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[Details of Nagato's death have been altered from prior content.]
BOOM!
The clash of Great Fireballs marked the beginning of Round Seven!
SWISH—!!
Using the fireball as cover, Obito warped himself away, reappearing in the sky directly above Sasuke. His left eye focused on Sasuke's neck—he was going for another decapitation, just like with Nagato!
—Kamui!!!
CRACK—!!
Sasuke's head separated from his body. The head vanished into the Kamui dimension, while the headless torso transformed into rotten wood and hit the dirt.
Obito clicked his tongue in annoyance. "Tch. Wood Clone tricks. You've gotten disgustingly good at them."
From a corner of the battlefield, Sasuke's true body emerged.
Kamui is impossible to block. The most direct killing tool. But that split-second when he materializes to use it… that's my lifeline.
—Multiple Wood Clones!
FWOOSH! FWOOSH! FWOOSH!
Eighteen Wood Clones rose around Sasuke, scattering across the battlefield. Each one manifested the muscular form of a Susano'o. Eighteen massive arrows were drawn, eighteen bowstrings hummed with tension, all aimed unerringly at Obito. But none fired.
Obito's eyes widened. "Eighteen Wood Clones. Eighteen Susano'o. Eighteen arrows aimed at me… waiting for the instant I materialize. Damn it… After his fight with the Six Paths of Pain, his power has grown again. If I let him keep growing, the Eye of the Moon Plan really will fail."
No matter the cost… I have to kill him here!
SWISH—!!!
Obito shot towards Sasuke's true body.
Eighteen arrowheads tracked his every movement.
I just need to be faster than those arrows. Warp him away the instant I reach him!
As he ran, Obito thrust out his hand.
CRACKLE— Chidori surged to life in Sasuke's right palm. He charged forward to meet the enemy head-on.
At the moment of their clash—!!!
WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH!
Three arrows left their strings. The wind of their passage was at Obito's back in an instant.
"Shit—that's absurdly fast!"
SWISH—!!
Their figures blurred past each other.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
The three arrows struck earth. Obito spun, his left eye already locking onto Sasuke's neck again.
That's when the fourth arrow, fired in quick succession, arrived!!!
In that moment… if Obito had been willing to trade his life for Sasuke's, he might have dragged them both down to hell.
But… Obito still valued his own skin.
He aborted the technique, phasing through the world once more.
BOOM—!!
The massive arrow passed harmlessly through him.
The four Wood Clones who had fired already had fresh arrows nocked in their Susano'o bows.
Sasuke, his back still turned, spoke with mocking scorn. "What's this? The man who calls this world a hell… is afraid of the real thing?"
Obito clenched his fist, his eyes dark pools.
"Sasuke Uchiha. Just how much do you know about me?"
"..." Sasuke slowly turned to face him.
He had once considered trying to turn Obito to his side.
But after Round Six and his confrontation with Nagato, he'd realized the limits of his ability. Convincing Nagato was the absolute peak of what he could achieve.
After all… Nagato had been kept in the dark from start to finish.
Obito? Obito knew most of the truth. And he chose to walk this dark path anyway.
If I'd been reborn a few years later, maybe a grown-up Naruto could have reached him. But it's too late for that.
He didn't even know where Naruto was right now, after that bastard Black Zetsu took him. Too many variables were spinning out of control.
Obito feared Sasuke's growth. And Sasuke… he feared the threat of those dual Kamui eyes.
If I can do it… I'll end Obito here. Let Kabuto inherit those eyes later.
Sasuke solidified his resolve.
This is the answer I owe Suigetsu.
And once the decision to kill was made, there was no point in further talk.
SLAM—!!
Sasuke brought his hands together in front of his chest.
—Wood Style: Black Flame Dragon Torch!
BOOMBOOMBOOM—!
A colossal dragon of wood, wreathed in black Amaterasu flames, erupted from the earth. It burrowed and rolled, spreading the unquenchable black fire across the battlefield like a living carpet.
Obito's face hardened. "Using the dragon to spread the black flames… to box me in and limit my movement. You push your luck, brat."
ZAP—!!!
Obito's eyes flashed.
SWISH!
Six arrows launched simultaneously—only to be blocked by a surge of blue chakra flame erupting from Obito's body!!
BOOM—!!
"But I'm not the man I was before!!"
His Susano'o formed at a shocking speed—skeleton, muscle, heavy armor layering on in a breath.
—Yatagarasu Susano'o!!
"The Sharingan only shows its true power when both eyes are together, brat. I've had these eyes longer than you've been alive. Even though the left was stuck in a waste of space for years, once it returned to its true master, I could instantly reclaim the Uchiha's true. power."
The Susano'o around Obito crossed its arms. In each massive hand, a pitch-black shuriken swirled into existence.
Sasuke's pupils contracted. "That technique is…!!"
