Hiashi quickly carried Hinata away.
Even though Yuki Yoru had left her with some protective measures, the injuries Hinata had suffered earlier were genuinely alarming. Hiashi decided not to take any chances and brought her back immediately for a thorough check-up.
Once they were gone, Fugaku remained at the scene alone, carefully examining the injuries on Lotty's body.
A deep slash to the neck. Another across the face.
These were the exact wounds Lotty had inflicted on Hinata—now reflected back onto his own body.
A damage reflection?
Fugaku pondered silently.
The Uchiha clan's archives did record a genjutsu called Demonic Illusion: Mirror Heaven and Earth Change, which reflected genjutsu cast by others back onto them.
But how had his genjutsu failed against Lotty just now...?
"Show yourself!"
Fugaku's eyes darkened as he spoke coldly:
"There are only a handful of people in this world who can resist my Mangekyō genjutsu. Yet you brazenly came here to seize the Byakugan from the Hyūga and colluded with Kumogakure... What exactly are you trying to do?!"
Silence.
The forest was deathly still, until—
Behind Fugaku, the space rippled slightly.
"To think the Uchiha clan still has such an outstanding descendant… Perhaps the clan isn't completely fallen after all."
A raspy voice sounded from beneath a spiral-patterned mask. A blood-red Mangekyō Sharingan met Fugaku's gaze, both their eyes glowing ominously.
"Descendant? Don't flatter yourself. You're just a beaten dog, crushed by Yuki Yoru, still pretending to be something great. How dare you call yourself my senior?"
Obito's face twitched behind the mask, but his mind was racing.
From Fugaku's reaction, it seemed Yuki Yoru hadn't exposed his identity. That meant even if his Uchiha Madara disguise didn't fully hold up, he still had room to maneuver.
"Yuki Yoru... That one is indeed a troublesome opponent. Even at my peak, I'd have to take him seriously."
"Enough with the theatrics!" Fugaku sneered. "You're just an experiment. Do you really think wearing a mask makes you some ancient Uchiha ancestor?!"
"Since you dared to show your face today, you'll pay the price for everything you've done to Konoha!"
His Mangekyō Sharingan spun wildly, overflowing with intense ocular power.
Obito remained calm, silently gathering his own chakra in preparation for genjutsu.
His Kamui was a very special ocular ability—virtually unbeatable, barring a few exceptional genjutsu. Even when facing another Mangekyō user like Fugaku, Obito felt no fear.
On the contrary—
"I can feel it—the energy draining from your eyes."
"Sure, as the Fifth Hokage, you've achieved what I couldn't. But how much longer can those eyes actually see?"
"The curse of blindness has already set in, Fugaku. Before long, you won't be able to keep intimidating Kumogakure with your Mangekyō… You might not even be able to suppress Sarutobi Hiruzen or Shimura Danzō!"
"You bastard…" Fugaku's gaze darkened. The technique he was preparing—so close to being unleashed—froze in his eye.
"Who are you really?!"
"Uchiha Madara."
"Arrogant fool!"
Fugaku roared in fury, his eyes blazing with unrestrained Mangekyō power. Yin chakra surged and condensed into a visible skeletal form—the ribcage of Susanoo—surrounding him protectively.
A massive skeletal arm formed along the ribs, clenched into a fist, and swung directly at Obito.
BOOM!
The ground beneath Obito exploded into a crater from the impact, smoke and debris flying everywhere.
"So it's Susanoo…"
Obito's voice came through the dust cloud, unshaken. Though Susanoo's attacks were powerful, his Kamui dimension left him completely unharmed.
"What? Hiding in that space-time jutsu again, my so-called 'ancestor'?!"
Fugaku's voice was cold as his eyes locked on Obito's spiraling mask—and the Mangekyō behind it.
He couldn't recall any Uchiha ancestor who'd become famous using space-time techniques. Only that cursed white-haired Second Hokage fought that way!
"Let's not dwell on the past. Susanoo is the third power of the Mangekyō Sharingan, accessible only when both eyes are awakened," Obito replied calmly.
"As you can see… I only have one left."
"What happened? Did a hawk peck out the other one?"
"I used Izanagi in my battle against Hashirama."
Obito ignored the taunt, maintaining his act.
He gently touched his mask, as if reminiscing about his clash with Hashirama.
"I lost one Sharingan… but in return, I gained new power."
"The power you called experimental—yet it is mine now."
With that, Obito slammed his palm down.
The ground trembled violently, and countless wooden tendrils erupted from beneath him, lunging toward Fugaku.
"Wood Release, huh…"
Fugaku took a deep breath, his cold gaze fixed on Obito. That strange Mangekyō seemed to harbor a terrifying, all-seeing power.
As the wooden tendrils surged toward him, Fugaku quickly weaved hand signs. In the blink of an eye, four walls of fire erupted around them, forming a blazing prison.
Uchiha Flame Formation!
Wood Release's greatest strength lay in its endless nature and chakra-absorbing properties.
Even someone with a complete-body Susanoo, like Uchiha Madara, had ultimately fallen to Hashirama's power.
