Seeing Hakushi dodge, he also knew that with just that level of sneak attack, it was impossible to hit the target. He immediately stopped his steps, spun his body, using himself as the axis, and viciously swung his right leg in a kick, sweeping toward Hakushi's body.
Hakushi raised his arm and easily blocked the opponent's right leg.
The one who had ambushed him was a black-haired boy who had lost his left eye. He opened his right red Three-Tomoe Sharingan, and the moment his gaze met Hakushi's, he launched an Illusion Technique.
The speed and power of the Taijutsu, including the timing of the Illusion Technique, were all extremely decisive and swift.
However, it was still useless against Hakushi.
"No matter how intricate the Illusion Technique, it doesn't work on me. I should've reminded you about this a long time ago, Obito."
For Hakushi, who had another consciousness inside his body, the moment Obito unleashed his Illusion Technique, it had already failed.
Obito knew he had failed, and tried to retreat, pulling back to widen the distance from Hakushi. Hakushi's raised arm shot out like lightning, grabbing Obito's right leg before he could withdraw it, and hurled him away forcefully.
Obito's body flew out, and he adjusted his posture in midair to avoid rolling on the ground.
But even so, he barely managed to steady himself upon landing, his shoes scraping against the earth with a grinding sound, his shoulders trembling up and down and breath coming in rough gasps.
"Too slow."
Obito froze. Hakushi had vanished from where he'd been in front of him.
The voice came from behind him.
"Tch, you only broke my Illusion Technique with someone else's help,"
Obito sounded a little unconvinced.
Facing Obito's disgruntled tone, Hakushi just smiled and said:
"Who would've thought that the Uchiha Clan's so-called genius would look for such unreasonable excuses for his own failure? Can't you just man up and admit you lost?"
"Hmph, you're just a guy mooching off us Uchiha, acting all high and mighty—you've got no right—ow!"
Obito immediately clutched his head with both hands, crying out in pain.
Damn bastard, why is he knocking me on the head again?
Filled with resentment toward Hakushi, he spun around and swept a kick, hitting only empty air—Hakushi had already used Instantaneous Body Jutsu to appear several meters away.
"Alright, Obito, don't be mad. Hakushi-sensei is just teasing you,"
Rin came over to comfort Obito, who was about to rush up and keep fighting with Hakushi, a gentle smile on her face.
Only then did Obito back down.
Even though Rin had lost her memories, she's still just as gentle, Obito thought with blissful relief.
So long as he's near Rin, breathing in her scent, his body and mind feel full of strength.
"Rin, you're spoiling him too much. After all this time, all he can do is barely fuse with Natural Energy. It's a long way off if he wants to master Immortal Technique."
Hakushi walked over and started lecturing Obito.
"It's not like it's my fault. I want to master it quickly too, y'know."
Obito sounded a little dejected.
He wasn't lying. He really wanted to get stronger—so he could protect Rin.
Hakushi shot Obito a glance but said nothing, pulling a glass vial from his clothes and tossing it to Obito.
Obito caught the vial, confusion written all over his face.
"What's this...?"
"Spare Sharingan. Put it in your left eye. Fighting with one eye limits your vision, and that holds back your strength,"
Hakushi said.
At this, Obito saw clearly what's in the vial—preserved in the solution was a fresh eyeball, displaying the form of a Three-Tomoe Sharingan.
"Rin, help Obito install this eye, please."
"Of course, Hakushi-sensei."
Rin had no objections and led Obito toward a small cabin for the eye replacement surgery.
Hakushi watched Obito's back and let out a long sigh, feeling somewhat regretful inside.
He'd wanted Obito to master the knack of Immortal Technique quickly and turn that Mangekyo Sharingan into a fighting force as soon as possible, but at this rate, it'd take a long time to nurture Obito's Mangekyo Sharingan combat power.
Clearly, following the normal step-by-step methods didn't suit a 'gifted' Uchiha Ninja like Obito.
◎
Land of Forests.
Up ahead, an endless expanse of dense trees stretched into the horizon. Ruri and Ayane appeared here, looking at the human-faced stone platform rising up from the earth before them. Immediately, they confirmed that the massive underground facility lurking here was their target.
"Is this the place?"
Ruri stroked the face-shaped pedestal, which looked like a battered statue, full of cracks and badly worn down.
Ayane activated her Byakugan, scanning underground. She nodded in confirmation.
"Yeah, it's definitely here. Lurking beneath our feet, and what a monstrosity it is."
Under Ayane's Byakugan, a huge stone building the size of a small town was hidden beneath the ground at their feet.
Inside that building, at least ten thousand people were living.
At the center of the structure, Ayane also detected an extremely bizarre mass of Chakra with her Byakugan. She frowned.
"What's wrong?"
"I saw an odd Chakra in the fortress. It's very similar to a Tailed Beast."
Ayane turned her head and said.
"A Tailed Beast? Has the Land of the Sky started researching Tailed Beasts?"
Ruri was surprised.
With the Land of the Sky's ninja forces, they shouldn't have the ability to capture a Tailed Beast.
Besides, all the Tailed Beasts of the Five Great Nations were intact for now. The Hidden Waterfall's Tailed Beast was sealed in Nohara Rin, who was in the Land of Demons.
"Just similar, not necessarily a Tailed Beast. But the Chakra is definitely pretty powerful, and it's different from normal Chakra—the whole fortress is functioning thanks to it."
"Let's take it back with us. Hakushi would probably be interested in this kind of weird Chakra."
Ayane had no objections; she agreed with Ruri's thought.
Ruri then leapt to the side, putting some distance between herself and the face-shaped stone platform.
Ayane, wearing white fingerless gloves, clenched her fist, then smashed it down to the ground with fierce force.
Centered on where her fist landed, a terrifying shockwave erupted outward, sending the trees of the forest groaning, roots and all, to be blown away by the storm.
The spot where Ayane stood, the ground had already been shattered by her punch.
The face-shaped stone pedestal was reduced to ashen sand and scattered by the wind.
The enormous stone facility, smeared with earth, partially emerged into the sunlight. On its exposed side, a ridiculously large hole appeared, blatantly visible.
Ayane shook off her slightly numb arm, glanced at the passage revealed inside the structure, and an unsettling smile curled on her lips.
"All done, the entrance is open. Time for the hunt."