It turned out that pressure could sometimes be a motivator. Pushed into a corner, Obito began to try tactics he would never have chosen before.
Deactivating his intangibility was out of the question; he wasn't ready to be defeated so quickly.
Schwarzer had said this was a 'placement test,' and Obito had no intention of failing. Being completely dominated the entire time would surely earn him the lowest possible score.
'An opportunity... If I can't find one, I'll create one!'
Though his body couldn't keep up, his Mangekyo Sharingan's vision was sharp enough to track Schwarzer's movements.
Obito changed direction, heading into the forest, his intangible body passing straight through the tree trunks.
In hot pursuit, Schwarzer had no intention of giving him a chance to breathe, simply shattering every tree in her path with her body.
It could only be said that Kamui was truly one of the most powerful ninjutsu, as its analysis was extremely difficult.
Back then, she had been able to analyze Heaven's Strike so quickly only by stacking the computational power of the entire Machine Ex Machina race. Now, she was just a single unit.
The bulk of the Core Data's enhancement was focused on her soul and emotions. Her computational power was, at most, equivalent to a collective of a hundred units—which was, in itself, still an absurd figure.
At this rate, if she continued to make contact with the intangible Obito in this manner, two minutes at most would be enough...
"Crack!"
Even a massive tree requiring a person's full embrace to encircle couldn't hinder the body of a Machine Ex Machina in the slightest. Its only purpose was, perhaps, to obstruct her vision?
That was enough! In that instant, Obito voluntarily deactivated his intangibility, and then—Body Flicker Technique!
That's right, it was this ninjutsu, so basic it couldn't be more basic, yet it often proved immensely useful.
Schwarzer hadn't expected him to take such a risk. As her hand crushed the wooden log that had been substituted in his place, the two of them finally created a significant distance between them.
Obito knew this was one of the few chances he would get to counterattack, and his hands quickly formed seals.
Unlike other ninja, who were mostly glass cannons—focusing on evasion with low physical defense but overwhelming offense—Uchiha Obito was the opposite.
Uchiha Obito had an excess of defense, while his offensive options were his greatest weakness. One could say he had sacrificed offense for the ultimate defense.
In the ninja world, such a power would certainly have more pros than cons; after all, if you seized the right moment, even a Great Fireball could kill.
But now he was facing Schwarzer, a Machine Ex Machina who was practically an all-rounder with maxed-out stats, a brute-force powerhouse whose numbers completely crushed his. Such petty tricks were meaningless.
In that case, he might as well go for something big. If nothing else, he would at least display the full extent of his power.
"Wood Style: Deep Forest Emergence!"
Uchiha Obito shouted the name of the jutsu he was forming. As Senju Hashirama's signature ninjutsu, it held a special meaning in the hearts of all Konoha shinobi.
With a massive expenditure of Chakra, the ground began to tremble as countless giant trees erupted from beneath.
The display was somewhat similar to Hanami's Cursed Technique, but the scale and commotion of the two were on entirely different levels.
Under Obito's deliberate control, a mass of giant trees charged toward Schwarzer, entangling and lashing out at her.
Though not as potent as when Senju Hashirama himself used it, this was still a force on the level of a natural disaster.
The Deep Forest Emergence, covering several kilometers, assailed her alone. Each tree possessed a strength far exceeding that of steel; this was a power that could even briefly restrain the Nine-Tails!
Even though Obito had nearly exhausted his Chakra after unleashing this ninjutsu, it didn't matter. It was over.
A massive cluster of giant trees coiled into a ball, completely enveloping Schwarzer's small figure and forming a colossal prison hundreds of meters in diameter.
No matter who was trapped in such a place, escape would be nearly impossible. It was, after all, equivalent to a steel prison hundreds of meters thick.
"Is it finally over?"
Uchiha Obito gasped for breath, wiping the cold sweat from his forehead. He couldn't remember the last time he'd been in such a thrilling battle.
However, things did not go as he wished. From within the wooden prison, a power was being released that made every hair on his body stand on end.
It was not Chakra, nor was it Cursed Energy. It was another power he had never seen before—the power of another world!
"[Code Release]—[Apocrypha]—[Heaven's Strike]"
Pitch-black magical energy, thick with the aura of death, coalesced into a pillar of light that tore through everything.
The entire prison was turned to ash by this power, shooting past Uchiha Obito and straight into the heavens.
The threat of death made him instantly activate his intangibility. That attack was so terrifying that it even made him doubt whether his ability would be effective against it.
Schwarzer wasn't certain if a pure energy attack could penetrate his intangibility either, so she had aimed slightly off to the side to avoid accidentally killing him.
"What a... monster..." Uchiha Obito couldn't help but say, looking at Schwarzer, who appeared completely unscathed.
He had consumed most of his Chakra to unleash Deep Forest Emergence once. Schwarzer's attack had clearly required a greater expenditure, yet it had no effect on her, as if it were just a casual blow.
"[Warning] The battle is not yet over."
Schwarzer didn't care what he was thinking. They were still in the middle of a fight.
Unfortunately, Uchiha Obito had little fighting strength left. Both his remaining Chakra and his mental state had fallen into a disadvantage.
'It's about time to end this.' Schwarzer knew the power she had displayed was enough to subdue Obito, but she hadn't completed all her objectives just yet.
[Code Release]—[Accelerator]
Confirming that her opponent had used his full strength, she stopped probing. Before Obito's disbelieving eyes, she tore space itself.
"Space-Time Ninjutsu?!"
What's going on? Am I supposed to react like it's the Flying Thunder God Technique?
Obito never imagined Schwarzer was hiding such a move. Did that mean she had just been giving him a chance to show off all this time?
Even the Mangekyo Sharingan was useless against a spatial ability. Obito tried to dodge, but the moment he saw Schwarzer reappear, her hand was already plunging toward his stomach.
Her slender, fair arm passed through his body. Startled by the Space-Time Ninjutsu, Obito then realized he was already intangible, and normal attacks were ineffective against him.
"[Report] The battle is over. You have lost."
Just as he prepared to fall back and buy some time, Schwarzer looked up at him.
"Lost? But..."
Obito felt he could still struggle a bit; his Chakra was sufficient to maintain his intangibility for a while longer.
As if to validate her words, Schwarzer met Obito's gaze. Then, the stream of data in her eyes vanished, and to Obito's dumbfounded expression, they turned a faint red.
One tomoe, two-tomoe, three-tomoe... finally transforming into the Mangekyo Sharingan, composed of three boomerang-shaped blades—a pair of eyes that were clearly identical to his own.
"Crack—" Schwarzer's hand ignored Obito's intangibility, grabbing his wrist directly and dislocating it with a gentle twist.
"You lose."
"I..." Looking at this version of Schwarzer, Obito discovered for the first time just how intimidating those eyes could be—but this time, they were on someone else.
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