Chapter 383: The Strongest Susanoo

Chapter 383: Chapter 383: The Strongest Susanoo

Outside Kirigakure.

Kisame, Ryū, and Renge had finally managed to shake off the pursuing Kirigakure ANBU. They stopped beside a small stream to rest while tending to their wounds.

"Peh..."

Spitting out a mouthful of bloody saliva, Renge cursed, "Damn Akatsuki! They actually screwed us over!"

They had only just joined Akatsuki—the organization that had been controlling the Fourth Mizukage—only to immediately find themselves being hunted down by the Fourth Mizukage after he broke free from the genjutsu.

One could easily imagine Renge’s mood right now.

Ryū’s expression was equally gloomy.

He had thought that by joining Akatsuki, he would finally be able to break free from that hopeless fate where his life was never truly his own.

Yet unexpectedly, nothing had changed.

He was still nothing more than a homeless stray with nowhere to turn.

Kisame, on the other hand, took it rather well. He grinned and said, "The fact that the Fourth didn’t kill us outright is already something worth celebrating."

With Samehada at his side, Kisame had, in the original timeline, defeated both the Four-Tails Jinchūriki and the Eight-Tails Jinchūriki after gaining the upper hand at the start of their respective battles. His strength was infinitely close to Kage-level.

But against the Fourth Mizukage, who was likewise highly proficient in Water Release, Kisame found himself unable to properly bring his strength to bear. All he could do was flee in frustration.

Renge snorted coldly. "If you two hadn’t been holding me back, would I have ended up in such a sorry state?"

Kisame smiled. "Renge-san, quite a few elders of your Kaguya Clan were personally dealt with by the Fourth, weren’t they?"

With his Shikotsumyaku, Renge was indeed capable of threatening the Fourth Mizukage.

But if the battle truly dragged on, Renge would undoubtedly be the one to die.

The Fourth Mizukage had already proven that fact on many of the Kaguya Clan’s strongest warriors.

Renge immediately flew into a rage.

"You wanna die?!"

Like most members of the Kaguya Clan, Renge was hot-tempered and bloodthirsty, possessing an explosive temper that could ignite at the slightest provocation.

Just then, Ryū suddenly shouted, "Who’s there? Come out!"

Ryū’s shout immediately interrupted the confrontation between Kisame and Renge.

The three of them simultaneously turned their gazes toward a patch of grass not far away.

Rustle... rustle...

The grass swayed, and a moment later, a figure stepped out.

The figure wore Akatsuki’s black cloak with red clouds and had a mask identical to Obito’s covering his face. However, his mannerisms and demeanor were completely different from Obito’s.

The moment he appeared, he scratched his head and cheerfully said, "Hello, everyone! My name is Tobi. I’m your new partner!"

Ryū looked utterly confused. "You... How are you...?"

Through the vision of Ryū’s Red Eye, Tobi’s body appeared to be nothing more than an empty shell. He didn’t possess any of the internal organs that a normal human should have.

Yet judging from his chakra signature, the person standing before them unquestionably existed.

Looking at Tobi, whose build and attire were remarkably similar to Obito’s, Renge snapped irritably, "Hey, what the hell happened? Why did the Fourth suddenly regain consciousness? Were you screwing with us?"

"Ahahaha... That’s pretty hard to explain! Anyway, just come with me for now. Once we reach the organization’s base, you’ll understand!"

...

Somewhere within the Land of Water, inside a secluded cave.

A distorted vortex suddenly appeared.

A moment later, Obito emerged from it, exhaustion written across his face.

Just as Hyuga Kagami had predicted, after realizing that he had been set up, Obito chose to activate Izanagi with a delay.

As a result, only after Hyuga Kagami’s ocular power had become too depleted to continue, forcing him to withdraw his Blaze Release and leave the underground collection vault, did Obito finally revive and reappear.

In doing so, he successfully avoided Hyuga Kagami, who had been waiting to kill him a second time.

Zetsu, who was inside the cave, was somewhat surprised. "You’re injured?"

Obito casually replied, "Yeah. Ran into a little trouble."

Zetsu moved closer and saw that Obito’s entire left arm was gone. Clicking his tongue in amazement, he said, "Tsk, tsk. Someone managed to injure you this badly? Don’t tell me you ran into the leader of Kamigami?"

Zetsu remembered that the last time Obito had suffered such a severe loss was during the Nine-Tails incident, when he had faced the Fourth Hokage.

"No!" After a brief pause, Obito said irritably, "It was Kamigami’s ’Homura.’"

Zetsu chuckled and teased, "So it was a battle between Sharingan, huh?"

At that moment, Obito removed his mask, revealing the three-tomoe Sharingan in his left eye socket, which had already completely lost its sight.

Zetsu was stunned. "You even had to use Izanagi?"

The fact that Obito had used Izanagi meant that he had already died once.

And that was precisely why Zetsu was so shocked.

He found it difficult to imagine anyone actually managing to kill Obito when he possessed Kamui.

Obito said darkly, "I let my guard down. I never expected that woman to be such a damn good actress. Damn it!"

"A woman!?" Zetsu froze for a moment before hurriedly asking, "You’re saying Kamigami’s ’Homura’ is a woman?"

Ignoring the question, Obito continued with his own analysis. "Her Mangekyō Sharingan’s dōjutsu should be related to Susanoo. I suspect the ability of her dōjutsu is to reduce the ocular power consumed by Susanoo."

Even now, the possibility of the Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan still hadn’t crossed Obito’s mind.

Because he knew very well that the secret of the Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan had long since been taken out of the clan by Uchiha Madara.

Aside from Obito himself, as Madara’s successor, even the Uchiha Clan in Konoha probably knew nothing about this secret.

Moreover, even if someone knew the secret of the Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan, it would be useless.

As far as Obito knew, there were currently only four Uchiha in the entire shinobi world who had awakened the Mangekyō Sharingan: Shinichi, Shisui, Kamigami’s "Homura," and Obito himself.

Among the four, Obito, Shinichi, and Shisui had all lost their blood relatives, meaning none of them possessed the necessary conditions to obtain the Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan through transplantation and fusion.

As for Kamigami’s "Homura," although her true identity was unknown, the chances that one of her blood relatives had also awakened the Mangekyō Sharingan were infinitesimally small.

Therefore, without artificial intervention, it was absolutely impossible for a pair of Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan to naturally appear in the current shinobi world.

Zetsu chuckled. "That’s quite a useful ability!"

Obito nodded and ordered, "Raise Homura’s threat rating. She’s not someone an ordinary shinobi can handle!"

After saying that, Obito fell into a gloomy silence.

This defeat had dealt him a considerable blow.

Not only had everything he had arranged in Kirigakure been completely destroyed, but it had also confirmed something else—

Kamigami already possessed intelligence on him.

That feeling of helplessness once again brought back the memory of Rin’s death.

Back then, he had been just as powerless.

Zetsu’s smile disappeared as he said, "Kamigami is becoming too great a threat. Our plan will probably be severely affected by them. It’s time for you to make up your mind."

Obito’s expression sharpened, and he shot Zetsu a cold glare.

"I know what I should do!"

Zetsu shrugged. "You’re merely taking back something that belongs to you. What’s there to hesitate about?"

After a long silence, Obito said indifferently, "That doesn’t belong to me."

"Do you intend to give up on the dream in your heart?" After a brief pause, Zetsu continued tempting him, "Take it back, and you’ll possess twice the ocular power as well as Susanoo—

"A supreme Susanoo capable of using Kamui!"