The twilight faded, surrenderring to the encroaching night.
At the gates of Hoshigakure, the echoes of the explosion had barely dissipated when Kakuzu and Uzumaki Kasumi arrived with a squad of Anbu reinforcements.
"Enemies I haven't seen before..." Kakuzu's pale green pupils narrowed, his gaze locking onto the two figures standing a short distance away.
The leader wore a tiger-striped mask, while his companion possessed the grotesque, plant-like appearance of a venus flytrap. It was a bizarre sight. At first glance, they seemed linked to the Hidden Grass, but after a moment of calculation, Kakuzu ruled it out. Furthermore, these two had never appeared on the underground black market's high-value bounty lists.
"Lord Shura, are they enemies?"
Kasumi quickly flashed behind Menma and Hikari. Her red hair fluttered in the wind, her expression heavy with apprehension.
While Obito remained indifferent to the sight of her crimson locks, Black Zetsu felt a jolt of surprise.
The Uzumaki clan... Zetsu mused internally.
The White Zetsu clones he stationed across the ninja world had masterful stealth, but they were wary of sensory types—specifically the Uzumaki, whose 'Mind's Eye of the Kagura' possessed a terrifyingly vast range.
"Ah, the leader claims to be Uchiha Madara."
Menma tilted his head slightly. Beneath his mask, his lips curled into a smirk; he was already thinking of how to play with Obito.
"Uchiha Madara?"
Kasumi and Hikari were unfamiliar with the name, but to Kakuzu, it was a ghost from a nightmare. He had lived through the era suppressed by the sheer might of Madara and Hashirama Senju. Hearing the imposter's claim, a raspy, mocking laugh escaped from behind Kakuzu's mask.
"Uchiha Madara wouldn't skulk around in the shadows like a coward."
"Hey, hey, Madara... they don't seem to believe you," the white half of Zetsu whispered into Obito's ear, his face contorting with mock concern.
"Be quiet!" Obito barked coldly.
He didn't care about a mere pair of Three-Tomoe Sharingan. As for 'Shura,' Obito refused to believe the man possessed the strength to bypass his Kamui.
He slowly drew the blade from his waist, advancing step by step. Since Rin's death, Obito had walked the darkness under Madara's name, honing the cold poise and crushing pressure of a true predator.
The moment the blade left its scabbard, a chilling killing intent flooded the area like a rising tide. Kasumi and the Anbu ninjas were the first to buckle, cold sweat trickling down their necks. Even Kakuzu's gaze turned grim.
The man was clearly not the real Madara, but this level of pressure was beyond that of any ordinary shinobi.
Among those present, only Menma and Hikari remained unmoved.
"The rest of you, fall back. He is not someone you can handle," Menma said, raising a hand to signal Kakuzu and the others.
"My Lord... I..." Kasumi's voice trembled, but Kakuzu grabbed her by the arm.
He understood Shura's intent; a battle of this caliber was no place for subordinates. He immediately led the Anbu toward the prison sector to guard against a possible diversionary attack.
Hikari pulled a kunai from her pouch, preparing to step forward. Seeing a mysterious Sharingan user who wasn't part of the Konoha branch intrigued her.
"Let me test him," Menma said, extending an arm to stop her.
He knew Hikari's ocular power could likely overwhelm the current Obito, but he wanted to measure the man's strength for himself.
"I suggest you both come at me at once," Obito said, swinging his sword in a casual arc. His pace was leisurely, dripping with arrogance. "After all... I am Uchiha Madara."
Menma's toe dug into the earth, and with a sudden crack of the ground, he shot forward like an arrow. He hurled a single kunai while his hands blurred into a series of seals.
Shuriken Shadow Clone Jutsu!
The lone kunai multiplied into a sky full of cold steel, raining down on Obito like a metallic storm.
"Hmph."
Obito didn't even break his stride. He allowed the hail of kunai to pass harmlessly through his intangible body, supremely confident in his 'phasing' ability.
"Yikes!" Behind him, Zetsu hastily sank into the ground to avoid the projectiles, only to pop halfway out of a nearby tree to watch the show.
Clang!
Blade met kunai in a shower of sparks. In the instant of contact, Menma exerted sudden force with his right hand, thrusting a second kunai toward Obito's mask.
The weapon, along with Menma's hand, passed straight through Obito's intangible head.
Obito seized the opening, swinging his blade downward. The moment the kunai cleared his physical space, his edge was a mere ten centimeters from Menma's fox mask. Just as the strike seemed certain to land—
The blade slammed into an invisible barrier, unable to move another inch.
"What?!" Obito's pupil shrank.
There was nothing there—no physical shield, not even a visible chakra cloak.
In his shock, Menma spun into a roundhouse kick, his body passing through Obito as the latter instinctively phased again. The two stood back-to-back, resetting their stance.
The first round of testing was over.
"I expected your Taijutsu to be impressive," Menma remarked, adjusting his stance. "I didn't think you relied so purely on that phasing trick."
Behind the tiger mask, Obito's gaze grew heavy.
That sensation of striking something invisible... it reminded him of Nagato's Shinra Tensei.
But as he replayed the moment, he realized it was different. It wasn't a repulsive force pushing him away; it was an absolute blockage. It was as if Shura were protected by a permanent, invisible barrier.
"You truly have some skill," Obito muttered, his voice dropping an octave. He began to take this unknown power seriously—and became increasingly curious about the face behind the fox mask.
Still, he remained confident in his Kamui. Not everyone was Minato Namikaze; few possessed the god-like reflexes and space-time mastery required to counter him.
"But that is as far as you go. Next time, I take your life."
Obito lunged again, his sword whistling through the air. Menma responded by throwing another kunai, though this time he didn't use Shadow Clones. He aimed directly for the mask and followed closely behind the projectile.
Obito didn't even bother to parry. He let the kunai drift through his skull, his Sharingan locked on Menma's every twitch, ready to solidify the moment he countered.
Suddenly—
A crimson flash erupted from the right eye-hole of the white fox mask.
Genjutsu: Shackling Stakes!
Obito's body stiffened for a fraction of a second. Though he broke the illusion instantly, it was enough. Menma's fist was already buried in his chest.
BOOM!
Obito was sent flying several meters, tumbling through the air before skidding to a halt on the ground.
"Cough..."
The tiger mask tilted upward sharply, the Three-Tomoe Sharingan within filled with pure disbelief.
"You're an Uchiha too?"
Obito clutched his chest, his mind racing through the glimpse he'd caught of that eye. It appeared to be a Three-Tomoe. Since when did the Uchiha clan have so many high-level users? Especially ones wandering outside the village?
"Ah, I forgot to introduce myself," Menma said, pulling back his fist and rotating his wrist casually.
From beneath the fox mask, a playful, mocking voice drifted across the clearing:
"My name is Uchiha Obito."