'Air Blade!'
Charizard chose the speediest Wind Release, slashing several blades capable of tearing through the air at Nagato.
"Breath of Yang, Full Concentration!"
Nagato, observing the incoming attack, concentrated his breathing to strengthen his body, then burst with chakra to swiftly dodge the Wind Blades perfectly, increasing the distance between himself and Charizard.
'Flamethrower!'
Charizard relentlessly gathered chakra and spewed a massive flame pillar from its mouth.
Milotic and Nohara Rin were defeated in the tournament's round of sixteen to eight; if it becomes first place, even the aloof Milotic will regard it highly.
"When did Obito contract such a powerful summoning beast?" Asuma wondered.
He had never seen Obito summon Charizard before and was surprised that Obito had a strong, flying summoning beast.
"Water Release: Water Array Pillar!"
Nagato, having increased the distance, quickly performed hand seals, releasing a torrent of water from his mouth that extinguished Charizard's flame pillar. The water pillar's immense force prevented Charizard from maintaining a stable flight, making it appear on the verge of falling.
Zoom!
At this moment, Obito quietly moved to Nagato's side, concentrating chakra in his hands and flinging a flaming spear toward Nagato.
"Almighty Push!"
A powerful repulsive force erupted again, flinging Obito's fire spear away.
"Such keen observation skills, yet it's still not enough, just perfectly eight seconds." Obito exhaled, forcing himself to calm down.
The pressure Nagato brought him was completely different from Might Guy. Not only was Nagato stronger than Might Guy, but his techniques were also far more intricate.
When fighting Might Guy, there's nothing much to say; it's just using brute force to break his Fire Release and Taijutsu to overpower him.
But Nagato was different, with various skillful nature transformations, sharp observation skills, and instant yet potent ninjutsu.
What Obito had, Nagato seemed to have too, but more importantly, what Nagato had, Obito did not, making it quite difficult.
"Fire Dragon Flame Bomb!"
With the support of the Breath of Flame Chakra Mode, Obito rapidly released a mass of flames.
Although Fire Dragon Flame Bomb was his second most chakra-consuming ninjutsu, Obito had no choice at this moment.
Aside from Almighty Push deflecting attacks, Nagato himself had keen observation skills and decent speed. To force Nagato to reveal Almighty Push's true cooldown time, he must use a ninjutsu that Nagato finds difficult to dodge.
Compared to other Fire Releases, the advantage of Fire Dragon Flame Bomb is its large range, and it can split into multiple flames to block the enemy from various directions.
"Two, three..."
Obito attacked while mentally counting the time since Nagato last used Almighty Push.
Discovering Almighty Push's true cooldown time is the foundation for victory; otherwise, massive chakra-consuming attacks being deflected make winning impossible.
'Hot Wind!'
After adjusting its position, Charizard inhaled deeply and exhaled a whirlwind with flames, further restricting Nagato's dodge space.
"Blocking Jutsu Absorbing Seal!"
Nagato calmly stretched out his hands to form an invisible shield around him.
This was a new Rinnegan ability he comprehended after the battle with Might Guy, which he found could absorb ninjutsu, and all kinds of ninjutsu at that, be they Fire Attribute, Lighting Attribute, or Water Attribute, all absorbed by his Blocking Jutsu Absorbing Seal.
Obito could only watch helplessly as his flames seemed to vanish into thin air, as if they had never appeared.
"What is this ninjutsu, even in the finals, he still has a hidden ability?" Obito internally ranted.
Originally thinking unveiling the cooldown time of Almighty Push meant smooth sailing, but before discovering the cooldown, Nagato showcased another heaven-defying ability.
Obito wished Sage Mokgetsu could possess him to fight; someone is hacking, so if he doesn't hack too, he can't win.
Nagato could deflect and nullify ninjutsu, and Obito couldn't imagine how, with only various fire-producing techniques, he could defeat Nagato.
"He even hides one more ability." Kakashi slightly frowned.
Originally, Obito's win rate against Nagato was very low, and now with a new ability seemingly nullifying ninjutsu, the possibility of Obito's victory is nearly zero.
Kakashi recalled earlier battles of Nagato and found it quite reasonable that Nagato hadn't used it before.
Nagato had faced the strongest two ninjas: Sasori and Might Guy, one a Puppet Master and the other solely a Taijutsu ninja, thus Nagato's ability to nullify ninjutsu was practically useless.
"No way, Rin and Teacher Mokgetsu are still watching, and Guy is waiting for my good news." Obito concentrated a vast amount of chakra into his fist and swiftly punched toward Nagato.
Even if the enemy is overwhelmingly strong, crushingly strong, he must fight till the last moment, else he would disappoint Mokgetsu's teachings and fail to meet Might Guy's good intentions.
If Nagato can nullify ninjutsu, then he'll use Fire Release Nin-Taijutsu!
"Fire Release: Flame Fist!"
Whoosh!
The fist, imbued with high-temperature compressed flames, accompanied by the roaring fire sound, struck toward Nagato.
Nagato maintained the Preta Path's Absorption Shield.
Nin-Taijutsu places 'Nin' before 'Taijutsu', primarily focusing on nature-transformed chakra.
The flames on Obito's fist were continually absorbed by the Preta Path shield, but his fist easily penetrated the transparent shield and continued to strike toward Nagato.