https://novelcool.info/chapter/Chapter-529-Kakashi-s-Limit-of-One-Sword/12558788/
https://novelcool.info/chapter/Chapter-531-Rinnegan-vs-Eight-Inner-Gates/12558790/
Chapter 530: A Brainstorming Session with Obito
Chapter 530: A Brainstorming Session with Obito
"Contestant No. 25, Terumi Mei, versus Contestant No. 30, Uchiha Obito!"
With the referee's announcement, both Terumi Mei and Obito swiftly made their way to the combat arena.
'I'm currently the top-performing ninja from Kirigakure, so I shouldn't disappoint Master Yuan. But I must strive to reach the top four. Only the semi-finalists will receive rewards,' Terumi Mei thought to herself.
Even the consolation prize for fourth place was a chakra blade worth millions of ryo.
'I must not lose. There's still one more punishment slot to fill,' Obito thought solemnly.
The rule they had set was that the first two disciples to be eliminated would undergo the same punishment as those who failed the civil war simulation, excluding Yahiko Lin from the mix. Thus, one more disciple had to be eliminated for Obito to avoid the dreaded homework punishment.
For the sake of his peaceful life, he couldn't afford to lose here. He had to make it to the top four, no matter what! With that in mind, Obito glanced at Terumi Mei, and their eyes met. Both could sense the strong will to win emanating from each other, understanding that they each had their reasons for needing victory.
"That Terumi Mei's water style is really powerful, and her Kirigakure no Jutsu can block the Sharingan's vision. It feels like she has a strong advantage over Obito," Yahiko Lin commented with some concern for Obito's upcoming battle as she watched from the audience stands.
"This is the level of intensity we should expect from the quarter-finals. His previous opponents were just too weak," Kakashi remarked.
At this stage of the tournament, there were no weak ninjas left. Even Asuma, purely in terms of personal ability, could be considered a capable jonin-level shinobi. However, the others were even more formidable.
Obito had indeed drawn the luckiest lots, with his first and second-round opponents being at the bottom of the elimination match rankings. Even in the quarter-finals, he hadn't faced much of a challenge.
Among the eight quarter-finalists, Terumi Mei's strength was relatively lower. However, due to the elemental advantage, she posed a more significant challenge for Obito.
But compared to opponents like Nagato or Might Guy, Terumi Mei was still easier to deal with, even with the elemental disadvantage.
"Achoo!" Obito suddenly sneezed, his nose itching as he glanced around suspiciously.
He couldn't shake the feeling that Kakashi was bad-mouthing him behind his back.
"Now that I think about it, Kakashi is also eliminated. Maybe he's watching the match with Yahiko and putting me down!" Obito's thoughts turned to a rather unpleasant possibility.
Obito silently cursed that annoying white-haired brat, his expression turning solemn. Now, he not only had to win, but he also had to do it in style, leaving no room for Kakashi to criticize.
"Begin!"
"Fire Style: Fireball Jutsu!"
Even though his opponent was someone he had already defeated, this was a battle he couldn't afford to lose. Thus, Obito approached it with unusual caution, opting not to immediately enter his Flame Control Chakra Mode as he had in the first and second rounds. Instead, he opened with the classic Uchiha fire style jutsu.
While Fireball might not be the best choice in every situation, it was a solid option most of the time.
"Water Style: Mist Hidden Jutsu!"
Terumi Mei swiftly formed the necessary hand seals and expelled a thick fog from her mouth, quickly enveloping the entire combat arena in mist.
Her experiences in the Chunin Exams and Obito's previous elimination matches had taught her about his combat style.
In many ways, Obito and Terumi Mei were similar, both being artillery-type ninjas. The only difference was that Obito specialized in fire style jutsu, while Terumi Mei favored water style.
Theoretically, in a battle between two artillery-type ninjas, Terumi Mei, with her water affinity, should have the upper hand.
However, while Terumi Mei was solely an artillery-type ninja, Obito also possessed decent taijutsu skills, which gave him an edge in close-quarters combat—a significant disadvantage for Terumi Mei.
Thus, Terumi Mei's strategy for this fight was to use the Mist Hidden Jutsu to prevent Obito from getting too close and then utilize her water style jutsu for long-range attacks.
Within the mist, Terumi Mei was just as blind as Obito. However, ninjas from Kirigakure were specially trained to move stealthily within the fog and locate their opponents by sound.
"I don't like this jutsu," the Fire Daimyo grumbled as he watched the arena become shrouded in mist.
Even the Sharingan couldn't see through this fog, let alone an ordinary person like him.
