Hearing Tobirama's words, Muzo took a good look at Madara's subordinate. He did look familiar… but who was he?
He stroked his chin thoughtfully. Honestly, that face wasn't bad, had some character.
Hashirama glanced at Obito, then at Muzo. He wanted to say something, but seeing his Muzo's serious expression, he decided against it.
Actually, he'd been meaning to say it earlier.
But Muzo didn't seem to realize, maybe a classic case of being blinded by what's right under your nose.
"You there, state your name," Muzo said.
"Tobiyama Hizō," Obito replied, ready to use Kamui at any moment, though he planned to surprise the three in front of him first.
Having a Sharingan as a Kumo ninja meant nothing special to these three, especially not to Tobirama.
But Wood Release?
According to Black Zetsu, both Tobirama and Muzo highly valued their clan members, and Hashirama had always hoped for peace between the Senju and Uchiha.
"Hizō?" Muzo thought for a moment. Never heard of it.
"What kind of shit name is that? Never heard of you. It's fake," Muzo pointed at Obito. "Give me your real name. Don't you know the rules?"
"This is my name." Obito made a Snake hand seal, looking serious. "You three are heroes of this village. Why don't you take a look at my ninjutsu?"
The ground groaned under the strain as hundreds of demonic-looking thorny wood spikes burst out. In an instant, they crushed the buildings around him and roared forward like a swarm of serpents, "biting" toward the three Senju clan members.
Fortunately, the villagers had long been evacuated to shelters. No one was harmed no matter how many houses got flattened.
The three instinctively dodged the attack.
"Wood Release?" Muzo looked around at the thorny woods. "Ugly-ass wood… feels like I've seen it somewhere before."
"Taka!" Tobirama easily sliced through a thorny vine. "Look at what you've done!"
"???"
Tobirama didn't bother explaining. He summoned a water mirror in front of Muzo, reflecting his face.
Now Muzo finally realized why that face looked familiar.
"Crap!" he cursed.
Impossible! He'd worn protection!
He wasn't even married. The Senju-Uchiha relationship was so sensitive, and with his other relationships? He had always been careful!
Was the quality bad!?
Whatever.
"You fighting or not?" Muzo turned to Hashirama.
"I think I'll sit this one out… sigh…" Hashirama shook his head.
How did it come to this? If the boy had been wearing a Konoha forehead protector, he'd have been so proud.
"And how about you?"
"You idiot! I told you not to mess around with an Uchiha! Look what happened!"
Figures. All he knew how to do was yell and punch people. So barbaric.
"Fine, fine! I'll fight! Happy now?" Muzo reached out and grabbed a thorn vine that shot toward him. With a burst of force, he ripped it out of the ground.
"Incoming attack. Take this." The vine, now a thorn spear infused with chakra, was hurled with such force it tore through several layers of the thorny forest, almost smashing into Obito's face.
Even with Kamui, he was startled. The Senju clan's taijutsu was terrifying.
Power-enhancing taijutsu was common in the shinobi world, and so-called Chakra Enhanced Strength wasn't rare either. But the Senju had always been the most famous for it. Now, only Tsunade truly inherited it.
He had never fought Tsunade, so he hadn't seen Senju strength firsthand. Now he had, and it was something else.
As he was thinking this, he suddenly realized Muzo had disappeared.
"Hey, where are you looking?" Muzo's voice came from below him. Obito immediately activated Kamui.
In the next instant, countless shadowy blades rose from the ground, piercing through him and simultaneously shredding the entire thorn forest to bits.
"Space-time ninjutsu…" Obito's eyelids twitched.
This Muzo… was even stronger than Black Zetsu had said…
Looked like a Nara clan Yin Release technique, but no, it was space-time related. He'd never heard of Konoha having something like this.
"Huh?" Muzo seemed a little surprised too.
His enemy wasn't bad.
Alright then, let's switch to a different technique. The thorn forest is destroyed anyway, fewer shadows now.
Back in the day, there were tons of Edo Tensei bodies. So many secret techniques, he'd used Spirit Transformation Technique dozens of times. After enough uses, aside from a few that required special bloodlines, he more or less learned them all.
As for this Spirit Transformation Technique, it sounded fancy, like possession, but it was really just a way of manipulating chakra. Not much different from Shadow Imitation Technique.
Now that he was reincarnated with Edo Tensei, his chakra was essentially unlimited. Jutsu he couldn't freely use when he was alive could now be cast without restraint. As for whether that brat was actually his offspring, he never had any doubts.
Of course not.
What, people didn't trust his skills? A basic mistake like that would never happen between two experienced ninjas from ninja clans.
