Kakashi’s taijutsu was extremely strong.
When he fought Kakuzu, it was largely his close-combat ability that allowed him to keep pace and avoid being overwhelmed.
Obito, on the other hand, was only average in taijutsu.
He relied far more heavily on ninjutsu and dōjutsu.
However, half of his body had fused with White Zetsu and contained Hashirama’s cells.
As a result, he could endure tremendous punishment and recover from injuries at an abnormal speed.
“Kakashi!” Obito shouted in fury.
He could not tolerate being driven back by Kakashi, so he drew Madara’s Uchiha Gunbai.
With two powerful swings, he forced Kakashi away.
“Lightning Style: Lightning Cutter!” Kakashi launched his signature technique.
His speed surged, and he became a streak of lightning as he drove his hand toward Obito.
“Too fast!” Obito had no time to dodge normally.
He could only activate Kamui and shift the targeted section of his body into the Kamui dimension.
As expected, Kakashi’s Lightning Cutter passed straight through Obito’s chest without touching him.
It looked as though Obito’s body had become an illusion.
There was one thing he had overlooked.
Might Guy was still inside the Kamui dimension.
When Obito shifted part of his chest into that space, Guy saw it appear directly in front of him.
He did not hesitate.
His fist slammed into Obito’s chest.
“Gah!” Obito spat out a mouthful of blood.
That punch had hurt.
“What happened?” Kakashi stared in confusion.
“I didn’t hit him.” He still did not understand the secret behind Obito’s Sharingan and had no idea why Obito had suddenly been injured.
“Kakashi, I’m going to kill you!” Obito was furious.
Kamui allowed him to phase through attacks and avoid nearly all damage.
Ordinarily, no one could touch him.
But after sending Guy into the Kamui dimension, he had unintentionally created a weakness in his own ability.
Every time he shifted part of his body into that dimension, Guy could strike it.
He had effectively disabled his own greatest defense.
It was his own mistake, but Obito had no intention of blaming himself.
Instead, he directed all his anger at Kakashi.
“Fire Style: Rinnegan Sea of Flames!” Obito activated the Rinnegan while releasing Fire Style.
The two powers combined into a unique Rinnegan-enhanced ninjutsu whose destructive force far surpassed an ordinary technique.
Kakashi had been standing on the surface of the river.
In an instant, the entire area beneath him transformed into a sea of flames.
The fire was unusual.
Like Amaterasu, it seemed capable of reducing anything it touched to ash.
More importantly, its range was enormous—far greater than anything Amaterasu could normally cover.
“Earth Style: Mud Wall!” Kakashi quickly formed hand seals.
A massive wall of earth rose from beneath the riverbed.
Kakashi rode it upward, escaping the flames below.
Even so, the sea of fire steadily burned through the wall.
Fortunately, the technique could not be maintained for long.
The flames faded before the wall was completely destroyed.
“Lightning Style: Lightning Beam!” From high above, Kakashi counterattacked.
Lightning-nature chakra erupted from his palm and condensed into a brilliant beam that shot toward Obito with the speed of a thunderbolt.
“Preta Path.” Obito raised both hands.
A curved barrier formed before him and absorbed every trace of chakra within the attack.
Kakashi’s Lightning Beam possessed tremendous destructive power, but it could not harm him.
“Kakashi, you’re nearly out of chakra, aren’t you?” Obito gave a cold laugh.
He knew Kakashi had never possessed particularly large chakra reserves.
Both Lightning Cutter and Lightning Beam consumed enormous amounts of chakra.
Sure enough, Kakashi was breathing heavily.
His strength was clearly beginning to fail.
“It’s time for that eye to return to its original owner!” Obito roared and launched a fierce counterattack.
A barrage of shuriken forced Kakashi to retreat repeatedly.
“Kamui!” Kakashi reached solid ground and took cover near a tree.
Using the last of his chakra, he activated his final technique.
Kamui consumed more chakra than any other ability he possessed.
Once he used it, he would likely collapse.
If it failed to defeat Obito, then there would be nothing more he could do.
“Kamui?” Obito vanished from the focal point of Kakashi’s gaze.
He appeared from another angle and threw a black receiver.
The rod pierced Kakashi’s shoulder.
The Rinnegan’s power immediately spread through his body.
Kakashi’s muscles locked.
His chakra became chaotic, leaving him completely unable to move.
“Kakashi…” Obito approached him slowly.
He reached toward the Sharingan implanted in Kakashi’s eye socket.
“You haven’t improved at all.” Just before his hand touched Kakashi’s face, Obito clenched it into a fist.
He struck Kakashi and sent him flying across the ground.
Kakashi spat out blood.
Then, to his surprise, Obito turned and began walking away.
“Obito!” Kakashi called after him.
“Aren’t you going to take your eye back?” He no longer had any strength to resist.
Why had Obito left the Sharingan behind?
Obito stopped and glanced back.
“Where exactly do you expect me to put it?” One of his eyes was already a Sharingan.
The other was a Rinnegan.
He did not even have space for Madara’s second Rinnegan, much less another Sharingan.
He was not going to discard the Rinnegan merely to restore both of his Sharingan.
Nor would he replace his current Sharingan with a second Rinnegan.
Kamui was simply too important.
In some situations, its value exceeded even that of the Rinnegan.
Kakashi finally understood.
Obito had never truly come to reclaim the eye.
He had only wanted an excuse to beat Kakashi—or perhaps to measure how strong his former teammate had become.
“The sky is so blue…” Kakashi lay on his back and stared upward.
The wind carried the clouds slowly across the sky.
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