"Water Release: Water Severing Wave!"
The instant Ryūjin secured Minato Namikaze underground, the sharp command cut through the rain soaked air.
A surge of danger prickled across his senses.
Chi.
A razor thin stream of water burst from Yagura Karatachi's mouth, compressed to such density that it could slice through steel. It tore across the battlefield and shot straight toward Ryūjin.
Ryūjin phased without hesitation. His body shifted into intangibility, and the high pressure water line passed cleanly through him, striking the ground beyond with a violent hiss.
"Tsk. Sneak attacks now? That's what the Mizukage has come to?"
His tone dripped with mockery as he turned his gaze toward Obito in the distance.
Yagura was the Mizukage of Kirigakure. A man of his standing should not have needed such tactics. If he resorted to them, the order had likely come from someone else.
Obito, his face half covered by White Zetsu, showed the faintest trace of discomfort.
He prided himself on standing above the shinobi world, manipulating events from the shadows, treating nations and Kage as pieces on a board. To rely on something so underhanded was not his preference.
But preference meant nothing here.
Kamui alone made a shinobi nearly impossible to touch. The Flying Raijin Jutsu was just as troublesome. Ryūjin possessed both.
If extraordinary measures were not taken, there would be no way to keep him here.
"You have no room to talk. You used a clone to ambush Minato Namikaze," Obito retorted.
Ryūjin gave a faint, dismissive smile.
"That and this are not the same thing. And tell me, do you really think this level of Water Release can hurt me?"
"Normally? No," Obito replied calmly. "But look around you. This is Amegakure. It rains all year. The air is saturated with moisture."
Rain fell endlessly across the Hidden Rain Village, the ground slick and reflective under the gray sky. The humidity was suffocating, chakra dense and heavy.
"In this environment," Obito continued, "how long do you think your intangibility can last?"
Most people would not have understood the implication.
Ryūjin did.
Kamui's intangibility had a limit. Continuous activation drained chakra and could not be maintained forever. Obito was attempting to force him to remain phased while Yagura sustained wide range Water Release attacks, exploiting the environment to stretch the assault long enough to break through that time limit.
"You're exposing your own weakness just to test mine," Ryūjin said, his expression unchanged. "You're really desperate."
There was no panic in his eyes, only a cool indifference that made Obito's jaw tighten.
"Let's support him," Konan whispered to Yahiko and Nagato from the sidelines.
Although Yagura's attack had not touched Ryūjin, the exchange between him and Obito made it clear that something deeper was at play. Konan was sharp enough to sense the danger.
She moved first.
"Stop them!" Obito barked.
White Zetsu and the shinobi under his control surged forward, rushing Yahiko, Nagato, and Konan.
"You two cover me," Konan said quietly.
Sheets of paper erupted from her body, swirling around her like a storm. They gathered at her back and formed wide, elegant wings.
She rose into the air, gliding over the advancing forces toward Yagura.
Kunai and shuriken shot upward in a dense volley.
Chi chi chi.
Paper shuriken burst from Konan's wings, intercepting the incoming projectiles midair. Steel clashed against reinforced paper, sparks scattering in the rain.
Below, Yahiko and Nagato intensified their assault, driving back the shinobi attempting to interfere. The pressure on Konan lessened.
She reached a position directly above Yagura and unleashed a concentrated barrage of paper blades.
"Humph."
Obito brought his hands together.
Wood Release erupted from the soaked earth. Thick branches tore through the ground with cracking sounds, twisting together into a defensive barrier that shielded Yagura completely. Konan's paper shuriken struck wood instead of flesh.
More branches speared upward toward her.
Against such force, her Paper Release could not hold. She folded her wings and retreated hastily, barely avoiding being impaled.
In moments, the three were forced into a defensive struggle, surrounded and pressured from all sides.
"Focus on yourselves. They can't touch me," Ryūjin said evenly.
He had intended to end this in his own time. Now, seeing them forced into a hard battle, he decided to conclude it immediately.
His expression cooled.
He lifted his gaze and locked onto Yagura. The Mangekyō Sharingan in his right eye spun sharply.
"Amaterasu."
Yagura felt it instantly.
Not danger.
Death.
Instinctively, he drew upon the power within him. The chakra of the Three Tails surged outward, forming a violent crimson cloak around his body.
Ceng.
At the exact moment the Tailed Beast Chakra Cloak formed, black flames ignited upon it.
They appeared without warning, without origin, clinging to the chakra itself.
"Ahh!"
Yagura collapsed to one knee, screaming as the inextinguishable flames consumed the chakra cloak. The Water Severing Wave ceased immediately.
The rain continued to fall, but it did nothing. The black flames burned fiercely, indifferent to water.
Obito stared, stunned.
Impossible.
Ryūjin was still intangible. He had not solidified to attack.
Common sense dictated that when using Kamui's intangibility, one could not attack. To strike meant to become tangible.
But that rule applied to conventional attacks.
Kamui itself was a dōjutsu.
If activating a dōjutsu forced solidification, then Kamui would negate itself. That was a contradiction.
Ryūjin's intangibility came from his left eye.
Amaterasu was cast with his right.
They did not interfere.
Obito's thoughts spiraled.
"Kamui in one eye… black flames in the other? That kind of pairing…"
His mind buzzed.
Mangekyō abilities were unique, often forming complementary pairs. Kamui manifesting independently in one eye was rare enough. To pair it with Amaterasu, one of the most destructive dōjutsu of the Uchiha, defied his expectations entirely.
And worse, Ryūjin wielded both with precision.
The battlefield fell into a tense silence, broken only by Yagura's pained cries and the endless rainfall over Amegakure.
Ryūjin stood untouched in the storm, eyes cold and steady.
If they thought humidity and numbers would corner him, they were kidding themselves.
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