Chapter 538: The End of the Ninja Arts Tournament

Chapter 538: The End of the Ninja Arts Tournament

Pein was the first to step into the combat area, and Obito followed closely behind.

The appearance of the contestants heightened the atmosphere in the arena.

Many spectators compared their strengths and debated who would emerge victorious and claim the championship.

"It's a no-contest," thought Earth Country, convinced that Pein would triumph effortlessly.

Having witnessed every elimination round of the tournament, Earth Country believed that the ranking of the young ninja contestants should place Pein in first, Might Guy second, and Sasori third.

Among the rest, Kakashi might rank fourth, but it was hard to tell beyond that.

For instance, Obito, who had made it to the finals, would likely be eliminated if he faced his counter, Kisame Hoshigaki.

Obito's win against Asuma in the semi-finals was a close call, indicating that their strengths were nearly equal.

"Obito's luck in facing Pein now may not be entirely a blessing," Asuma thought, feeling a moment of sympathy for Obito.

Obito had drawn a favorable lot, granting him a direct entry into the top eight. His opponents in the quarter-finals and semi-finals could be considered evenly matched, and a combination of luck and skill had brought him to the finals.

However, in this final round, Obito's luck would not be enough. Pein possessed overwhelming strength that would crush him.

Asuma felt that Obito would become a second-place background character—defeated mercilessly by the first-place winner and then subjected to comparisons with the semi-finalists, suggesting that he wasn't as good as them.

Asuma would rather be among the top eight than face such a fate as the runner-up.

"At least he'll still be second place, and he can request a custom jutsu from Ninjutsu Sorcerer Sosuke," said Bunpuku in a somewhat envious tone.

He hadn't even made it past the preliminaries, so he was essentially there to make up the numbers.

"I never expected Obito to make it to the finals; this makes me look a bit incompetent in comparison," Yahiko joked self-deprecatingly.

At the start of the elimination rounds, he and Obito had chatted about how reaching the finals would greatly increase their fame. Now, Obito was in the finals, while Yahiko had been eliminated in the first round.

"There's nothing you could have done. The person you faced was too strong. Even Uchiha Obito would likely have been eliminated against him. Aside from Pein, perhaps only Might Guy would have a chance to beat him," Konan consoled.

Yahiko's luck hadn't been great, as he'd faced Sasori, a formidable opponent whose overall strength ranked among the top three.

"Anyway, a loss is a loss," Yahiko said with a carefree smile as he turned his attention to the combat area.

Pein and Obito had already taken their positions, and the battle was about to commence.

"Charizard, I put in a lot on the line yesterday, so you'd better give it your all today," Obito took a deep breath, hoping that Charizard would maintain the momentum from when it fought against him the day before.

Obito was self-aware of his abilities, and he knew that his fire-style jutsu stood no chance against Pein's might. Even with an exceptional performance, victory was impossible.

His only hope for winning lay in the perfect coordination between him and Charizard, catching Pein off-guard as he didn't know about Charizard's abilities.

"Begin!" the Ninja Court Judge declared, seeing that both contestants were ready.

"Summoning Jutsu!"

As soon as the judge's words fell, Obito wasted no time. He quickly performed the necessary hand seals and slammed his hand onto the ground to activate the jutsu.

Pein's strength was formidable, and Obito knew that he might not be able to withstand Pein's assault alone.

Bang!

A puff of white smoke appeared, and from within it, Charizard's figure emerged.

"Water Style: Great Waterfall Technique!"

Having observed Obito's previous battles, Pein was aware that Obito excelled in fire-style jutsu. Thus, he chose to counter it with a water-style jutsu from the outset.

A massive ball of water swiftly formed in front of Pein, rushing towards Obito and the newly summoned Charizard.

Whoosh!

Charizard suppressed the urge to breathe its first flame at Obito and quickly flapped its wings to take flight.

Swish!

Obito, with his Sharingan activated, promptly used the Body Flicker Technique to dodge the attack.

"He's even got a never-before-seen summoned beast," Hanzo remarked in surprise.

