48 A Batch Of Endless Fights Near Konoha (1)

Might Guy sighed emotionally once again, 'Is that you, Neji...?', "Guy, he is not your past student now anymore, don't be lenient toward him in any way, if you get a chance to kill, then eliminate him!", Tsunade reminded him once again. Kakashi and Jiraiya, however, looked at Guy with more sympathy because they were both in similar situations regarding Orochimaru and Sasuke. After a few moments, Guy composed himself while thinking seriously, 'Neji just how far have you come...?'

'And didn't you promise me that you would never harm Konoha in any way before? Why are you coming back now!? That wasn't enough for you, must you kill your own uncle as well to feel better? I really misjudged you before...', Guy clenched his fists hard. He didn't expect Neji to attack the Hyuga clan again. It was really extensive in his opinion. Hiashi was the last member of the Main Branch. And now the whole clan got destroyed because of him. Only one person, Hinata Hyuga, remained alive. Neji's behavior really went against Guy's moral compass a long time ago already.

Tsunade also sighed, this was a Kage-level battle from her viewpoint. She learned her lessons since the last time they fought against Neji and that other attacker later in addition. That's why she only brought these four with her this time. Tsunade now understood that numbers were useless against such extraordinary individuals, or at least numbers below a certain level were, for example, below the Kage level. She let some of her people inside the village keep an eye on Danzo as well. It was the first time she issued such a command since she became the Hokage. It was a show of how divided the village became recently. Shizune managed the situation there. While she also tasked Yamato of the Anbu to prevent Naruto from going berserk and joining this battle in the first place.

At that time, one Anbu member suddenly came closer and reported to Tsunade, "Lady Hokage, the finest barrier ninjutsu experts of the village have been assembled and they started working on that barrier you specified around those parameters!", Tsunade nodded in satisfaction and signaled him to fall back again. They planned that barrier, made in cooperation with a dozen of shinobi, in order to trap the winner of this matchup in front of them who would've probably been exhausted, from their earlier fight, during that time. However, all of them suddenly turned vigilant as they sensed an unidentified group from Konoha's Root suddenly getting closer to them. Their leader was black-haired Sai. He also started speaking respectfully to Tsunade after nodding to the other three as well.

"Lady Hokage, Lord Danzo is very concerned about these few dangerous people, and the big threat they represent to our village, therefore, he decided to lend a helping hand next. He dispatched a group of these ten people who are willing to sacrifice their lives in order to neutralize this threat with more certainty. All you need to do is allow them to remain within your barrier and they will act at the appropriate moment. The safety of the village is of utmost importance to Lord Danzo...", Sai explained with ten people really standing behind him in silence. But, all of them seemed lifeless and empty. They were all ready to perform a secret seal for the Root and the village. All four people inside the Tsunade's group gasped in surprise for a bit. They never expected even for Danzo to help.

Tsunade expression however turned disgusted, but then she looked at the massive giants on the other side, hence she eventually swallowed back her words and reluctantly agreed, 'Well, if Danzo himself could temporarily suspend his prejudices and the animosity against me and reveal such secret hole cards, then I should as well...', Tsunade glanced at Sai then and just silently nodded a bit without words. Sai sighed in relief inwardly and instructed them to move. He was also going to stay inside the barrier to make sure those people carry their tasks with success. His own Lord Danzo was really concerned by this group of people, he even let his anger and other emotions slip up for a bit.

They were previously carefully groomed by Danzo for many years already in order to perform the "Reverse Four Symbols Sealing", S-class fuinjutsu, on one of Danzo's difficult enemies if a need arose. The Reverse Four Symbols Sealing was a powerful fuinjutsu activated only upon the user's death. The user must, beforehand, place the seal across their chest. Upon activation, it releases four symbols from the user's own blood that then forms a large, black sphere around them. Anything caught inside the sphere's area is then drawn in and sealed within the user's corpse. Danzo himself could perform that technique as well, but why would he ever have to do that himself while he has such brainwashed followers in the hundreds? It was just that for someone to learn to apply and use that technique in battle, he needed an enormous talent in fuinjutsu, making it only ten of them now.