Ninja transformation and disguise techniques were incredibly easy. For Kumo to preserve his facial features was normal enough. He himself often wore others' faces when doing sneak attacks. It was just that Tobirama was particularly sensitive, he'd jump to conclusions the moment he saw a hint of something.
The guy even wore a Kumo forehead protector. Even if he was part Senju and part Uchiha, they could just pretend he wasn't.
Muzo stepped forward, closing the gap to Obito. He activated another secret technique. Back when he was alive, this technique would have cost him half his chakra to use.
The Wind Domain of Disruption Technique.
Its effect? A wide-area interference that disrupted the chakra flow of both allies and enemies, rendering ninjutsu ineffective, forcing all combat into taijutsu.
He had always thought this jutsu was incredibly powerful, but the fact that this guy used ninjutsu against a Senju like him, he had to be out of his mind.
Obito, just having exited Kamui's intangibility state, suddenly felt the chakra in his body begin to go haywire. Then he saw Muzo's face up close.
Muzo's hand sliced the air with a whooshing crack.
If Kamui weren't a Mangekyō technique, Obito had no doubt his neck would've been shredded in that strike. The super-hard thorny wood? Muzo could grab it and leave five deep punctures. He could snap entire trees that took three people to circle around.
Kamui activated again, and Obito's body once more phased through Muzo.
"…So it is you after all," Muzo suddenly muttered.
Obito didn't respond. Without hesitation, he activated Kamui's space-warping transfer ability. As the vortex formed, Muzo's body began distorting, being pulled toward his right eye.
But Obito was sharp, he noticed something: Muzo didn't look surprised.
Maybe it was because he'd been burned by Masashi too many times… but for some reason, that expression reminded him a lot of when Masashi used to set him up.
He instinctively canceled the absorption and switched to self-transfer, entering the Kamui dimension to become intangible again.
Just as he finished that, the Muzo in front of him exploded.
The explosion was massive. A shockwave wiped out everything around, leaving a huge crater. The flying debris riddled nearby buildings like machine gun fire.
Obito's expression remained calm, but his back was soaked in sweat.
What the hell kind of jutsu was that?
He could feel sealing power in that explosion. If he'd been mid-absorption when it triggered…
In the air, the scattered dust began to swirl and reform part of Muzo's body.
"Man, the Tsuchigumo clan's jutsu is really handy," Muzo said, whose head had just regenerated enough to talk. "Shame I can't use senjutsu."
Since he couldn't manipulate natural energy, he couldn't unleash the full potential of the Tsuchigumo clan's jutsu. But using chakra instead, he could still act like a walking bomb, and it even had the added bonus of restricting or sealing enemy ninjutsu in its range.
A pity this one reacted fast. He hadn't managed to blow up that Sharingan eye.
But now, he knew who this guy was.
In this unfamiliar future, Obito had apparently even gotten plastic surgery. Who knew what the hell was wrong with him, using his face of all people.
That jutsu, if it weren't for Kamui, he'd have blown himself up again.
…Huh. Swearing to blow himself up again felt a bit weird.
"This guy's not my grandson!" Muzo called out as he looked at Hashirama. "He's faking. He can use Wood Release because he has your cells."
Tobirama furrowed his brow. He recalled his Wood Release experiments from his lifetime.
"My cells?" Hashirama clearly didn't remember. "Tobirama, do you know why?"
"…"
I asked you for your cells like a hundred times for experiments. And you forget this, but you remember parading around town with Madara in disguise? Seriously!?
"Taka, we are going to take care of the other enemies," Tobirama said. "This evil Uchiha brat is your responsibility. Make sure you kill him."
"Of course." Muzo waved them off. "Go on, even though I'm just a—"
"Shut it," Tobirama interrupted, knowing Muzo was about to say something dumb again. "If you've still got access to the 'Gate,' bring out your Edo Tensei troops. They might actually be useful now."
Every time Muzo started with that line, Tobirama felt personally attacked.
"Let's go."
"Alright," Hashirama nodded.
Though it pained him, this Uchiha boy now stood against Konoha, and had to be destroyed.
He turned and left with Tobirama.
Obito didn't try to stop them, because Muzo was still watching him.
He had considered using Kamui to escape, but after repeated use, his right eye was starting to ache, and he didn't dare risk it again just yet.
The White Zetsu cells helped supplement his ocular power, but Kamui, being a Mangekyō technique, still placed a heavy toll on the body. Using it in rapid succession could only be sustained for so long.
"A ninja's fight isn't all about ninjutsu," Muzo stared at him, killing intent rising. "Let me teach you about chakra control."
At the same time, he quietly activated the "Gate."
Come forth, my Edo Tensei army…
…Wait, what!?
His eyes widened.
What the hell!? Who the hell cleared out my stash!? Son of a bitch! You even stole the coffin lids!?
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