Ryosuke had expected that, but it was only a feint anyway. With his current chakra, using a Great Fireball Technique like that came with no pressure.
He put on a look of shock. "How is that possible? How did you do that?"
His eyes were full of disbelief.
Behind the mask, Uchiha Obito's face was all smugness.
He had a Mangekyō Sharingan—Kamui's intangibility in his right eye.
Of course he wasn't going to answer. Like he'd said, "a dead man doesn't need to know."
At the same time, he sensed people approaching.
Around here, who else could it be but Uchiha?
He needed to end this quickly before his haul got disturbed.
He surged straight at Ryosuke.
All he had to do was phase through the counterattack, then materialize and suck the target into the Kamui space—fight over.
Ryosuke also sensed someone closing in.
But whether ANBU or Uchiha clansmen, none of them could help him now.
Facing Obito's rush, he felt the pressure. That shifting between tangible and intangible was a real pain.
He gathered chakra—then in one go opened Four Gates.
Gate of Opening, Gate of Rest, Gate of Life, Gate of Pain.
He truly entered the Eight Gates state; his body was already taking damage.
With Four Gates open, a fierce aura blasted off him.
He moved—and charged Obito head-on.
The sight made Obito jolt.
His opponent's power had surged. Looked like the forbidden Eight Gates he'd seen in Madara's old texts. He hadn't expected an Uchiha to use that.
The technique's fatal flaw was that the user would be left extremely weakened after—ripe for the slaughter.
But Obito wasn't going to stall; he could feel people drawing near.
And so what if the guy's taijutsu got stronger? His plan was foolproof.
It wasn't like the other could pull off Flying Thunder God like his teacher.
Even then, he wouldn't fall for it a second time.
He pressed forward as planned.
The two met midair—without colliding.
Ryosuke feigned shock, but in reality his legs were coiled, waiting for Obito's grab—then he'd smash a kick home.
Passing through Ryosuke's body, Obito grinned.
It was over. He rematerialized and reached to grab his target, to drag him into Kamui—
But the moment his hand extended, Ryosuke's legs whipped toward him.
Obito's face flashed with fear.
He was booted away, crashed through several trees, and hit the ground hard.
His body was twisted out of shape.
Just then, Uchiha Yashiro arrived and witnessed everything.
That man in the orange whirlpool mask had to be the culprit behind the Nine-Tails' attack on Konoha years ago.
He was the one who framed the Uchiha, giving the Konoha leadership an excuse to shove their clan lands to the outskirts and tank their standing.
He had to be captured.
The thought formed in an instant, and Yashiro sprinted toward the masked man's position.
Right now, Obito felt like his body had been kicked to pieces.
An ordinary man would already be dead.
Fortunately half his body was White Zetsu's; even so, moving was difficult.
He was livid—another failure.
Had this Uchiha figured out his ability on their first clash—like his teacher—and come up with a counter?
Terrifying.
But once he healed, he'd be back.
He triggered Kamui; with a flicker, he vanished into the Kamui space.
An instant before Obito disappeared, Yashiro reached a spot not far from him—
And watched the man's body vanish.
He cursed under his breath.
The bastard escaped.
He couldn't sense the man's presence anymore.
Space-time ninjutsu—what a troublesome foe.
At the same time, he was excited.
That masked man had stymied the entire village, and yet Ryosuke had managed to seriously injure him.
Ryosuke really had become strong.
Yashiro hurried toward Ryosuke.
Ryosuke, for his part, was elated.
He hadn't finished Obito, but he'd achieved his goal of kicking him.
Obito's vitality was ridiculous; he'd put everything into that strike.
If he hadn't, and Obito had dragged him into Kamui, he'd be the one dead.
In truth, Kamui wasn't as invincible as it seemed.
As long as you understood it—hit him the instant he reached to grab you while rematerializing.
Still, if the opponent refused to attack and stayed intangible, Ryosuke had no answer.
Against someone like that, time-stop would be best.
Space is king, but time is sovereign; time trumps space.
It seemed Mangekyō Sharingan awakened in line with one's inner wish.
Uchiha Shisui wanted to stop the clan's rebellion, so he awakened the ultimate genjutsu, Kotoamatsukami.
When Uchiha Sasuke awakened, it was right as he learned the truth of Itachi's massacre.
Burning with the desire to change the world—to change Konoha's rotten "Root"—he awakened Kagutsuchi, which shapes flame itself, mirroring that mindset.
So if, when Ryosuke awakened Mangekyō Sharingan, his heart was set on time's supremacy… might he awaken a time-related ability—the best being time stop?
A pity Obito hadn't belittled his Sharingan; otherwise, his eyes might have awakened to Mangekyō right then.
At that moment Yashiro reached his side, growing even more respectful.
He could feel just how formidable Ryosuke was now.
He had to bring him into the hardliners.
No wonder his thinking was so extreme—he'd been hiding this deep. With that kind of strength, he might even surpass the clan's top prodigy, Uchiha Shisui.
Ryosuke and the masked man had crossed blows just now—maybe he'd noticed something.
"Ryosuke, did you figure out who that was?"
"I don't know."
If Uchiha Obito's identity went public, the first to be blamed would be the Uchiha.