A Sage's Pursuit of Power

Even though Aoba had completely locked down all of Obito's movement options, he still didn't rush to finish him off.

He was still waiting.

For one, Obito wasn't completely exhausted yet, he was just in a disadvantageous position. It wasn't time to go all-in just yet.

Aoba wasn't in a hurry. But Obito was. He knew he couldn't afford to drag this fight out against Aoba.

It was simple, he was at a disadvantage.

It almost seemed ironic, in most stories, someone like Obito, a lone warrior against the world, would be the protagonist. Meanwhile, someone like Aoba, who was backed by a powerful organization, would typically be the antagonist.

But in reality, it was the opposite, Obito was the villain, and Aoba was on the protagonist's side.

Obito understood clearly, if Konoha's reinforcements arrived, his chances of escaping would plummet.

Even though ordinary shinobi wouldn't be able to interfere in this kind of high-level battle, the sealing unit Aoba had personally trained over the years was a different story.

During the Battle of Amegakure, Obito had already noticed how dangerous Konoha's sealing specialists were.

What made them terrifying was that they possessed special ninja tools that drastically increased their chakra reserves.

This made them far more dangerous than any normal sealing squad.

For example, a jutsu like Five Elements Seal, a top-tier shinobi like Orochimaru could cast it alone, but he could only seal one person at a time.

However, if an entire sealing squad worked together, they could completely nullify all Five Elements Ninjutsu within a set area.

Not to mention that Konoha's sealing unit had already developed ways to replicate even more advanced techniques like Adamantine Sealing Chains and Eight Trigrams Sealing Style.

Even for Obito, these techniques were extremely troublesome to deal with.

After several exchanges, Obito finally lost his patience upon realizing that Aoba was deliberately stalling him to drain his energy.

"Shinra Tensei!" (Almighty Push)

Without reaching Six Paths-level, Obito couldn't wield true Six Paths powers.

He also didn't have Senjutsu, meaning he couldn't use the same Six Paths-level techniques that Madara had in the original timeline.

So, he relied on the Rinnegan's most powerful attacks instead.

But Aoba had been waiting for this moment.

This time, instead of dodging, he activated Elysium and tanked the hit head-on.

Elysium had a conceptual resistance effect, meaning it could theoretically block even formless attacks like Shinra Tensei's shockwave.

However, the chakra cost was high.

But Aoba didn't hesitate, he had waited long enough for this opportunity.

In Obito's disbelieving eyes, Aoba's body completely ignored the force of Shinra Tensei and charged forward.

"Damn it!" Obito cursed, immediately retreating.

He knew that Aoba was renowned for his Taijutsu, his former title was "Wind-Chasing Sword".

Obito absolutely couldn't allow him to get close.

As he backed away, he formed hand seals and unleashed a Great Fireball Jutsu to obscure Aoba's vision.

He didn't expect this attack to actually stop Aoba, he just needed a little more time.

Unfortunately, Aoba didn't hesitate at all, he charged straight through the flames.

Clang!

Obito's metal rod barely managed to block Aoba's Kusanagi Sword.

However, in the next moment, the Kusanagi Sword suddenly extended!

Obito had been prepared, but his reaction was just a fraction too slow.

In terms of Kenjutsu and Taijutsu, he was on a completely different level from Aoba.

After all, Obito had barely fought in a real battlefield before 'dying'.

Since then, he had relied mostly on Wood Release and Kamui. His Taijutsu was decent, but only decent.

Meanwhile, Aoba had no Mangekyō Sharingan or Wood Release back in the day, he had survived purely by fighting with a sword on the battlefield.

And his opponents back then had been Cloud shinobi, who were Taijutsu specialists.

After only three exchanges, Obito took a hit, his shoulder was slashed by the Kusanagi Sword.

It wasn't a fatal wound, but to Obito, it was another humiliating defeat at Aoba's hands.

"You bastard!"

Unlike Madara, who was cold and calculating, Obito was impulsive, emotional, and extremely unstable.

After being defeated by Aoba multiple times, the frustration had been boiling inside him for years.

Now, after returning in what he believed was his "full power" state, he was once again getting completely overwhelmed.

His pride couldn't handle it.

"Aaaaaaahhhhhh!!!"

Aoba blinked. What's with this overreaction?

It was just a small cut.

You've been injured way worse before.

But it was precisely Aoba's confused expression that finally pushed Obito over the edge.

That look...

He's looking down on me.

He doesn't even understand why I'm so angry?!

"Aoba Kamikawa! GO TO HELL!!!"

In the shinobi world, rage-induced power-ups weren't common.

Only a handful of plot-armored protagonists ever got that kind of treatment.

Normally, Obito wouldn't qualify.

But perhaps he had been provoked too much.

Or maybe it was something else entirely.

Either way, Obito went berserk.

...But it didn't matter.

Because at that very moment...

Konoha's sealing unit had arrived.

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Currently on Chapter 326 - The Final Confrontation Begins