Obito looked around. He could clearly feel that this place resembled the Kamui dimension.
But… his Kamui was never this vast.
Could it be that combining both Kamui eyes caused such a massive enhancement?
In truth, this was the Kamui space, or rather, a more advanced version of it.
After Sasuke upgraded Kakashi's dual Kamui into Rinnegan, the Kamui dimension had evolved accordingly.
Originally, the Kamui space was a small, plaza-sized dead zone.
After the upgrade, its size had expanded more than thirtyfold, and various new features were added.
Although Kakashi wasn't the original owner of these eyes and couldn't use their full power, he was still able to exert considerable control over the new space.
In the old Kamui, transporting enemies required being near them and initiating the vortex-style warp to suck them in.
Now, that wasn't necessary. Kakashi could activate a new ability called Domain Projection, which directly expanded the Kamui space into reality.
As long as the target was within range and didn't have a time-space ninjutsu to escape, they'd be instantly pulled into this private world.
And inside this dimension, Kakashi, being the caster, could partially control gravity, temperature, terrain, and more, giving him absolute tactical superiority.
But after studying this ability, Aoba realized that this was just a support feature.
The real offensive trump card was the ability granted by the second Rinnegan, Domain Partition.
Simply put, it allowed Kamui to be split into numerous miniature subspaces, each forming a tiny prison to trap the opponent.
Unless the enemy had extremely powerful space-related abilities, this move was essentially inescapable. Once trapped, the user could simply wait for hours until the oxygen ran out and the target suffocated.
If you weren't concerned about fairness, you could horizontally slice these microspaces, cutting your enemy cleanly in half.
The only downside was that the more partitions created, the greater the burden on the Rinnegan. Kakashi could currently only split the domain into three subspaces at most.
Faced with Aoba, Obito didn't immediately attack. He simply stepped back and entered a guarded stance.
Aoba could even sense that Obito was already charging Shinra Tensei, the iconic Rinnegan technique. Though it had faded in prominence later in the series, in actual combat, it remained one of the best all-purpose opening moves.
But what surprised Obito was that Aoba didn't attack either.
Instead, Aoba asked a question, one that nearly broke Obito on the spot.
"Obito Uchiha, from what I know… you're not the type to risk your life for others. So, what did that person promise you? To resurrect Rin? Do you really believe that's possible? Or more importantly… do you believe the Rin he revives will be the one you want?"
Obito fell silent.
Aoba's words struck at the one place he never wanted to confront.
The pain he never dared explore in depth.
"That's none of your business. Aoba Uchiha, I don't get it either. You've already surpassed the limits of a normal shinobi, so why do you stay tied to Konoha?"
"Heh. Seems we're not completely different after all. Unfortunately… we're out of time today. Kakashi, take care of your old friend for me."
With that, Aoba vanished from the Kamui space. For someone who held over a hundred divine authorities, using spatial powers was effortless.
Even though he had no chakra now, in the entire shinobi world, there were fewer than ten people qualified to even face him.
Unless someone had reached Six Paths level and gained partial rule-level mastery over chakra itself, they didn't even deserve a match against him.
After Aoba disappeared, Kakashi appeared before Obito. This would be his first battle using the Kamui Rinnegan.
Although he had a chakra cloak providing ample energy, the burden of the Rinnegan on the body remained heavy. Controlling it smoothly would take practice, and this battle was part of that training.
——
Meanwhile, a Konoha squad had already engaged Hashirama Senju.
Although he was the village's founder and once known as the God of Shinobi, his repeated attacks on Konoha had long since eroded any reverence the villagers had for him.
Now, to them, he was simply an enemy, one who had tried to destroy their home multiple times. And they would show no mercy.
This time, Sasuke was leading the charge. Since becoming a Six Paths–level warrior, this was his first real battle.
And his opponent? The previous generation's Asura reincarnation.
In terms of practical combat, and even from a destiny or karmic perspective, it was a matchup full of significance.
Plus, with Aoba not participating and Toneri's transformation still incomplete, only Sasuke could stand against Hashirama.
After all, this version of Hashirama had grown even stronger, now fully a Six Paths–class threat.
No other Konoha ninja could even engage him. If they tried, it would become a repeat of the infamous "Madara vs. Allied Shinobi Forces" massacre from the original storyline.
Even today's Konoha, where jonin were equipped with chakra cloaks, couldn't stand up to Truth-Seeking Orbs. Quantity no longer mattered.
The only one who could assist Sasuke in this battle was Tsunade.
With combined research from Konoha's labs and extensive support from Aoba, she had developed her chakra techniques to an entirely new level, barely enough to withstand attacks from Truth-Seeking Orbs.
Being able to survive a hit from a Truth-Seeking Orb was now the bare minimum requirement to participate in this battle.
And now, taking the offensive lead, Sasuke finally activated his Rinnegan… and faced off against Hashirama.
If you would like to read more...
The novel has be completed (Chp. 362) on the patreon -> SaintXI