A wooden spike pierced through, accompanied by a dull sound of flesh tearing.
Fugaku looked down in shock, seeing only the dark red tip of the wooden spike dripping with droplets of blood.
The next moment, he felt all his strength rapidly draining away.
He turned his head with difficulty, and what met his eyes was a man wearing a strange white mask.
"Cough! Cough!"
Fugaku coughed up a mouthful of bloody foam, his pupils contracting violently as he stared incredulously at the masked man before him. "You..."
"Shh—"
Obito gave no response, merely pulling his wrist back and yanking the wooden spike out with force.
Agonizing pain and blood loss struck simultaneously. Fugaku felt his eyelids grow heavy as lead, then collapsed powerlessly to the ground.
Obito's cold gaze swept across the scene, passing over Yahiko and Konan, then settling on the fallen Nagato, before finally stopping on Shinji.
His expression darkened bit by bit.
This guy Shinji had completely disrupted his plans.
He had intended to let Yahiko or Konan die here, using the extreme pain to affect Nagato, thereby allowing him to fully control the Rinnegan.
As long as Nagato, who had recognized the cruelty of the world, was slightly provoked, he could be manipulated to carry out the Infinite Tsukuyomi plan.
But because of Shinji's presence, neither Yahiko nor Konan had died.
Everything he had done before was now wasted.
At this moment, Shinji was already enveloped in a layer of orange skeletal armor.
Susanoo!
He had never deactivated his Mangekyō from the start. The moment he heard Obito's voice, he immediately activated Susanoo.
Today's incident certainly involved the schemes of Hanzo and Danzo, but Shinji clearly understood that Obito was also pulling strings behind the scenes.
When he went to rescue Rin last time, Obito had attacked him without mercy, so he knew Obito had already fallen into darkness.
Therefore, he planned to use himself as bait, deliberately exposing a flaw to lure this big fish out.
For this reason, he had not used his full strength in the previous battles, waiting precisely for this most critical moment to strike unexpectedly and decide the outcome in one blow.
But what left Shinji stunned was that Obito had indeed made a move, yet the target wasn't him.
It was Fugaku?
Shinji felt a headache coming on, staring blankly at the fallen Fugaku, his eyes nearly popping out.
What kind of grudge did Fugaku and Obito have?
His gaze fell on the wound in Fugaku's abdomen, his brow tightly furrowed, his heart filled with confusion.
Obito's attack just now had clearly avoided vital points, only severely injuring Fugaku without delivering a fatal blow.
Shinji quickly scanned the bleeding wound and instantly judged that Fugaku was not in immediate danger of death, but if the blood loss continued, he would still be in crisis.
He couldn't just watch Fugaku die.
The clan elders all knew that he and Fugaku had come to the Land of Rain together. If he returned with Fugaku's corpse, given the Uchiha's mental state, those elders might directly conclude that he had secretly killed Fugaku, bringing nothing but endless trouble.
But right now, there was simply no opportunity for treatment.
Shinji made a decisive judgment: the only way to save Fugaku now was to deal with Obito first.
Without another moment of hesitation, he manipulated Susanoo, suddenly raising its massive skeletal fist, wrapped in a gust of wind that tore through the air, and smashed it fiercely toward Obito.
However, this punch passed right through Obito's body.
Intangibility!
Obito then calmly shifted his form, charging straight to Nagato's rear.
His right eye's Kamui spun wildly, ready to suck Nagato into the alternate dimension.
Shinji's eyes sharpened, his right hand flicking out as two shuriken shot straight for Obito's right eye.
Obito clicked his tongue, immediately halting Kamui and sidestepping to dodge the shuriken while swiftly putting distance between himself and the others.
Only then did Yahiko and Konan react, immediately positioning themselves in front of Nagato, their eyes fixed warily on Obito.
That man had clearly intended to abduct Nagato.
"It's him!" Konan pointed at Obito, her voice cold. "The man who claims to be Madara Uchiha."
She abruptly turned to Shinji, urgently asking, "Do you know him?"
After fighting for so long, she had clearly seen Shinji and Fugaku's Sharingan and knew both were of the Uchiha Clan.
And Madara Uchiha was a legendary figure even within their clan.
She wanted to probe Shinji for information about this man's true identity.
"Madara Uchiha?"
Shinji curled his lips in mockery. "Impossible. Madara Uchiha died long ago!"
He knew this man was Obito and had personally fought the real Madara Uchiha.
The memory of that battle was still vivid in his mind—he was the one who had truly defeated Madara Uchiha.
A glint flashed in Yahiko's eyes. "So he really is an imposter?"
They had always harbored doubts about this masked man and never fully trusted him.
For such a person to deliberately approach them, he must have ulterior motives.
And the only thing of value the three of them possessed that could be coveted was Nagato.
Yahiko lowered his head, looking at Nagato, who remained unconscious.
He gritted his teeth, falling silent as a firm resolve gradually rose within him: This can't go on. The Akatsuki must change!
"Hmph, so ungrateful. I was only trying to save you all."
Obito snorted coldly, brushing off the accusation lightly before warning Yahiko and Konan, "Believe it or not, I am the real Madara Uchiha."
"What comes next is an internal matter of our Uchiha Clan."
"You'd best not interfere."
In Obito's view, Yahiko, Nagato, and Konan still had use; he didn't want to completely oppose them just yet.
But Shinji was different—this person had already severely obstructed the plan.
Recalling that Madara Uchiha had ordered him to eliminate Shinji before departing, Obito felt conflicted.
He originally owed Shinji a debt of gratitude; during the Battle of Kannabi Bridge, only Shinji had voluntarily stepped forward to help him.
To repay that debt, he hadn't intended to kill Shinji.
But now, Shinji had become an obstacle that must be removed.
At this moment, Obito didn't know that Nohara Rin was still alive. His sole desire was to complete the Infinite Tsukuyomi and create a world where Rin existed.
Because he would never allow anyone to hinder him.
Suddenly, Obito barked an order: "Now, Zetsu!"
The soil beside Fugaku suddenly writhed, and a humanoid creature resembling a giant Venus flytrap burst from the ground.
Half of its body was pale as paper, while the other half bore a shadowy figure.
That shadow slowly spread, slipping through White Zetsu's body into the ground and instantly attaching itself to Fugaku.
Fugaku's body convulsed violently, then he pushed himself up from the ground, slowly rising to his feet.
Black Zetsu split open a seam at the corner of his mouth, revealing sharp teeth.
Shinji's expression changed, instantly understanding Obito's scheme: first critically injuring Fugaku to the brink of death, making it easier for Black Zetsu to seize his body and control him in battle.
"No, I have to stop this! No matter how flawed Fugaku is, he still possesses the Mangekyō!"
But the moment he moved, Obito instantly appeared before him.
"Too late!"
At the same time, a cross-shaped pattern slowly emerged in Fugaku's right eye.
Black Zetsu, controlling him, slowly turned toward Shinji.
Pitch-black flames abruptly ignited, instantly coiling around Shinji's orange skeletal frame.
Shinji's pupils contracted. His right eye's Heavenly Stone Gate activated in an instant, and the Susanoo retracted at the same time. His figure had already reappeared several meters away.
He stared at Obito, his voice low. "You really have a way."
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