The next day, dawn was just breaking.
On a solitary black reef in the vast sea between the Land of Whirlpools and the Land of Fire, space rippled faintly.
Uchiha Onibi staggered into view.
He dropped to one knee, his right arm tightly cradling the still-unconscious Ryota Uchiha, his left hand braced against the reef as he gasped for breath.
Just seconds later, another spatial disturbance spread over the sea roughly a hundred meters behind him.
Obito silently emerged, wearing the Spiral Mask. He stood on the waves, his lone eye fixed coldly on the brothers on the reef.
"Can't run anymore?"
"Your Dōjutsu, Time-Reversal Trace, certainly is troublesome. But it looks like it still comes at a cost."
Ghost Fire said nothing. He slowly stood and carefully laid Ryōta on a slightly flatter patch of reef behind him.
His heart sank.
I miscalculated.
He had originally chosen to head toward Dragon Release Village because Lin Ze's forces were independent of both Konoha and the Akatsuki, his strength was unfathomable, and they had a history together. It might be Ryōta's only safe haven in the future.
He had thought Divine Crossing's long-range teleportation would be enough to reach the Land of Whirlpools before his Eye Power ran out.
But he had underestimated the Masked Man behind him.
The man's Space-Time Ninjutsu, Kamui, might not cover as much distance in an instant as Divine Crossing during a long pursuit, but it seemed to consume less power, or his reserves of chakra and Eye Power far exceeded Ghost Fire's estimates.
Throughout the night's pursuit, the man had clung to him like a festering sore, staying doggedly on his heels. He had never truly widened the gap.
Ghost Fire could feel that his Eye Power had bottomed out.
Although his right eye's Time-Reversal