On the battlefield outside Hoshigakure, the situation changed rapidly.
When Obito saw the towering, dark red half-bodied Susanoo and the young girl's Mangekyo Sharingan glowing in her eye sockets, every hair on his body stood on end.
'Not only were there two Uchihas on the opposite side, but one of them even possessed the Mangekyo Sharingan!'
'Why?! How could this be?!'
It was already unbelievable enough that there were Uchiha Clan's members wandering outside the clan, let alone one with a Three-Tomoe and another with the Mangekyo Sharingan!
'Just how incompetent were the Uchiha Clan of Konoha? To let two such powerful clansmen slip away!'
'And And one of them even had the Mangekyo!'
'Such a young Mangekyo wielder!'
"Hey, hey! That thing is way too exaggerated!" White Zetsu exclaimed from his side, while Black Zetsu fell into silence.
'Damn it, since when had the Uchihas become like this?!'
Obito quickly assessed the situation and he knew there was no way he could keep fighting like this.
Not only did the enemy have the enigmatic Shura, but there was also an Uchiha with a pair of Mangekyo Sharingan. If this battle continued, he, with only one Mangekyo Sharingan, would suffer a crushing defeat.
For example, right now, the opponent could already summon Susanoo, while he, lacking a second Mangekyo, couldn't even access this third power!
'Retreat!'
That was Obito's only thought at this moment.
[Kamui]
Obito immediately activated his Dojutsu, attempting to escape into the Kamui Dimension.
However, after his body was fully absorbed by Kamui, he was horrified to find himself still standing on the battlefield outside Hoshigakure.
And at some point, Zetsu, who had been buzzing annoyingly like a mosquito, had disappeared without a trace.
'What?!' Obito realized in shock.
Unbeknownst to him, he had already fallen under the opponent's Genjutsu.
The black-haired girl opposite him had her Mangekyo Sharingan fully activated, her body enveloped by the Susanoo. Behind her, under the starry sky, a massive crimson moon emerged!
The pattern of her Mangekyo shimmered within the scarlet moon!
'Since when?!'
As an Uchiha, it's ridiculous that he fell into a Genjutsu.
'It seems that this is the opponent's Mangekyo's Dojutsu. Ordinary methods won't break it." Obito released his Ocular Power, attempting to overpower the Genjutsu with stronger Chakra.
Boom!
By now, the dark red Susanoo had already closed in. Its skeletal frame began forming Chakra Flesh, and a pair of wings unfurled, the resulting gust making Obito's cloak flutter wildly.
The dark red Susanoo drew its Chakra Sword and swung it down at Obito with devastating force!
Obito instinctively wanted to activate his intangibility to dodge, only to find his body completely unresponsive!
One slash!
Two slashes!
Three slashes!
Each swing of the Chakra Sword felt like his body was being split in half, his bones shattered, the agony unbearable… Obito endured it over and over again!
To his horror, he realized his Ocular Power was utterly incapable of breaking free from this Genjutsu World!
This meant the opponent's Ocular Power far surpassed his own!
An eternity seemed to pass-
Obito finally escaped the Tsukuyomi World while trembling all over. Gasping for breath, he looked down to find a wooden branch impaled through his foot, crimson blood staining the scorched earth beneath him.
White Zetsu was channeling Chakra into him, using external interference to help him break free from the Genjutsu.
"?" Hikaru also noticed Obito had broken free from the Genjutsu, but what caught her attention more was the sudden wooden spike that had erupted from the ground, piercing his foot.
'Is this Wood Release?' Hikari turned her gaze toward the strange, venus flytrap-like creature.
After breaking free from the Genjutsu, Obito did not hesitate at all and immediately activated his Kamui, sucking his body into Kamui Dimension.
When Zetsu saw Obito froze mid-attack earlier, it had guessed he'd been caught in a Genjutsu. Without delay, it used Wood Release to stab through Obito's foot from underground, injecting Chakra to help him break free from the Genjutsu.
At this time, seeing that Obito had safely entered the Kamui Dimension, Zetsu also fled using its own technique.
All that remained on the scorched battlefield was a small patch of blood and the devastation left behind.
"That guy…" Hikari dispelled her Susanoo and analyzed the masked man's intangibility ability.
"His eye must also be a Mangekyo Sharingan, but he didn't use Susanoo, which means he may be missing an eye." Hikari recalled her battle the previous day with Shisui.
Like her, Shisui also had Mangekyo Sharingan and could even summon the second stage of Susanoo.
But this guy, who called himself 'Uchiha Madara', hadn't even attempted to use Susanoo after seeing hers.
What's even worse is that, he actually needs help from others to break free from her Tsukuyomi, which is proof that his Ocular Power was severely lacking.
"Are we just letting them escape like this?" Hikari turned to look at Menma, who was casually sitting atop Hoshigakure's gate, watching the whole scene unfold.
She knew that Menma had a sensing technique that allowed him to track his enemies, but he hadn't pursued.
"That guy has his own dimension. Once he escapes into it, we can't catch him." A lighthearted reply from behind the white three-eyed fox mask: "There is also that venus-flytrap thing. It can escape very quickly with its ability."
Black Zetsu had waited a thousand years for this opportunity, so Menma knew pushing him into a corner now would be unwise.
Moreover, Obito, who only has one Mangekyo Sharingan, wasn't much of a threat. Menma doesn't want to let Obito die so easily… that would be too merciful for the man who murdered his parents.
'Maybe I should dig around Konoha's graves later… see if I can find Nohara Rin's remains. If I can extract her cells, maybe I can bring her back.'
'I wonder if it would be possible to clone her body and use her flesh and blood to perform the Impure World Reincarnation.'
For now, though, he'd let them continue deceiving Nagato with their so-called [Eye of the Moon Plan]. It bought him time to prepare.
In fact, after this battle, Nagato and Obito might even speed up the Akatsuki's recruitment.
Once Nagato killed Hanzo the Salamander, the main plot would truly begin. By then, Menma could leak information about the Akatsuki to Konoha, especially to Jiraiya.
'I'll let them cause trouble for Akatsuki.'
He just doesn't know if Obito will go to Kakashi after this time and get back the other Mangekyo Sharingan.
…
Inside Kamui Dimension.
The moment Obito appeared here, he collapsed to the ground, his earlier aura of invincibility completely gone.
Gasping for breath, he tore off his tiger-striped mask. His right eye throbbed from overusing his Dojutsu, the terror of the battle still fresh in his mind.
"Why… why is there another Mangekyo wielder out there?!" Obito recalled his conversation with Madara, and recalled when he sneaked into the Naka Shrine to check the history of the Uchiha Clan.
He knew there had never been any record of exiled Uchiha Clan's members!
While some Uchiha Clan's members did get married, if a married Uchiha was found to have awaken the Sharingan, or a child born to them had awakened the Sharingan, they would be brought back to the clan.
But now, not only had a Three-Tomoe user appeared, but a girl who looked about the same age as him actually has the Mangekyo Sharingan!
'With only one Mangekyo Sharingan, there was no way I could be a match for the other party!'
"Damn it… Could they be like me? Uchiha who faked their deaths in the war?" Obito felt that this matter was very serious and might very well disrupt the entire Eye of the Moon Plan.
He had to investigate who the other party is and what their purpose is!
Gritting his teeth, Obito thought of the eye he'd given to Kakashi.