Chapter 294: The Result of Maxed Out Hatred
"..." Kenichi looked at the figure standing before him.
He knew it was Obito.
Even though Obito had changed masks, Kenichi still recognized him. That white spiral mask had appeared for a long time in the original story and had even made its way into games. With the single exposed eye and that unmistakable design, there was no way Kenichi could mistake him for anyone else.
Honestly, Kenichi had always felt that if Kakashi had seen this version of Obito early on, he might have had some suspicions.
It was just that Kakashi had personally witnessed Obito's death. Because of that, he never considered the possibility that Obito could still be alive.
Later, of course, it was confirmed that the masked man really was Uchiha Obito, and once his identity was exposed, the strength he displayed was overwhelming.
Obito had been difficult enough to deal with back then. The current Obito was no easy opponent either.
And the problem was, Obito had now appeared right in front of him wearing this mask, which meant only one thing.
He wanted to fight.
"Who are you?" Kenichi asked.
He really did not want to fight Obito right now. Although the Konoha ninja behind him were still busy dealing with Obito's Wood Release, they would eventually free up their hands.
Once they did, Obito absolutely would not mind joining forces with them to gang up on him. Kenichi was very aware of how much hatred he had built up in Obito's heart.
And not just Obito.
He had also piled up quite a bit of hatred with Tsunade. After all, he had just dragged Kato Dan, her dead lover, back out of the grave. The look in her eyes earlier had practically screamed that she wanted to cremate him on the spot.
So yes, being surrounded by two enraged top-tier ninja made Kenichi's scalp prickle.
Showing off felt great for a moment.
The aftermath, however, was a funeral waiting to happen.
Right now, Kenichi felt like he was in serious trouble.
"Hehehe... who am I? Who am I?!" Obito let out a manic laugh.
The next second, he raised his head, and his Mangekyo Sharingan locked onto Kenichi.
Immediately, Kenichi felt as though something had wrapped around his mind.
He instantly understood what was happening. It was Genjutsu, cast through Obito's Mangekyo Sharingan.
Three tomoe spun into existence in Kenichi's eyes as he forcibly broke through the Genjutsu's influence. But the moment he broke free, he saw two wooden spikes thrusting straight toward him.
Wood Release: Piercing Branch!
That, however, was not Obito's real killing move.
Kenichi sharply sensed a faint tremor beneath his feet.
Thus, the branches pierced straight through his body, only to hit nothing but an afterimage. It was a clone.
At the same time, a figure burst out from underground, wooden tendrils whipping from his hands as he pursued Kenichi again.
"Who exactly are you?" Kenichi asked while dodging the fierce assault. "A Konoha ninja? An Anbu? But you don't look like one. Sneaking around, too ashamed to show your face, and you've got a Mangekyo Sharingan. Are you some leftover Uchiha brat?"
He chatted while dodging, his tone light, but he had already confirmed one thing.
The thread he had hidden on Rin Nohara's body had snapped.
That proved Obito had already made a move.
Rin's corpse itself was probably still intact. Even if Hiruzen died on the spot, Obito would never let anything happen to Rin's remains.
As for everyone else buried here, though, that was a different story. Obito would not care in the slightest.
And afterward, Obito would most likely take Rin's corpse away as well.
That did not matter.
Kenichi had already preserved one of Rin's arms in advance. Even if Obito burned the rest of the corpse to ashes, Kenichi could still use Edo Tensei to summon Rin whenever he wanted.
"..." Obito said nothing.
Instead, he created a Shadow Clone and, in the next instant, two streams of Grand Fire Annihilation roared toward Kenichi.
As a member of the Uchiha clan, and after spending so long learning under Madara himself, how could Obito not know that technique?
Obito had long since mastered it.
Since Obito refused to talk, Kenichi decided to irritate him another way.
You won't speak? Fine. Then I'll talk enough for the both of us.