Obito's advancement to the finals had been a close call each time, and Hanzo hadn't expected him to have another trick up his sleeve—a summoning beast that he'd kept hidden so well that not even the audience seemed to know about it.

"Could it be that he's been hiding his true strength this whole time?" Hanzo's interest was piqued.

He had anticipated an easy victory for Pein, but Obito seemed to have more tricks than met the eye.

"Bansho Ten'in!"

Although Pein was slightly taken aback by the appearance of Charizard, he didn't let his emotions get the better of him. He extended his right hand toward Obito and released his gravity-based jutsu.

According to his perception, Charizard's strength was inferior to Obito's, so he didn't need to pay it much heed.

"This is so unreasonable!" Obito grumbled inwardly as he felt his body being uncontrollably pulled forward at a rapid pace.

Compared to Pein's Shinra Tensei and Bansho Ten'in, his fire-style jutsu seemed like child's play.

However, Obito had anticipated this situation and had already prepared a countermeasure from the start of the battle. He had immediately focused his breathing to its utmost limit, preparing to enter the Fire-Style Chakra Mode at any moment.

"Fire Style: Great Fire Annihilation!"

Just as he was about to be pulled into Pein's grasp, Obito, now in Fire-Style Chakra Mode, unleashed two streams of scorching hot fire in the form of dragons.

Whoosh! Whoosh!

The fiery dragons, burning with orange-yellow flames, surged forward under Obito's control, charging straight toward Pein.

Longmon's Rinnegan eyes trembled, and a powerful repulsive force erupted from him, instantly sending the two fire dragons and Obito flying.

At that moment, the Charizard in the air sprang into action.

Before the battle had even started, Obito had discussed the battle plan with Charizard. As long as Longmon used the Shinra Tensei, Charizard's task was to attack Longmon at all costs and probe the cooldown time of the Shinra Tensei.

'Air Slash!'

Charizard chose the fastest Wind Release technique, slashing at Longmon with blades of wind that could tear through the air.

"Breath Style: Full Concentration!"

After observing the incoming attack, Longmon focused his breath to strengthen his body and then burst into action with incredible speed, perfectly dodging the wind blades and creating some distance between himself and Charizard.

'Flamethrower!'

Charizard relentlessly gathered chakra and spat out a thick pillar of fire.

Mina and Yahiko lost in the round of 16, and if Charizard won first place, even the aloof Mina would have to view it with new respect.

"When did Obito sign a contract with such a formidable summoned beast?" Asuma wondered in surprise.

He had never seen Obito summon Charizard before and was astonished to discover that Obito had a powerful and capable flying beast at his disposal.

"Water Style: Water Pillar Technique!"

Having created some distance, Longmon quickly formed the necessary hand seals, spewing out a massive amount of water that extinguished Charizard's fire pillar. The powerful impact of the water pillar disrupted Charizard's ability to maintain a stable flight, and it began to wobble in the air.

Whoosh!

At this moment, Obito quietly moved to Longmon's side and gathered chakra in his palm, launching a fiery spear at Longmon.

"Shinra Tensei!"

The powerful repulsive force erupted once more, deflecting Obito's fire spear.

"Such sharp observation skills. Still not fast enough, exactly eight seconds," Obito exhaled, forcing himself to calm down.

The pressure Longmon exerted was distinct from Might Guy's, not only because Longmon was stronger but also because he had a more diverse set of skills.

In Obito's battle with Might Guy, there wasn't much to say—it was a straightforward contest of brute strength, with Obito's fire-style jutsu countering Guy's and his taijutsu dominating.

Longmon was an entirely different story. He possessed a wide array of proficient nature transformations, keen observational skills, and quick and powerful ninjutsu.

Whatever Obito could do, Longmon seemed capable of as well, and worse, Longmon had abilities that Obito lacked, which was the most frustrating part.

"Fire Dragon Bomb!"

With the boost from the Fire-Style Chakra Mode, Obito rapidly spat out a massive sheet of flames.

Although the Fire Dragon Bomb was his second most chakra-intensive ninjutsu, Obito had no other choice at this point.

