Weak. Powerless.
For the second time, Sasuke felt this crushing sense of impotence.
"Sasuke-sama, what should we do now?"
The Uchiha clansmen following Sasuke looked toward the young genius of their family. The black-haired boy stared at the rumbling mountains in the distance, his knuckles turning white from the sheer force of his grip.
"We... leave."
No matter how unwilling he was, no matter how much it hurt, he had to face reality. Right now, he was still too weak.
Too weak. Even with the Immortal Seal, he was nothing in the face of a true master.
Sasuke couldn't help but think of the master he had sought out—the man who ruled over the entire shinobi world.
Master, if I am this weak, why did I even have the right to receive the Immortal Seal?
Sasuke knew what kind of beings possessed the Immortal Seal. He had once believed he finally possessed power comparable to his brother and his teacher—that he had earned his master's recognition. But the current situation had shattered his self-conceit like a fragile dream.
When faced with a truly powerful enemy, he could only cower behind his brother's back.
The clash of blades echoed continuously through the valley.
In his Reanimated body, Obito Uchiha possessed inexhaustible chakra and ocular power. Although he wasn't entirely used to having a full pair of Mangekyō Sharingan for the first time, he was able to use his "Intangibility" to rapidly master the eyes he had regained through a stroke of luck.
At this moment, Itachi Uchiha was no longer using the Totsuka Blade in its massive form.
As a spiritual weapon, the Totsuka Blade required Itachi's own chakra to sustain. Even with the potent Sage Chakra stored within his Immortal Seal, maintaining the weapon's active state indefinitely was an immense burden. Furthermore, unlike Obito's infinite ocular power, Itachi's living body had to pay the price of deteriorating vision.
Though he had only maintained Susanoo for a short while, tears of blood began to stream from his eyes. Despite this, Itachi's expression remained calm, as if the agony were utterly inconsequential.
"Hahahaha!"
"This power! This is the power that belongs to me!"
Obito Uchiha looked like a man possessed, wildly swinging the massive blade of his Perfect Susanoo down upon Itachi's half-bodied Susanoo.
He was insane. He had gone mad the moment before his original death.
He no longer had the capital to execute the Eye of the Moon Plan. The prerequisite for the plan was a living body. Although he knew from Zetsu that Nagato was still alive, Nagato would never use the precious Rinne Rebirth Jutsu to resurrect him. And even if he were resurrected, these powerful, precious eyes would shatter upon his return to life.
To live was to lose his power. To stay dead was to keep Kamui.
He had lost the right to see Rin.
For Obito, the only way he could even hope to see Rin again was to become a total tool for Madara Uchiha. But even then, it remained unknown whether the Infinite Tsukuyomi could pull a Reanimated soul into the dream.
Obito was currently teetering on the edge of total lunacy. He vented all his resentment and pain onto Itachi. The giant blade of the teal Susanoo slammed repeatedly against the Yata Mirror, causing the very peaks of the mountains to crumble and the earth to shake.
Orochimaru watched the scene with a grim expression. He had always hated situations that spiraled out of his control, and Reanimating such a lunatic filled him with unease.
Furthermore, because the White Zetsu used as a sacrifice contained a massive amount of Hashirama's cells, Orochimaru's control over Obito was extremely weak. If Obito wished, he could break free from his control at any moment.
"Who is that guy?"
Kagura stepped up beside Orochimaru, her eyes filled with trepidation as she stared at the teal Susanoo.
"Don't ask. We're leaving." Orochimaru shook his head, having no desire to wade into these muddy waters.
"You think you can just walk away, Orochimaru?" Hiruko spoke calmly from the side. "Obito Uchiha has been resurrected and possesses such power. Do you think the Radiant Empire will let you off?"
Orochimaru didn't respond, but Kagura let out a cold sneer. "You think they were letting us off before this?"
This matter originally had nothing to do with her or Orochimaru. If Hiruko, Zetsu, and Ryuchi Cave hadn't conspired to pressure them, they wouldn't even be here. Seeing the appearance of that Uchiha, Kagura had every reason to suspect this was a calculated plan to use Orochimaru to revive Obito.
"You really think the Radiant Empire was hunting you with everything they had before?" Hiruko asked. "Though Might Guy pursued you personally, the shinobi world has been at war for a thousand years. Recovery and construction are their top priorities right now. To mobilize an entire nation just for you would have been a waste of resources."
"But now, because of your Reanimation Jutsu, one of Kakashi's right-hand men is about to die."
Hiruko stared at Orochimaru. "The situation has changed."
Orochimaru's face darkened, but he didn't argue. Hiruko was right. The shinobi world was both large and small. With the sheer power of the behemoth that was the Radiant Empire, finding him wouldn't be difficult if they committed to it.
Might Guy hadn't caught him before simply because it wasn't "cost-effective." Orochimaru was a rare master; finding him required a massive amount of manpower. If those ninjas were instead put toward infrastructure, they could accelerate the nation's growth significantly.
But if Itachi Uchiha died here because of him, that was a different story entirely. Kakashi would view him as a mortal enemy—he might even mobilize in person.
"Hahaha! Die! Just die for me!"
In the valley, Obito continued his frenzied assault. Orochimaru's expression flickered with calculation before settling into a cold resolve. He had made his choice.
It was simply the same situation he had faced when he was forced to join the Akatsuki. The only difference was that the side pressuring him had changed. He had plenty of time; he could afford to make adjustments slowly.
"You want me to join you? Fine," Orochimaru said. "But I have one condition."
Hiruko wasn't surprised by Orochimaru's shift in attitude. He smiled. "What is it?"
"I need your technology regarding Hashirama's cells."