Obito's expression turned wild. "Sasuke Uchiha! However strong you are, before the power of Kamui, your fate is to be ground to dust!!"
SWISH—!!!
—Kamui Shuriken!!!
WHOOSH!!
The black shuriken shot through the air!!!
"That move… it's bad news!!!"
CRACK!
Sasuke bit his thumb and smacked his palm on the ground.
—Quadruple Rashōmon!
BOOMBOOMBOOMBOOM—!!
Four towering demonic gates erupted from the earth…!!
The Kamui Shuriken passed through the first gate as if it weren't there. Then the second. The third.
It can't be intercepted!?
Sasuke was genuinely stunned this time.
In his previous life, during the final battle with Kaguya, he'd seen Kakashi use the Kamui Shuriken. But Kaguya hadn't tried to block them. So the property of the Kamui Shuriken—that it could phase through objects until it reached its target, making it fundamentally unblockable—had been buried with Kakashi's fading eyesight in that past life.
Now… its sudden appearance here had caught him completely off guard.
All he could do now was evade with everything he had.
Lightning wrapped around his shins. He kicked off with a full-power Body Flicker, blurring to the side!!!
BOOM—!
The Kamui Shuriken struck the ground—and detonated into a massive, deafening vortex of spatial distortion!!!
It swallowed a huge swath of the black Amaterasu flames!!!
Sasuke, having barely dodged, thought furiously.
It didn't burrow into the ground after impact. So the Kamui Shuriken's 'target' isn't a specific object… it's the 'spatial coordinate' the target occupies. Similarly, unlike Kabuto's 'Futodama' which can mark a specific person, Kamui's spatial movement marks are written on 'space' itself.
"You reacted instantly after the failed interception and dodged. You're not simple, I'll give you that. But this one… is a moving target. You won't dodge it again…!!!"
SWISH—!!!
A second Kamui Shuriken followed right on the heels of the first…!!
SWOOSH—!!
Sasuke tried to dodge once more. But Obito's gaze swept, dynamically adjusting the 'target coordinate' in space!
ZZZOOOM—!!
The moment Sasuke moved to evade, the Kamui Shuriken spun violently, accelerating to chase him in his new direction!
It keeps locking onto my spatial coordinate… giving it a homing effect. Without Raikage-level speed, you can't escape the Mangekyō's visual lock. Time for that move…!
Sasuke gave up on dodging entirely.
RRIIIP—!!
At the instant the shuriken would have hit, his back split open. A fresh, new Sasuke shed from the old one like a snake's skin, darting away at high speed!
Obito's lips curled up.
BOOM—!!!
The Kamui Shuriken hit the ground. Obito used the erupting spatial vortex as his own personal transport—WHOOSH!! He and his Susano'o rode the distortion, teleporting right on top of the fleeing Sasuke. A third Kamui Shuriken launched point-blank!!!
—"The Orochimaru-style Replacement. You can't use it consecutively. Even I can be sure of that much. DIE!!!"
BOOM—!!!
"No choice…"
Sasuke, with nowhere left to run, was swallowed by the Kamui vortex and pulled into the dimension...!!!
"Hah… hah… hah…"
Obito breathed heavily, the strain evident.
"That should finally…"
But as he looked around, his face froze.
Sasuke's Wood Clones still stood in place, their Susano'o active, bows at the ready.
"You…!!!"
GLOOP. GLOOP. GLOOP.
One of the 'Wood Clones' strode forward.
Cold sweat broke out on Obito's brow as he realized. "You… disguised your true body as a clone!?"
Sasuke's face was an impassive mask.
"This trick… a friend of mine used it once. Surprisingly effective, as it turns out. Thanks to it, I can still stand here."
"Your dual Kamui is powerful. But sadly, the Mangekyō alone doesn't grant the vision to see through Wood Clones. To deal with my clones, you used your Susano'o and fired three Kamui Shuriken in a row. The strain isn't small, is it?"
"You bastard…!!!"
Obito desperately wanted to use his left eye's power to erase this Sasuke in front of him right now.
But his gaze swept over the many clones still on the field.
He reconsidered.
No. He could be bluffing. This one might not be the real body either. When you think about it… any one of these eighteen could be the real one.
Fine. I was getting impatient, reckless. I forgot you have formidable battle instincts…
FWOOSH.
The Susano'o around him dissipated.
Sasuke's eyes narrowed. "Is he…"
He watched as Obito slowly, deliberately, drew the Kusanagi Sword from his waist.
"No need to waste energy with the Susano'o. Stay calm. Make full use of both Kamui eyes' characteristics. Swordplay is enough…"
A deep, void-like blackness seeped into the blade of the Kusanagi.
Obito's lips curled into a grin of extreme danger. "That's right. This… is the Kusanagi Sword, imbued with the power of Kamui."
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