The wide-area Hidden Mist Jutsu Yagura had deployed reduced visibility to nearly zero, which put the Sharingan at a severe disadvantage, so dispelling it was the first priority.
From the scrolls Madara had left behind, Obito had learned a vast number of powerful jutsu, and the elemental releases of all five natures were naturally among them.
He formed a long and complex sequence of hand seals in clean, fluid succession and extended both arms forward.
Wind Release: Tornado Hurricane!
Whoosh! Whoosh!
A ferocious gale swept through and drove the dense mist apart.
The silhouette of the Fourth Mizukage Yagura, hidden within the mist, appeared.
Green hair, violet eyes, a scar beneath his left eye that resembled a suture mark, and in his hand a staff-like weapon with a hooked tip adorned with a green flower. He had planted it against the ground and stood firm within the hurricane, his violet pupils filled with anger, as though having his prized Hidden Mist Jutsu broken apart was a serious blow to his pride.
Wind Release: Typhoon!
Yagura formed a one-handed seal, swung his staff in a sweeping arc, and unleashed his own powerful Wind Release.
Boom! Boom!
Two currents of air collided head-on and generated a massive convective storm.
"Ugh!"
"Wah!"
Spiral Zetsu and Uzuki Yūki were both sent tumbling through the air.
Yūki drew her blade from her back and drove it into the earth, shielding her face with her free hand as she watched the two figures clashing within the storm, and thought to herself: 'They're both monsters.'
The storm died down.
Lightning Release: Chidori!
Hiss hiss hiss!
Obito vanished from where he stood, lightning coiling around his right hand as he drove forward toward Yagura.
Water Release: Water Mirror Jutsu!
A circular water mirror appeared in front of Yagura, reflecting back an image of Obito's Chidori charge. Whoosh! The mirror rippled, and the mirror image of Obito burst out of it, the mirror image Chidori in its hand colliding with the true Chidori in Obito's.
Crack!!
They annihilated each other, identical in power.
The corner of Obito's mouth tugged upward. 'Just as I expected. Yagura would use this technique. Then I'll copy it without holding back.'
Obito's true aim had been to use the Sharingan's copying ability to copy Yagura's jutsu.
Otherwise, the rare opportunity to cross blades with a Kage-level fighter would have gone entirely to waste.
"Before my Water Mirror Jutsu, even an S-rank jutsu can be perfectly replicated." Yagura said with cool arrogance.
"Is that so." Obito's left Mangekyō Sharingan focused on the mirror.
Kamui!!
Crack!! The water mirror shattered into nothing.
"What!? It can't be replicated. His dōjutsu actually surpasses my Water Mirror Jutsu!" Yagura cried out in shock.
"This time it's your head!"
Obito's left eye focused on Yagura's head.
"Not good!"
Water Release: Rippling Light Jutsu!
The Fourth Mizukage Yagura maintained a special layer of Water Release chakra over his body's surface at all times. Without forming a single seal, he could manipulate this chakra to refract light, making his outline waver and blur like a distorted image.
"Hm!?" In Obito's eyes, Yagura's silhouette shimmered and shifted like a reflection on the surface of a lake.
"Hmph! Kamui!!" But he activated the dōjutsu regardless.
"Ahhh!!" A cry rang out, the distorted light-image steadied, and Yagura went flying backward trailing a long streak of blood, one hand gripping his staff, the other pressed against his left ear, blood pouring out beneath his palm without stopping.
Kamui had gone slightly off course and failed to twist his head off cleanly, but it had still taken his left ear.
The distance that now separated Yagura and Obito had exceeded the maximum range of the long-distance Kamui from Obito's left eye.
"Worthy of the Fourth Mizukage. Those who find a way to survive that technique of mine are truly rare." Obito said with a laugh.
"Damn Uchiha, I'll kill you!!" Yagura's youthful boyish face contorted into a savage snarl, and the killing intent he radiated grew even stronger.
Water Release: Water Severing Wave!
He spat a straight ultra-high-pressure column of water from his mouth that formed a razor-sharp blade of water, which instantly cleaved the ground apart and sliced toward Obito.
It passed straight through him, of course.
'So that's his Transparency Mode! Hmph!' Yagura shifted his hand seals: "Split!"
Whoosh!
The water column split into two. One continued overlapping with Obito's body, while the other shot toward Uzuki Yūki in the distance.
Obito's brow furrowed: 'Trouble. In this state I can't intercept it.'
Crack!
Uzuki Yūki gripped the Thundersword Kiba with both hands, lightning coiling around the blades the instant she drew them, and crossed the twin swords in front of her, catching the Water Severing Wave.
She managed to deflect it, though the tremendous force of the water blasted her backward. That was still far preferable to being pierced through a vital point.