Orochimaru thought back to the White Zetsu used for the Reanimation. To hold such a high concentration of Hashirama's cells without issue—if he could obtain that technology, he could extend Kagura's life.
The reason Kagura had grown to her current size in just three years wasn't natural; Orochimaru had used secret techniques to force her rapid development from an infant state. However, this meant her lifespan was incredibly short. So short he could count the remaining years on one hand.
If he had their cell technology, he believed he could save her.
"I can't make that decision, but I believe that person will agree," Hiruko replied, glancing at the white-haired girl beside Orochimaru.
"Then I'll wait until you have a definite answer. I'm leaving now. I trust you have your ways of finding me."
Orochimaru took one last look at the battle in the valley and turned away without lingering. Kagura followed closely behind him.
Does a creature like that actually possess emotions? Hiruko watched Orochimaru's retreating back, surprised by the importance the Sannin placed on Kagura. She was, after all, just a byproduct of an experiment.
Meanwhile, Itachi was reaching his limit against Obito's onslaught.
While the Yata Mirror could deflect any physical attack, Itachi himself required a massive amount of chakra to maintain it. Even with the power of the Immortal Seal, his specific ocular jutsu lacked a direct offensive capability.
At this point, even using Ishinaga-hime to delay the effects on himself was merely postponing his inevitable defeat. Moreover, he had only lasted this long because of Obito's sadistic desire to toy with him.
The moment Obito used the Kamui of his right eye, that force capable of tearing through space would bypass the Yata Mirror entirely.
So... this is as far as I go...
Itachi sighed behind the shield of the Yata Mirror. Sensing his dwindling chakra, he prepared for his final stand. Even if he were to die, he refused to let it be a slow, agonizing decline. He had only stalled this long to give Sasuke and the others a chance to escape.
With Obito's Kamui, running was impossible.
The Mangekyō Sharingan in his eyes began to spin violently. A strange ocular power instantly enveloped Obito and his Susanoo.
Ishinaga-hime!
By forcibly shunting Obito into a different timeline, Itachi bought himself a split second of breathing room. But the rapid drain on his left eye told him he couldn't trap Obito for long.
Itachi quickly tore off his upper clothing, revealing his muscled chest. He bit his finger and used the blood to rapidly draw mysterious, complex patterns across his skin. The black lines of the Immortal Seal mingled with the bloody runes, giving him a demonic, ethereal aura.
Reverse Four Symbols Sealing.
This was Itachi's final gambit. He was prepared for death. However, he didn't intend to use this seal to counter Obito's intangibility. While the technique could seal everything within several hundred meters, the activation time was too long; someone of Obito's caliber would easily escape.
Itachi intended to use the seal on himself. No matter what, he could not allow the enemy to claim his Mangekyō Sharingan or his corpse.
As the Reverse Four Symbols Seal was completed, Itachi deactivated his Susanoo. A mirror and a gourd fell into his hands.
The Yata Mirror and the Totsuka Blade.
No longer manifested as massive spiritual weapons, the two artifacts shrunk to a conventional size. At that moment, the effect of Ishinaga-hime ended.
Itachi held the mirror in one hand and the gourd in the other, staring down the Susanoo charging toward him with eyes full of grim determination.
"What's this? Giving up?" Obito sneered, seeing the Susanoo vanish. As the teal chakra dissipated, Obito landed on the ground and began walking toward Itachi step by step.
"Giving up isn't in my nature," Itachi said calmly.
His voice wasn't loud, yet it echoed through the valley with an soul-shaking power.
Auditory Genjutsu!
Obito's expression shifted as he recalled the moment he was killed by Hayama Shirakumo. Before he could act, Itachi had already lunged forward, Totsuka Blade in hand!
Crimson flames erupted from the red gourd, forming a blade that slashed toward Obito!
Kamui!
Obito didn't hesitate to use the power of the eye he had once lost. An invisible spatial vortex began to twist around Itachi.
Just as Itachi was about to be torn apart by Kamui, the Yata Mirror in his hand erupted with light, transforming into a shield that blocked Obito's line of sight!
As a Mangekyō wielder, Itachi was intimately familiar with the Sharingan. Most Mangekyō abilities required a direct line of sight to function, and Obito's Kamui was no exception. By thrusting the Yata Mirror forward, Itachi obscured Obito's vision.
The spatial vortex twisted, and the Yata Mirror shattered like actual glass! Even the legendary shield said to block all physical attacks could not withstand the spatial distortion of Kamui.
But with the mirror's destruction, Itachi had already closed the distance! He swung the Totsuka Blade down without hesitation.
Faced with Itachi's close-quarters assault, Obito chose to retreat and evade. His intangibility had an interval; he had to time it perfectly, saving it for a moment when the Totsuka Blade was truly unavoidable. Until then, he would use taijutsu, Kamui, and Wood Style to wear Itachi down.
The two Mangekyō users engaged in a life-or-death struggle, stripped down to the most fundamental Uchiha-style taijutsu.
Attack and defense. Evasion and pursuit.
With the dynamic vision of the Mangekyō pushed to the human limit, the exchange was a blur of lethal precision. Backed by the Immortal Seal, Itachi held the absolute upper hand in close combat.
Yet, his deepening scowl revealed his inner turmoil. The chakra stored in the Immortal Seal was nearly exhausted. If he couldn't finish Obito within this window, his only option left would be self-destruction.
Thinking of this, Itachi stepped forward, the ground shattering beneath his heel. A pulse of chakra rippled outward once more!
Another genjutsu!
Obito froze for less than a second—but it was enough. Itachi seized the opening with lightning speed. The flames of the Totsuka Blade flared violently as he brought the sword down directly upon Obito's head!
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