"Damn it…"
Obito was genuinely stunned.
It felt as if everything had looped back into a cruel cycle.
Back then, hadn't he been defeated by Namikaze Minato in exactly this way?
And now—he was being beaten like this again?
The realization left him utterly shaken. No matter how hard he thought, he couldn't understand it.
Why?
Why was it that despite possessing Kamui, he kept losing to the Flying Thunder God?
Were all users of Flying Thunder God destined to counter him to death?
Obito's eyes burned with hatred as he clenched his teeth, enduring the agony while phasing out of the battlefield.
He reappeared atop a tree, staring fixedly at Ren, that gaze filled with such malice it felt as if he wanted to tear him apart alive.
"Don't look at me like that," Ren shrugged, having already deactivated all his abilities. His voice was calm as he spoke.
"I told you—I discovered one of your little secrets."
"I don't know why you possess an ability like this. Normally, the Sharingan shouldn't grant powers like that."
"But then again, bloodline clans are special."
Ren's eyes narrowed slightly.
"Still, you only have one Sharingan exposed. To truly unleash the Sharingan's power, you need both eyes, right?"
"So your ability should be the same."
"That's why I noticed something—your space–time activation speed isn't as fast as it should be."
Obito fell silent.
He had to admit it.
The Sharingan was meant to be a pair. Only with a complete set could its power be fully released.
One of his eyes was with Kakashi.
And Obito had never intended to take back something he had already given away.
If he ever did reclaim it, it would be in the world he himself created.
Yet he hadn't expected this very flaw to be exploited by the man before him.
"Slow… means there's an opening."
Ren held his kunai, standing with the moonlight at his back.
"And I also noticed something else."
"When you're being attacked, you stay intangible. But the moment you attack, you become solid."
"That means your strike is also your weakness."
"As long as I counter you at that instant—I can hit you. Right?"
Obito's fist clenched even tighter.
Every time he attacked, he exposed himself.
That feeling—
It made him feel as if he were once again facing his former teacher, Namikaze Minato.
Back then, after only a few brief exchanges, Minato had grasped his flaw and turned it against him.
And now—
This man had done the same.
Even faster than Minato.
"…Is this guy going to become another Namikaze Minato?"
Obito ground his teeth.
Only minutes ago, he'd been certain—
You're not Namikaze Minato.
"Oh, right. There's one more thing I noticed."
Just as Obito's fury reached its peak, Ren spoke again.
Unhurriedly, he pulled out a signal flare, lit it, and sent it shooting into the sky. Only then did he smile faintly.
"Your eyes are interesting."
"Kakashi's Sharingan is his left eye."
"Yours is the right."
"And you always keep your left eye covered—almost as if you lost it."
"Putting all that together…"
Ren's gaze sharpened.
"You wouldn't happen to be the Uchiha who was supposedly killed at Kannabi Bridge back then—Uchiha Obito, would you?"
"You—!"
Those words were like a bucket of icy water poured straight over Obito.
His entire body stiffened.
He stared at Ren in disbelief.
How?
How could this man arrive at that conclusion?
Back then, even his own teacher hadn't realized it!
Minato hadn't recognized him—not when he attacked Naruto, not when he attacked Kushina.
The person closest to him hadn't seen through him.
Yet this stranger—someone who'd only fought him for minutes—had done so?
"That's nonsense," Obito forced out coldly, though his body trembled.
"I don't know any Uchiha Obito."
"But I do know you're not afraid of death—calling for reinforcements like this."
"It's already over."
Ren nodded calmly. Everything that needed to be shown had been shown.
There was no need to continue this fight.
He raised his kunai and gave it a slight shake.
"I think this proves me well enough."
"A kunai…?"
Obito's expression changed abruptly.
He remembered something.
Behind him—there was still a gift his teacher had left him.
"A Flying Thunder God mark?"
"The Fourth Hokage testified for me," Ren said calmly, deliberately keeping his gaze away from Obito's eyes.
"At first, I thought I'd sensed it wrong. Turns out, I was right."
"And if I'm not mistaken…"
"The Nine-Tails incident back then was your doing, wasn't it?"
"Otherwise, you wouldn't be carrying that mark."
"Who would've thought I'd reel in a fish this big tonight."
Ren's voice turned cold.
"Lord Danzō was right after all."
"The Uchiha really are the evil of Konoha—Uchiha Obito."
"..."
Obito had nothing left to say.
In his worst nightmares, he hadn't imagined things spiraling this far.
Ren's Flying Thunder God had been newly learned—yet its precision was terrifying.
Worse still—
The Flying Thunder God mark Minato had placed years ago had now become the final nail in Obito's plan.
That damn brat.
And Danzō, who trained him.
You should all die.
Buzz—
Obito stared at Ren for several seconds. When he heard the dense sound of approaching footsteps, he took a deep breath.
The next moment, chakra surged.
His body twisted into a spiraling distortion and vanished.
"…Didn't even try to deny it," Ren murmured, tilting his head as he looked at where Obito had disappeared.
He suspected Obito was already too enraged to think straight.
And more importantly—
He definitely didn't want to meet the ANBU arriving now.
Especially Kakashi.
"And he'll probably need to seriously think about how to get rid of that Flying Thunder God mark now."
Ren rubbed his chin.
Removing a Flying Thunder God mark was no simple task.
In the original timeline, Obito hadn't managed it even by the Fourth Great Ninja War—he'd still been ruthlessly exploited by Minato because of it.
That mark was Ren's strongest proof.
Words alone wouldn't convince anyone—but what if there were witnesses?
He walked over to Uchiha Itachi and kicked him lightly.
"You've been listening all this time. Still pretending to be unconscious?"
"…You hit pretty hard, senpai."
Itachi weakly opened his eyes.
He'd woken up from the pain earlier.
While Ren fought that mysterious Uchiha, he'd discreetly struck Itachi once more.
The initial knockout hadn't been deep to begin with—under intense pain, he'd woken naturally.
But as a shinobi, he maintained discipline and didn't move at all.
He had heard everything.
And seen everything.
"Not that hard," Ren shook his head.
He glanced up at the ANBU already appearing on the rooftops and beams around them, then smiled faintly.
"At least it's better than dying out in the wilderness…"
"…With no body ever found, right?"
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