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As his voice faded, Guy's fists crossed before his chest.
—Sixth Gate, Gate of Joy, OPEN!
BWOOM!
Green flames erupted around him. His intense gaze locked onto Obito, boring straight through the mask. The sheer force of his presence was staggering, an aura you could feel.
In the next heartbeat, Guy was airborne.
His fists became blurs of motion, a flurry of strikes so fast and fierce they ignited the air. Like match heads scraping against a phosphorous strip. Fire roared into being, a downpour of crimson fists that blanketed the sky.
—Morning Peacock!
Obito's murmur was barely audible. "How unreasonable. A pity it's all wasted effort…"
His form shifted, became intangible. The rain of fiery fists passed through him like ghosts, crashing into the earth below in waves of flame and force. Not a single spark touched him.
From the air, Guy watched, his teeth gritted in frustration. That's the power of his right eye. Physical attacks are almost completely useless. We need a feint… but even with a feint, he can choose to ignore it, just stay intangible. We're stuck. The key is making him choose to become solid again.
Not far away, Kakashi's eyes flashed. After a moment's hesitation, a sharp crackle of electricity erupted in his palm—the Raikiri.
Amid the trailing flames of the Morning Peacock, Obito's peripheral vision never left Kakashi. He saw the motion. A Raikiri without the Sharingan? That's practically suicide. Or is this a clumsy attempt to bait me, to make me attack you? Hah. Don't flatter yourself. I could play along… but it's more fun to crush your pathetic, self-satisfied illusions.
Kakashi surged forward, a streak of lightning trailing from his hand. A desperate, almost suicidal charge.
"Kakashi!!" Guy roared, forcibly adjusting the arcs of his flaming fists to avoid his friend.
Closer.
Closer.
Kakashi thrust the Raikiri forward.
Obito reached out lazily to grab him.
He won't solidify, Kakashi's mind raced.
Of course I won't solidify, Obito thought dismissively.
Their forms overlapped.
And in that instant, Kakashi did the unthinkable.
He stopped dead. Wrenched his own hand around. Pointed the crackling blade of the Raikiri…
…directly at his own heart.
"Obito…" Kakashi's voice was quiet, raw. "You hate me for using this jutsu to kill Rin. So today… I'll return this life to you."
"!?"
The sheer, shocking audacity of it made Obito's vision narrow. There was no time to think. Instinct took over.
His hand shot out—solid, real—and clamped around Kakashi's wrist.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
Fireballs detonated against Obito's back. Scorching heat seared his flesh. The shock of pain, of being tricked, crashed through him, mirrored perfectly by the calm, knowing look in Kakashi's visible eye.
Obito stared, fury boiling in his own gaze.
And Kakashi delivered the verbal blow. "Obito… A person's instant reaction… is the truest reflection of their heart. Deep down… you don't want me to die, do you?"
The fury in Obito's eyes cooled, hardened into something glacial.
BOOM… BOOM… BOOM!
He let the fireballs hammer his body, let them char his skin. Only his grip on Kakashi's wrist remained unbreakable.
"You're right…" Obito's voice was a low, venomous hiss. "I don't want you dead. I want you to live… and suffer."
SHWOOOOM!
Even as the Morning Peacock's assault continued, the spiral of Kamui erupted from Obito's right eye, greedily pulling Kakashi in.
A split second—Kakashi wrenched his arm free, twisting backward to escape the vortex's grasp.
But Obito's hand shot out again, fingers closing not on Kakashi, but on the edge of the Scroll of Seals strapped to his back.
"To the trash with you!!"
Kakashi's freed hands flashed through a sequence of seals. "In the month since you took my eye at the gravesite… I didn't just wallow in despair."
FWIP!
He vanished into thin air.
"…The Flying Thunder God Technique." Obito cut off Kamui's absorption.
CRRROOOOM!
The remaining flames of the Morning Peacock swallowed his form whole.
In the distance, Kakashi reappeared beside a kunai. "I mastered the Flying Thunder God… but I can't move like the Fourth. I need hand signs… every time."
He examined the Scroll of Seals. A ragged tear marred its surface.
"He tore a page out. Damn it. This is bad."
THUD.
Guy landed, steadying his breathing. Through the dissipating fire and smoke, a towering skeleton of blue chakra stood defiant.
"A Susano'o… But the Morning Peacock still hurt him."
Ssst… Sssst…
Guy's thick brows furrowed. "Hm?"
Obito stood within the Susano'o, back turned. And Guy could see it clearly—the mangled, burned flesh of his back… knitting itself back together in mere seconds.
"Hashirama cells…!!"
Inside his skeletal fortress, Obito looked at the torn page in his hand. By cruel coincidence… it described a certain forbidden jutsu. His gaze deepened. He tucked the page into his robe and finally turned to face Guy.
"Satisfied, wild beast?"
"No wonder you could tank the Morning Peacock so casually… And with that Susano'o, another Peacock would be useless!!"
—Seventh Gate, Gate of Shock, OPEN!!!
Guy crossed his arms once more. This time, a torrent of blue, raging chakra exploded upward from his body. The shockwave of power alone made the very air tremble, causing Obito's Susano'o to flicker and waver.
Through the haze of blue energy, Guy's eyes burned with focus. The Daytime Tiger's power should be enough to shatter that Susano'o… But his phasing ability is the real problem. A single explosive attack won't work on that. Kakashi… the one who can decide this fight… it really has to be you!
Further back, Kakashi's mind was a storm.
The moment he decided to turn the Raikiri on himself, he had been prepared for Obito to let him die. It was a feint, with his life as the wager.
For someone as cautious and analytical as Kakashi, such a reckless, all-or-nothing gamble was utterly out of character.
But facing the betrayal of a former friend… he had to admit he wasn't as calm as he seemed.
He had acted on impulse. Taken a terrible risk.
His words to Obito had been half calculation, half genuine plea.
What truly unsettled him, what left his heart in turmoil… was that Obito had instinctively stopped him.
There was no sense of tactical victory. Only a deep, complicated sigh that seemed to come from the very core of his being.
Kakashi clenched his fist, sending a silent plea across the battlefield. Obito… come back. It's not too late. We can… we can go back to how it was.
"Ha… Ha ha ha ha… HAHAHAHAHA!"
Obito's laughter rang out, sharp and mocking, as if he'd heard the world's greatest joke.
When it faded, his voice was ice. "Do you really think… that's possible?"
"Yeah… you're right." Kakashi's shoulders slumped slightly, then straightened. "I've been useless. A failure, just as you said. So… as your former friend, let me at least lessen the weight of your sins."
SWISH!
Kakashi's hands formed a sequence of seals no one had ever seen him use before.
ZZZT—!
His right pupil shimmered, shifting to a bright, metallic silver. It wasn't the sign of a dōjutsu awakening, but the activation of a state.
FWOOM!
A cloak of ethereal, silvery-white chakra ignited around his body, flaring like cold fire.
Obito's visible eye widened slightly in surprise. "That chakra mode… Never seen it before. But the intensity… it's nothing special."
Guy's face split into a huge, blazing grin. "It finally awakened! The signature of the White Fang! The power that made him famous—'White Hatred Flare'! It converts the energy of the soul into a unique chakra! In that state, he can bypass physical defenses… and strike directly at the soul itself! Adversity didn't break you, Kakashi! It pushed you to a higher peak! THAT IS THE ESSENCE OF YOUTH!!! Now, let my ferocious strike be the accompaniment to your glorious YOUTH!!!"
As he shouted, Guy brought his hands together, interlocking his fingers in a peculiar butterfly-shaped grip, and thrust them forward.
—DAYTIME TIGER!!!
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