Chapter 75: A Fierce Battle with Obito
Swish! Swish! Swish!
In an instant, hundreds of powerful presences descended upon the Uchiha district.
Hiruzen Sarutobi, clad in his black battle attire, stood before Fugaku with a piercing intensity. He was flanked by the two elders, Koharu and Homura.
"Fugaku, are you Uchiha really staging a coup?!"
Glancing at the elite Uchiha shinobi already in a standoff with Danzō's Root forces, Hiruzen's heart filled with unbridled fury.
Right behind them, the heads of the other great clans arrived—Hyūga Genkai, Nara Shikaku, Akimichi Chōza, and Yamanaka Inoichi. Seeing the tense, sword-drawn atmosphere, they all tensed up.
Before Hiruzen could say another word, Fugaku dropped a bombshell that stunned the Hokage and his advisors, and made Danzō's face turn as dark as water.
"Hiruzen, you are mistaken," Fugaku began, his eyes sweeping over the shocked expression on the Hokage's face. "The Uchiha have never, from beginning to end, taken any concrete action toward a coup."
"This village was founded jointly by the Uchiha and the Senju. No matter how you try to cover it up, that is an undeniable fact. And yet, to protect the power in your hands, you've ignored this truth, treating the Uchiha like venomous beasts and suppressing our clan day after day for decades."
"Fugaku, the fact before everyone here is that you Uchiha are the village's greatest affliction!" Sensing the tide turning against him, Danzō wasn't about to let Fugaku continue. He cut in harshly, his cold words drawing the hateful gazes of every Uchiha present.
Fugaku returned a frigid glare, his three-tomoe Sharingan spinning rapidly as he stared down Danzō. Everyone could feel his rage, but Fugaku contained it, turning his attention back to Hiruzen.
"We Uchiha have always loved Konoha," he said, his voice resonating with conviction. "But you have covered up our contributions to the village and treated us as a constant threat. Since it has come to this, then we Uchiha will leave Konoha, and grant your wish."
The moment those impactful words fell, Danzō's expression became grim. Hiruzen, Koharu, and the others were frozen on the spot.
Leaving Konoha? Not a coup?
The heads of the clans less entangled with the Hokage's faction—the Hyūga, the Inuzuka, the Kurama—exchanged glances before signaling their clansmen to stand down. If the Uchiha weren't planning a coup, if they weren't going to disrupt the village's stability, then the question of whether to risk devastating losses in a bloody fight against them required careful consideration.
"Defect from Konoha? Fugaku, what is the meaning of this?" Realizing that Fugaku truly had no intention of rebellion, Hiruzen's tense face relaxed slightly. He studied the Uchiha clan head, his tone softening a fraction. Behind him, however, Homura and Koharu's brows were furrowed into a tight knot. The Uchiha not staging a coup was what the village wanted, but them leaving entirely was hardly a good outcome for Konoha.
"Hiruzen, I've made myself perfectly clear," Fugaku stated. "More than fifty years ago, the Uchiha and the Senju founded Konoha together. The First Hokage himself said that all clans were free to come and go. Our ancestors hoped that founding Konoha would bring true peace and a bright future for our clan. Yet, after all these years, our clan is met with suspicion and isolation. There is no longer a place for the Uchiha in this village. Even under these circumstances, we are still unwilling to launch a coup. We love this village and do not wish to raise our weapons on the land where we have lived for decades. So please, allow the Uchiha to leave Konoha and find a new home elsewhere."
Fugaku paused, looking at the incredulous, stone-faced Hiruzen. "This is the final act of grace from the Uchiha. If you insist on forcing our hand, we will not stand by and be slaughtered. Hiruzen, I hope you think carefully before you make your decision."
Final act of grace?
Naturally, it was a bluff. In Fugaku's heart, and indeed in the hearts of all Uchiha, Konoha was already an irreconcilable enemy. Fugaku's speech was a calculated move to stall for as much time as possible and to sow division among the Hyūga, Inuzuka, Kurama, and other clans.
Already, more than three hundred ninja surrounded the Uchiha district, with more arriving continuously. If a battle broke out, the hundred Uchiha left as the rearguard wouldn't be able to hold out for long, and their mission would fail. That was why Fugaku had immediately emphasized their defection, not a coup. He had made it clear the Uchiha did not want to rebel; they only wanted to leave.
The choice of whether to use force was now in Hiruzen's hands.
Hokage Tower.
Neji stared intently at Obito, his mind racing.
