Kakashi nodded slightly and spoke to Naruto and Might Guy beside him.
"The core concept of this jutsu is very simple. Listen closely, it's just like how he absorbs ninjutsu."
"The intangibility technique is also a space-time ninjutsu."
Hearing Kakashi's explanation, Might Guy asked in confusion, "What do you mean? How do you know that?"
Kakashi and the others watched as the masked man stood up. Kakashi then pointed out his characteristics: both times the masked man had been injured, it happened exactly at the moment Naruto's body overlapped with his while passing through him.
The first attack to leave a scratch on the white mask was from Kakashi's own kunai, and the second attack to hit his right shoulder was Naruto's Rasengan.
Ultimately, the plane where damage was dealt was not in this world, but inside the Kamui dimension.
Naruto and Guy were utterly shocked by Kakashi's explanation.
The masked man tore off the tattered fabric from his right arm, staring at the group with a grim expression.
Guy and Naruto simply could not believe Kakashi's deduction. After all, it was far too bizarre. How could their space-time ninjutsu possibly be connected?
As Kakashi watched the masked man recover, he directly exposed the truth behind his intangibility.
When the masked man made his body intangible to let enemy attacks pass through him, he was actually teleporting localized parts of his body into the Kamui dimension. It wasn't that they couldn't hit the masked man in front of them; rather, the masked man was briefly vanishing from this world.
That was why he was struck by Kakashi's kunai when he retreated into the Kamui dimension.
The Rasengan followed the exact same principle. When the masked man hid his right shoulder inside the Kamui dimension, Kakashi used Kamui to warp the Rasengan there as well, which was what caused the injury to the masked man's right shoulder.
After explaining the mechanics of the masked man's intangibility to everyone, Kakashi locked his eyes onto him with a heavy gaze and shouted, "Where did you get that eye?!"
The masked man stood up. With his face hidden, no one could read his expression. He simply held his giant gunbai fan in his hand and said flatly to Kakashi, "Where?"
"Hmph." The masked man let out a cold laugh.
"If I had to say, it would be during the Third Shinobi World War."
"The Battle of Kannabi Bridge. The very battle where you earned the title of Hero of the Sharingan."
Hearing the masked man's answer, Kakashi's eyes trembled. But the masked man suddenly flew into a rage, pointing accusingly at Kakashi.
"I told you, don't open your mouth so easily!"
"You've degenerated into a man who can only run his mouth."
"No matter what you say, it has absolutely no value or meaning!"
"Regret comes too late. Reality will only ruthlessly push forward."
"You've seen too much of reality, so you should understand that none of the wishes in this world can ever come true."
"Even a young girl like Kanon, who yearned for kindness and prayed for peace, could be driven to such lengths by Konoha."
"This world has long been twisted. That is why I must cast the world into the dream of the Infinite Tsukuyomi!"
"I will create a world where heroes do not need to make pathetic excuses before graves, and where a six-year-old girl can grow up happy and blessed."
At this moment, the image of Obito flashed vividly across Kakashi's mind, causing his breathing to grow rapid and strained.
"Hey, are you alright, Kakashi..." Might Guy seemed to notice Kakashi's abnormality and asked with concern.
Naruto took a few steps forward, glaring at the masked man.
"You're still spouting nonsense!" Naruto gritted his teeth.
"I've said it before, I will never give up on my dream of becoming Hokage! There are just too many things that have been entrusted to me!"
Both Kakashi and Might Guy were re-energized by Naruto's words, but the masked man only sneered:
"Naruto, you also understand exactly what kind of pain and despair your best friend suffered in her most helpless moments."
"Look at you. As her friend, you couldn't share any of her pain. Kanon even had to endure that agony while forcing herself to cheer up just to cater to you."
"Right now, you are nothing more than a piece of trash who can only run his mouth."
"But Naruto, if you treat the things entrusted to you by Jiraiya and the Fourth Hokage so lightly, what would they think?"
Gripping his gunbai tightly, the masked man said in a dark tone, "Pushing problems to the future and deceiving yourself with the word 'hope' will only leave you with an empty reality."
"Just like Kanon! Having lost everything, she understands best what loneliness and despair feel like. Only she can truly feel the cruelty of this world."
"There is no hope in this world to begin with. What you call hope is merely the yearning of the weak."
"No way! How could Kanon lose everything!" Naruto shouted.
"As expected, you know nothing at all. So shut your annoying mouth and live out the rest of your days quietly inside the Infinite Tsukuyomi."
As the masked man spoke, his Three-Tomoe Sharingan spun continuously. "Whether it's the side entrusting or the side being entrusted, both contain nothing but emptiness."
