Naruto: Starting with Tsunade

Chapter 472 Aokiji vs. Obito

Smoke billowed, and the blue giant appeared before them, its flippant voice drifting from the figure in its palm, echoing in the air: "So it was here after all~"

With everything looking very promising, Aokiji looked past Konan and focused on Nagato's face, deliberately asking, "You're the one who manipulates the Six Paths of Pain, aren't you?"

Konan stood in front of Nagato, her eyes trembling as she looked at Aokiji, and loudly questioned, "Why do you know about Nagato's existence?"

"Who knows?"

Aokiji's tone was ambiguous; he wasn't a Baltan who answered every question, and he even revealed the identity of that person.

Having said that, he looked at Nagato's expression with interest, trying to find a trace of fear in him, but in the end, Aokiji was disappointed.

Even in this situation, Nagato remained unmoved, wearing a poker face.

Am I just imagining things?

Nagato didn't seem too nervous.

Is it all bark and no bite, or is it still under control?

Aokiji narrowed his eyes, his mind racing, and decided that he should deal with Nagato first.

Without Naruto's talk-no-jutsu, Kotoamatsukami, there's no way he can persuade him.

To be on the safe side, let's test the waters first.

The Soulfire opened its eyes, and a wall of fire erupted from the ground, surging and sweeping across the land.

The moment it made contact with Nagato, the wall of fire collapsed and scattered all over the ground, scorching the earth with a rain of flames.

Nagato used Shinra Tensei to deflect the attack.

Within the raging ring of fire, Aokiji narrowed his eyes, his gaze piercing: "Your face is so thin, the flesh is sunken in. Do you really think your sickly body can be my match?"

"You only know the answer to this kind of thing by trying it."

Nagato spoke in a deep voice, feigning seriousness: "Besides..."

As he spoke, the Soul Flame reached out and thrust horizontally, its sharp claws easily piercing through Nagato's frail body.

The claws, which should have been suspended in the air like this, stopped in the foreground.

A smile played on Nagato's lips: "You've arrived..."

At the joint of Soulfire's arm, space spun, twisting off Soulfire's upper limb, which fell to the ground.

Aokiji glanced sideways and saw a shadow extending from the nearby darkness, followed by footsteps. Looking up, he saw a figure dressed in fiery cloud robes, then a mask with swirling patterns converging on a single eye. In the firelight, the mask exuded an unfathomable and mysterious aura.

"A tricky guy's here..."

Aokiji sighed.

Obito stared intently at Aokiji: "I'm rarely surprised, but you always manage to surprise me."

Aokiji said casually, "I don't really want to surprise you."

"Why did you suddenly attack this place, and..."

After a pause, Obito glanced at Nagato and said, "You actually knew about his existence."

Nagato was very well hidden; very few people in the world knew of his existence. Obito didn't think that Aokiji could obtain this information from Orochimaru, that traitor.

"Who knows?"

Aokiji maintained an ambiguous tone, which made him seem enigmatic and difficult to understand.

The flames of his soul scattered like fine sand in the wind, and Aokiji landed on his feet. Facing a being capable of penetrating all attacks, his powerful and unrestrained eye techniques were not suitable for this battle.

"What an unfathomable guy, oh well..."

Aokiji had become so arrogant that he led his men to attack the base. Obito couldn't possibly turn a blind eye to this. He immediately decided to capture Aokiji and then use the Human Path's soul-capturing ability to solve all of Aokiji's secrets.

Obito activated his Mangekyou Sharingan, causing space to twist and spin into a vortex-like storm. The flames he exhaled formed a fiery serpent, moving at incredible speed and covering a vast area. The intense heat of the fire rings was felt even before they got close.

Fire Release: Storm Dance.

"Soaring, soaring..."

Seven blue fireballs appeared behind Aokiji, flickering and shimmering in a cross shape.

Bloodline Elimination: Bankai: Aura

With a thought, a blue fireball floated to Aokiji's side, its flames flowing like water before solidifying into a snowflake-shaped ice crystal shield to block the scorching flame storm.

That wasn't all. Chains emerged from several fireballs behind Aokiji, their heads swaying like snakes as they launched a surprise attack.

"boom."