Yagura looked at the Thundersword in Yūki's hands and tossed his own staff aside, forming seals with both hands. His killing intent turned sharp and frigid: "The Thundersword Kiba, property of Kirigakure, fallen into an outsider's hands. The Hōzuki boy has infuriated me. Every last one of you will die and be buried in the Blood Mist Village."
Water Release: Great Exploding Water Colliding Wave!
A torrent of seawater erupted violently from his mouth and in an instant formed an enormous ellipsoidal body of water that submerged everything within dozens of square meters, including, of course, every person inside that area.
Deep within the water mass, Obito thought: 'Water Release this powerful is a match for the Great Fire Annihilation. This is what it means to be a man who carries the name of Mizukage. Spiral Zetsu, Yūki is in your hands.'
"Ugh!!" In another part of the water mass, Uzuki Yūki's entire body was crushed by the water pressure, unable to breathe or move.
Crack! Fortunately, Spiral Zetsu's body spread open and wrapped itself around Uzuki Yūki.
"No, get off!" Uzuki Yūki struggled in strong resistance.
"If you want to live, stop squirming. I'm only saving you because of Raito." Spiral Zetsu said, and Uzuki Yūki stopped resisting.
Gurgle, gurgle! Spiral Zetsu moved to the bottom of the water mass and sank into the earth.
More than ten seconds later, a kilometer from the center of the battle, Spiral Zetsu emerged and separated from Uzuki Yūki.
"Cough, cough." Uzuki Yūki coughed violently and gasped in great lungfuls of air, then looked down at the enormous ellipsoidal water mass below. She knew Obito was still inside it.
"Don't worry. He's not taken out that easily." Spiral Zetsu said.
At the center of the battle.
Yagura thought: 'Hm? The woman's chakra suddenly vanished from inside the water mass. No matter. She can't escape from the palm of my hand anyway.'
Obito thought: 'Looks like Spiral Zetsu has taken Yūki somewhere safe. This water pressure is a serious disadvantage. I'll block it with the Susanoo skeleton first, then use Kamui to relocate.'
Crack!
The skeletal form of the Susanoo released, holding back the water pressure, while Obito simultaneously unleashed the Kamui vortex to prepare transferring himself out of the water mass.
"Don't think it'll be that easy!" Yagura's expression turned cold as he rose and formed seals.
Water Release: Vortex Turbulence!!
The entire water mass began spinning at tremendous speed, forming a massive whirlpool. At the core of the whirlpool was precisely where Obito and his Susanoo stood. Each layer of the vortex was a large-scale water blade, and there were hundreds upon thousands of those layers, churning rapidly. One could well imagine what manner of assault the Susanoo was enduring.
And this was only the first-form skeletal Susanoo. It very nearly collapsed in an instant.
Obito had genuinely not anticipated that Yagura would unleash a Water Release attack this fearsome.
Obito was forced to abandon the spatial transfer and switch to Transparency Mode instead.
"Ha. It seems your spatial transfer failed. Uchiha Raito, even isolated as I am in this closed-off Land of Water, your name has long reached me. You fought on equal footing with Hanzō of the Salamander and dealt Konoha's Danzō a heavy blow. Long ago I ordered Kirigakure's Anbu to gather intelligence on you, and when word reached me that you were coming to this country, even I grew tense. It seems all that collected intelligence has come in handy."
"That Transparency Mode of yours, which seems to have no counter, can only last about five minutes, and during Transparency Mode, using any technique at all forces you to drop it. So I've prepared a special gift for you."
On Yagura's childlike face, a demonic smile slowly curved.
"The Land of Water is a country rich in water sources, with vast underground water veins beneath it. The deep mountains Kirigakure rests against contain underground water veins that are enormous even by the standards of the Land of Water. Whenever the Six-Tails housed in Kirigakure went on a rampage, successive Mizukage would draw on the power of these underground veins to unleash a super-large-scale Natural Water Release Jutsu, buying time for the sealing team by suppressing the beast. But this technique has never once been used to crush a single ninja. Uchiha Raito, you have set a precedent in the Blood Mist Village, and for that you deserve to be praised. Now receive this baptism!"
Clap!!
Yagura brought both palms together.
Water Release Secret Jutsu: Mist Rain!
Boom boom boom boom!!
The earth caved in, and the natural water veins buried deep beneath the ground erupted into a massive column of water more than a hundred meters across that shot straight up into the sky.
Yagura declared with wild abandon: "These underground veins will keep erupting for six minutes. The water pressure is so extreme that anything other than a Tailed Beast would be flattened in an instant. Once your Transparency Mode ends, so does your life. And if you attempt a spatial transfer, you'll die even faster. So, have you seen the true terror of the Blood Mist Village!!"
"Yagura, I'll accept this welcoming gift of yours. So allow me to return the favor with an even greater one."
"What!?"