Seeing Kakashi reach out to remove his eye patch, Obito, hidden beneath his mask, revealed a look of disgust.
His voice, cold beneath the mask, addressed the group, saying, "If you want me to come with you, we'll see if you have the ability."
No sooner had he finished speaking than the ground beneath Obito's feet cracked open.
Tenzo formed hand signs and slammed his hands onto the ground. Several vine-like pieces of wood burst from the earth, restraining Obito's figure.
Shisui instantly appeared above Obito, gripping his standard longsword tightly and thrusting it down towards Obito's shoulder.
Just as Shisui's standard longsword was about to pierce Obito...
Obito's figure once again became intangible, and his body, bound by the wood, broke free.
Splat—
Shisui's longsword, unable to be retracted in time, cut through the wood Tenzo had released.
Rolling to the ground, Shisui looked at the escaped figure with a face full of disbelief.
This person didn't dodge, he simply became intangible.
Seeing Shisui's attack miss, Itachi, standing nearby, quickly formed hand signs and released a Fire Release Jutsu to once again seal off Obito's figure.
At the same time, Kakashi also formed hand signs, and a ball of blue lightning emanated from his hand. Kakashi took a step and swiftly closed in. He planned to cooperate with Itachi's fire release to take down this masked man with his strange jutsu in one go.
"Meaningless actions and jutsu." Obito dismissively glanced at Kakashi and said.
After speaking, he first evaded the gradually encircling fire release with a strange posture. Then he shot several kunai at Kakashi, blocking Kakashi who was coming towards him.
Immediately after, his entire body vanished from the spot like a whirlpool.
Kakashi, having lost his target, landed, batted away several kunai, and with his single open Sharingan, continuously observed his surroundings cautiously.
Space-time Ninjutsu?
The same type of jutsu as Minato-sensei?
"Senpai! Watch out behind you!"
Tenzo suddenly shouted, quickly forming hand signs and releasing multiple wooden vine branches from his arm, attacking Kakashi from all sides.
Hearing the warning, Kakashi, who hadn't had time to react, was instantly bound from behind by chains. Then his entire body was violently pulled and thrown towards Tenzo and Shisui. The force was so great that it shattered Tenzo's wooden vine branches.
Even Shisui, who reached out to catch Kakashi, was carried by the force, and both of them flew backward like ragdolls.
Having done all this, Obito glanced at the group, and his figure slowly disappeared again.
"Clearly, you don't have the qualifications."
As he left, Obito mockingly left these words for those present.
Kakashi, struggling to his feet with Tenzo's support, showed a solemn expression, looking at the spot where the masked man had disappeared.
"Captain Kakashi, this person..."
"From beginning to end, he was always wary of my eyes."
Itachi, standing to the side, spoke after a long pause.
Shisui got up, baring his teeth, and nodded in agreement. "That's right, every time he encountered me, he avoided my eyes."
"It's as if..."
Itachi took over Shisui's words and slowly said, "It's as if he understands the Mangekyo Sharingan very well."
Kakashi reached up, pulled down his eye patch to cover his Sharingan, straightened up, and said with a solemn expression, "He possesses Space-time jutsu and has a high degree of understanding and wariness towards the Uchiha clan's Sharingan."
"No matter who this person is, it must be reported to Hokage-sama."
"Moreover, this person, I find him strangely familiar."
— — —
Small Training Ground.
After sending Naruto and the others back, Shinji returned to this training ground. He prepared to re-experience the jutsu he had tried not long ago.
Forming hand signs, he closed his eyes, carefully feeling the trajectory of Yang Attribute Chakra moving within his body.
As the signs were formed, he felt the Yang Chakra rush into his heart all at once.
At this moment, he felt as if his heart was a processor, distributing and transporting this Yang Chakra to all his limbs.
"Hoo... so that's how it is."
Shinji slowly opened his eyes and clenched his fists. The feeling of enhanced physical strength had returned. Moreover, his Chakra seemed to have increased slightly.
He tentatively jumped. He felt very light and agile right now. Not only his physical body but also his speed and strength had improved. However, the conversion didn't seem to be thorough enough.
The Yang Chakra diluted much of his own Chakra during the conversion, so it seemed he would need to continue flushing his body with Yang Chakra later. He aimed to see if he could achieve a flawless Yang Release physique of that level.
This way, not only would the conversion be highly efficient and not wasted, it would also reduce the burden on his body.
As he explored, Shinji's thoughts gradually became clear. He raised his right hand to gather power, throwing a straight punch into the air.
Nothing.
Although the punching speed was much faster than before, it didn't produce a shock effect.
Shinji, carefully observing the punching position, couldn't help but frown.
Or rather?
With a guess, Shinji's right fist gathered power again, but this time, he gathered all the converted Yang Chakra and covered his right fist with it.
As the Chakra was mobilized, his right fist was covered with a layer of grayish-black substance.
Was this the materialized manifestation of highly compressed Yang Chakra?
But... this is the feeling!
Shinji, barely maintaining this highly compressed Yang Chakra, gritted his teeth and threw a punch.
Boom!
The punch struck the air, creating vibrating cracks in the space centered on his fist, forming an impact.
The impact descended towards the ground, and the already dilapidated ground was plowed even deeper by Shinji's punch, revealing deeper soil.
The silence of the training ground was broken by this punch.
"Hoo... hoo, it consumed an unexpected amount of Chakra."
As that punch was thrown, Shinji felt a bit weak. He relaxed, slumping to the ground. He gasped for breath for a while before gradually grinning.
"Haha... Hahahahaha...!"
Shinji laughed as if releasing pent-up emotions, he was very happy now. With this punch, he had found his future direction.
He finally possessed the foundation and confidence to face those abnormal individuals in future great wars.
"So exhilarating!"
Shinji shouted with a laugh, and only then did his mood gradually calm down.