The iron chain was ripped from Uzumaki Ku's abdomen by his own hand. Thanks to the regenerative power of his Sage Body, the wound closed rapidly.
But the seriousness in Ku's eyes didn't lessen in the slightest.
Information.
For the first time, Ku felt the shock of being outmaneuvered by a lack of intel.
'Izanagi?'
'No, that technique transformed unfavorable outcomes into illusions, which didn't match what had just happened.'
'The Wood Release: Advent of a World of Flowering Trees hadn't restrained Obito, nor had his chain touched Ku beforehand.'
But how had he predicted all six Flying Thunder God markers?
This wasn't just experience, it was a power beyond memory.
"Surprised?"
Seeing the trees stop attacking, Obito stared at Ku coldly.
"Pity It wasn't your head this time. Next time, I won't miss. Even with the First Hokage's vitality, a pierced brain would still kill you, wouldn't it?"
Ku narrowed his eyes.
"Is this your trump card for keeping me here? But I'm curious, how did you pull that off just now?"
Obito chuckled. "When you're dead, I'll explain it to your corpse."
As soon as he finished speaking, Obito's Mangekyō Sharingan activated again.
This time, Trees barely affected him, and Flying Thunder God seemed almost suppressed by his ability.
For the first time, Ku truly felt outmatched.
"Fire Style: Great Fireball Jutsu!"
A massive fireball roared toward Ku, only to be smothered by countless trees.
But despite that, Ku didn't feel any relief behind the treeline. At this rate, the battle would just drag on endlessly.
Plus, Deva Pain and Konan were still holding the line. If Obito hadn't stirred things up, those two might've intervened. That would've made things even worse.
'Should I gamble?
As long as neither his clone nor true body died simultaneously before midnight, the scroll would reset and become usable again.
Obito having a new ability was likely a butterfly effect caused by Ku's earlier actions.
In this world, unless you had overwhelming strength like Hashirama or Madara in their prime, intel often decided victory or defeat.
Swish!
Another Flying Thunder God teleportation, but this time, the destination wasn't a kunai…
It was Obito's iron chain.
At the moment Ku had yanked it from his abdomen, he had etched a teleportation seal onto it.
This move came completely out of left field.
Bang!
The chain shot out again—
"Fire Style: Great Fireball Jutsu!"
The instant Ku reappeared, something felt wrong.
He immediately realized the distance was off, and then the flames engulfed him from all sides.
Boom!
He crashed to the ground, his entire body aching. He might be the first person to ever take a direct hit from the Great Fireball Jutsu. If not for his Sage Body, he'd likely be dead or in critical condition.
But…
He had noticed something just before the fire hit. He had teleported to a wrong location and was instantly caught in Obito's jutsu.
What did that mean?
"Already guessing the truth?" Obito retracted the chain, watching as Ku's injuries slowly healed.
"I didn't expect you to teleport straight to my weapon. If you hadn't, it wouldn't have just been a fireball."
"My ability makes it so you can't touch me. And I've already figured out your Flying Thunder God. Everything you try from here on out is meaningless."
Ku slowly stood up, burned flesh peeling away as new skin regenerated underneath.
The Sage Body's vitality was indeed terrifying.
But as Obito had said, a pierced head still meant death, no matter how strong the healing factor.
"Looks like borrowing a souvenir today is off the table."
Looking around at the ruined battlefield, Ku sighed.
"I still don't know what power you've gained or how…But I'll admit, I miscalculated this time."
"So, I'll take my leave. With the three of you here, I won't be getting what I came for anyway."
As soon as he finished speaking, Ku vanished.
Obito tilted his head.
"Used a space-time jutsu to escape?"
From the dirt of a crater nearby, Zetsu's black-and-white fused body slowly rose up.
"He's gone. If he truly used a space-time jutsu, there's not much that can stop him."
Pain, who had been silently watching, spoke at last:
"If the full power of a god were to descend…Not even someone like him could retreat unscathed."
And with that, Pain turned to leave.
Konan followed silently after forming hand seals. Her paper clone remained behind, collecting all the kunai and shuriken marked with teleportation seals. Leaving those in the village would be too dangerous.
Swish!
BANG!
Suddenly, Ku reappeared beside Obito's iron chain.
A longsword slashed down along the chain's length, slicing from Obito's shoulder to his abdomen.
Splurt!!
Blood gushed out. Across the taut chain, Ku coldly said:
"So it's not a passive ability, but an active one. You left this chain lying around even though I marked it, you got overconfident."
Obito's visible eye twisted in rage:
"Uzumaki Ku—"
"Shinra Tensei!!"
Suddenly, a powerful repulsive force launched both Ku and Obito away. Pain, now back on the battlefield, was visibly angry.
"Uzumaki Ku… again and again, you dare defy the will of a god. Do you have a death wish?"
Ku flipped midair and landed with a smirk.
"I've died more than once already. One more time won't make much difference. But… can you even kill me?"
Obito lunged:
"Then stay dead this time!"
He charged forward again.
But Ku just smiled and vanished, leaving Obito swinging at empty air.
"Disgusting…"
Zetsu commented again:
"He's gone. Far away."
Obito glared.
"I already knew that. Damn, space-time jutsu… so annoying."
White Zetsu added helpfully:
"But don't you also use—"
He stopped as soon as Obito glared at him. White Zetsu shrugged and silently zipped his mouth.
Obito looked down at the discarded chain, then turned to Konan.
"Help me dispose of this, too. It's useless now."
Konan nodded and said:
"Tell me everything you know about him."
Obito shook his head slightly:
"I already told you everything I know. The rest… I don't understand either. But next time we meet, he won't get off so easily."
The gash across his torso had already clotted thanks to Hashirama's cells, but the humiliation he suffered twice today would never be forgotten.