With one-handed seals, Kenichi formed Water Dragon Bullet and sent it crashing into the flames, fire and water colliding and instantly flooding the forest with boiling steam.
"You're not the only one who can use Fire Release," Kenichi sneered as he leapt back. "What's wrong, little Uchiha brat? Don't you know you should kneel when you meet your ancestor?"
As soon as the words left his mouth, he formed a seal with one hand and unleashed a sky-covering wave of fire from his mouth, sending it surging toward Obito.
Obito looked at the advancing flames, his eyes narrowing.
"This fire is wrong."
Before it even reached him, the searing heat had already hit his face, drying his throat. The temperature of this blaze was absurd, and the range was no less terrifying than the Grand Fire Annihilation Madara had once used.
That only made the killing intent in Obito's heart toward Kenichi grow even stronger.
This bastard had not only desecrated Rin's corpse, he was also speaking to him with such contempt?
Did he really think he could do whatever he wanted?
Kenichi had no relation whatsoever to the Uchiha clan.
But even if he did, it would not matter.
For daring to drag Rin's corpse out and desecrate it, Obito had already decided. No matter what happened today, Amamiya Kenichi would die here.
Though he could no longer casually use Kamui after what had happened, anyone who thought Obito only relied on his eye techniques was a fool.
After all, he had endured Madara's brutal training. His combat ability at this point was already extremely formidable. Combined with the Mangekyo Sharingan, he was more than enough to cripple most opponents who lacked crucial information on his abilities.
A ninja battle was, at its core, still a battle of intelligence.
The next second, Kenichi saw countless wooden spikes burst straight through his sea of flames and shoot toward him, while two hands erupted from the ground below, grabbing for his ankles.
At the same time, the Mangekyo cast Genjutsu again. Even half a second of hesitation would be enough for Obito to seize the initiative and vent all the fury he had been holding back.
But how could Kenichi not know how to fight the Uchiha?
He had sparred with Shisui more than once and knew very well that when facing an Uchiha's Mangekyo Sharingan, avoiding direct eye contact was often enough to greatly weaken their Genjutsu pressure, especially since he himself possessed the three tomoe Sharingan.
Just as he leapt upward, though, the corner of his eye caught a figure.
A woman with pale blond hair and a ridiculously exaggerated figure.
Tsunade.
"Trouble," Kenichi muttered, his mouth twitching.
He was still in midair. That made dodging far more difficult.
Obito had clearly noticed Tsunade's movement as well, because the two of them had unintentionally synchronized their attacks.
Obito restricted his movement while Tsunade closed in for the kill.
Wood Release surged from every direction. If Kenichi dodged Tsunade's strike, he would be caught by the wooden thorns. If he did not dodge, then he would have to take the full force of Tsunade's Heavenly Foot of Pain, a kick so fast and brutal it distorted the air.
Would Substitution Jutsu help here?
Of course not.
Substitution looked invincible in games, as if it could dodge anything, but in actual ninja combat, its usefulness was limited. Against enemies who were too strong, it became far less effective.
There was no chance of using Substitution Jutsu against something like Night Guy, for example. Even Madara himself had admitted that the space around it was distorted and locked. Against that kind of attack, even space-time ninjutsu would not save you.
Although Kenichi was not facing the Eight Gates Guy right now, an enraged Tsunade who had already opened the Yin Seal was not much easier to deal with in this moment.
That meant Substitution was not an option.
In that case...
"Go on," Obito thought coldly as he watched him. "Reveal yourself, Amamiya Kenichi."
He was staring at Kenichi without blinking.
Although he had already decided to kill him no matter what, he still wanted to see whether the man who had taken Kakashi's eye really was Amamiya Kenichi.
And in Obito's eyes, this was already checkmate.
Against a simultaneous attack like this, the simplest solution would be to use the eye taken from Kakashi.
There should have been no other way.
"Triple Rashomon!"
Kenichi roared as three enormous demonic gates appeared before him.
