Obito had always been protected by the White Zetsu called Tobi, which could easily be considered a natural layer of armor. Because of that, Ryūjin had no intention of using Amaterasu on him again.
This time, Ryūjin was not trying to deal with Obito directly, but with the White Zetsu attached to him. According to the original story, the spiral-patterned White Zetsu known as Tobi often acted as Obito's external body and protection .
So after Ryūjin used the Flying Thunder God Technique to instantly teleport away, he immediately used long-range Kamui on Obito.
Long-range Kamui was a space-time dōjutsu. It could be seen as a direct spatial severing attack, meaning even the White Zetsu wrapped around Obito would not be able to block it. If the attack connected, it would cut straight through both Tobi and Obito at the same time.
However, Obito was far from easy to deal with. The moment the head of the White Zetsu covering him was sliced off, he reacted instantly. At the critical moment, he stopped attacking Ryūjin and entered a state of intangibility.
Because of that, he barely avoided the fate of losing his own head.
But the same could not be said for Tobi.
The White Zetsu's head was cut off cleanly by Ryūjin, almost like it had been used as a shield to protect Obito. Even so, cold sweat immediately formed on Obito's back.
He had clearly not seen Ryūjin throw any Flying Thunder God kunai. So how did the opponent teleport?
To be able to instantly escape from a Wood Release attack without him even reacting, there was only one explanation. Flying Thunder God.
Could it be that the opponent had already placed a Flying Thunder God seal somewhere beforehand?
That had to be it.
The moment Obito understood the situation, his expression turned extremely serious. If Ryūjin had already prepared the battlefield in advance, then this opponent was far more troublesome than he had expected.
"Tobi… are you alright?" Obito asked in a low voice.
A normal person would die instantly after having their head cut off. But White Zetsu were not human at all. Their bodies were formed from strange plant-like material, completely different from ordinary humans .
Tobi did not respond at all. It was impossible to tell whether he was dead, but Obito could still feel traces of chakra coming from the body.
That was the only thing that gave him a little relief.
The bad news, however, was obvious. In Tobi's current condition, Wood Release was no longer usable.
"Mr. Uchiha Madara, I didn't expect us to meet again so soon."
Under everyone's watchful eyes, Ryūjin slowly walked forward and stopped directly in front of Obito.
"Oh wait, I should say Mr. Fake Uchiha Madara."
At this point, anyone with a functioning brain could tell that the man calling himself Madara was an impostor. In the original series, Obito Uchiha had indeed used both the name Tobi and the identity of Madara to manipulate the Akatsuki from the shadows .
Obito only let out a cold snort and said nothing in return.
After losing Tobi's protection and his Wood Release advantage, he was now in an even worse position against Ryūjin.
"Why are you here? Who exactly are you, and what do you want?" Obito asked in a low voice, staring straight at him.
The last time, Ryūjin had ruined his plan in the Hidden Mist. Now, he had interfered again when Obito tried to take Kisame away.
Was this person targeting him specifically?
But why?
He had never heard of someone like this in the Uchiha clan. And yet, the strength Ryūjin had just shown was far beyond normal.
After hearing Obito's question, everyone present turned their attention toward Ryūjin. Their curiosity had already reached its limit.
The strength of the man pretending to be Uchiha Madara was obvious to everyone. It was ridiculous.
Yet the moment Ryūjin appeared, he had instantly forced that same man into a defensive position.
Just who was he?
Yahiko and Konan both frowned slightly. For some reason, the Hidden Mist ninja in front of them felt strangely familiar.
"My purpose? Didn't I already say it?" Ryūjin shrugged casually. "I'm here for Kisame Hoshigaki."
He glanced at Obito with complete indifference.
"So just get out of my sight now. If you leave, I won't bother making things difficult for you."
Obito's face turned red instantly.
When had he ever been humiliated like this?
But even though he was so angry that his entire body was trembling, he did not dare to move. Whether it was Ryūjin's Kamui or Amaterasu, both were extremely dangerous to him.
He kept his body in an intangible state the entire time, not daring to relax even for a second.
Now there was no longer another Tobi to act as his protection.
Kisame stood there silently, completely stunned.
He had always believed in Obito without question. He had never even considered betrayal.
But now he realized that the man he trusted had been lying to him all along.
"Do you really think I can't do anything to you?" Obito growled angrily.
Crack. Crack. Crack.
In the next second, the ground around Ryūjin suddenly split open. One wooden branch after another burst out from the soil and rushed toward him from every direction.
"Black and White Zetsu?"
A faint, mocking smile appeared at the corner of Ryūjin's mouth.
Compared to the spiral-patterned White Zetsu that had been attached to Obito, the Wood Release used by Black and White Zetsu was far weaker.
With the enhanced perception of Sage Mode, Ryūjin instantly sensed where the real body was hiding.
With a simple flick of his hand, he threw a Flying Thunder God kunai toward a seemingly empty spot.
In the next instant, Ryūjin disappeared.
Swish.
He reappeared at that exact location, and a Rasengan instantly formed in his palm.
Then he slammed it straight into the ground.
Boom.
Crack. Crack. Crack.
The ground exploded into a massive crater. Cracks spread in all directions like a spider web, and the impact alone was enough to make everyone's heart skip a beat.
Inside the crater, a strange white figure lay motionless.
It looked like a human, but at the same time it clearly wasn't one. Its body was made of something similar to plant fibers, and most of its upper half had already been crushed by Ryūjin's Rasengan.
It was a miserable sight.
Even more terrifying, there was no blood at all. No bones. No organs. Nothing that looked human.
Only Ryūjin noticed what had really happened.
At the moment the ground was destroyed, a mass of black liquid had quietly slipped away underground.
Black Zetsu had already abandoned the White Zetsu body and escaped.
There was no other choice. The White Zetsu that had been hit directly by Ryūjin's Rasengan was already completely destroyed.
"How… how did he know where I was hiding?"
As he fled underground, Black Zetsu felt a rare sense of shock.
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