As the smoke cleared, Obito strolled through the chain attack as if taking a leisurely walk, raised his face, narrowed his eyes, and stared directly at the fireball behind Aokiji, revealing a hint of seriousness.

Ice Release alone could not possibly have such flexible techniques, not even Aokiji's.

It's somewhat similar to the Storm Release, a bloodline limit. It's a type of lightning release with power comparable to Lightning Release, but because it incorporates the properties of water, it can be as free as flowing water. The lightning becomes a laser whose direction and angle can be freely controlled.

Aokiji's flames also possess this ability.

Although I'm reluctant to admit it, it seems like that's the only possibility: "Bloodline Elimination..."

"You certainly know your stuff..."

Aokiji readily admitted that the chains inserted into the ground retracted back into the blue fireball.

After a brief moment of surprise, Obito regained his composure. Aokiji had secretly developed the Kekkei Tota.

With the Mangekyou Sharingan and Bloodline Limit, it's no wonder he had the confidence to launch a surprise attack on the Akatsuki's headquarters.

But Obito didn't take anything in front of him too seriously. No matter how strong the ninjutsu was, it was meaningless if it couldn't hit.

The eye hidden beneath Obito's mask radiated such unwavering certainty.

Aokiji's gaze swept over the three people present. After a moment's thought, he decided to temporarily abandon the attempt to kill Nagato and instead set his sights on Obito.

Obito will return, which is still within Aokiji's control. As long as Madara Uchiha doesn't return, the battle will continue.

As for that person, judging from the intelligence Aokiji has, it would take some time for him to arrive here and return.

With a thought racing through his mind, Aokiji and Obito exchanged a few blows, fighting and retreating as Aokiji deliberately lured Obito into a trap he had set.

Watching Obito and Aokiji walk further and further away, Konan and Nagato took the opportunity to move to another location. Amidst their busy schedule, Konan asked, "Don't we need any help?"

"No need for now. We can take this opportunity to see Madara and Aokiji's true strength during this battle."

While the snipe and the clam were fighting, Nagato clearly had his own ulterior motives.

On the other side, Aokiji was engaged in a fierce battle with Obito, leaving houses destroyed and smoke billowing everywhere he went.

"What's wrong? Is it all just empty boasting?"

Obito made a sarcastic remark, attempting to provoke Aokiji.

Aokiji didn't care and refused to let his frustration cloud his judgment.

Obito's ability is extremely strange; he is immune to all attacks and also has the ability to kill instantly.

The ranged Kamui was alright; by the time he distorted space, Aokiji would have already reacted. The troublesome one was the melee Kamui. If Obito accidentally touched him and threw him into the Kamui dimension, he wouldn't have to do anything; he could just starve to death.

"Your ability is really troublesome."

On a protruding icicle, Aokiji asked a question in a pretentious manner. A dazzling pattern behind him glanced in front of him, forming an ice crystal that reflected his image. The next second, several people immediately walked out.

Meanwhile, the Konoha ninjas who had been paying attention to Aokiji also arrived after hearing the news. This group of people were all wearing masks and gray robes, dressed as ANBU members.

A member of the ANBU, his blue eyes peering through the pores of his mask, stared intently at the masked man before him, muttering to himself: "We meet again..."

Aokiji chuckled, "Don't blame me for being despicable, after all, you are that Uchiha Madara..."

Facing the crowd, Obito's mind raced, analyzing the situation meticulously. Was this an attempt to exploit their numerical advantage to find a weakness in his eye technique?

His ability allows him to teleport a part of his body into another dimension, thus confusing people into believing that he can penetrate and attack.

However, even such an unsolvable ability has its weaknesses. When absorbing or releasing other objects, the user must be a physical entity and cannot become intangible. Furthermore, because the user must concentrate chakra in the eyes to activate Kamui, the user is in a state of extreme vulnerability to attack.

We must not let Aokiji discover any weaknesses in our abilities.

Otherwise, we might repeat the same mistake we made in our battle with Minato Namikaze back then.

With this in mind, Obito decided to confront Kamui head-on to avoid his abilities being exposed.

Ever since I acquired two pairs of Mangekyou Sharingan, I've had a dojutsu that I haven't had a chance to use. I'll finally give it a try this time.

(End of this chapter)