"Impossible… could it be… he dug out Kakashi's right eye? No, that is not right. Even if it were Kakashi's right eye, his ocular jutsu is not the same as mine."
Obito muttered under his breath, his gaze locked onto Ryūjin Uchiha. Confusion clouded his mind, and for the first time in years, he felt as though the very foundation of his understanding had cracked.
Kakashi's right eye had originally belonged to him. The awakening of that eye had been triggered by the awakening of his own left eye. Through the resonance of bloodline and shared chakra, the two Mangekyō Sharingan had awakened together.
When Kakashi's eye awakened, Obito had sensed its ability immediately. It was long range Kamui, unlike the close range Kamui in his own left eye.
So where did this mysterious Uchiha's Kamui come from?
Did he awaken it himself?
But for two different Uchiha to awaken identical Mangekyō abilities was unheard of.
"Damn it."
Obito clenched his fists tightly. No one understood better than him how troublesome Kamui was. It made its user nearly untouchable and impossibly difficult to predict.
Yet when Ryūjin phased earlier to evade the attacks of Minato Namikaze and the Mizukage, Obito had not sensed any disturbance in his own Kamui dimension.
That meant only one thing.
Ryūjin's Kamui did not share the same space as his.
Two separate dimensions.
"This man must be captured, no matter what," Obito decided inwardly.
This Uchiha was shrouded in secrets. He possessed Kamui identical in ability yet different in dimension. That alone made him a threat that could not be ignored.
Obito shifted his gaze toward Minato Namikaze.
Do not disappoint me.
With the Flying Raijin, Minato was almost impossible to guard against. And with Yagura, the Mizukage, present as well, two Kage level fighters stood against Ryūjin.
There was no way they would fail.
Clang. Clang.
Under Obito's watchful eye, Ryūjin wielded twin kunai as he clashed fiercely with Minato Namikaze. Sparks burst into the air as steel met steel. Their movements blurred, too fast for ordinary eyes to follow.
It was a breathtaking exchange.
Though both Obito and Ryūjin possessed Kamui, their fighting styles were entirely different. Obito relied on Kamui almost exclusively, letting it dictate the rhythm of battle.
Ryūjin did not.
He used Kamui sparingly, as support rather than foundation. He phased only when necessary. The rest of his combat relied on sharp taijutsu, precise shurikenjutsu, and controlled ninjutsu.
He did not unleash destructive Mangekyō techniques against Minato.
Minato was being controlled. And as long as the man could still protect himself, Ryūjin had no intention of killing him.
Whoosh.
In the midst of the clash, Minato launched a Flying Raijin kunai while chaining it with other attacks to restrict Ryūjin's movements. The timing was flawless. The angle was precise.
Ryūjin had no choice but to phase.
The marked kunai passed straight through his body and embedded itself behind him.
In that same instant, Minato vanished.
Flying Raijin, Second Step.
A faint smile curved at Ryūjin's lips.
Yeah right.
He casually drew out his own Flying Raijin kunai and hurled it forward. In the same motion, he activated the technique.
His figure disappeared.
Boom.
Minato's Rasengan slammed into the ground, shattering stone and sending debris flying.
"What? The Flying Raijin Jutsu?"
Shock flashed across Minato's face. Besides himself, who else in the shinobi world had mastered this technique?
Obito's eyes widened as well.
"Damn it. How does he know Flying Raijin?"
One Kamui was already a nightmare. Adding Flying Raijin to the equation made Ryūjin nearly untouchable. There were few in the entire shinobi world who could contend with such a combination.
Then realization struck Obito.
A year ago, during the Hidden Mist's invasion of the Hidden Leaf, the mysterious shinobi who killed five members of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist had been this very man.
"Who the hell is this guy?"
For someone so powerful to remain hidden within the Hidden Leaf for years without drawing attention was absurd.
What was he planning?
Minato's voice cut through the battlefield.
"How do you know the Flying Raijin Jutsu?"
"Self taught," Ryūjin replied flatly.
He then activated long range Kamui and pulled the Flying Raijin kunai Minato had thrown into his own Kamui dimension.
From the start of the fight, Ryūjin had been methodical. Every time Minato threw a marked kunai, he absorbed it. He refused to give Minato additional anchor points.
Now only a single marker remained on the ground.
What no one realized was that this had been intentional.
"Shuriken Shadow Clone Jutsu."
At Ryūjin's command, a storm of shuriken filled the sky, multiplying mid flight and descending toward Minato in a dense rain of steel.
Faced with such overwhelming coverage, blocking would be inefficient. Minato reacted on instinct.
He vanished.
A flash later, he reappeared at the lone remaining marker.
And in that very instant, the ground beneath him shifted.
A hand shot out and seized his ankle.
Not good.
Before Minato could respond, a calm voice echoed upward.
"Headhunter Jutsu."
The earth swallowed him whole. His body was dragged underground in a split second, leaving only his head exposed above the surface.
A nearby shadow clone of Ryūjin, which had been lying in wait beneath the soil, dispersed in a puff of smoke.
The trap was complete.
Minato Namikaze was immobilized. He could not move. He could not weave signs. He could not escape.
For all his speed, he was finished.
Minato's expression darkened.
He had crossed battlefields throughout the Third Great Ninja War without defeat. Yet today, he had been subdued twice in rapid succession.
And both times, by the same technique.
Ryūjin looked down at him, eyes calm.
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