The barriers instantly rose to meet Tsunade's strike.
Against the enraged Tsunade, however, the Triple Rashomon did not hold for more than an instant before being smashed apart.
But that single moment of delay was enough.
Kenichi found a gap and forced himself through it.
Unfortunately, he had still underestimated just how much hatred Tsunade was carrying at that moment.
Kato Dan was one of the most special and important people in her life. His death had left her with hemophobia and turned her into the broken version of herself that existed for years afterward.
Only recently had she finally decided to move past it, to protect the dreams Dan and Nawaki had left behind.
And then, right in front of her eyes, Dan's corpse had been dragged back out and desecrated.
At this moment, Tsunade no longer held anything back.
She fully displayed the true power of one of Konoha's Sannin.
Unfortunately, that was not a demonstration Kenichi wanted to see.
He had only just shifted his position to dodge the thorns Obito was sending after him when he felt an immense wind pressure close in.
Then came a terrifying impact.
The force hit him directly and sent him flying.
He spun through the air several times before barely stabilizing himself. The moment he turned his head, he saw Tsunade already throwing another punch.
That earlier strike had already left even his Sage body feeling shaken. He could feel a metallic taste rising in his throat.
Another direct hit would be a real problem.
"It wasn't me who skewered your lover's corpse into three-color dango!" Kenichi snapped angrily.
He had held back against Tsunade before. Because she was someone he knew, and also one of his teacher's old companions, he had never seriously tried to kill her.
Bringing Kato Dan back out had indeed gone too far.
But his real intention at the time had been to disgust Obito. He had not expected Kato Dan to be buried here as well. Once he saw the opportunity, he simply went all in and played along.
He just had not expected Tsunade to explode to this extent too.
That was why, deep down, he actually felt a little guilty. After all, pulling someone's dead lover out of the grave in a world where the dead were respected was really excessive.
"That was still your doing," Tsunade said coldly.
She glanced at the masked man in white, then back at Kenichi.
Naturally, she understood what Kenichi meant.
But she still blamed him.
Obito frowned.
This bastard was trying to shift the blame?
The thought only made the rage in his heart burn hotter.
Lover?
His Rin could not even rest in peace after death.
Still, Obito was a qualified ninja.
He knew that this moment was his only real chance to strike.
Tsunade had already looked his way. His earlier outburst of Wood Release had killed more than a few Konoha ninja as collateral damage. Once she calmed down even slightly, she might turn on him as well.
As long as Tsunade still considered herself a Konoha ninja, she would never let that slide.
So Obito made his decision.
He poured out the vast majority of his Chakra and forcibly activated the technique he had modified from Hell's Chaos.
At that exact moment, Kenichi's danger sense screamed at him.
It was not ordinary danger.
It was the kind of warning that came right before death.
Kenichi turned and ran without hesitation. He knew very well that Obito's real target was him, not Tsunade.
"Wood Release: Hell Descends!"
Obito gritted his teeth and unleashed the technique.
It was still unfinished. He had been experimenting with it, and had not intended to use it yet.
At the same time, massive trees exploded into existence all around Kenichi, twisting and intertwining until they sealed the entire area like a giant wooden cage.
Then the interior erupted into countless thorns, all of them spreading toward Kenichi from every direction.
He instantly realized that every inch of the area, even the ground beneath his feet, was becoming a field of hardened spikes.
"This bastard..." Kenichi cursed inwardly. "Does he want to skewer me alive in here?"
Without hesitation, he opened his mouth and unleashed Sage Art: Grand Fire Annihilation, but the effect against the Wood Release in front of him was limited.
In the end, if Wood Release could really be dealt with so easily by Fire Release, then Hashirama would never have become the God of Shinobi.
.....
[If you don't want to wait for the next update, read 10–50 chapters ahead on P@treon.]
[[email protected]/FanficLord03]
[One Piece, Naruto, Bleach, Soul Land, NBA, and more — all in one place.]