Longmon could not only deflect attacks with the Shinra Tensei but also possessed sharp observational skills and no slouch when it came to speed. To force Longmon to reveal the true cooldown time of the Shinra Tensei, Obito had to use a ninjutsu that Longmon would find challenging to dodge.

Compared to other fire-style jutsu, the Fire Dragon Bomb's advantage was its wide range, and it could also split into multiple flames to attack from different directions, effectively sealing off an enemy's escape routes.

"Two, three..."

As Obito attacked, he silently counted in his head, timing Longmon's previous use of the Shinra Tensei.

Probing the actual cooldown time of the Shinra Tensei was the key to victory; otherwise, having his chakra-intensive attacks deflected would make winning impossible.

'Heat Wave!'

Charizard adjusted its body, inhaled deeply, and exhaled a fiery whirlwind, further restricting Longmon's ability to dodge.

"Seal Barrier!"

Longmon calmly extended his hands, creating an invisible shield around himself.

This was a new Rinnegan ability he had gained after his battle with Might Guy, and he discovered that it could absorb ninjutsu—all kinds of ninjutsu, regardless of their attribute, be it fire, lightning, or water.

Obito could only watch helplessly as his flames seemed to vanish into thin air, as if they had never existed.

"What? This is some kind of ninjutsu. It's the finals, and he still had an ability up his sleeve," Obito thought in disbelief.

He had thought that once he determined the cooldown time of the Shinra Tensei, he would be fine, but now, even before figuring out that cooldown, Longmon had revealed another overpowered ability.

Obito wanted to ask for Mu Yue's help, for her to possess him and fight in his stead. Someone was cheating here, and if he didn't cheat along, he had no chance of winning.

Longmon deflected ninjutsu and nullified them, and Obito struggled to imagine how he could beat Longmon when his whole fighting style revolved around creating fire.

"He even had a hidden ability," Kakashi frowned slightly.

Obito's chances of defeating Longmon were already slim, and with the addition of this new ability that seemed capable of nullifying ninjutsu, Obito's chances of winning were now infinitesimally close to zero.

Kakashi carefully recalled Longmon's previous battles and realized that it made sense for Longmon not to have used this ability before.

The two strongest ninjas Longmon had faced were Sasori and Might Guy. Sasori was a puppeteer, and Might Guy was a pure taijutsu specialist; Longmon's ability to nullify ninjutsu was useless in those fights.

Even if his opponent was overwhelmingly strong, he had to fight until the very last moment. Otherwise, he would be letting down Mu Yue's teachings and Guy's kindness.

Since Longmon could nullify ninjutsu, Obito decided to use Fire Style Nin-Taijutsu!

"Fire Style: Fire Fist!"

Huff! Huff!

The fist, imbued with highly compressed flames, hurtled towards Longmon, accompanied by a piercing whistle.

Longmon maintained the Absorption Shield of the Hungry Ghost Path.

Nin-Taijutsu, with the character for 'ninja' first, mainly relied on nature-transformed chakra.

The flames on Obito's fist were continuously absorbed by Longmon's Absorption Shield, but Obito's fist easily penetrated the transparent shield and continued towards Longmon.

Bang!

Longmon blocked with his palm but was knocked back several meters.

Although Longmon was a little older than Obito, he hadn't undergone systematic training before meeting Mu Yue, and thus, his body wasn't adequately honed.

On the other hand, Obito had practiced breathing techniques for many years and regularly trained his body. Now, in Fire Style Chakra Mode, his strength far surpassed Longmon's.

Longmon's eyes widened in surprise. He hadn't realized how powerful Obito's Taijutsu was, as he hadn't gotten this feeling from observing Obito's previous battles.

"Opportunity!"

Obito's eyes lit up, and he shouted as he rushed forward and kicked out with a Whirlwind Leg.

"Shinra Tensei!"

Bang! A powerful repulsive force slammed into Obito, knocking him back and causing him to crash into the wall at the edge of the arena.