Even with only a single Kamui, Obito was incredibly powerful. During the Nine-Tails attack, he had instantly eliminated the ANBU squad guarding Kushina and had controlled the Nine-Tails with a single glance. While the element of surprise and Madara's pre-existing summoning contract played a part, there were no more than two people in the entire shinobi world capable of such a feat.
Most importantly, Obito's ability to survive was off the charts. With Kamui, hitting him was incredibly difficult. Even if you did land a blow, it might not even injure him. Minato Namikaze's full-power Rasengan had struck him squarely in the back but had caused no significant damage. His physical durability, enhanced by Hashirama's cells, was on par with Orochimaru's after his extensive body modifications. Any ordinary attack would be useless. And even if one could wound or kill him, he had a spare Sharingan under his mask, ready to cast Izanagi and bring him back to life at full strength.
If Obito was determined to escape, Neji would be powerless to stop him.
Although killing him is unrealistic, achieving a stalemate shouldn't be a problem.
Obito's greatest weakness with a single Kamui was his lack of overwhelming offensive power; he lacked a definitive, fight-ending technique. Knowing his abilities, as long as Neji could counter Kamui, there was little to fear.
"You little mouse," Obito's voice suddenly rasped. "It's your bad luck to run into me."
Clank, clank!
With a metallic rattle, Obito produced an iron chain from his waist, slowly and deliberately fastening it to both of his wrists. His movements were unhurried, as if Neji wasn't even worth his full attention. Although Neji's similar attire had startled him at first, Obito paid little mind to anyone in the world besides a handful of truly top-tier shinobi.
Seeing Obito secure the chain and tense to lunge, Neji took a deep breath. The Chakra Receiver Rosary emerged from between his eyebrows, floating before him as he prepared to face his opponent.
The chain danced through the air with a loud clatter. The rosary beads glowed with an eerie light as they began to spin.
Fwoosh!
They both moved at the same time.
Obito whipped the chain towards Neji, who swayed his body, narrowly avoiding it. Simultaneously, Neji sent the Chakra Receiver Rosary flying forward with a thought. As expected, the rosary passed harmlessly through Obito's intangible body.
Just then, Obito's hand reached for Neji's shoulder, and the space around it began to distort.
'Success,' Obito sneered inwardly. Once sucked into the Kamui dimension, even a god would be at his mercy.
The spatial vortex rapidly expanded, and Neji's body began to twist along with it.
In the next instant, however, Obito's body was struck by an invisible repulsive force, sending him flying backward. At the same time, the rosary Neji had thrown was pulled back by an attractive force, slamming toward the recoiling Obito. The entire sequence was as fluid as flowing water, without a hint of hesitation. Neji had not only mentally rehearsed this but was aided by the Tenseigan's fine control over attraction and repulsion, which was effortless and even surpassed that of the Rinnegan.
BOOM! BOOM!
The walls of the basement rumbled with dull impacts. Neji narrowed his eyes; Obito had vanished.
'A pity,' Neji thought. He knew the chances of killing Obito were slim, but he had held onto a sliver of hope, playing all his cards at once in the hope of catching him off guard and finishing him.
A moment later, space warped again, and Obito reappeared. The look he gave Neji was now completely devoid of its earlier disdain.
"To be able to injure me… you're quite impressive," Obito said, probing. In that split-second exchange, his opponent had used at least two abilities, both of which were beyond his expectations.
First was the repulsive force that had hit him, something he had only ever seen from the "Deva Path." In all his vast experience, Obito knew of no other bloodline or secret jutsu that could manipulate repulsion in such a way.
Then there were the small black spheres. They had seemed unremarkable, but the moment his right shoulder had touched one, an unprecedented feeling of mortal dread had washed over him. He hadn't felt such a sensation since his fight with the Fourth Hokage, and this was even more intense.
If one were to look at Obito from behind, they would see that a large chunk of flesh from his right shoulder had simply vanished. Even with his keen eye, Obito couldn't discern what kind of ability those strange black spheres possessed. The mysterious masked man before him had sparked both his deep interest and profound vigilance.
Mimicking Obito, Neji spoke in a hoarse voice, "To escape my combination attack, you have reason to be proud as well."
Kamui was powerful, but against Neji, who could freely manipulate attraction and repulsion, its offensive capabilities were almost null. For Obito to absorb someone, he had to become tangible. The instant he did, the repulsive force, which required no hand seals, could strike and push him away.
