As the two stood face to face, the space between them seemed to compress, the air growing heavy—as if the forest itself sensed the danger and held its breath.
Leaves trembled despite the lack of wind, and even the cicadas had gone silent. Naruto Uzumaki could feel it clearly now: that strange pressure radiating from the masked man. He knew this ability. Worse—he knew just how broken it was.
' But I can't rush it,' he told himself, eyes sharp but expression relaxed.' If I push too hard, he'll notice. Better to drag this out… act careless. He won't take me seriously. And honestly? Neither will I.'
The tree trunk beneath Naruto's feet creaked as he shifted his weight.
crack!
Then he burst forward in a blur of motion, kicking off the bark and closing the distance in an instant. His kunai flashed toward Tobi, aimed straight for the chest.
Tobi didn't even flinch.
The blade passed cleanly through him, slicing nothing but empty air.
"Whoa—that was close!?" Tobi laughed, hopping back theatrically. "You almost got me there!"
Naruto widened his eyes in mock shock, playing along.
Without missing a beat, he pivoted and swung his leg into a sharp side kick—only for it to sink straight through Tobi's torso as if he were made of smoke.
'Tch… seriously, ' Naruto thought as he flipped back and landed lightly on the forest floor. ' This ability is such a cheat. Would've been insanely useful down the line. ' His eyes hardened for a split second.
' But no. Someone like him doesn't deserve to live '
He slid back another step, then smirked—confidence replacing surprise.
"You're intangible," Naruto said casually, as he lunged again, fist driving forward. "But not in the normal sense. My attacks aren't just phasing through you… they're being sent somewhere."
His punch vanished into Tobi's body—and this time, it didn't emerge out the other side.
Naruto's smirk deepened.
"Looks like I was right," he continued. "A space-time technique. Probably a pocket dimension. Everything that touches you gets warped away."
Naruto stopped attacking and instead stared straight into the eyehole of the spiral mask—right at the crimson glow behind it.
"Am I wrong?"
For the first time, Tobi didn't joke.
Naruto tilted his head slightly. "And that eye… Sharingan, huh?" He let out a short laugh. "Wow. I thought all the Uchiha were wiped out."
Behind him, the observers stiffened.
"Did… did he just say Uchiha?" Yamato muttered, eyes narrowing.
"Yes," Kakashi Hatake replied quietly, his visible eye locked onto Tobi. His chakra spiked almost imperceptibly. "He did."
The atmosphere shifted instantly.
The playful tension snapped, replaced by something cold and lethal. Tobi straightened, the joking slouch vanishing. The Sharingan behind his mask burned brighter, spinning slowly as it fixed Naruto in place.
For a moment, it felt as though the forest itself recoiled.
"You know too much, Nine-Tails," Tobi said, his voice dropping—no humor, no theatrics. Just pure threat.
The pressure around them surged.
And Naruto didn't back down.
A crooked smirk tugged at his lips as he felt it—that heavy, oppressive killing intent rolling off Tobi like a suffocating wave. It pressed against his skin, sharp and hostile, enough to make the air itself feel heavier.
It did shake him a little.
But compared to Kurama's malice?
It was nothing.
"Huh…" Naruto tilted his head slightly, eyes narrowing as gears turned in his mind. "Now that I think about it… it's kinda like Kakashi-sensei's Mangekyō," he said, the smirk widening as if he'd just solved a puzzle.
That was all the opening Tobi needed.
In an instant, Tobi lunged.
He came in with a brutal left hook—fast, precise, and heavy with intent. The strike cut through the air with a sharp whoosh, aimed straight for Naruto's jaw.
But Naruto was already gone.
He shifted to the side effortlessly, feet sliding across the cracked ground as the punch missed by inches. The wind from it brushed his cheek. Without hesitation, Naruto countered, twisting his body and driving his fist straight toward Tobi's chest.
His attack passed through.
Again.
Naruto's eyes narrowed just a fraction as his arm phased uselessly through Tobi's body. Before he could pull back, Tobi reacted—his hand snapping out to clamp around Naruto's wrist like a vice.
At the same time, Tobi raised his leg and drove a sharp kick toward Naruto's ribs.
Naruto crossed his arms instantly, bracing.
BAM.
The impact echoed through the clearing. Naruto was forced back a step, boots carving shallow lines into the dirt as he absorbed the force. He ripped his arm free and sprang backward, flipping lightly through the air.
He landed in a low crouch, one knee bent, the other leg stretched out behind him, arms spread wide as dust puffed up beneath his sandals.
Tobi descended as well, landing smoothly a short distance away, his posture relaxed—almost casual.
"I wanted to hold you all back from interrupting Sasuke and Itachi's fight," Tobi said calmly, his voice carrying a cold edge beneath the mask. "But I guess killing you here won't be bad either."
Naruto straightened, rolling his shoulders as if shaking off the hit. His fingers tightened around the kunai in his hand, the metal gleaming faintly in the dim light.
"Good," Naruto replied, blue eyes sharp and unwavering. "I wouldn't have wanted it any other way."
The tension between them snapped tight—like a wire pulled to its limit—both ready to explode into motion at any second.
A single leaf drifted down from above, spinning lazily as the world seemed to hold its breath. It swayed left… then right… descending at an almost mocking pace.
The moment it touched the ground—
Both of them moved.
Naruto exploded forward, his muscles coiling and releasing in one fluid motion. At the same time, his arm snapped out and the kunai left his hand instantly.
It screamed through the air.
The blade was wrapped in Wind Release chakra, invisible pressure howling around its edge, sharpening it to a deadly degree as it tore straight toward Tobi's chest.
It passed through him without resistance.
Tobi's eyes widened behind the mask.
Wait—this feels fami—
Too late.
A sharp sting cut across his back as Naruto vanished from his sight entirely.
Swoosh.
The air distorted above him.
Naruto reappeared midair, right above where the kunai had phased through—his body already twisting as chakra surged violently into his palm. A bright, roaring Rasengan bloomed instantly, dense and furious, its spiraling power warping the air around it.
Naruto grinned down at him.
"Got you!" he shouted.
BWOOOOM—!
He drove the Rasengan straight into Tobi's back.
The force slammed Tobi into the ground like a meteor. The earth shattered on impact, cracks spider-webbing outward as debris and dust blasted into the air. The spiraling chakra tore through fabric and force alike, shredding the back of his Akatsuki robe completely and leaving a gaping hole where it once was.
Tobi's face smashed into the ground, the impact echoing violently. His mask struck stone with a sharp crack, fractures spreading across its surface—damaged, but not fully broken.
The Rasengan dissipated in a violent burst of wind and dust.
Naruto landed lightly a few steps away, boots crunching against broken stone as the smoke slowly cleared. He stood there, staring down at Tobi's unmoving form, chest rising steadily, chakra still humming faintly around him.
' Yeah, Naruto thought, a satisfied smirk forming. ' That felt good.'
TO BE CONTINUED