The pain in his abdomen, coupled with the immense stamina drained by activating the Eight Gates, left Kakashi gasping for breath.
Kakashi was not like Might Guy, who trained relentlessly and recklessly, constantly pushing his physical limits.
The principle of the Eight Gates was not complex, and Kakashi's taijutsu foundation allowed him to open the relatively safe Third Gate, the Gate of Life, after only a little study.
However, Kakashi's stamina could not sustain him to use the first few Gates of the Eight Gates as a regular state, unlike Might Guy.
The Eight Gates did not care if you activated and deactivated them instantly; the stamina consumed each time they were opened was fixed.
Even if it consumed less stamina than keeping them constantly open, a few more times would be too much for Kakashi.
Seeing the former genius, after only a few rounds against his current self, struggling like a defeated dog.
Obito had no intention of waiting for Kakashi to recover and quickly moved forward to begin a new round of attacks.
"Kakashi, weak as you are, you should die happily in ignorance."
However, Obito clearly underestimated Kakashi's resilience; even with his movements somewhat distorted, Obito still couldn't take Kakashi down.
A Saint never falls to the same move twice.
Kakashi, who had been called a genius since childhood, would also not be driven to a corner by the same move from Obito.
In the successive taijutsu exchanges, even though Obito's attacks were often feints, unpredictable and ever-changing.
Kakashi easily defused them all, and as time passed, the previous doubts resurfaced in Kakashi's mind.
"The opponent's taijutsu!"
"Why does it feel so familiar to me?"
With the First Gate of the Eight Gates open, Kakashi's brain was fully unleashed, rapidly searching his memories for the source of this familiarity.
Time slowly rewound.
Kakashi finally remembered the source of the familiarity.
From the first spar with Obito, not long after forming a team with Obito and Rin, and countless spars thereafter.
And up to the moment they teamed up against an Iwagakure Jonin during the Kannabi Bridge mission.
A preposterous thought arose in Kakashi's mind.
"Is the enemy… Obito?"
This conjecture almost made Kakashi lose his composure.
"Clang!"
The Kunai in Kakashi's hand was knocked away, and a wooden spike flew towards Kakashi's chest.
In the critical moment, Kakashi instantly activated the Eight Gates again, leaping backward with all his might.
"Screech! Screech!"
After landing, Kakashi looked at his abdomen, which had been pierced, ignoring the intense pain.
The stamina consumed by forcibly opening the Eight Gates again made Kakashi's legs give out, and he knelt on one knee, his right hand tightly clutching his pierced left abdomen to prevent excessive bleeding.
His left hand pulled out another Kunai and gripped it.
"Why?"
"If it really is Obito, why didn't he return to Konoha?"
"Why would he do such things, and even cause the Nine-Tails Disturbance, leading to the deaths of Minato-sensei and Kushina-sensei?"
"The Obito I know would never do such a thing!"
Kakashi tried to find all sorts of excuses for Obito in his mind.
However, his brain, enhanced by the open Gate, made Kakashi recall the reason he was here.
"Tomoki, as the Hokage, why would he think I could defeat the opponent?"
"If Hokage-sama knew the enemy was Obito, it would make sense."
"And, why didn't he tell me more information? That also has an explanation!"
It was as if two small figures appeared in Kakashi's mind.
The emotional one kept denying the conjecture, saying, "The enemy can't be Obito!"
While the rational one repeatedly offered various plausible conjectures.
"Why was I assigned this mission? Why did Tomoki believe I could defeat the enemy?"
And most crucially, "The enemy uses the Sharingan's abilities so proficiently, almost as if it were his own Sharingan!"
To find an excuse, there were plenty of reasons, such as the opponent being Uchiha Madara, which was the most reasonable explanation.
Feeling his current physical state, Kakashi knew he didn't have much time left.
If it were just his own feeling, Kakashi could still convince himself he was overthinking.
But recalling his Hokage-sama's confident demeanor, always seeming to have everything under control, and the meaningful gaze he gave when assigning the mission.
Kakashi's rationality gradually gained the upper hand.
Obito looked at Kakashi, who was now struggling even to move, and extended his right hand towards him.
"Wood Release: Cutting Sprigs Jutsu!"
Several wooden spikes flew towards Kakashi, who, with one hand clutching his left abdomen and the other holding a Kunai, released his grip on his abdomen.
His blood-soaked right hand quickly formed hand signs.
"Earth Release: Earth-Style Wall!"
An earthen wall carved with a dog's head rose from the ground, blocking Kakashi's front, but it was all in vain.
The wooden spikes directly pierced through the Earth-Style Wall, followed by the sound of flesh being torn.
Losing Chakra maintenance, the earthen wall quickly receded into the ground.
Obito saw Kakashi, pinned to the ground by several wooden spikes, and extended his right hand again.
"Wood Release: Genesis of a World of Trees!"
The wooden spikes on Kakashi's body grew branches like real trees, extending countless sharp tips in all directions, while new wooden spikes also emerged from the ground, continuing to expand.
In just an instant, Kakashi was already mangled beyond recognition.
Just as Obito was about to sigh in relief.
"Chirp~ chirp chirp chirp~ chirp chirp!"
A sharp, piercing sound came from behind him, accompanied by the sound of something breaking through the earth.
Obito turned his head to look; Kakashi's right hand glowed with dazzling electrical light, and his whole body was filled with faint electrical sparks.
He was rushing towards him at a speed that even the Sharingan could barely discern.
And what arrived even sooner were Kakashi's words, already spoken.
"Is that you, Obito?"
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