After studying Neji for a moment, Obito said in a low voice, "Since neither of us can defeat the other, there's no need to continue fighting. I don't know what your purpose here is, but I assume you don't want to see your efforts go to waste, right?"
Neji let out a small, silent sigh of relief and nodded imperceptibly. He still had to steal the Scroll of Seals; he had no desire to get bogged down in a fight with Obito.
With an agreement reached, they walked side-by-side toward the archive room. Obito glanced at the locked door and simply phased through it with Kamui. Neji, however, unleashed his Chakra Receiver Rosary, which obliterated the lock.
With a creak, Neji pushed the door open. Obito glanced at the black spheres floating around Neji, his expression under the mask growing even more solemn.
Neji paid him no mind and began to survey the archive. In front of him stood rows of bookshelves filled with countless scrolls of high-level ninjutsu and classified documents. To the left was a massive refrigeration unit containing rows of petri dishes with cell tissue cultures. A quick scan revealed many tissues he didn't recognize, as well as a sample of Hashirama's cells.
His gaze shifted to the right, where a massive scroll lay on a platform. Seeing it, Neji's breathing grew heavier. This was it—the Scroll of Seals, which recorded numerous forbidden jutsu. His mission would be complete once he had it.
Still, he didn't move recklessly, keeping his attention focused on Obito. After a moment of thought, Neji stated his terms plainly, "The Scroll of Seals is mine. You can take the rest."
Obito's brow furrowed in thought. The scroll contained powerful forbidden jutsu, but they were forbidden for a reason—not just their power, but their extreme difficulty. As far as he knew, no one in Konoha had successfully mastered any of its techniques for a very long time. Besides, Konoha surely had a copy; stealing the original wouldn't be a crippling blow. Most importantly, this other masked man's techniques were bizarre, and Obito had already suffered for underestimating him. He didn't want to waste time in a pointless conflict.
The Uchiha and the Hokage's faction would be clashing soon, and he wanted to be there to observe and fish in the troubled waters.
After a brief deliberation, Obito nodded. "Fine."
The two, each with their own ulterior motives, reached an agreement.
Neji breathed a long sigh of relief and flashed over to the platform holding the scroll. He immediately unrolled it, his eyes scanning quickly to verify its authenticity.
Meanwhile, Obito went to the refrigeration unit containing Hashirama's cells and absorbed its entire contents into his Kamui dimension. He then proceeded to sweep all the various scrolls from the shelves, packing them away. While most of it was of little use to him personally, taking it all would be a significant loss for Konoha.
Throughout the process, the two acted as if the other wasn't there, neither interfering with the other.
Uchiha District.
After Fugaku's speech, a subtle shift occurred in the mindset of the other clan heads. If the Uchiha were hell-bent on destroying the village's peace, then to protect their own clan's interests, they would have no choice but to help Hiruzen suppress them. There would be no other option.
But now, with the Uchiha not intending to launch a coup, the situation had become more complex.
After leaving Konoha, the Uchiha's first priority would be survival; becoming Konoha's enemy would come second. Besides, while the Uchiha were strong, they wouldn't dare challenge Konoha now, and they might not have the capacity to do so for a long time. Taking a step back, in the decades since the village system was established, the five great ninja villages had fought life-and-death battles, yet they also maintained delicate relationships. For example, Sunagakure had been the first to attack the Land of Fire during the Third Great Ninja War, but was now Konoha's staunchest ally. From that perspective, it was even possible that the Uchiha could become allies with Konoha in the future.
Secondly, there was the matter of losses. The Uchiha's combat strength was beyond question. To eliminate these hundred-plus elites, their own clans would have to pay a heavy price.
At that moment, Kurama Murakumo, the head of the Kurama clan, suddenly spoke up. "Lord Hokage, Uchiha Shisui is not here."
As his words fell, a chill went down everyone's spine. The situation was clear: Shisui had already withdrawn from Konoha. Fugaku staying behind meant he was prepared for the worst.
Kurama's statement wasn't just for Hiruzen's ears. The minds of all the clan heads not deeply tied to the Hokage's faction, and even those of the Ino-Shika-Chō trio, began to race. If Shisui learned that they had assisted the Hokage in wiping out Fugaku and his men, they would undoubtedly be placed on his kill list. His hatred for them might even burn more fiercely than his hatred for the Hokage's faction.
Shisui had awakened the Mangekyō Sharingan at a young age; he was ten times more terrifying than Fugaku.
Offending such a generational Uchiha talent would be an absolute disaster.