After Madara's defeat, even though the Uchiha clan submitted to the Senju, elders like Uchiha Setsuna were never content. He even published a book:
"If I Were Uchiha Madara, I Would Never Lose!"
No one in the shinobi world understood Wood Release better than the Uchiha.
Using barriers to restrict its spread and combining them with small-scale Susanoo bursts—cut off the regeneration before it starts.
Fugaku's Mangekyō spun furiously, and the skeletal outline of his Susanoo solidified.
A burst of light surged up around him. A towering half-body skeletal giant took shape, radiating a terrifying, divine aura.
From its waist, it drew a deep purple blade and swung at the oncoming wooden vines. At the same time, Fugaku weaved another set of hand signs and unleashed a torrent of flames—
"Fire Release: Blast Wave Wild Dance!"
The inferno surged upward, intertwining with Susanoo's twin swords, transforming them into blazing greatswords.
The fire-laced strikes shredded the wooden tendrils to splinters. But Obito remained unmoved.
Because once again—
Unless you're using genjutsu, Obito's Kamui renders him basically invincible.
"Disgusting technique…"
Susanoo's twin blades and the raging fire crashed down, but failed to touch Obito.
Fugaku took a deep breath, and his left eye's Mangekyō suddenly spun faster. Blood tears spilled from the corner of his eye.
Inside the Kamui dimension, Obito's heart sank.
"Not good…"
He instinctively activated his ocular power—but even then, the world around him began to twist.
His surroundings lost all color, turning black and white.
Everything blurred.
Above, a massive Mangekyō Sharingan hung in the sky like a crimson moon—the only source of light in this monochrome world.
Its design matched Fugaku's Mangekyō: a three-bladed shuriken, each tip marked with a black dot.
"So this is your left eye's ability…"
Obito's heart raced.
This genjutsu was extremely powerful—perhaps even on par with Tsukuyomi, the Mangekyō's powerful genjutsu.
"You shouldn't be marveling at my power right now," came Fugaku's voice from all directions.
"You should be confronting your own sins."
"I don't care who you are, or what persona you're putting on. But the pain you've brought to Konoha is unforgivable!"
"In the name of the Fifth Hokage, I sentence you!"
"In this realm, I control everything—time, space, matter. And for the next seventy-two hours, you'll experience the greatest despair this world has to offer!"
As Fugaku's voice echoed, the world began to dissolve into grayscale. Even Obito's body was losing color.
"Heh…"
Obito sneered.
"Despair? Don't make me laugh. You don't know the despair I've felt. You don't underst—"
He stopped mid-sentence.
The illusion world changed again—
A chaotic battlefield unfolded before his eyes.
Three-Tails roared in the distance. The shockwaves of war could be felt even within the illusionary forest.
"This is…!"
Obito's pupils shrank. He looked at his hands—trembling uncontrollably.
His legs moved on their own, breaking into a frantic sprint.
The cold, composed "Uchiha Madara" facade shattered.
Obito rushed through the underbrush like a madman. Leaf shinobi, alerted to his presence, moved to intercept.
He didn't even look back. His hands shot out countless Wood Spikes, skewering any Leaf ninja in his way.
He was no longer that powerless boy who watched his beloved die.
He was the reborn Uchiha Madara!
The future Sage of Six Paths!
The wood spikes tore through enemy chests, and with a wave of his hand, Obito blasted aside a nearby Leaf shinobi.
But then—he froze.
His Sharingan widened in disbelief.
The shinobi he'd just impaled… was Rin.
Blood poured from her mouth, her chest pierced.
Her eyes were wide with shock, pain… and then softened.
"You… You're still alive, Obito… That's… wonderful…"
Her body went limp on the spike. Her amber eyes lost their light.
"No! Rin! Rin!!"
Obito's howl pierced the illusion.
How could this be?
Rin was supposed to have been killed by Minato—not him!
In the distance, a familiar sound drew his gaze.
He turned—just in time to see Kakashi Hatake, pinned beneath Yuki Yoru's foot, eyes wide in horror.
Yoru's blade swung down.
Kakashi's head flew. Blood sprayed.
"No... No…"
"This isn't real. This is a genjutsu. None of this is real!!"
"AAAAAHHH!! THIS IS HELL!!"
Obito broke completely.
He clutched Rin's corpse in his arms. Her blood soaked his hands, dripping like rain.
Tears of blood streamed from his eyes. His Mangekyō power exploded—like a tsunami crashing through the illusion.
The gray world shattered.
Fugaku gasped in pain. His left eye throbbed violently.
He clutched his eye in agony as blood oozed through his fingers, disbelief written all over his face.
Genjutsu backlash?!
Impossible!
This was his Mangekyō's genjutsu—his trump card!
And yet…
"Uchiha Fugaku…"
A raspy voice whispered near his ear.
He turned—too late.
A Truth-Seeking Ball pressed against his neck.
Obito, still masked, glared at him. Behind that eye was not just power—but madness.
Fugaku clutched his bleeding eye, agony splitting his skull. His vision, already blurred, was now nearly useless—he couldn't even see his own hands clearly.
The pain at his throat stopped him from moving.
"You bastard…"
"Uchiha Fugaku."
Obito's voice was strained, as if fighting to stay calm.
"You've lost."