"I agree. It's too murky," the Rain Daimyo nodded in agreement.
The other officials murmured their assent.
Kakuzu, sitting on the high platform, contemplated whether they should ban the use of large-scale vision-obscuring jutsu in future Budokai tournaments. This match was becoming frustrating to watch.
"This annoying jutsu again," Obito sighed as he saw Terumi Mei disappear into the thick fog.
He was beginning to feel like not only was his fire affinity inferior, but his Sharingan wasn't all that useful either. Ordinary people couldn't see through the Mist Hidden Jutsu, and his Three Tomoe Sharingan was no exception.
"Water Style: Water Prison Jutsu!"
After dodging the Fireball Jutsu, Terumi Mei quietly positioned herself to Obito's right and spat out a massive ball of water, aiming to crush him.
Whoosh!
While Terumi Mei could move stealthily, the loud splashing sound of her large-scale water jutsu gave away her position, allowing Obito to use the Body Flicker Technique to evade the torrent of water.
"If only my Fire Dinosaur were a dog," Obito thought wistfully, wishing he could make use of his summoning.
If it had been a ninken like Pakkun, it could have used its keen sense of smell to locate Terumi Mei within the mist.
But the Fire Dinosaur didn't have a dog's sensitive nose, and to make matters worse, it only knew fire style jutsu, which would be ineffective against Terumi Mei's water style. Summoning it now would only subject the dinosaur to the same watery torment.
"Water Style: Water Dragon Bullet Jutsu!"
Unfazed by her initial miss, Terumi Mei continued her assault, sending waves of water toward Obito's direction.
Her chakra reserves were decent, so she wasn't worried about running out of steam after a few jutsu.
"What should I do now?" Obito muttered to himself as he dodged and continued to ponder his next move.
His extensive experience with doing homework had taught him that wallowing in self-pity was pointless. No amount of complaining would magically complete his assignments, so he might as well vent his emotions and then get back to the task at hand.
Obito thought of Mu Yue. What would she do if she were in his situation?
'She would probably use a powerful wind style jutsu to disperse all the mist,' he surmised.
Obito shook his head. Mu Yue's capabilities were far beyond his own, and the methods she could employ were not available to him.
Realizing that trying to emulate Mu Yue was a dead end, Obito shifted his thoughts to someone else—the person he knew best as an opponent: Hatake Kakashi.
Given Obito's understanding of Kakashi, he knew that Kakashi didn't have the ability to disperse the mist, and the Sharingan wouldn't be much help in this situation either.
'While I can't see my enemy, my enemy also can't see me,' Obito's mind raced as he considered which jutsu would be most effective in this situation.
"Multiple Shadow Clone Jutsu!"
Boom!!
White smoke filled the air as twelve shadow clones appeared around Obito. Half of them ran in the direction of the water dragon's attack, while the other half sprinted in different directions across the battlefield.
"He's used the Shadow Clone Technique," she surmised, pausing for a moment before continuing to perform hand seals to gather her water chakra.
Since she couldn't identify which one was the real Obito, she decided to take them all out.
"Found you! Over here!" One of Obito's shadow clones did an excellent job, spotting Terumi Mei's silhouette in just ten seconds and immediately shouting out loud.
"Water Dragon Bullet Technique!"
Because of what the shadow clone said, Terumi Mei determined that it wasn't the real Obito and chose not to retreat. Instead, she continued to release the water dragon, dispersing the shadow clone.
Immediately after, Terumi Mei attempted to stealthily move to another area to launch another attack, but each Obito knew that this was a rare opportunity. They all exerted themselves to the fullest, rushing towards Terumi Mei's direction.
This new development gave Terumi Mei a headache. As she couldn't pinpoint Obito's true location, she dared not stop.
If she got too close, it would be easy for Obito to seize the opportunity to eliminate her.
"Lava Style: Melting Monster Technique!"
Terumi Mei wanted to escape, but the Obitos surrounding her were too numerous. She had no choice but to use her jutsu to attack, or else they would take the initiative.
The highly corrosive acid of the Lava Style jutsu was powerful, causing the shadow clones it touched to dissipate. However, the memories that flowed back helped Obito confirm Terumi Mei's position.
Obito focused his breathing to the extreme, entering the Flame Control Chakra Mode, and then burst forth with unprecedented speed towards Terumi Mei.
"Blazing Collision!"
Obito, his body engulfed in flames, resembled a fireball racing through the mist.
Terumi Mei's expression changed as she realized she wouldn't be able to dodge in time. She acted decisively, using a water-style jutsu as quickly as she could.
Hiss!
