"So… come join me, Kai."
The long, suffocating persuasion finally reached its end.
Behind the mask, the single exposed eye could no longer suppress the frenzy boiling beneath it. The light within burned fiercely.
Even the deliberately disguised hoarse voice betrayed him—tinged now with a trace of youthful excitement, almost light, almost eager.
He didn't seem to notice the change himself.
All of his attention was locked onto the small figure before him.
His gaze blazed with absolute confidence—confidence of certain possession.
And Kai… lifted his head.
Those pitch-black eyes looked back just as intensely.
That gaze—
as if he had truly been moved by this grand, world-shaking vision.
Filled with… longing?
The very next instant—
Both of their pupils shrank violently.
The air seemed to freeze.
Kamui.
Kamui.
Wuuuum—shh!
Two clearly visible spatial vortices twisted into existence at nearly the same moment.
Yet their intentions were completely opposite.
Obito wanted to take Kai away.
Kai wanted to send Obito away.
In a way, their thoughts aligned perfectly.
Ten meters away—
Bang!
When the vortex failed to move as expected, Obito staggered backward as if struck by an invisible hammer.
Even the spiral mask seemed to warp for a split second.
Behind it, his face twisted in shock and disbelief.
"What's going on?! Kamui's spatial transfer—"
The vortex had clearly appeared.
It was firmly locked onto Kai.
But—
It failed.
It simply wrapped around him, overlapping with another eerily similar spatial fluctuation emanating from Kai himself.
Like two incompatible streams of water colliding, interfering, canceling one another out.
At the center of the clash, Kai stood perfectly still.
Not even the corner of his clothes was tugged.
"This feeling…"
"The control over space… why does it feel like it's in this brat's hands?!"
Realization hit Obito like a tidal wave.
But before he could speak—
A familiar, tearing pain exploded from his right arm.
"Gah—!"
A short grunt escaped him as instinct took over.
Kamui!
Shua!
His body turned intangible—
But it was already too late.
Pshhk!
Blood erupted.
His entire right arm—half the shoulder included—was violently twisted off.
Right in front of him, a spatial vortex identical to Kamui spun slowly.
At its center, fragments of his arm and shoulder were instantly shredded.
Pff!
They burst into a fine crimson mist.
Spatial distortion…
Vortex formation…
Twisting annihilation…
This sensation… this ability…
"T–This is—?!"
The Sharingan beneath the mask widened to the brink of tearing apart.
Ice flooded his body.
Impossible.
Absolutely impossible.
Yet the spatial signature—
that unmistakable feel of Kamui carved into his very soul—
He could never mistake it.
Two words nearly burst from his throat.
An absurd, unthinkable conclusion detonated in his mind.
"Kamui?!"
The scream cracked, sharp and shrill.
"How can you possibly use Kamui?!"
The lone visible eye burned with pure shock and rage.
He couldn't believe it.
No—he refused to.
This power belonged exclusively to those eyes.
And yet, here it was—on another member of the clan.
In his fury, an even more ridiculous thought surfaced.
"Don't tell me… this brat is actually Kakashi?!"
He never imagined he'd be forced into such humiliation by a mere少年.
Shk.
Shk-shk-shk.
Thanks to the First Hokage's cells, his mangled body rapidly regenerated.
"Hah…"
Flexing his restored arm, Uchiha Obito finally exhaled.
He looked at Kai again, his expression complicated.
"I'll remember you, Uchiha Kai."
"I hope next time we meet, you'll surprise me again."
With that—
Kamui activated once more.
He no longer dared to remain here.
It sounded ridiculous, but—
Looking at Kai's youthful face made a strange unease crawl up his spine.
As if… everything about him had been seen through.
Even that brief moment earlier—when intangibility had dropped—
Kai had seized it flawlessly.
"Just a coincidence… right?"
He muttered to himself.
Yet deep down, he felt that Kai had already anticipated it all.
After a brief hesitation, he chose to retreat.
With Kamui's intangibility, he was nearly invincible.
"…Shame I couldn't twist his head off."
Kai shook his head regretfully.
If he'd managed that, so many things would already be over.
Madara would probably jump straight out of his coffin and start dancing.
What a pity—no chance to see the old ancestor dance just yet.
Still, maybe it was for the best.
After all, the Akatsuki wasn't complete yet.
"Heh. I'll be back."
Obito's voice echoed one last time before vanishing completely.
Kai waved lazily.
"See you next time, leek."
With Obito recruiting talent up front—
And Itachi, the already-controlled undercover piece—
The Akatsuki were nothing but crops waiting to be harvested.
Once everything settled, Kai finally turned his attention to the panel before him.
His gaze burned.
[Defeated Uchiha Itachi. Attempting trait copy…]
[Copy successful. Congratulations, Host has obtained Legendary Trait: Mangekyō Sharingan (Purple).]
[Defeated Uchiha Obito. Attempting trait copy…]
[Copy successful. Congratulations, Host has obtained Legendary Trait: Mangekyō Sharingan · Incomplete (Purple).]
Whether by chance or inevitability—
Both the brutally defeated Itachi and the driven-off Obito yielded Sharingan traits.
One of them… damaged.
Kai took a deep breath and didn't hesitate.
"Fuse them. Stack both traits onto my Mangekyō Sharingan."
Mangekyō + Mangekyō + half a Mangekyō—
Two and a half Mangekyō had to be enough for Eternal, right?
Wuuum—wuuum—
Three deep-purple light orbs began to converge and merge.
His pupils burned hot.
A scorching current surged—
And the pain in his head intensified.
Then—
Golden light flooded his vision.
[Congratulations, Host has obtained Legendary Trait: Mangekyō Sharingan · Three Feet Before the Body (Gold).]
Gold drop.
And a brand-new Mangekyō dōjutsu trait.
At last—
His Mangekyō had awakened its ability.
Kai's heart pounded as he hurriedly looked toward the trait description.
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