Chapter 377: Performance

Chapter 377: Chapter 377: Performance

"He didn’t react at all just now. Could it be that he’s figured out how my Kamui works? Or did he obtain information about me from Konoha? Sure enough, that battle outside Amegakure leaked far too much information!"

While Hyuga Kagami was considering how to deal with him, Obito was also silently analyzing the situation.

Obito knew very well where his own advantages lay, so he had always been extremely careful about protecting information concerning his abilities. However, because the situation before had been far too dangerous, he had been forced to personally step in and hold off the Third Hokage.

Faced with the experienced and cunning Third Hokage, Obito had no choice but to use his signature Kamui and Wood Release Kekkei Genkai. Although he had successfully held off the Third Hokage and killed or wounded many of Konoha’s elite ANBU, the exposure of his own abilities had become unavoidable.

Neither side gained anything from their probing exchange, and the two once again settled into a standoff.

Both of them wore masks, so neither could see the other’s expression. Yet from the smallest movements of their bodies, each keenly sensed the vigilance and caution of the other.

The moment Hyuga Kagami noticed this, realization dawned on him.

"Oh? He’s being this cautious? Looks like he doesn’t have any powerful backup nearby. At the very least, Nagato probably isn’t in Kirigakure!"

If Nagato were nearby, Obito would have no reason to be this cautious. He could simply call Nagato over, and Hyuga Kagami would have no choice but to turn tail and flee.

The corner of Obito’s mouth also curled upward beneath his mask.

"Heh. Even if you know how my Kamui works, with the ocular power of your Mangekyō Sharingan... just how long can you keep your Susanoo active?"

As the successor to Uchiha Madara, Obito’s understanding of the Mangekyō Sharingan far surpassed that of Fugaku, the head of the Uchiha Clan. He knew very well that although an ordinary Mangekyō Sharingan could activate a powerful ocular technique like Susanoo, it could not maintain it for long. Otherwise, the excessive consumption of ocular power would cause the user’s eyesight to rapidly deteriorate.

Only by transplanting the First Hokage’s cells, or by fusing the Mangekyō Sharingan of a close blood relative and awakening the Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan, could one truly possess the qualifications to use Susanoo as a conventional ocular technique!

Inside Kirigakure’s enormous and well-hidden collection vault, the two silently confronted each other, each analyzing the enemy’s weaknesses while simultaneously devising their own tactics.

Neither of them spoke.

As if by mutual understanding, they maintained complete silence, their eyes focused solely on each other—their respective prey—as though everything else around them had ceased to matter.

A moment later, Hyuga Kagami finalized his strategy.

Without any further hesitation, he immediately launched his attack!

Boom! Boom! Boom!

As Hyuga Kagami drove his Susanoo into action, the golden giant immediately began wreaking havoc throughout the collection vault.

Every swing of the golden giant’s arms, every slash it unleashed, brought with it a deafening roar. Rows upon rows of display racks were smashed into disarray, while long swords and short blades scattered across the floor with a continuous metallic clatter.

"Idiot. Go ahead and waste as much power as you want!"

Faced with the rampage of Hyuga Kagami’s Susanoo, Obito deliberately put on a show of desperately dodging the attacks while inwardly mocking him.

To make his miserable-looking evasions seem more convincing—and encourage Hyuga Kagami to exhaust even more ocular power—Obito would occasionally pick up the swords and blades scattered across the floor and hurl them toward Hyuga Kagami, who remained protected within the Susanoo, deliberately provoking and enticing him into launching even more attacks.

Clang! Clang!

Although the swords and blades stored inside the collection vault were all exceptionally rare and finely crafted weapons, they were still utterly incapable of doing anything to Hyuga Kagami’s Susanoo.

No matter how much force Obito used or what angle he threw them from, all he received in return was one sharp metallic impact after another. He simply could not harm Hyuga Kagami inside the Susanoo in the slightest.

"Tch! Is running around and dodging all you can do?"

Hyuga Kagami clicked his tongue, deliberately allowing a trace of frustrated anger to seep into his voice.

At the same time, although he intentionally kept himself from audibly panting, his chest began rising and falling noticeably.

Behind his mask, Obito stared at Hyuga Kagami’s heaving chest, the corner of his mouth curling upward slightly.

"Heh, already getting out of breath? Your ocular power can’t keep up anymore, can it? That’s not how Susanoo is supposed to be used!"

At just the right moment, Hyuga Kagami deliberately slowed the frequency of his Susanoo’s attacks.

He continued pursuing Obito through the collection vault, which had already been reduced to ruins, while gradually allowing the sound of his breathing to become audible.

"Huff... huff... How long are you planning to keep running?"

At that moment, Obito finally stopped fleeing.

Turning around, he began walking toward Hyuga Kagami while speaking in a lightly amused tone filled with unmistakable superiority.

"How much ocular power do you have left? Has your vision started getting blurry yet?"

Hyuga Kagami staggered slightly and exclaimed in shock, "Y-You... How do you know so much about the Mangekyō Sharingan?"

Obito continued approaching him, his tone becoming increasingly relaxed.

"Young Uchiha, your talent surprises me. It’s quite rare for a woman to awaken the Mangekyō Sharingan... especially at your age!"

Hyuga Kagami snapped angrily, "You think you’ve won?"

Obito clenched his remaining right hand into a fist.

"Haven’t I?"

"Go to hell!"

Under Hyuga Kagami’s control, the golden giant immediately swung its golden longsword and slashed toward Obito!

However, this time, Obito not only didn’t dodge, he didn’t even activate Kamui to become intangible.

Instead, numerous thick trees suddenly sprouted directly from his body. The countless trees twisted and intertwined with one another, forming what looked like two enormous arms made entirely of wood as they met the arms of Hyuga Kagami’s Susanoo swinging the sword!

In an instant, Hyuga Kagami’s Susanoo and Obito’s wooden construct became entangled with each other, wrestling as they entered a contest of raw strength.

"Haa...!"

With a soft shout, Hyuga Kagami pressed his palms together, as though he were pouring every last bit of his Mangekyō Sharingan’s ocular power into the struggle.

The relaxed expression on Obito’s face also faded slightly as he mobilized the chakra within his body to maintain his Wood Release.

The stalemate lasted for less than three minutes.

Gradually, the situation began tilting in favor of Obito’s wooden construct.

Hyuga Kagami’s Susanoo was suppressed little by little, and even the golden giant’s radiance had dimmed considerably.

At that moment, Obito said, "You know, the last time the Sharingan clashed with Wood Release... the Sharingan lost then, too!"

Hyuga Kagami gritted his teeth.

"I won’t lose!"

"The fact that you’ve managed to maintain Susanoo to this extent has already exceeded my expectations somewhat." After a brief pause, Obito continued indifferently, "But it’s all over now!"

As though to prove Obito’s declaration correct, the moment his words fell, the wooden construct tore through Hyuga Kagami’s Susanoo, ripping open a massive breach in the golden giant’s chest.

Obito slowly walked into the opening and casually said with a smile,

"You can still maintain it even now? Could it be that the ocular ability of your Mangekyō Sharingan is related to Susanoo?"

Seeing that Obito had entered the interior of the Susanoo, Hyuga Kagami originally intended to drop to one knee and make it look as though his strength had finally given out.

But after thinking about it for a moment, he felt that doing so would seem far too deliberate.

So instead, he merely took a small step backward, then pulled kunai after kunai from the ninja pouch at his waist and hurled them toward Obito.

Just like Sasuke in the original timeline during the battle between the brothers, desperately struggling against the steadily approaching Itachi, Hyuga Kagami put on what appeared to be one final, futile resistance...