***

Back at the scene of the fight, Kiyomi's Susanoo suddenly slashed its scythe forward onto Obito's Susanoo at lightning speed amplified by Kiyomi's overexerted eyes which were spinning rapidly. Various dragons on the back of the neck of Karin's gigantic Wood Golems also sprang into action.

"Have you lost your mind, why were you burning all that chakra for?", Obito pondered while feeling unfazed by their attacks coming onto him. His Susanoo immediately pulled up a dozen of Kamui Shuriken, its unique weapons, shooting them right over at the dragons, the scythe, and their battle avatars as well. They warped into Kamui's dimension and destroyed everything that they touched.

Large chunks of their battle avatars were decimated, however, Obito's Susanoo got ensnared by one of Karin's wooden colossal dragons in front as well, while Kiyomi's scythe also inflicted it multiple cuts in various places. However, Obito suddenly looked up above himself and opened his eyes a little in surprise, "Silver Wheel Reincarnation Explosion - Rain!", Above him, Neji flew in azure blue light while also making a flashing attack of silver light. It looked like some dark fireworks on this very bright day. Neji made his attacks small as rain this time with his improvement of this technique.

He could now perform and keep up and sustain this kind of barrage for a while. The rain obliterated anything it touched and wreaked havoc on the ground. Above him stood Neji with his attack, Karin's chains caught his Susanoo from the underground, while Karin and Kiyomi now assaulted him in two directions with their avatars. Obito suddenly found himself being pressed in literally every direction.

'That rain is the most dangerous. It definitely isn't ordinary. It is made of some kind of otherworldly material, no it is a chakra nature. A few hits of those and I'm done for... Is it their final hope? They want to test and see if my intangibility has a time limit to it. They want to defeat me in that way?' So, uninspired...', Obito contemplated while still intact inside his avatar. He knew that it was the most standard response. He was somehow expecting a bigger challenge from those three people,

'Well, my limit should be around ten minutes now that I have both eyes, however, I can't take a risk, what if something unexpected happens? What if they bring something else to the table? Or what if Konoha joins the fray against me for some reason? After ten minutes I can't use it for a while then, it would be bad... Let's end this in another way...', Obito essentially had two choices now, one was to wait for them to spend all of their chakra and die on their own while he turned intangible to survive against those attacks for a while now, but it was a riskier way in his opinion. And the other option was to attack instead of defend and go for them instead, right away. Due to his personality, and careful and a bit proud nature, he was leaning to choose the second option now. He was proud and confident of his attacking ability and thought that it would be easy to deal with them to be specific.

He also couldn't dodge all of those relentless attacks by just teleporting somewhere else in the area, because they were simply too fast for that. He could either turn intangible or start transporting to their faces and killing them right away. And after deciding what he was going to go for firmly, he immediately went for their weakest link, the red-haired girl. His large Susanoo suddenly vanished from the scene, and Obito teleported right in front of the giant Wood Golem with his Kamui. He suddenly manifested his Susanoo right away in an instant once again. However it was only a stage with two arms this time, he used it just to rip the giant's stomach open with them at the exact same moment, 'Here you are, let's die!', And after clearing the space, he instantly prepared to activate his close range Kamui twisting ability on her torso once again, 'This time you can't escape it, woman!'

Karin stood there as if frozen in place, panicked and perspired all over. She appeared to be caught off guard and helpless. However, as Karin was about to get hit with his attack, and the menacing portal slowly formed on her body, Obito suddenly noticed Neji's attack from above halting, and then Neji himself appeared right behind him ready to strike instead, 'So fast...? He's giving his all this time!', Neji was still in his previous blue Tenseigan Chakra Mode but was now rapidly churning through his chakra to get more speed, "Why do you want to protect this girl so much when you are all going to die anyway now that you are about to lose all of your chakra...?", Obito was a little bit perplexed as he turned intangible to take on Neji's fierce offensive of punched and kicks. However, he suddenly noticed Neji's weird facial grin out of blue. Neji's youthful but also masculine face now looked at Obito quite playfully.

