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Chapter 96N
🕑 Added 2025-07-12 15:00:13 +0000 UTCChapter 96N
2-IN-1-Chapter
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Watching the fight between the two Uchiha, Yagura’s emotions were complicated. He himself was pinned to the wall by iron stakes, like an animal on display. Unable to move, unable to sense his own body accurately, and thus unable to clearly understand what was happening outside.
Had he known nothing, perhaps he wouldn’t be so tormented.
But Obito, that damned one-eyed man, often manipulated him like a puppet, forcing him to witness with his own eyes as he killed Kirigakure’s shinobi, again and again, drowning the village in blood. Controlling his will, compelling him into battle… there were too many such painful memories.
His heart was constantly tormented, yet he couldn’t even seek death.
He could only pray that one day he would escape this fate. Perhaps, after all this time, his prayers were finally being answered.
Today, this long silent space finally welcomed a new visitor.
But what troubled Yagura was that the visitor was also an Uchiha. Those scarlet eyes left him voiceless with resentment. Even so, watching Uchiha Rēn fight that damned one-eyed Uchiha, he still hoped Rēn would win.
He knew Rēn might not be any better than that accursed one-eyed man, but at this point he didn’t think his situation could get any worse. At worst, it would just mean a change of jailer for his imprisoned consciousness, and someone else controlling the Three-Tails power.
The battle continued,
The dazzling genjutsu clash had reached its climax. Even with Yagura’s insight, he could not determine who would prevail.
"Forcing me to use my Mangekyō Sharingan’s ocular power?"
Rēn looked at Obito standing atop the Three-Tails head, a cold smile on his lips. Since Obito wanted to see it so badly, he would show him. And precisely because this was the spiritual realm where the Three-Tails consciousness was imprisoned, he could accurately strike Obito’s spirit.
Had this been outside,
He would still have had to worry about being deceived by shadow clones!
But here, there was no place for shadow clones to interfere.
"Very well… let me show you my Mangekyō Sharingan’s ocular power. I hope you’ll appreciate its beauty!" Uchiha Rēn’s pupils gathered intense power, and that formidable dōjutsu quickly saturated the surrounding space. A six-bladed pinwheel pattern appeared on the dark stone ceiling above.
"Oh? Finally?"
Obito raised his head, staring at the pattern overhead.
In that instant, his will tensed to the utmost, fully prepared to meet this unknown Mangekyō Sharingan genjutsu head-on.
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"A genjutsu battle? Is Obito really going to be okay? This isn't what was originally planned. We still haven't figured out exactly what Uchiha Rēn's dōjutsu is—how can he go in personally already? What if Uchiha Rēn's dōjutsu can alter someone’s thoughts? Wouldn't that put Obito in grave danger?"
White Zetsu looked blankly at Uchiha Obito standing beside him.
The masked man leaned against a tree, eyes closed, as if resting.
But with White Zetsu’s perception, at such a close distance, he could clearly sense that the dōjutsu in Obito’s eye was surging like a raging storm, active to the extreme.
"Unless it's a dōjutsu that can directly inflict physical damage, Mangekyō Sharingan genjutsu cannot truly kill another Mangekyō Sharingan user. Even a dōjutsu capable of altering another's will is no exception. It simply cannot deceive another Uchiha who has awakened the Mangekyō Sharingan."
This was a conclusion Black Zetsu had reached after observing the Uchiha clan for a thousand years. He had taught this subtly to Uchiha Madara, who had then passed it down to Uchiha Obito.
"Besides, inside the mental space of a tailed beast’s seal, there's no need to worry that Uchiha Rēn is concealing some dōjutsu with physical attack properties. Obito’s choice is sound!"
In this world, was there ever a flawless plan?
A plan could never proceed exactly as intended. Black Zetsu, this thousand-year-old specter, understood that deeply. For a thousand years he had schemed in the shadows of the shinobi world, crafting countless intricate conspiracies. Yet, just as numerous were the failures and setbacks that taught him plans didn’t need to be too meticulous.
A plan’s greatest value was in clarifying and adapting towards the goal.
As long as the ultimate objective was achieved, it didn't matter if the plan was twisted beyond recognition. In fact, without the ability to adapt to circumstances, blindly following a plan would often end in failure.
Black Zetsu appreciated the choice Obito had made.
So long as his own safety was assured, taking on some risk was acceptable.
Whether it was Uchiha Madara or Uchiha Obito, both ranked among the top three most difficult "puppets" to control in Black Zetsu’s long history. Yet he didn’t resent their autonomy—in fact, he was sick of obedient, useless pawns that required micromanagement.