The water column washed over Obito's body, extinguishing some of his flames, but it couldn't stop his relentless advance.
Bang!
A dull impact sound rang out, and Terumi Mei was sent flying like a broken kite, crashing six meters away.
"Ouch, that hurts! How can they balance ninjutsu and physical prowess so well?" Terumi Mei gritted her teeth, forcing herself not to cry out in pain.
She couldn't understand how Obito and Kakashi, the Konoha ninjas, trained.
Did they have forty-eight hours in a day? Even with various chores, they could still manage to practice ninjutsu for ten hours and then spend another ten hours training their bodies.
Among the ninja of her age in Kirigakure, her taijutsu wasn't particularly remarkable, but it wasn't terrible either. However, when compared to Kakashi and his peers, she fell short.
As Terumi Mei could no longer maintain her Mist Hidden Technique, the dense fog quickly dissipated, revealing both her and Obito's figures.
"Uchiha Obito wins!" the referee announced after confirming that Terumi Mei had lost her ability to fight.
Obito straightened his chest and looked towards the audience. This time, he hadn't relied solely on the overwhelming power of his Flame Control Chakra Mode. This victory was a testament to his wise tactical choices!
"Kakashi, you can't say I don't use my brain now, can you?" Obito thought proudly of his brilliant performance during the battle, and he couldn't help but burst into laughter.
"Wait a minute," Obito's mind, still buzzing with post-battle thoughts, landed on a serious matter. "With such thick fog, Kakashi and the others shouldn't have been able to see anything either."
Although he had successfully used his wit and courage to defeat his opponent, the entire battlefield had been shrouded in Terumi Mei's Mist Hidden Technique, so not a single person had been able to witness his impressive performance.
Obito really wanted to communicate with the Ninja School staff and personally explain the entire battle process and his mental journey to Yahiko and Kakashi in the audience.
After all, this was a battle where his attributes and bloodline limit had been countered. How could such a meaningful fight go unnoticed?
But Obito was already striding towards the resting area, his posture exuding the confidence of a victor.
How could he turn back now?
In the end, Obito chose to continue striding confidently towards the resting area.
"As expected, the life of a ninja is never easy," Obito sighed.
Turning back would ruin the atmosphere of a skilled fighter, and not turning back meant he couldn't immediately show off in front of Yahiko and Kakashi.
Itachi looked at Obito with a questioning glance, wondering why he was pondering the deeper meaning of life after a simple tournament match.
In the audience, Yahiko wore a relaxed smile as she said, "Although I don't know what happened, seeing Obito's slow walk back to the resting area, I assume it was a tough battle."
"Walking slowly doesn't necessarily mean he's tired. Maybe he's thinking about strange things, like how to make his victory sound even more impressive," Kakashi mused.
Based on his understanding of Obito, Kakashi knew that Obito would definitely come to them soon to explain the process of his battle with Terumi Mei in detail.
Hearing Kakashi's words, Yahiko covered her mouth and giggled. "It seems you two have a good relationship. You can guess so much just from his back view."
"Don't get the wrong idea, Yahiko. It's just that Obito is too easy to read," Kakashi denied.
...
At 3:20 in the afternoon, the semi-finals of the Young Ninja Competition were about to begin.
The contestants had already been waiting in the resting area for the start of the matches.
"It's finally about to start," Might Guy twisted his neck, his eyes gleaming with battle intent as he stared at Nagato.
At this stage of the tournament, with only four contestants remaining, everyone's strength was more or less known. Even Might Guy had to exert himself to the fullest to defeat Kakashi.
Among the four remaining opponents, the one who most aroused Might Guy's fighting spirit was, of course, Nagato, the strongest contestant aside from himself.
At noon, Kakashi had analyzed Nagato's intelligence in great detail.
The terrifying amount of chakra within Nagato's body allowed him to use various ninjutsu without restraint, and Nagato's ninjutsu was exceptionally strong. Even Might Guy, in his Rock Breath Chakra Mode, wouldn't dare to resist with his bare body.
However, what Might Guy feared the most was still Nagato's ability to control repulsion and attraction. These two abilities were also of the simple yet powerful type.
Might Guy wasn't sure if he could defeat Nagato, but it was precisely because of this uncertainty that he found the prospect of the battle exciting. After all, exploring the unknown was always intriguing.
"Guy, good luck! I'm counting on you," Obito cheered for Might Guy in his heart.
Three of the four remaining contestants were Mu Yue's disciples, and among them, Might Guy was currently the strongest. If he lost, their chance of claiming the top spot would diminish significantly.
PS: One more chapter coming up!
(End of Chapter)
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