-old."
"A place to belong?"
Chiya sneered and abruptly spread his arms. The flames behind him surged with his emotions, as though they would set the sky itself ablaze.
"Open that one eye of yours and take a good look!"
"Who calls the shots in Konoha now?"
"The Third Hokage is dead, Danzo is ash, and the advisers are gone. The great clans kneel trembling before me, and the Anbu have become my guard dogs."
"I am Konoha's master now! The emperor of the greatest shinobi village in the Shinobi World!"
Chiya pointed at Obito, his tone utterly arrogant:
"The entire Shinobi World is my hunting ground! Why would I lower myself to join your circus of freaks?"
"Akatsuki?"
"You mean that lousy organization hiding in Amegakure's sewers, thinking about hauling rice all day and working as mercenaries just to pay the bills?"
Those words cut deep, and the insult was even worse.
Beneath his mask, Obito's mouth twitched furiously.
Akatsuki was sacred in his plans, a tool to overturn the world. How had it become a sewer circus in this brat's mouth?
"You're far too arrogant, Chiya," Obito said, suppressing his fury. "Akatsuki's leader, Pain, possesses the legendary Rinnegan. That is the power of a god..."
"A god?"
Chiya interrupted him again, his expression shifting from disdain to naked contempt.
"You mean Nagato?"
"That cripple who's skinny as a skeleton, covered in black spikes, and stuck in a wheelchair because he can't even walk?"
"Pfft... hahahaha!"
Chiya couldn't hold back his laughter, laughing with utter abandon. "You want him to be my boss? Are you out of your mind? Just because of those eyes that aren't even his?"
"Or..."
Chiya's gaze suddenly sharpened like a blade, fixing on the face beneath Obito's mask.
"You want me to work for you?"
"Work for a coward who couldn't even protect the woman he loved and can only blame the world?"
"Shut up!!" Obito finally lost control, cutting Chiya off with a furious roar.
But Chiya didn't stop at all. He kept going:
"All that talk of Infinite Tsukuyomi, of creating a world where she exists."
"In plain language, you're a useless loser who can't cope with reality, so you want to create a giant VR game, hide inside it with your head in the sand, and drag all of humanity down with you."
"Obito, Obito..."
Chiya raised his Zanpakuto, pointing its tip at the spot between Obito's brows from afar.
"Did that rock back then not only crush half your body, but mash your brain into pulp too?"
"You actually have the nerve to show off that flimsy escapist logic in front of me?"
"You..."
Obito trembled all over, and the space around him began to distort violently.
Killing intent!
Unprecedented killing intent erupted from him.
What he hated most in his life was anyone bringing up that incident from years ago, that night that had plunged him into despair.
And Chiya had not only brought it up, but had also reduced his most sacred Eye of the Moon Plan to something worthless, even calling it "the product of a brain smashed by a rock."
"Very good... very good!"
Obito's voice was no longer deep. It reverted to his own voice, filled with venom.
"Chiya Uchiha, you've succeeded in making me angry."
"Since you refuse to do this the easy way, since Akatsuki isn't good enough for you..."
"Then today I'll show you true despair! Power beyond your comprehension!"
Vmmm!
Obito's figure instantly vanished into a vortex.
The next second...
The space behind Chiya split open without warning.
A black-gloved hand reached out like a phantom, aiming straight for Chiya's back. At the same time, several razor-sharp black rods shot out of the void, sealing off every route of retreat.
"Kamui!"
As long as he touched Chiya, even for an instant, he could suck this arrogant brat into another dimension.
There, he would have the home advantage!
"Finally stopped pretending to be Madara?"
Faced with the sneak attack from behind, Chiya showed no trace of panic.
On the system panel, his constantly ticking kill points reminded him that a new feast was about to begin.
"Your Kamui may be annoying..."
"But before overwhelming reiatsu, even space-can be burned through!"
"Bakudō #81: Dankū-blazing version!"
Boom!!
Chiya did not turn around. The Susanoo behind him simply spread its wings with a violent sweep.
Golden flames from Ryūjin Jakka ignited across those red chakra wings, instantly forming a barrier of fire that slammed head-on into the spatial vortex behind him!
Ssssss-!
Distorted space collided with extreme heat, producing a grating sound that set teeth on edge.
Obito had no choice but to withdraw his outstretched hand. He could feel that if he forced himself to grab Chiya, that terrifying wave of heat would burn his hand to ash before it ever reached him!
"Tch! What a troublesome ability!"
Obito turned intangible again and retreated to a safe distance.
"What's wrong? Don't want to recruit me anymore?"
Chiya slowly turned around, looking at the somewhat bedraggled Obito with a faint smile.
"If you can't win the argument, stop wasting words."
"As it happens, I've taken a fancy to that eye of yours."
"Leave it behind, and I'll be merciful enough to let you go to the Pure Land and see your Rin. How does that sound?"
Before you continue