He pushed himself up from beneath the water, movements sluggish.
Kneeling on one knee atop the lake's surface, he gasped for breath.
Cold lake water seeped through the cracks of the orange mask and into the wound on the back of his neck, sending sharp stings through the exposed flesh.
A stabbing pain pulsed from the Mangekyo Sharingan in his right eye—
The backlash of the violent strain he'd just forced upon his ocular power.
Senju Tobirama—
A man who should have been buried in the pages of history.
Yet in just a few brief exchanges, that relic of a bygone era had completely seen through and dismantled his Kamui (Divine Authority).
Obito lifted his head and swept his gaze rapidly across the battlefield.
Kisame's situation was dire.
Sakumo's blade light was too fast, completely suppressing him.
Kisame's body was already covered in wounds so deep that even bone was visible.
Under those ghost-like, unpredictable strikes, Samehada couldn't use its chakra-absorbing nature at all.
On the far end, Shisui remained standing upon another section of the water wall.
His Mangekyo Sharingan was firmly locked onto Obito.
The genjutsu could trigger at any moment and directly twist a person's will.
The tide of battle had completely shifted against them.
Continuing to fight with conventional methods offered zero chance of victory.
Obito hesitated no longer.
He gathered all the ocular power remaining in his body and poured it into his right eye.
Beneath the mask, the four-point windmill pattern of his Mangekyo began to spin wildly.
The blood vessels at the corner of his eye burst under the immense strain, and a line of blood tears slid down his cheek.
The boy standing at the highest point—
From the very beginning of the battle until now, he had never taken a single step.
He was the controller of everything happening here.
If Obito could take him out, this unreasonable situation might finally collapse.
His right eye locked precisely onto Shinju, who stood at the top of the water wall.
Around Shinju, without the slightest warning, space itself twisted into spiraling distortion.
This was Kamui's long-range offensive form.
It directly ripped open the space where the target stood and dragged it into the otherworldly dimension.
An unavoidable, inescapable attack.
Tobirama and Shisui sensed the abnormal distortion in space at the exact same time.
Both were ready to move immediately to intercept.
"Don't worry. Stand down. I'll handle it."
Shinju's voice came through the comms inside their ears, halting their actions.
Facing an attack powerful enough to warp time and space, Shinju didn't attempt to dodge.
He simply raised his right hand, extended his index finger, and lightly tapped toward the very center of the violently twisting space in front of him.
At the tip of his finger, a miniature space vortex appeared out of thin air.
Its range was much smaller than Kamui's twisting field,
But its rotation speed was several times faster.
The direction of this micro vortex's spin was completely opposite to that of Kamui's distortion.
Under the mask, Obito's single eye filled with bewilderment.
In this world, aside from Hatake Kakashi—
The only other one who possessed a Kamui eye—
There should be no one else capable of interfering with his unique space-time.
Two spatial forces of different origins and opposing nature collided in midair.
There was no thunderous explosion, no blinding light.
Only a sensation of something tearing…
Acting upon space itself.
The distortion field created by Kamui was forcibly neutralized the instant it touched the smaller, reverse-spinning vortex—
Then shredded to pieces by the opposing force.
The rampaging remnants of space-time energy erupted into an invisible shockwave that rippled in all directions.
As the caster, Obito took the brunt of the backlash.
From the eye hole of his sturdy orange spiral mask, a thin crack suddenly appeared.
The crack quickly spread like a spiderweb.
With a series of crisp snapping sounds, the entire right half of the mask shattered, breaking into several fragments that tumbled down into the lake below.
As the invisible shockwave dissipated, the battlefield fell into a brief silence.
Everyone's gaze focused on the man still kneeling on the water's surface, panting heavily.
For the first time, his face—covered in hideous scars—was laid bare for all to see.
To some of those present, that face seemed strangely familiar.
In his right eye, the three tomoe slowly faded from view—
A clear sign of ocular power exhaustion—
Until the eye reverted back to an ordinary black.
Shisui's body trembled slightly.
He stared at that face, lips parting as if to call out a name—
But he forced the words back down.
Tobirama glanced at that face, then at the Sharingan in the man's eye.
His brows knitted tightly together, as though dredging up a long-buried connection from the depths of memory.
Even Sakumo's blade paused for a moment.
In that scarred face, he seemed to glimpse his own good-for-nothing son—
And the comrades he had once fought alongside.
Atop the water wall, Shinju finally spoke again.
"Obito Uchiha. Long time no see."
At that name, the man below shook violently.
He jerked his head up, bloodshot eyes glaring at Shinju above with murderous rage.
Shinju ignored the hatred and killing intent in his gaze, his tone still as flat and calm as ever.
"Hiding behind a mask for so many years… aren't you tired?"
"Your teacher and your comrades are all still alive."
"And they all miss you very much."
Those final words shattered the last psychological defense inside Obito's heart.
Teacher… Minato-sensei… Kakashi…
And Rin…
Everything he had done… was for the sake of creating a perfect world where Rin still existed.
He had unleashed the Nine-Tails that night as vengeance against this cruel world that had taken Rin away.
He had manipulated Akatsuki, gathered the Tailed Beasts, and sought to cast Mugen Tsukuyomi (Infinite Tsukuyomi), so that he could reunite with Rin in an eternal dream.
Yet the mysterious youth before him was telling him…
That all he had lost might not be beyond saving.
What was this supposed to mean?
Obito's thoughts were in total chaos.
These people who should have died long ago…
This unfathomable boy…
And those unbelievable words—
All of it shook the belief he had clung to for over ten years.
Could it be that everything he had done up until now…
Was nothing more than a pathetic joke?
"Who… the hell are you?!" Obito roared.
"Who I am doesn't matter," Shinju replied.
"What matters is this—
Obito Uchiha, your game ends here."
Obito understood. The tide was set.
If he stayed any longer, there was only one fate waiting for him—
Capture.
He couldn't be taken alive.
The Tsuki no Me Keikaku (Moon's Eye Plan) still hadn't been completed.
He couldn't fall here.
He cast a glance toward the distant Kisame, who was being completely overwhelmed by Sakumo's attacks, then hardened his eyes.
Kisame…
I'm sorry.
From here on… you're on your own.
Obito burned the last tatters of ocular power within his body.
The pattern of the Mangekyo Sharingan surfaced once more in his right eye.
Space around him began to twist again.
This time, it wasn't to attack anyone—
But to escape from this cage of despair.
(End of Chapter)
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