However, Obito paid no heed as his eyes remained fixed on the Fire Dragon rushing towards Longmon.

Longmon's use of Shinra Tensei was exactly as Obito had expected. Since eight seconds had passed since Longmon's last use of the technique, he knew Longmon would be able to use it to repel him.

Obito hadn't shouted to boost his morale but to signal the Fire Dragon.

The Fire Dragon channeled most of its power into its claws, causing the orange claws to darken, and flapped its wings with all its might, pushing its speed to the limit.

'Dragon Claw!'

Longmon's excellent perception allowed him to sense the Fire Dragon's attempt at a sneak attack, and he burst into action, retreating at high speed.

Despite the Fire Dragon's acceleration, the distance between it and Longmon continued to shrink.

"Two, three..." Obito silently counted in his head, timing the cooldown of Longmon's Shinra Tensei.

"Five."

When Obito counted to five in his head, the Fire Dragon's claws were just one foot away from Longmon.

"Shinra Tensei!"

The repulsive force erupted once more, centered on Longmon, and the Fire Dragon could only watch helplessly as its claws stopped mere inches away, unable to move any further.

The Fire Dragon felt an immense, invisible pushing force squeezing it. Even with all its might, it couldn't stay for another second.

Bang!!

The Fire Dragon's body was violently pushed back, and it slammed into the ground, leaving a crater.

"So, the actual cooldown time is five seconds?" Obito wondered as he got up and ran towards the battle.

With Guy having been deceived before, Obito couldn't be sure if this was indeed the true cooldown time for Longmon's Shinra Tensei.

"Never mind, let's just assume it's five seconds!" Obito thought through gritted teeth.

For Obito, there were now only two possible outcomes from his next actions. If the cooldown time was indeed five seconds, he had a small chance of winning.

However, if Longmon had fed him false information again, and the actual cooldown time was less than five seconds, Obito would lose, regardless of whether he knew the correct cooldown time or not.

Even a one-second difference made a huge difference at this point.

So, Obito felt there was no need to continue testing, and he decided to just treat the cooldown time as five seconds.

"Shadow Clone Jutsu!"

Longmon performed hand seals and created two shadow clones.

"Fire Style: Hard Work!"

"Wind Style: Oppression!"

One of the shadow clones created a sea of fire, while the other whipped up a storm, and soon, a massive sea of fire raged.

The Fire Dragon endured the pain and flapped its wings to rise higher, increasing its flight distance.

Obito had wanted to ride the Fire Dragon, but he changed his mind when he considered that Longmon had many long-range ninjutsu. If they stayed in the air, they would just become sitting ducks, so he changed tactics. He continuously created flames around himself to ward off the sea of fire and then rushed towards Longmon.

"Lightning Style: False Darkness!"

Longmon's main body quickly performed hand seals and spat out high-pressure lightning towards the sea of fire, aiming at the swiftly moving Obito.

'Air Blade!'

The Fire Dragon in the sky swung its wings, creating wind blades to help Obito block the attack.

Although the wind blades released from that angle couldn't completely block Longmon's powerful lightning release, they bought Obito the opportunity to dodge.

Observing the incoming lightning with his Sharingan, Obito swiftly shifted his body and continued towards Longmon.

"Bansho Ten'in!"

Longmon's main body stretched out his right hand towards the approaching Obito, and a massive gravitational force pulled Obito's body uncontrollably towards him.

Without hesitation, Obito unleashed his chakra, and flames blazed all around him.

As the Emperor of Flames had only slightly better accuracy than the Fireball Jutsu, to increase his chances of hitting his target, Obito thought of an extreme approach—self-detonation.

With the various enhancements provided by the Breath of Flames, he used chakra to protect his body. Although he would still be injured, he wouldn't suffer severe injuries from the close-range explosion.

Moreover, there was no such type of ninjutsu in the Ninja World yet, and Obito was confident that it would catch his enemies off guard.

Longmon sensed the restless power within Obito and halted the All- Attracting Force, creating an absorption shield once more.

BOOM!!!