"Naruto, let me take over!" the Nine-Tails said.
Naruto nodded, and his pupils instantly shifted into vertical slits.
"Sorry, but what you said doesn't apply to this guy."
"I was entrusted to Naruto by the Fourth Hokage. He doesn't just see me as power, he has mastered my power."
"The Fourth sealed me inside Naruto precisely to defeat you!"
"Go, Naruto!"
"You absolutely will not fail!"
Suddenly, a perfectly synchronized shroud of chakra manifested over Naruto. Kurama Link Mode had returned to the battlefield!
"That power again?!" The masked man watched as Naruto charged straight toward him.
A massive chakra claw lunged directly at the masked man, slamming down with immense force, but the masked man phased through it and slipped away, making himself intangible.
"Kakashi, let's go together!" Might Guy shouted, but Kakashi did not respond to him as he usually did.
"Could he be... No, that's impossible!"
The image of that young boy wearing goggles was seared deep into Kakashi's memories once more.
"Kakashi!" Might Guy roared.
Only then did Kakashi snap back to reality.
"Did you hear me? The key to attacking that guy lies in the feinting steps! We have to go too."
"I can guess what you're thinking! It's the same for me, but don't worry about that right now."
"We don't have time for sentimentality."
"Naruto used to be your student, and now he's charging ahead of you!"
"If you and I were to duel, your win rate is higher. You wouldn't let a small matter like this turn you into a senile old fool, would you, Kakashi?!"
Kakashi looked at Naruto. At that moment, Naruto's silhouette overlapped once again with the back of the Fourth Hokage, Minato Namikaze.
"I understand... Naruto, it's truly wonderful to have you as my student!"
"Let's go! Guy!" At that instant, Kakashi revealed his Three-Tomoe Sharingan once more.
Kakashi gritted his teeth, his expression grim as he looked toward the masked man, because his chakra was already running dangerously low.
Seeing Kakashi and Guy rushing forward, the masked man mocked, "That power cannot be used continuously. Besides, it's merely borrowed power. It's nothing to be feared."
"Let me show you the true meaning of—" the masked man sneered.
"This Kamui must not..." Kakashi locked his serious gaze onto the masked man.
"The power of Kamui!"
"...miss the timing!"
The Mangekyō Sharingan in both of their eyes gradually aligned in perfect synchronization.
The masked man leaped across a few steps onto a massive boulder floating high in the air. A spatial vortex manifested in his right eye, and countless black receivers used to control Tailed Beasts flew out. The Eight-Tails' Tailed Beast transformation made its volume far too massive to dodge, pinning its movements down. Naruto, however, had a smaller frame, and combined with the speed of his perfect synchronization, he quickly evaded the strike.
Following that, Naruto created a shadow clone which held up a Rasengan and dashed toward the masked man, while his original body remained in place to charge a Tailed Beast Bomb, which required more preparation time.
The shadow clone leapt up in a single bound with the Rasengan raised high, smashing down toward the masked man.
While mid-air, Naruto's shadow clone turned back and locked eyes with Kakashi.
Understanding the cue immediately, Kakashi instantly activated Kamui. This particular activation threatened to drain Kakashi completely dry, causing him to collapse heavily to the ground.
The Rasengan in the shadow clone's hand warped once more, disappearing into the Kamui dimension a moment later.
By now, the masked man naturally understood what they were trying to do.
He counterattacked using a black receiver from within the Kamui dimension, directly dispelling the shadow clone in front of him.
"What, it was a shadow clone?!" the masked man said in surprise. He then turned his head to glance at Kakashi, who was lying on the ground, bleeding tears from his eye.
"The black receivers are still faster. Kakashi, not only did you fail to warp the Rasengan this time, but you also wasted your Kamui."
Suddenly, the voice of Naruto's original body echoed out, "It's not over yet! Tailed Beast Bomb!"
"A bit too late. A wasted effort," the masked man said as his body became intangible, allowing the Tailed Beast Bomb to pass right through him.
Yet the moment he materialized inside the Kamui dimension, his expression contorted in sheer horror, because Naruto's figure was standing right before his eyes.
"You are..."
"Naruto Uzumaki!"
At that exact fraction of a second, the masked man finally understood.
"I get it! The previous Kamui didn't warp the Rasengan; it warped the entire shadow clone?!"
"That bastard Kakashi... his speed was faster than my black receivers!"
Watching Naruto approach him with the Rasengan raised high, the masked man was struck with terror.
"Who on earth are you—"
"Damn it!"
"WHO ARE YOU?!"
BOOM!
The Rasengan slammed squarely into the masked man's face!
In an instant, his white Three-Tomoe mask shattered into pieces!