Obito struck the moment Kakashi's attention wavered. His hands flashed through a rapid sequence of signs—Mokuton (Wood Release)—and thick vines burst from beneath Kakashi's feet, twisting around his legs and torso in an instant. Bound tightly, Kakashi was unable to move, let alone form hand seals.
Confirming that his opponent was restrained, Obito walked toward him step by step. His orange spiral mask reflected the faint light between the trees. Kakashi stared at it, brow slightly raised. At first he had assumed this masked attacker was simply another Uchiha from the Land of Lightning. But the secretive appearance, the mask, and the avoidance of direct identity—all of it signaled something deeper. Something personal.
Kakashi's voice hardened.
"Who exactly are you?"
Obito did not answer. He extended his hand toward Kakashi's left eye—the Sharingan. His tone was flat.
"It's over, Kakashi."
But the moment Obito's fingertip touched the eye, Kakashi's entire body shattered into crackling lightning—a perfect Raiton Bunshin (Lightning Clone).
A deafening boom shook the forest.
At the same time, Kakashi erupted from underground, thrusting a lightning spear toward Obito's blind side. Obito reacted instantly, shifting into an intangible state through Kamui, allowing Kakashi's attack to pass harmlessly through him.
Kakashi landed, retreating with a quick step as sparks faded from his hand.
"This phasing ability again…" he muttered. Every normal attack passed through Obito's body as if he were nothing more than smoke.
Kakashi's breath was shallow. He had already exhausted a large portion of his chakra fighting Mei Terumī of Kirigakure earlier. And his attempt to test his masked opponent had cost him even more, especially the chakra-draining Lightning Clone. He was running low—dangerously low.
He struggled to keep his voice steady.
"Why come after my Sharingan? With your power, you could take any left eye from the Uchiha Clan. Is it because… your right eye belonged to Obito?"
The possibility churned his emotions. Memories of the Kannabi Bridge flickered in his mind—Obito's crushed body, his final smile, the gift of the Sharingan…
Obito exhaled in annoyance.
"This again?"
The clone trick clearly irritated him.
He slowly advanced.
"You've been fighting constantly. Your chakra's nearly gone, isn't it?"
Kakashi's expression tightened. It was true.
He suddenly asked, voice low:
"Where did you get that right eye?"
Obito rattled the chain in his hand.
"From where you were, Sharingan Hero."
Kakashi's heart clenched.
"…Kannabi Bridge?!"
Obito made no effort to confirm or deny. Instead, he lunged, the space around his body distorting slightly as he moved.
Kakashi had already figured out that normal attacks were useless. Instead of attacking, he summoned his eight ninken—his ninja dogs. They scattered around the battlefield, positioning themselves to restrict Obito's movement. Small as their help was, Kakashi needed every advantage.
A burst of lightning flared from Kakashi's right hand—the sharp chirping scream of Chidori (One Thousand Birds) cutting through the forest.
Obito ignored the ninken entirely, slipping past them with ease. Kakashi's Chidori missed, and Obito materialized behind him with a cold grin.
"This time, it's over."
Obito solidified and the chains he carried whipped out like striking vipers, coiling tightly around Kakashi's body. Stripped of mobility, deprived of chakra, Kakashi had no strength to resist. The force knocked him back and he hit the ground hard, staring up at the sky.
Panting, almost completely spent, he couldn't even form a proper defensive stance.
Obito clapped his hands again.
Mokuton.
More vines shot upward, twisting around themselves until they formed a thick wooden sphere around both him and Kakashi. A perfect isolation barrier.
With no interference possible, Obito activated Kamui. A spiraling space vortex formed around Kakashi's body, tugging at him with an irresistible pull.
A numb, sinking sensation spread slowly through Kakashi's limbs.
So this is how I die… he thought. If he was sucked into Kamui's pocket dimension, not even a corpse would remain.
But then—
A strange warmth surged from his left eye.
His Sharingan spun wildly. The three tomoe blurred together, reshaping themselves into a three-bladed, reverse-curved pinwheel. The air trembled with the power released.
Kakashi's breath caught.
"Mangekyō Sharingan…?"
He had tried countless times to communicate with Obito's eye during training—always failing, and always suffering the side effects. Disorientation, migraine, fainting spells. Yet now, in this moment of life and death, the eye awakened on its own.
Obito stiffened.
"Impossible…"
Everything he'd learned—from Madara's documents, from the clan's recorded history—insisted on one thing:
Without Uchiha blood, a transplanted Sharingan could never awaken the Mangekyō.
And yet…
A second spatial vortex appeared out of nowhere and slammed into Obito's shoulder.
His face froze.
"…Kamui?"
Kakashi was just as stunned.
The moment the Mangekyō awakened, knowledge flooded his mind—instinctive, complete.
His left eye also possessed Kamui.
Kakashi and Obito were swallowed at once by the spiraling space, dragged into the Kamui Dimension.
Silence fell as they faced each other inside the monochrome world of swirling blocks and floating fragments. Their gazes locked—no words, only tension.
---
Meanwhile: Jiraiya vs Shisui
Far away, a colossal battle was unfolding.
A towering green Susanoo—its armor resembling a Tengu, gripping a massive spiral sword—loomed over the forest. Opposite it stood a gigantic toad wielding a short blade, smoke curling from its pipe.
