It was as if the world had been forcefully put on pause.
Nohara Rin looked down at the wooden spike piercing through her chest. The strength in her body was rapidly draining away at a visible rate.
A mouthful of blood spurted from the corner of her lips. She struggled to lift her head and look at the strange white figure opposite her, her gaze gradually calming.
Her body slowly slumped to the ground as consciousness receded like the tide. She quietly awaited the arrival of death.
"Aaargh—!"
"What are you doing?!"
Obito furiously questioned A-Juan.
At some point, the restraints on his mouth had been released.
He raised his trembling hands, wanting to rush over and hold Rin, but he lacked the courage to take even a single step forward.
His body was being controlled by A-Juan, yet the scene before him was crueler than if he had killed Rin with his own hands.
Rin wasn't going to make it.
The thought of the sensation of that wooden spike piercing her heart completely consumed Obito with boundless terror and despair.
"Sorry, Obito. I didn't want this either," A-Juan said faintly. "My mission is only to kill Uchiha Shinji."
"Hahaha!"
Obito laughed, a sound so wretched it made one's scalp tingle.
He glanced at the unconscious Kakashi, then at Rin, whose breathing was growing ever fainter.
He murmured softly, the last shred of attachment in his heart completely extinguished.
"This is hell!"
Obito abruptly raised his head, his once-calm pupils suddenly shattering.
Three tomoe spun wildly in his eyes, twisting and distorting, completing their reconstruction in an instant.
The Mangekyo Sharingan had awakened.
A jet-black pattern bloomed madly within the crimson depths of his eyes, and an extremely suppressed Chakra erupted with a boom.
The aura around him changed completely, leaving only hatred and despair.
From this day forward, the Uchiha boy who loved to laugh was no more.
His gaze locked onto Shinji, his voice vicious.
"This is all your fault."
Obito poured all the blame, all the pain, all the madness onto Shinji.
If it weren't for Shinji, if Shinji hadn't been here, he wouldn't have ended up in this state, and Rin wouldn't have died.
Feeling the frenzied killing intent, Shinji gritted his teeth, squeezing out the sliver of Chakra he had just managed to recover.
The Mangekyo Sharingan activated once more.
Right eye, Heavenly Stone Gate, activate!
With a flicker, he instantly broke free from the restraints of the four White Zetsus. In the next moment, he appeared by Rin's side, teleporting her directly to a safe location.
Looking down at the dying Rin, Shinji's heart sank completely.
He gently caressed Rin's cheek and said softly, "It's okay now. I'm here."
Nohara Rin's lips parted slightly. She struggled to lift her hand but no longer had a shred of strength left.
She slowly closed her eyes, her lips barely managing to form a gentle smile.
Shinji slowly stood up and took a small, seal-covered box from his ninja tool pouch.
He opened it without hesitation, took out a verdant green branch from inside, and threw it directly into his mouth.
Tengu Roosting Branch.
A treasure from the depths of the Fire Temple.
It increased one's Chakra by a factor of five, but the effect lasted only three minutes.
He forcefully swallowed the bitter dregs.
His originally depleted and heavy meridians were instantly enveloped and flushed by a strange, life-filled energy.
The Chakra in his body recovered at a visible rate until it was full, even overflowing.
The abundant Chakra brought with it the tearing pain of ruptured meridians.
Ignoring all the pain, Shinji stared intently at the completely maddened Obito.
"Do you have any idea what you're doing?!"
Obito slowly raised his hands.
"Wood Release: Wooden Spike Technique."
In an instant, a dense, crisscrossing barrage of wooden spikes swept toward Shinji like a torrential downpour.
Orange bones erupted, forming a cage that firmly protected Shinji in the center.
Susanoo.
The dense wooden spikes slammed hard against the spiritual skeleton, letting out a series of crisp clangs like metal on metal.
Shinji's figure flickered, instantly closing the distance to Obito.
The Susanoo's massive arm swept out, grabbing for Obito.
But the attack passed straight through his body, grasping at empty air.
Kamui Intangibility.
Obito's figure was half-corporeal, half-ethereal. He suddenly clenched his fist and smashed it heavily against the Susanoo's skeleton.
Shinji's pupils shrank.
Left eye, Bottom Spring Fate, activate!
Viscous black water surged out, carrying a fatal aura, threatening to engulf Obito in an instant.
Obito's heart tightened. He hastily retreated, activating his right eye's Kamui again to suck all the black water into its alternate dimension.
Shinji knew clearly.
The intangibility of Kamui could last for five minutes at most.
To attack, one had to deactivate the intangibility.
To truly harm Obito, he had to seize the exact moment he attacked.
Or, like Konan, prepare six hundred billion explosive tags and bombard him continuously for ten minutes, leaving him with nowhere to hide.
"Be careful, Obito!" White Zetsu suddenly reminded him, his tone sinister. "That guy has the same eyes as you!"
"Damn it!"
Obito roared in frustration.
He only had one Mangekyo and couldn't even activate a complete Susanoo, putting him at a disadvantage in terms of combat power.
Faced with ocular power of the same level, he couldn't gain any advantage at all.
His gaze subconsciously swept toward the unconscious Kakashi on the ground.
Unless he took back his other Sharingan.
But the thought was suppressed as soon as it appeared.
"One eye is enough."
Shinji's hands flew through hand seals, not hesitating to burn the surging Chakra in his body.
"Fire Release: Great Dragon Fire Technique!"
He cupped one hand to his mouth, and scale-armored fire dragons roared out, one after another, crashing madly toward Obito.
He paid no mind to the Chakra consumption. As the power of the Tengu Roosting Branch churned wildly within him, the Great Dragon Fire Technique was unleashed continuously like a tide.
The entire land was instantly swallowed by a sea of fire, with flames soaring into the sky.
Obito gritted his teeth and held on. He was completely unable to withstand the ferocious blaze head-on and could only activate his intangibility again, his figure disappearing into the flames.
He had not yet inherited all of Madara's legacy. All he could rely on now was the Wood Release: Wooden Spike Technique and his right Mangekyo.
The light of the fire obscured all vision.
By the time Obito rushed out of the inferno, Shinji was long gone.
Also vanished were Nohara Rin and the unconscious Kakashi.
"He escaped?" A-Juan frowned.
"That guy's condition is strange. He must have taken some kind of drug to forcibly boost his combat power," White Zetsu said. "There are likely severe side effects, which is why he was in a hurry to retreat with them."
"Rin!"
Obito stared at the empty ground, his eyes becoming vacant, as if even his will to fight had been drained away.
Over and over, he distractedly murmured that name.
"Over here!"
Several figures suddenly closed in—it was the pursuing Mist Ninja. Seeing the sea of fire, they mistakenly thought they had finally located their target.
Obito slowly looked up, his crimson Sharingan reflecting the group of people, and the hatred in his heart erupted once more.
If they hadn't captured Rin, if it weren't for this damned mission...
He threw his head back and roared, his figure flashing as he charged straight toward the Mist Ninja.
White Zetsu grinned eerily. "Obito, vent all you want."
"The plan has been revised."
"Lord Madara will surely be very pleased with this."