"Oh no, you tricked me!", Obito exclaimed in pain as his body suddenly got badly burned, chalked, and blackened all over for some unexplainable reason. His flash was being damaged and seen in various places, it even smelled like some burned meat. His entire skin was looking like it was peeled off from some kind of fierce explosion. His mouth had a metallic feeling of blood and he doesn't remember when he ever felt this much pain. His intangibility betrayed him for the first time today.

Nejsimply chuckled at the sight. That was all a part of the plan he devised and relayed to Karin and Kiyomi at the beginning of this fight. Just now Karin stealthily sealed her Shadow Clone on a small piece of paper with her fuinjutsu and then let it fall into Obito's dimension right then while he was distracted by Neji's final assault and the barrage of attacks while also trying to twist and destroy her body with his portal and maneuver it all simultaneously.

She expertly performed the whole inscription from behind her coat. She managed to create that Shadow Clone so sneakily because she concealed her chakra aura really well. Her understanding of chakra auras and concealment was even higher than Neji's and unparalleled. She simply understood chakra very intimately and on a higher level. They also did it now, as opposed to in the opening moments of their fight, because Obito was less vigilant and wary of that move, at that time, and he also thought that he figured out Neji's strategy of attempting to defeat him by figuring out and exploiting his intangibility timer. But, it was actually just used by Neji in order to dupe him for this.

Nearly all of Obito's body parts were sent into his dimension, one at a time, in those few moments in order to escape from Neji's previous barrage of fast attacks, and got brutalized while there. He realized what was going on and immediately brought it all back, however then in addition to those burns, he ate a few punches and kicks of Neji, severing his bones and even one arm from his body, before he transported his entire being into that dimension this time. His mask was half torn from one of Neji's punches into it and his face looked vile while looking at the red-haired girl in front of him. He never expected this weakest point of their team to trick him and pulverize him like that with her Explosive Shadow Clones prepared for him as soon as he went in, "I will kill you bitch!", He spat.

Never in a million years would he have imagined that someone could defeat his Kamui in that way. Moreover, doing so while seeing his ability for the first time without any preparation. Even though he was maddened, he still felt a trace of astonishment for Neji whom he thought created that plan.

"This is probably a clone of yours? Well, I don't know how I didn't manage to sense you. But you're weaker than me either way. Once I deal with this clone here I will destroy you all outside...", Obito thought that she sent a clone because if she moved her real body here there would be no way out.

However, Karin's clone just giggled in a creepy way before Obito suddenly sensed a giant God of Death appearing right above her and then rushing toward him, "Oh no! What the fu-", He instantly escaped to the outside world once again. He knew about the Death Repear Seal very well and he was sure that that one wasn't an illusion. Even though he failed to understand how could a clone create it in the first place. But that didn't stop him from getting out of there expressly to be sure.

He thereafter reappeared a little further away from them all in the real world. He was now holding onto the place that was now empty where his arm used to be while gasping hard, "Neji Hyuga... I will pay you back for this... You will all regret this...", "Don't be happy yet, have fun with Konoha's people first, you barely have any chakra left, hahaha!", Obito laughed for the first time in decades and suddenly vanished entirely next. He teleported back inside his dimension and then instantly to another country entirely before Karin's clone managed to catch him with the Death Repear Seal. It would soon deflate on its own after consuming all of its predefined chakra on that advanced jutsu.

"Neji, Kiyomi, nearly a hundred shinobi are constructing a large barrier around us right now. They are from Konoha!", Karin shouted urgently all of a sudden. Her large golem was destroyed by Obito and she also withdrew her chains with Kiyomi doing the same thing with her Susanoo. Neji also turned off his Tenseigan Chakra Mode while sensing the situation outside. His expression turned serious once again and he wasn't all that happy about defeating Obito anymore. He certainly hasn't anticipated for Konoha to plan to create that kind of barrier in the meantime, and there was more.