Obito, transformed into a fireball, suddenly exploded, blowing a huge crater in the ground. Scorching flames, accompanied by the force of the blast, surged in all directions.

BANG!!!

Longmon's two Shadow Clones were injured and vanished instantly, but his main body, protected by the absorption shield, remained unharmed, though the heat wave caused him to break out in a sweat.

Longmon glanced at Obito, who, despite being the user of the technique, looked worse off than him now, with tattered clothes and his body covered in soot.

SWISH!!!

Several wind blades flew swiftly towards Longmon.

"Shinra Tensei!"

Longmon spread his hands, and the repulsive force surged in all directions, not only deflecting the incoming wind blades but also pushing back Obito with the force.

"One, two," Obito counted silently in his mind, moving with extreme speed as he continued his charge towards Longmon.

"Lightning Release: False Darkness!"

As Longmon retreated, he formed hand seals and spat out a lightning spear towards Obito.

Charizard flew in the sky, and its speed was remarkable, so Longmon decided to aim at the injured Obito instead.

At this moment, the distance between Obito and Longmon was only four meters. Even with Obito's Sharingan, which clearly saw the lightning coming, he knew he couldn't dodge it.

The distance between them was too short, and on top of that, Longmon had released a lightning-style jutsu.

'Dragon Claw!'

Just then, Charizard dived towards the ground, brandishing its dark, sharp claws to intercept the lightning.

Although he could use ninjutsu to disrupt Longmon, the lightning had already been released, and even a fraction of its power was more than Obito could handle at this point.

Due to the immense power of False Darkness, Charizard kept retreating, and its claws also showed signs of scorching from the lightning.

"Four..."

Obito leaped over Charizard and threw a fire punch, but just as the punch was about to land, he silently counted to five in his head.

BANG!

The repulsive force exploded, and as expected, Obito was sent flying.

"ROAR!"

Charizard roared, and the flames on its tail burned fiercely.

It flew into the sky and raised its uninjured claw, flapping its wings with all its might as it charged towards Longmon.

"Wind Release: Oppression!"

A powerful storm blocked Charizard's path, causing it to miss the cooldown window for Shinra Tensei.

At this moment, Obito got up once again and continued his relentless charge towards Longmon.

Charizard spat out a massive amount of flames towards Longmon, forming a vortex to restrict his movements.

But Longmon held up his absorption shield, took a step forward, and absorbed all the flames in an instant.

"Fire Style: Blazing Collision!"

Obito used the last of his physical strength and chakra to set his body ablaze, hoping to create an opportunity for Charizard to attack.

He was injured and running low on chakra, whereas Charizard, though injured, was still stronger.

"It's time to end this battle." Longmon bent his legs and began to gather chakra.

He didn't want to see Obito struggle and hurt himself further, so he decided to end the fight in one go.

"Shinra Tensei!"

As Longmon jumped to a height higher than Charizard's flight path, he unleashed the Shinra Tensei, the same one he had used against Might Guy.

BANG!!!

Obito was overwhelmed by the powerful repulsive force and knocked to the ground, while Charizard, also affected by the force, crashed violently.

BOOM!!!

The ground shook and caved in, and even the walls at the edge of the arena turned to rubble.

Protected by Mu Yue's barrier, the impact didn't reach the audience, but the newly repaired battle arena was once again reduced to ruins.

After Longmon landed on the ground, Obito tried to get up and continue the fight, but he found it incredibly difficult just to move his arms.

He turned his head to look at Charizard, whose eyes had rolled back, seemingly knocked out.

"I lost again. I didn't seize that one opportunity," Obito thought regretfully.

In fact, Longmon had exposed a weakness once, during the absorption of the Fire Style ninjutsu, and that was the only time Obito had managed to touch him during the entire fight.

"Second place is fine. Maybe I can get a custom jutsu that surpasses Golden Sky and No-Thought One-Sword," Obito consoled himself optimistically.

After all, the battle was lost, and no amount of pessimism could change that reality.

"Longmon wins!" The referee announced as he saw that Obito had lost his ability to fight.

(End of Chapter)

Chapter end