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After a long, fierce battle, Naruto Uzumaki and Sasuke Uchiha finally concluded their fight. Naruto emerged victorious, albeit by a narrow margin.
Sasuke Uchiha had exhausted his chakra and ocular power, while Naruto Uzumaki still had some strength left.
“SASUKE, I’m not going to kill you. I’m taking you back to Konoha,” Naruto Uzumaki said, climbing to his feet.
Lying on the ground, Sasuke Uchiha gritted his teeth and glared at Naruto. When had he become unable to even defeat Naruto?
If he couldn’t even handle Naruto, how could he ever hope to destroy Konoha and kill Shin Uzumaki??
———
“What do we do now?”
Suigetsu Hōzuki, standing in the distance, paced anxiously. Sasuke was defeated; if he rushed in, he’d just be fodder.
He could have taken this opportunity to escape, but Suigetsu didn’t. Sasuke Uchiha had saved him, after all. If not for Sasuke, he would never have been freed from Orochimaru. He owed Sasuke a great debt.
“Damn it! I’m saving Sasuke!”
Suigetsu Hōzuki quickly rushed towards Naruto Uzumaki. As he attacked, he racked his brain for a way to rescue Sasuke.
Although Naruto Uzumaki was not in good condition, his Nine-Tails Chakra Mode could sense malice, and Suigetsu Hōzuki’s malice was clearly detected.
As Suigetsu Hōzuki attacked Naruto Uzumaki, Naruto materialized a chakra arm from the Nine-Tails and swatted him away.
“If you don’t act now, you won’t get another chance.”
Shin said calmly to Obito Uchiha.
Obito Uchiha hesitated, his eyes filled with indecision. Should he attack Naruto Uzumaki now? Naruto’s strength truly made him wary…
Although Obito was confident that Naruto couldn’t harm him, he also felt he couldn’t do much to Naruto either.
Now was the best time to strike. After a moment of hesitation, Obito Uchiha decided to act.
He instantly appeared behind Naruto Uzumaki and went for a backstab.
BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!
Just as Obito Uchiha was about to succeed, the Nine-Tails’ chakra protected Naruto Uzumaki.
Honestly, Sasuke Uchiha losing to Naruto Uzumaki wasn’t surprising. He was essentially fighting both Naruto and the Nine-Tails.
Though the Nine-Tails was sealed within Naruto, with Naruto’s consent, the Nine-Tails was aware of the external situation and assisted Naruto in fighting his enemies.
The moment his attack failed, Obito Uchiha retreated without hesitation, acting like a true assassin—strike once, then vanish.
His speed was so fast that Naruto Uzumaki didn’t even have time to counterattack. Moreover, Obito Uchiha’s Kamui intangibility was truly unbeatable for others.
Madara Uchiha had to take Kakashi’s eye to counter Obito Uchiha.
Of course, Kakashi’s eye was also Obito Uchiha’s. This was also one of Obito Uchiha’s weaknesses.
If Obito could gather both Mangekyō Sharingan, then very few people could deal with him. But Obito Uchiha either had a screw loose or his feelings for his best friend were too deep. He left the Mangekyō Sharingan with Kakashi and never took it back.
Perhaps it was because he had given the eye away, and he didn’t want to take it back.
———
“What a coward…”
Shin looked at Obito Uchiha with a bit of speechlessness. Like this, Obito Uchiha would never be able to get his hands on the Nine-Tails.
Naruto Uzumaki was already at a critical state after being beaten by Sasuke Uchiha, yet Obito still refrained from taking action.
Was it because he was scared by the battle between Naruto and Sasuke?
Thinking about it, that was a real possibility. He might have actually been scared, which was why he didn’t act.
———
Taking advantage of Obito’s attack on Naruto Uzumaki, Suigetsu Hōzuki quickly moved—grabbing Sasuke Uchiha and leaving the area.
After successfully rescuing Sasuke Uchiha, Suigetsu Hōzuki didn’t say another word and quickly fled with Sasuke.
Obito had no objections to this. Sasuke Uchiha was a waste who couldn’t even handle the Nine-Tails Jinchūriki. There was no use keeping him here.
“Naruto Uzumaki, you’re lucky this time. Next time, you won’t be so fortunate—” Obito gave Naruto Uzumaki a murderous glare, then entered the Kamui dimension and left.
It wasn’t that Obito was not confident in capturing Naruto Uzumaki, but he didn’t want to right now—
—The reason was simple: Shin Uzumaki was here.
Obito Uchiha didn’t act entirely because he was wary of Shin.
If he wanted to capture Naruto Uzumaki, relying on the Mangekyō Sharingan alone was impossible. He could only use the Rinnegan he had recently transplanted…
Yes, Obito had already transplanted one Rinnegan. This made it convenient for him to control the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path.
Although he only had one Rinnegan, controlling the Demonic Statue was absolutely no problem. Obito Uchiha’s use of the Rinnegan was stronger than Nagato’s.
After all, Obito Uchiha himself was an Uchiha, and a better match for the Rinnegan—If Obito transplanted both eyes, his strength would definitely surpass the previous Nagato Uzumaki by a lot.
But Obito was cowardly. He couldn’t bear to part with the life-saving ability of his Kamui intangibility, so he only transplanted one Rinnegan.
Of course, there was another reason: the consumption of ocular power.
Even if he was a better match for the Rinnegan, the consumption of ocular power would likely double. If he wielded two Rinnegan, he would probably end up like Nagato.
Obito didn’t want to reveal that he had transplanted the Rinnegan, because he didn’t know what Shin Uzumaki would do after learning this news…
———
Not long after Obito Uchiha left, Kakashi Hatake arrived, accompanied by Yamato.
“Naruto, why did you sneak out alone?” Kakashi looked at Naruto angrily.
“Kakashi-sensei.”
Naruto looked up wearily. Though he had won against Sasuke, it was a pyrrhic victory. He wasn’t severely injured, but his body was completely overexerted.
“Let’s go back and talk.”
Kakashi knew a lot had happened, likely related to Sasuke Uchiha. From the information Naruto left behind when he snuck out, he knew Naruto had run off because of Sasuke.
Actually, it was easy to guess. If not for Sasuke Uchiha, Naruto Uzumaki would never have snuck out alone.
“Alright, let’s go back.” Naruto nodded. He would tell Kakashi-sensei and the others everything that had happened.
“They’ve all left. This battle was a bit of an anticlimax.” Shin’s eyes showed a hint of disappointment. In the end, there was no real result.
Sasuke Uchiha was defeated, but he didn’t die. And Obito Uchiha, who knew what he was up to, clearly had a chance to capture Naruto Uzumaki and extract the Nine-Tails, but he didn’t act.
Shin, of course, didn’t know that Obito Uchiha had refrained from attacking Naruto Uzumaki because he was wary of him.
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