'We have only around a quarter of our chakra left now, so we need to think a way out of this one too...', Neji thought critically, 'Well, my Truth Seeking Balls are stronger than any kind of chakra, including this barrier's. I have one more minute of Tenseigan Chakra Mode left, and just enough chakra for a small Truth-Seeking Orb while I have it open. I must play it smart because it means there's only one chance to escape this barrier...', "Kiyomi, Karin, great job today, thank you for everything today. Here is how we're going to escape now!", Neji spoke to these two girls while also looking them warmly. If not for their help, he would've certainly died today after going for Hiashi.

'Obito probably doesn't know just how extraordinary those orbs are, hence he thought that Konoha would get me for sure this time. That barrier is nothing in comparison to it. Maybe Black Zetsu didn't tell him yet...', Neji pondered again while whispering with Karin and Kiyomi, noticing other developments from Konoha's side near their position. There were now even giant frogs appearing.

Truth Seeking Balls could disintegrate and erase any kind of charka, human bodies, or even human souls that they touch. It was a five-nature transformation combined release plus Yin and Yang in addition to that. The only way that someone could counter it was if they had access to some kind of senjutsu chakra, or were able to wield them as well. Neji's Tenseigan allowed him to summon them with ease. And unlike Obito, Madara, and Naruto who could only summon a fixed amount of orbs in the original, Neji didn't have a limit. The only limit was his chakra. He could also easily shape them. Kaguya Otsutsuki was even going to destroy an entire dimension with them by extending them out.

***

A few moments later inside a cave somewhere in the Land of Fire. Obito suddenly knelt on his knees while uncontrollably spitting out blood, "Obito! What happened to you!?", Complete Zetsu's voice suddenly shouted anxiously. Even black Zetsu was completely anxious, he was not pretending in the slightest bit. God knows how more difficult his and his mother's plans would've become if Obito suddenly died for some reason. Whereas, White Zetsu was more genuinely concerned just for him.

"You went out to eliminate Neji Hyuga and his two newfound allies? What happened there, Obito?", Black Zetsu quickly probed. He was not liking this development in the slightest bit. Was Neji even stronger than he previously thought? Then he would have to strengthen and use more fodders against him in the future, "Who was stronger than we thought? Neji Hyuga? His allies? Did Konoha intervene?", Black Zetsu continued to ask questions. Obito suddenly gazed at him and then snarled dangerously, "Why are you so concerned!?", Black Zetsu suddenly turned surprised that he lashed out at himself now, ''Did he happen to realize something?', However, Obito's next words suddenly cleared his doubts, "You're just Madara's will and I am no Madara. You are of no use to me at all..."

"Why do I even have to keep you in the first place? You're nowhere near as strong as Neji's people. You just know how to advise me on what to do and what to do and what not all my life! Keep it down with that or I might really send you away! Or bring me some kind of help already!", Obito continued his agitated speech. He was really angry today. If he had a few capable and competent allies as well, maybe it would've gone differently today. He never liked this Black Zetsu at all, to be honest. And after getting his other eye back he totally threw out the possibility of him ever reviving the real Madara in the future. He was kind of drunk on his own power, only he could bring salvation to this world and no one else. And as Black Zetsu was Madara's will, he was also his adversary. It was just that he kept him around because he knew many unknown things and sometimes gave good advice. And he felt like he could deal with him right away if he wanted to because he wasn't strong at all. He was not even on a Kage level and that was in combination with his White partner.

Black Zetsu's dark shadowy face was expressionless after he turned silent after Obito's words, but inside he was boiling with anger, 'This inferior puppet... Wait till I activate that seal on you, and humiliate you, once all the tailed beasts get gathered together for Madara to take. I would then revive him to kill you in pleasure before using him for my mother!', He needed Madara, Rinnegan, the God Tree, the Infinite Tsukuyomi, himself, and the Tailed Beats, all must follow in line one by one for his mother's resurrection. Even just a vessel made of only Hagoromo's side of descendants could be enough to revive Kaguya. That's why he previously didn't focus too much on Hamura's side who were far away on the Moon. However, now that they had intervened, he needed to deal with them first in order to prevent them from jeopardizing his plans later on. Those two people were now his first targets nowadays. He felt like only people of such superb ancestry could bring him any trouble.