To achieve his goals, he could not rely on lifeless tools.
People like Uchiha Madara and Uchiha Obito were the best choices!
All he needed to do was transform his purpose into the goal of Uchiha Madara and Uchiha Obito. These highly driven individuals would then exhaust all their wisdom and strength to accomplish what he himself could not.
"Should I strike now and eliminate Uchiha Rēn?"
White Zetsu cast an eager glance at the dark crimson Susanoo nearby. "If I go all out with Wood Clone Technique, my first strike would probably breach Susanoo’s defense. The second strike could grind Uchiha Rēn into paste."
"It's not time for you to act yet."
Black Zetsu also gazed at the fully formed Susanoo, clad in tengu-like armor, admiring this young Uchiha Rēn. He was meticulous enough to keep protecting himself even at the cost of extra dōjutsu energy. If Madara hadn’t chosen Obito, this Uchiha Rēn would have been a fine candidate.
"Besides, your so-called 'two-strike kill' is only an estimate. Don’t underestimate Uchiha Rēn. Who knows what trump cards this Uchiha clan leader is still hiding? Let Obito handle it. This is his task!"
White Zetsu immediately deflated.
With Black Zetsu saying this, he clearly wouldn’t get his chance.
Ignoring White Zetsu, Black Zetsu looked up at the motionless Three-Tails. It should almost be over, right? Battles in the mental space of a tailed beast’s seal didn’t flow at the same pace as the real world.
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"Is this it?"
"The dōjutsu of the Mangekyō Sharingan?"
A pond, artificial hills, bamboo grove, stone lanterns, a large cherry blossom tree... It looked like a rather scenic courtyard.
Uchiha Obito pressed a hand against the mask on his face, which was itself condensed from dōjutsu energy, then looked down at his lower body, buried in earth, unable to understand when he had ended up in this state. Was this really the Mangekyō Sharingan's genjutsu dōjutsu?
Truly frightening!
Even though he also possessed the Mangekyō Sharingan, he hadn't even had time to react just now, let alone resist.
No—more accurately, he still couldn’t figure out how this had been achieved at all.
He had merely glanced up at the six-bladed pinwheel pattern floating above, and in the blink of an eye, the heavy, oppressive ceiling of stone and steel had vanished, replaced by this boundless, vividly blue false sky.
"Mask-wearing man claiming to be Uchiha Madara—so, do you like it here? My little piece of heaven."
The voice came from a cherry blossom tree nearby, dense with branches and leaves.
Turning his neck slightly and raising his chin, Obito cast a sideways glance and saw Uchiha Rēn sitting on a branch, looking down at him with an arrogant and unsettling gaze.
"So this is your Mangekyō Sharingan dōjutsu? It’s certainly interesting. The scenery isn’t bad. Since you’ve worked so hard, I’ll tell you something: Mangekyō Sharingan genjutsu cannot kill another Mangekyō Sharingan user. Genjutsu is ultimately a contest of dōjutsu power. Unless your dōjutsu power completely overwhelms mine, you cannot kill me here."
As he spoke, the solitary red eye of Obito erupted with tremendous dōjutsu power, creating a nearly tangible shockwave that cracked the ground around him.
Ripples spread across the pond’s surface.
This little courtyard world swayed violently, like a glass bottle knocked from a shelf. If it fell, it would surely shatter.
"I’ve never heard that before. So that’s why they lured me into this sealed Three-Tails mental space? Were they afraid my dōjutsu had physical attack properties, or was there another reason?"
Rēn smiled as he felt the tremors transmitted through the cherry blossom tree beneath him. He remained completely unconcerned and continued softly, "Perhaps you’re right. Maybe I can’t kill you directly with this power. But... that doesn’t mean you can walk away from here unscathed!"
"Oh, really?"
Beneath the mask, Obito’s face was cold. "Then show me!"
He continued struggling, unleashing fierce dōjutsu power that surged outward like a storm, shaking the entire courtyard world. He had not forgotten Madara’s teaching: whether Sharingan or Mangekyō Sharingan, in the end it was all a contest of dōjutsu power.
As long as his power was strong enough, Uchiha Rēn’s dōjutsu could not harm him.
Snap!
Rēn snapped his fingers and gave Obito a meaningful smile.
Konohana-Sakuya activated.
Just as Obito had struggled out of the earth up to his waist, he suddenly felt stabbing, tearing pain in his back. But this pain didn’t shake his resolve—not even a blink.
That night when Rin died, he had already descended into hell. That indescribable pain, so intense it almost suffocated him, had tormented him every day since.
If it was just pain,
He no longer feared anything!
No pain could surpass the heartache of losing Rin!
