Chapter 53: Intangibility
Obito stood not far from Su Xiao, grinning. To be precise, it wasn’t Obito speaking at that moment.
When Obito was young, his right side had been crushed by a boulder. To facilitate daily movement, a spiral-shaped hollow White Zetsu had been wrapped around Obito’s body. Now, it was this White Zetsu speaking, not Obito. Obito’s voice didn’t sound like this.
The identity of "Tobi" was this spiral-shaped White Zetsu. Obito usually didn’t speak, only occasionally using his space-time ability to conceal his identity.
"This…"
The spiral White Zetsu clearly didn’t know how to continue the negotiation. These words had been prearranged by Obito. Now that he hadn’t obtained the Sharingan, the spiral White Zetsu was caught in a dilemma.
"Maybe we should just—"
"Shut up."
A slightly hoarse voice came through. It was Obito himself speaking.
"Huh?"
The spiral White Zetsu was surprised. He hadn’t expected Obito to actually speak.
The spiral White Zetsu didn’t understand the significance of this Sharingan to Obito. With this eye, Obito could use techniques like Susanoo and other Mangekyō abilities.
Of course, Mangekyō Sharingan techniques placed a heavy burden on the body. But Obito was different. To help him recover from his crushed body, Madara had infused Hashirama Cells into him, restoring his physique. Obito’s vitality was extremely strong, greatly reducing the damage from using such techniques.
If Obito had wanted to take Kakashi’s Sharingan, he would have done so long ago. The reason he hadn’t was that this eye had been transplanted from Rin Nohara to Kakashi on his behalf. It was a symbol of Rin’s existence.
Moreover, Obito had already transplanted another Sharingan. That transplanted eye could be used at a critical moment with the nearly invincible technique "Izanagi" to save his life.
"Hand over that eye."
Obito’s voice was low.
"What are you prepared to offer?"
Su Xiao gripped the hilt of Dragon-Slaying Flash.
"Nothing."
The space around Obito twisted in a spiral, and in an instant, he vanished.
A sense of danger came from behind. Without looking, Su Xiao knew Obito was behind him.
The moment Dragon-Slaying Flash left its sheath, it spun in his hand. The long blade thrust backward from under his armpit, straight at Obito behind him.
The blade passed through without the sensation of hitting a solid object. Obito had already become intangible, passing directly through Su Xiao’s body to appear in front of him.
Zzz—
The Realm Severing Thread contracted, floating near Obito. He could only continue maintaining his intangibility.
Su Xiao coldly stared at Obito, twirling the blade in a flourish.
"Space-type."
Obito materialized not far from Su Xiao.
"Oh? Looks like you’re quite familiar with my ability."
A red glow flickered in Obito’s eye socket.
"No, I’ve just dealt with more troublesome space-types."
Su Xiao recalled a Void race member who could teleport. That guy’s ability was far more troublesome than Obito’s. His attacks carried spatial cutting properties, making them impossible to defend against. One punch, one hole.
"So, how will you defend against this?"
"Wood Style: Treefall!"
Crack, crack, crack.
Trees wildly sprouted inside the hotel room, but they stopped growing after reaching about a meter or two.
"What’s going on?"
Obito was asking the spiral White Zetsu. Wood Style was the spiral White Zetsu’s ability, combined with the First Hokage’s cells in Obito’s body, allowing him to use it.
Judging by the current scale of the Wood Style, those meter-tall saplings were rather embarrassing.
"Huh, I don’t know either, hahaha. Maybe it’s a chakra rejection issue. Even though our chakra natures are similar, there’s still a slight repulsion."
"So that means I can’t use Wood Style anymore?"
"Simple Wood Style is fine, like the Wood Clone Technique. Forget about Treefall."
The spiral White Zetsu’s answer displeased Obito. He could use it before, but now he couldn’t. That was clearly nonsense.
Obito narrowed his eyes. He planned to strip the White Zetsu from his body soon, since his right side had already healed.
Su Xiao held Dragon-Slaying Flash horizontally in front of him, frowning at the few small trees. Was Obito here to be funny? When the guy shouted "Treefall," it had actually startled him.
"Ring Break."
Clang!
A circular blade aura expanded around Su Xiao, instantly reaching Obito’s neck. Obito immediately became intangible.
Obito dodged the attack, but the buildings in the surrounding block suffered.
The Ring Break sliced outward. Some taller structures were cut in half, and screams rang out incessantly.
Whoosh—
Obito’s figure vanished from his spot, reappearing behind Su Xiao.
A spatial vortex appeared. Obito prepared to suck Su Xiao into his alternate space.
A layer of energy shield formed. Su Xiao stomped on it and leaped backward. Since the distance exceeded one meter, the energy shield quickly dissipated.
Just as Su Xiao jumped away, Obito appeared in front of him again, one hand reaching for Su Xiao’s face.
Su Xiao thrust his blade forward. Obito immediately became intangible, and his hand passed through Su Xiao’s head without resistance.
Dragon-Slashing Flash "pierced" Obito’s throat. Obito’s hand passed through Su Xiao’s head. Neither moved.
"I win."
Obito quickly sidestepped, his intangible hand leaving Su Xiao’s head to grab his throat. At this moment, Obito was solid.
He couldn’t let Obito touch him, or he’d be sucked into the alternate space. Being trapped there would be a death sentence, enough to wear Su Xiao down.
Just as Obito’s hand reached for Su Xiao’s throat, a layer of energy shield appeared in front of Su Xiao.
Obito’s hand passed straight through the energy shield, stopping less than five centimeters from Su Xiao’s neck.
Just as Obito was about to activate his space-time ability, he became intangible again and halted his movement. The reason was that energy spikes were forming from Dragon-Slashing Flash, precisely piercing his body. If Obito materialized now, he’d be severely injured if not dead.
After a moment of stalemate, Obito vanished and reappeared not far away.
"As expected from someone who can suppress a jinchūriki in close combat. It seems fighting you up close isn’t a wise choice."
Obito looked Su Xiao up and down, as if considering something.
"I investigated you, but found nothing. It’s like you appeared out of nowhere."
As Obito spoke, the rooftop of the building they were on began to tilt, slowly collapsing downward.
Boom!
The upper half of the hotel crashed onto the street. The room Su Xiao was in was now open to the sky.
Not just here, but the two adjacent buildings were in a similar state. The cuts on all three structures were at the same height, the edges smooth as mirrors.
"Investigated me? What’s the point? You only need to know I’m not a spy from another ninja village."
Aside from the Rock Village and Cloud Village, Su Xiao had offended the other three major ninja villages. And soon, he would offend another.
"You two up there, come down and surrender, or you’ll be killed without mercy."
It was the samurai from the Land of Fire’s daimyo’s mansion who had arrived. The daimyo’s military force consisted of samurai, with ninjutsu being a minority. Training ninjas was too expensive, and the techniques were monopolized by the ninja villages.
Su Xiao ignored the samurai below and looked at Obito instead.
"So, it seems you’re interested in the Sharingan? Tobi."