"I'm late?"
Uchiha Kai stood at the edge of the battlefield, eyes narrowing at the broken ground and the corpse lying still at the center.
The scent of scorched chakra and blood lingered. He could feel it—Mokuton.
It couldn't be anything else. His Sharingan confirmed it: the wood chakra signature matched only one known source.
Kai sighed, a headache forming. His gaze drifted to the figure kneeling in the distance—cloaked in black, clutching Rin Nohara's lifeless body, sobbing uncontrollably.
There was no mistaking him.
"…Obito?"
The sight stirred something deep in Kai. But for now, he couldn't afford sentiment. His mission, his strategy—they all depended on this moment.
What alarmed him more was the white, bark-like matter creeping up Obito's body.
White Zetsu…!
Kai's heart pounded. If his memories served right, then this wasn't just a grieving boy—this was the man who would one day plunge the world into the Fourth Great Ninja War.
Taking a steady breath, Kai began walking forward. With every step, his eyes morphed—spinning, bleeding into the unmistakable pattern of the Mangekyō Sharingan.
He stopped a few paces away.
"Let go of her," Kai said coolly. "Who are you? Did you… kill Rin Nohara?"
He already knew the answer—but he needed to play dumb. Obito was unstable, freshly awakened into madness, with the full backing of White Zetsu's regenerative power and Hashirama's cells.
Dangerous didn't even begin to describe it.
"I killed Rin?" Obito whispered, trembling. His back remained to Kai, arms still wrapped around the girl's limp body. "…I killed Rin?"
The white matter twitched across his shoulders.
"You said I killed her?!"
In a sudden roar, Obito sprang to his feet and lunged—so fast he blurred. Kai barely had time to shift into a defensive stance.
With a guttural yell, Obito slammed his hand into the ground, releasing the Wood Release: Cutting Sprigs Technique, jagged spears erupting toward Kai.
But Kai wasn't some helpless ANBU.
His Sharingan whirled, analyzing the movement, the chakra. He knew Obito's powers. He knew the delay between phasing and materializing.
Most importantly—he knew how to counter it.
"Go to hell!"
"Lanqi!" Kai's voice echoed as his cloak flared, his sword unsheathing in a blur.
He slashed through the wooden spikes—no, they vanished.
"Kamui…" Kai murmured. His blade sliced through empty air—but his eyes saw it clearly.
Then, from his right eye, chakra surged.
Retrospect of Time.
It didn't reverse the flow yet—not entirely—but it slowed Obito, dragging his movements through molasses.
It was enough.
Kai twisted his body, sidestepping the phasing spike, and slammed his sword into Obito's torso. Lightning chakra erupted, bursting from the blade with paralyzing force.
"Ghha—!" Obito cried out, shocked that the attack landed.
"You…" he hissed, eyes wide. His wound regenerated fast, but he'd been hit, despite Kamui.
Kai's brows knit in thought.
Even with direct lightning chakra… no paralysis?
It clicked. White Zetsu's influence. The regenerative power wasn't just fast—it dulled pain, ignored side effects like paralysis.
This guy's a monster…
Obito finally turned fully to face him, eyes wild.
"Who… are you? What the hell was that jutsu?"
"Just a Konoha ninja," Kai replied, keeping his voice level. "Who are you? You killed Rin. Killed Kakashi. Killed dozens of Kiri shinobi. You think you'll get away with this?"
"Revenge?" Obito laughed suddenly, the sound hollow and ragged. "Hah… HAHAHA! I'm already in hell! And you want to threaten me with revenge?! No, no—I should be thanking you. I'll return the favor soon enough…"
Without warning, he rushed again, this time with sheer rage. Fists coated in chakra, speed bordering on untrackable.
Kai met him head-on.
This was no longer the clumsy boy Obito once was. Now, with Hashirama cells, Mangekyō Sharingan, and Zetsu support, his raw strength rivaled Tsunade's.
But power was nothing without control.
Obito had strength, but no training. Speed, but no refinement. The way he fought—messy, angry, reactionary—betrayed him.
Kai, too, was once an outsider among the Uchiha. But he had trained, endured, and understood battle rhythm.
Their blades and fists clashed again and again, but Kai gradually began to pull ahead.
He doesn't even realize the flaw in his Kamui timing…
Another opening.
Obito phased just a moment too soon—anticipating a strike that never came.
Kai's left eye activated.
Leap of Time.
In a flash, Kai vanished—reappearing behind Obito like a ghost. His blade stabbed forward, piercing Obito's chest.
Obito phased—but something was different.
His body flickered. Then… began to dissolve.
As if Kamui had triggered an emergency recall.
"…He escaped," Kai muttered.
The battlefield fell silent again. Only Rin's body remained.
A blood-stained crescent moon glimmered in the dirt, bathed in chakra and sorrow.