"How could he last this long?"
Uchiha Obito was stunned.
His intangible state could be maintained for a maximum of five minutes. If it exceeded this time, he would be forced to revert back to his physical form.
He originally thought that Uchiha Fugaku would collapse first, yet even after three full minutes, there were no signs of his body giving out.
This made him panic.
Swoosh—
He dodged, creating distance between himself and Uchiha Fugaku.
His five-minute limit was running out, so he needed to escape and end his intangibility in a safe place.
But Uchiha Fugaku didn't allow it.
Now that he had unleashed the Seventh Gate of the Eight Gates, his speed had reached a terrifying level.
Like a shadow, he chased Obito relentlessly, never giving him a moment to escape.
During this pursuit, he continuously attacked, forcing Obito to stay intangible and preventing him from deactivating his ability.
Swoosh—
Uchiha Obito sank underground, attempting to hide from Uchiha Fugaku.
Boom—
Uchiha Fugaku punched the ground, creating a massive crater, forcing Obito out of the earth.
Uchiha Obito hurriedly burrowed deeper.
Boom—
Another strike, and Obito was forced out once again.
"This is insane!"
Cold sweat dripped down Uchiha Obito's forehead.
With his Mangekyō Sharingan and Kamui, he had always been untouchable. Even after knowing that Uchiha Shisui had died at Fugaku's hands, he never considered Fugaku a true threat.
But now, reality had slapped him in the face.
Uchiha Fugaku first displayed a space-warping ability, then revealed his Eight Gates, defying all common sense.
He had completely underestimated him.
Four minutes passed, and Uchiha Obito became extremely anxious.
At five minutes, he was forced back into his physical form.
At that moment—
"Daytime Tiger!"
The air compressed under Uchiha Fugaku's palm, then exploded outward in a single burst.
The compressed air, now fully visible, took the form of a giant translucent tiger. It let out a thunderous roar before launching toward Obito.
Boom—
The impact struck Uchiha Obito.
A terrifying explosion erupted, centered directly on him.
The shockwave tore through the air, creating a powerful gale that ripped through the earth, leaving deep gashes in the terrain.
"Agh—!"
At the center of the destruction, Uchiha Obito lay in a massive crater, coughing up blood.
His clothes were tattered, barely hanging on his wounded body.
Blood streamed from numerous wounds, his entire body covered in cuts and bruises.
Worst of all—
His left arm was completely gone.
Moments ago, he had used his left hand to block the Daytime Tiger.
He had sacrificed his arm just to survive.
To be precise, he had survived… for now.
Because Uchiha Fugaku wasn't finished yet.
Boom—
Inside the Real Illusion, Uchiha Fugaku had no restrictions on using Eight Gates. He struck again.
Boom—
His fist landed on Uchiha Obito's chest.
Obito's ribcage caved in, and his body was embedded into the ground.
There was no breath of life left.
With that final strike, Uchiha Fugaku had killed Uchiha Obito.
With Obito's death, the Real Illusion shattered, and both Uchiha Fugaku and Uchiha Obito returned to the real world.
The only difference was—
Even though Uchiha Fugaku had used a forbidden technique, his body was completely unharmed.
Meanwhile, Uchiha Obito's left arm was gone, a gaping wound in his chest, and he lay motionless, seemingly lifeless.
Buzz—
Suddenly, Obito's body vanished, and another Obito appeared nearby.
His injuries were gone—he was completely restored.
"Izanagi… was activated!"
Uchiha Obito's voice was filled with shock and rage beneath his mask.
In his left eye, he had transplanted an ordinary Sharingan embedded with Izanagi.
Upon death, Izanagi would automatically activate, rewriting reality and resurrecting him.
A moment ago, the preset Izanagi had activated, saving his life.
"Something's wrong…"
He looked around, his expression uneasy.
Previously, their battle had torn apart the terrain, leaving a massive crater.
But now, the damage was gone.
"Was that… an illusion?"
"No, that doesn't make sense. If it was just an illusion, then why did Izanagi activate?"
A horrifying realization struck Uchiha Obito.
His voice trembled as he muttered:
"What a terrifying illusion…!"
Even with his Mangekyō Sharingan, he hadn't detected it.
That alone proved how frightening Uchiha Fugaku's genjutsu was.
Now, he understood why Fugaku had been able to use Eight Gates freely—it was inside an illusion.
But that wasn't the worst part.
If his guess was correct, this illusion could transfer the injuries sustained inside the illusion to the real world.
He had died inside the illusion, which is why Izanagi had activated.
"Again… Izanagi."
Uchiha Fugaku felt frustrated.
The Uchiha ancestors truly made things difficult for future generations.
Instead of developing something useful, they had created this ridiculous technique.
With Izanagi, defeating enemies became twice as difficult.
It was a problem with Danzo Shimura.
It was a problem with Uchiha Shisui.
And now—it was a problem with Uchiha Obito.
"Uchiha Fugaku, I understand now!"
Obito's gaze darkened as he took one final look at Fugaku.
Then, without hesitation, he activated Kamui's teleportation.
The space around him distorted, pulling his body into the vortex.
Seeing this, Uchiha Fugaku's expression hardened.
"You think you can just run away?"
His right eye spun rapidly, activating the Real Illusion once more.
Swoosh—
Obito vanished into Kamui's vortex.
At the same time, Uchiha Fugaku also disappeared.
Swoosh—
Outside Konoha, Uchiha Obito reappeared.
But the moment he did, he realized something was wrong.
Uchiha Fugaku… had appeared right beside him.
He had fallen into the illusion again.
(End of this chapter)