In the end, however, her blade struck nothing. Obito—who had been standing beside Nagato and watching her movements—used his dōjutsu at the exact same moment she acted.
With Nagato's cooperation, Kamui's absorption was completed in an instant. Even with Furina's speed, that fleeting window was still too short to stop it.
Though it was their first time working together, both Obito and Nagato were highly experienced ninja. For a while, Furina truly couldn't find an opening, and the situation fell into a temporary stalemate.
"You're supposedly the legendary Uchiha Madara. Don't you have any way to deal with this junior of yours?"
As the battle reached a deadlock, Nagato—who had personally experienced Furina's strength—didn't feel much dissatisfaction. But seeing even this guy, who had always acted mysterious and pretentious, equally helpless, a hint of mockery rose in his heart.
Just as he thought: this self-proclaimed Uchiha Madara had troublesome abilities, but he was far from the rumored power that rivaled the First Hokage in pacifying the chaotic world.
"Didn't I already tell you before? Because of certain unforeseen circumstances, I suffered severe injuries, and my strength has been greatly affected as a result. Otherwise, I would have taken down this junior long ago."
"Heh."
Obito's hoarse voice betrayed no emotion, but it couldn't have been pleasant. Nagato had expected this reply, yet he still couldn't help sighing inwardly.
He actually hoped this pretentious guy truly had the strength he boasted about right now. That way, the situation could turn around. Instead, even with the two of them teaming up, they were still being suppressed by Furina alone and could only barely defend.
"One is the legendary ninja Uchiha Madara, the other the renowned leader of the Akatsuki. Are you two really going to keep dragging this out? Don't you feel it's beneath you?"
After fighting for a while, Nagato and Obito didn't see any issue, but Furina was the first to lose patience. Their skill sets combined into this turtle-shell defensive style were truly disgusting to her.
If it were a proper head-on fight ending like this, fine—but what was this nonsense? Both of you are boss-level figures, right? Aren't you embarrassed acting like this?
"Heh, junior, don't get too full of yourself. I'm only forced to do this because of certain accidents that caused my strength to decline. I still have more important things to accomplish.
I want to bring permanent peace to this world, and for that, I'm willing to pay any price. Still, it's a pity. If I were at my peak, our battle would surely be exhilarating."
Obito's calm voice carried a trace of sigh. If Furina hadn't read the original story, she might have actually been fooled into believing he was truly Uchiha Madara—and felt regret at not being able to fight him at full power.
Obito, you bastard—even at this point, you still won't drop the act. When it comes to role-playing, I willingly call you the strongest.
"It seems Senior Uchiha Madara feels quite regretful about this. Indeed, I can more or less understand that feeling. But there's no need to feel too sorry. Against you, I'll go all out from here on."
"I'll look forward to it. Then let me see it, junior—your true strength."
"....."
Unlike Obito, who was too deep into character, Nagato—who heard their exchange—couldn't help twitching at the corner of his eye despite his strong mental fortitude.
This old geezer—it's already good enough that the three of us are holding even here, yet you keep provoking her. If you really had the strength to handle her, fine.
But from the battle just now, Nagato knew better than anyone that the opponent's biggest reliance was that extremely troublesome dōjutsu. Beyond that, everything else was mediocre and nothing impressive.
"It's been a very long time since I last used this ability. Today, dealing with both of you at once—well, at least it doesn't make me lose face."