But the heavy sensation from behind made him realize this was no ordinary attack. Before he could turn his head, dark brown roots wrapped around his shoulders and chest. The roots, seemingly thin and soft, pierced into his chest like needles.
In the next instant, he felt what true agony was.
This was a world of genjutsu.
Their bodies here were projections of their consciousness. Wounds here would not bleed, nor would they cause death. But they could inflict the most real, excruciating pain—agony in its truest form.
Had this happened in the real world, such injuries would have long since claimed his life.
But here, the torn heart and lungs were constructs of spiritual energy, inflicting severe pain and mental damage but unable to kill directly. So even as he endured suffering that would have left an ordinary person unconscious ten times over, Obito did not make a sound.
If it was just pain, it meant nothing to him.
This was no bluff.
Obito stared coldly at Uchiha Rēn with that scarlet single eye, saying nothing, but his scornful gaze said everything.
Is that all?
Not even close enough! "Brat, do not underestimate your ancestor!"
Watching Obito still struggling to destroy this courtyard world by force, Rēn’s smile grew brighter. He even actively used dōjutsu power to help the cherry blossom tree grow, adjusting the genjutsu’s tremors to make it seem as if Obito was just about to break it.
Again and again...
The cherry blossom tree grew taller, surpassing the two wilted trees nearby even before blooming.
Rēn marveled—indeed, the Uchiha clan’s spiritual energy was extraordinary, as remarkable as the life force of the Senju and Uzumaki clans, far beyond what ordinary people could hope for.
Each attempt ended just short of success.
Feeling his own dōjutsu power draining too quickly, Obito finally sensed something wrong. His power shouldn’t be depleting this fast. He tried again to break free from the roots, but noticed that those roots piercing his body were slowly siphoning his dōjutsu power.
"Uchiha Rēn!"
Obito still had enough strength to shout in fury.
Unlike Shimura Danzō and Sarutobi Hiruzen, he still had the energy to speak even now.
"So you’ve finally noticed? Much sooner than I expected... but it’s enough, You aren't as obtuse as I thought." Rēn said, looking at the cherry blossom tree now sprouting tender buds. At this point, even one as strong as Obito could not escape unscathed.
"You little bastard, you dared to scheme against me."
Obito struggled to maintain the persona of Uchiha Madara, though his rage nearly broke that facade.
"Oh? But isn’t deception the essence of battle? And you—Uchiha Madara himself—the great pacifier of the Warring States era, surely someone like you must be used to such petty tricks by now. Why so upset? Shouldn’t you feel proud watching your juniors grow?
Or... is Uchiha Madara truly so thin-skinned?"
Rēn spoke like a cold, slippery snake, spitting venom at will.
Rēn’s fake politeness stung worse than open insults, every word dripping with sarcasm meant to humiliate Obito.
Beneath the broken mask was a face altered to resemble Uchiha Madara’s.
Obito’s spiritual strength was formidable. In this genjutsu world, he had even expended dōjutsu power to change his appearance to conceal his true identity from Rēn.
Obito gritted his teeth.
He hadn’t expected Uchiha Rēn’s Mangekyō Sharingan dōjutsu to be so strange, capable of devouring another’s spiritual energy. After all, dōjutsu power was just a specialized form of spiritual energy—Yin Release at its core.
A single misstep,
And Rēn had already devoured so much of his power.
He didn’t know whether Rēn’s dōjutsu simply drained enemy spiritual energy or could convert it for his own use. If it was the former, then losing some power was acceptable.
But if it was the latter—
That would be troublesome.
If Rēn could absorb his spiritual energy to replenish his own, then Rēn’s Mangekyō Sharingan’s blindness curse might not arrive as quickly as Obito had hoped. Worse, if Rēn restored his depleted dōjutsu power this way, then Obito’s efforts would have been entirely wasted. And if Yagura was lost too, it would be a total disaster.
"Don’t even think about it."
Obito forced his head up to look at the dense canopy above, filled with countless pink buds, swelling and ready to bloom.
Through gritted teeth, he resolved himself.
He gathered all his remaining dōjutsu power and activated Demonic Illusion: Mirror Heaven and Earth Change, a genjutsu designed to reflect an opponent’s genjutsu back at them. It was said to have been developed by a gifted Uchiha clan member during internal conflict to counter fellow Uchiha.
In essence, it was inferior to a Mangekyō Sharingan dōjutsu.
But supported by Obito’s immense Mangekyō-level dōjutsu power, it burst forth in that instant with dazzling brilliance. For a moment, Konohana-Sakuya faltered, and Obito seized that fleeting chance he had created.