Jiraiya had completed his preparations. Perched on his shoulders were Fukasaku and Shima, the two Great Sage Toads. He had entered Sennin Mode (Sage Mode).
Fukasaku clicked his tongue.
"Susanoo… I didn't expect anyone besides Madara Uchiha to awaken the Mangekyō Sharingan again. But still—Jiraiya boy, isn't the Uchiha Clan part of your own village? Why are you fighting?"
Shima echoed, "Is this Uchiha a rogue ninja?"
"It's a long story," Jiraiya sighed. "Right now, I need your help."
That was enough for the two sages.
"Kukuku… It won't be easy. Use that technique, Jiraiya boy," Fukasaku said.
"Got it."
Jiraiya leapt onto Gamabunta's sword hilt.
"Bunta! Help me out!"
Gamabunta grunted. "Hold on tight."
He hurled his short blade toward Susanoo with ferocious force.
Shisui narrowed his eyes, sweeping his spiral sword downward. The short blade smashed into the earth, embedding deep.
Susanoo's chest opened like a mechanical gate. Jiraiya shot forward from the blaze of the forest, hands forming signs.
"Senpō: Goemon! — Sage Art: Boiling Oil Flame!"
A massive torrent of oil, fire, and wind surged upward.
Shisui reacted instantly.
"Susanoo: Ninety-Nine Arrows!"
Dozens upon dozens of emerald arrows fired from Susanoo's chest, colliding with Jiraiya's sea of flames. Explosions erupted continuously, turning the forest into a blazing battlefield.
Fukasaku frowned.
"This guy's tough. A physical assault won't cut it. Genjutsu of Mount Myōboku might."
Shima agreed.
"Jiraiya boy, get in close!"
Jiraiya braced himself and charged through the flames.
But the strain of using the Mangekyō was overwhelming. Shisui's vision dimmed, his breath shallow. He canceled Susanoo and split his body into seven through the Body Flicker Technique, intercepting Jiraiya head-on.
---
At Kikyō Castle
Inside Kikyō Castle, panic was rising.
"Three of the Cloud's strongest have been held down—this is our chance!" Kurama Murakumo shouted, wiping sweat from his brow.
Konoha shinobi were already moving to take advantage of the chaos. If they could eliminate enough enemy ninjas, the crisis could be contained.
But then—
A quake shook the ceiling.
A Konoha ninja stumbled in, face pale.
"Lord Murakumo—Cloud ninja have infiltrated—!"
Before he could finish, a thunderous roar split the hall. The ceiling cracked apart, rubble raining down.
A young man floated above them, surrounded by glittering blue chakra. His eyes held countless spinning stars.
Everyone froze.
"The Star of the Clouds…"
The one who had defeated the Six-Tails Jinchūriki.
A master on par with a Kage.
They had completely missed the most dangerous enemy, distracted by the Mangekyō and the Jinchūriki.
Kurama Murakumo felt cold dread wash over him.
They had hoped—prayed—that this monster remained behind to guard the main camp.
Instead…
He was here.
Kurama roared, "Prepare for battle!"
But hope was already crumbling.
Kunai and shuriken filled the air as he opened a scroll, sending a barrage toward the lone figure in the sky—Hyūga Neji.
Neji floated upward, ignoring the projectiles.
Konoha shinobi gathered by the hundreds, surrounding him.
"What is he doing?"
"Is he planning to escape?"
"No. Everyone, stay on guard!"
Neji rose higher—high enough to see the entire structure of Kikyō Castle.
He inhaled deeply.
Ninety percent of his chakra vanished instantly.
A terrifying, invisible pressure burst outward—
A shockwave like a tsunami of pure force.
It spread from the heart of the castle, swallowing stone, earth, and people alike.
Walls shattered. Buildings collapsed.
Everything in its path was obliterated.
Kurama Murakumo stared in frozen horror as the tidal wave of chakra devoured the castle.
There was nowhere to run.
---
Back in Kamui Dimension
Obito kicked Kakashi away, sending him tumbling across the distorted ground of the Kamui realm.
Kakashi tried to stand, but the combined strain of chakra exhaustion and Mangekyō awakening overwhelmed him. Dizziness surged through his skull. After two attempts to rise, he collapsed and lost consciousness.
Obito let out a long exhale.
He truly hadn't expected Kakashi to awaken the Mangekyō—or that the left eye would share the same ability as his right: Kamui.
If Kakashi hadn't been worn down from earlier battles, Obito was no longer certain he would have won.
He crouched beside the unconscious Kakashi.
"My right eye aches… mostly because of you."
He removed his mask, revealing his scarred, half-destroyed face.
Then he reached toward his own left eye socket.
With deliberate, almost reverent precision, he reclaimed the eye Kakashi had awakened.
A sharp breath escaped him as he placed the eye into his socket. After a few seconds, he opened it.
The Mangekyō pattern—three inverted hooks forming a windmill—shone brilliantly.
Obito smiled faintly.
Both of his eyes were Kamui.
But their functions differed subtly.
The right eye allowed intangible phasing and self-teleportation.
The left eye allowed him to warp objects at a distance without physical contact.
His offensive capability…
had grown far beyond what it once was.
And Kakashi—the only person who might understand—lay unconscious at his feet.
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