He was in fact made out of Kaguya's "Creation of All Things", Yin-Yang release, and he carried her consciousness, will, and spiritual power. He was also a part of Kaguya's chakra, her son, and her personal creation. In modern terms, he was her "jutsu". And he needed to recover all the world's chakra to make her into one being once again. She had to resort to creating him instead of relying on her clan's Karma Seal because she wasn't killed by her two sons, she was just sealed away inside one of her dimensions because they either weren't strong enough to kill her or knew of her Karma abilities. They wanted to revive her later through a crude "Otsutsufication" process, not the real one.

For that purpose, through centuries he plotted in various ways. He would first approach Indra alone periodically, goading him with praises and curiosity towards Indra's true potential, even going so far as to say he could rival if not surpass the Sage of Six Paths, his father, Hagoromo Otsutsuki, himself.

When Hagoromo later named his younger son, Asura, as the new leader of their ancient religion, Ninshu, he tempted Indra, to go to war with his younger brother for the title. He realized that Sharigan's users were really too extreme and easy to manipulate, due to some unexplained genetic factors, at that time, and later exploited it through the ages. He decided that Indra's descendants, the Uchiha, would be the main cast of the shinobi history he was creating and also modified Hagoromo's tablet to claim that among other things, the Infinite Tsukuyomi would be the Uchiha's salvation. Over the centuries, it manipulated the two brothers' reincarnations in an attempt to get one to awaken the Rinnegan, like fusing Madara with Hashirama's cells, giving him ideas of the Ten-Tails from that stone tablet and he also recorded many events for Kaguya's use when she reawoke.

"Anyway, Konoha will probably deal with them right now, or they are already dead...", Obito calmed himself down after White Zetsu infused him with his healing cells on his request just now. He finally started reiterating to them what had been transcribed back there. But, the more Black Zetsu heard, the more incredulous he became, 'That idiot was so stronger than them, not to mention they were half weakened by that Hyuga's patriarch, and this idiot still lost!? It was a tremendous mistake he was given this duty by you Madara... Not only is he so disobedient, but he is also that dumb too...',

Obito, however, didn't catch on to his thoughts and he continued speaking tiredly, "Anyway, I had to really run back there or I could've really died. If that person survives, he is going to bring a calamity to our plans later... I must go after him once again as soon as I recover if he escapes from Konoha this time... And that time, this trick won't work on me again anymore...", Obito thought dangerously.

He already regarded Neji Hyuga as a way more intelligent and sharper person than even his sensei, Minato Namikaze. Minato, at that time, didn't figure out his ability mechanics to that extent, not even close. Other supposed people of that same kind, like Itachi and Kakashi, whom Obito knew, couldn't take a candle to him. That kind of ingenuity, tactical sense, and intellect was unmatched.

'But, I have to thank you, Neji! You allowed me to see figure out such a glaring hole inside my battle tactics. I didn't lose anything by confronting you, even If I technically lost. Now there isn't going to be anyone else, in the future, who could exploit that vulnerability ever again as you did. However, if it was done in a different situation, by someone else, then maybe I could've really perished and met my demise...', Obito thought objectively about the matter. He now understood his exact weakness and even how to deal with it once and for all. It could be even considered a gift for many shinobi.

He also felt generally a bit more humbled as a shinobi and he felt like he needed that after getting such a power-up previously overnight in a form of his other eye, "White Zetsu, make hundreds of clones slowly, they are going to be nested inside of my Kamui dimension for now on!", Obito spoke again, 'The solutions to hardest problems are always the easiest ones, how did I not think of this before...?', Obito presently realized that he also needed to step up his essential tactical game too, 'So, he is not really an idiot, huh? Maybe it was just that guy's lucky day?', Black Zetsu also thought.