darknovel Chapter 348 Itachi: For Otoko's sake, I can only take credit with Obito.
Chapter 348 Itachi: For Otoko's sake, I can only take credit with Obito.
Chapter 348 Itachi: For Otoko's sake, I can only take credit with Obito.
The next morning.
Cold and empty are the unchanging tones of the Divine Might Space.
Twisted gray stone pillars pierced the sky like a forest, while beneath one's feet lay a rough, cold rocky ground.
There is no sky here, no concept of sun, moon, or stars; overhead is just an endless expanse of darkness.
On a relatively flat rocky ground, Otsuchi slowly opened his eyes.
He lay on his back on the ground, his limbs feeling slightly sore.
He turned his head slightly and saw his vortex mask casually tossed aside, revealing half of his distorted and disfigured face.
Obito's black robe embroidered with red clouds was covered in dust and clung to his body in a wrinkled state, so there were no obvious signs of battle.
If there were any scars left from the battle, they mostly belonged to the enormous creature not far in front of his eyes.
Not far away, the massive body of the Three-Tailed Isobu lay curled up dozens of meters away.
The enormous tortoise, which resembled a small mountain, looked quite disheveled at that moment. Its thick, dark shell was covered with cracks and sunken pits, and some parts even had charred marks that had not yet cooled.
The tailed beast had its eyes closed and remained motionless, with only faint breathing indicating that it was not yet dead.
"snort."
Obito snorted coldly, his gaze sweeping over the heavily injured and unconscious tailed beast. There was no pity in his heart, only a lingering resentment like a dark cloud.
When he heard the full truth about Rin's death from Kakashi, he felt as if his whole world had collapsed.
Shock, regret, anger—all sorts of emotions churned in my chest, yet I could find no outlet for them.
Even though he rationally understood that the Three-Tails Isobu was nothing more than a sacrifice used by Madara Uchiha, the existence of this tailed beast was already inextricably linked to the most painful past in his memory.
Thus, Obito's pent-up anger finally found an outlet, and he ruthlessly unleashed his fury on the enormous creature imprisoned there.
Obito continued to beat the Three-Tails until it was on the verge of death, until he was completely exhausted, and then he stopped and fell into a deep sleep.
Even a powerful tailed beast, in the Kamui dimension—Obito's home turf—and under his utterly merciless and ferocious attacks, could only meet such a miserable end.
At this moment, Obito felt his physical fatigue lessen slightly, but the knot of resentment in his heart still weighed heavily on his chest and wouldn't go away.
Those memories and anger became even clearer.
Obito couldn't help but recall the absurd and frustrating dream he had just had last night, and his face darkened.
"A bunch of clueless brats—!"
He muttered a curse under his breath.
He was the one who risked his life to repel the powerful enemy, but in the end, all the credit was given to some non-existent predecessor.
Instead, they criticized him as a reckless and impulsive negative example!
Being misunderstood like this, especially by Lin herself, is more painful than a simple failure.
Obito clenched his fists, wishing he could crush something to pieces on the spot.
Even so, certain images from his dream still involuntarily surfaced in his mind.
If Kamui in real life could be like in my dreams—
Obito's thoughts suddenly paused, his pupils contracted slightly, and he recalled the horrifying scene of Juzo Biwa being twisted and shattered on the spot under the activation of his eye technique.
While the methods were extremely bloody and terrifying, they were also incredibly chilling and intimidating.
Thinking of this, Obito felt a faint, indescribable hope rising in his heart.
He truly lacked the powerful offensive means to directly destroy the enemy.
With this thought in mind, Obito became more alert.
Instinctively, he immediately looked down and groped around in his hand, picking up a rough stone about the size of a fist, which he then clenched in his palm.
"Give it a try—"
He took a deep breath, and his Sharingan suddenly widened.
A complex and mysterious Mangekyou Sharingan pattern quietly appeared and began to slowly rotate. Familiar eye power surged instantly, locking onto the stone in his palm.
The next second, space twisted slightly.
The stone seemed to have been erased from the painting by an invisible eraser, disappearing directly into his palm.
A barely perceptible ripple spread through the air before everything returned to a deathly stillness.
Obito opened his palm, and it was empty; the stone had been moved to some corner of reality.
"As expected, it's still the same old story—"
Obito frowned, his face showing disappointment and disgust.
The divine power in this world still primarily focuses on transfer. While it's true that etherealizing oneself for defense makes one nearly invincible, and sucking objects into other dimensions is convenient, it ultimately lacks the terrifying destructive power displayed in the dream.
In comparison, he felt that the divine power in reality paled in comparison and was far from satisfactory.
I'm not reconciled—I'm so not reconciled!
A strong sense of resentment surged within Obito. He gritted his teeth, and the patterns of his Mangekyou Sharingan swirled rapidly in his pupils.
Is the method wrong?
Yes, there must be some tricks he hasn't mastered yet!
Obito focused his mind again, concentrating all his attention on the power of his right eye, trying to recall the strange feeling of activating Kamui in his dream and attempting to simulate it in reality.
Once, twice, three times —
Obito kept changing targets, repeatedly trying different objects around him.
A piece of gravel, a small pile of sand, even a protruding rock face in the distance —
Each time, the power of the eye was successfully activated, and each time, the target was silently moved and disappeared without exception.
But the kind of spatial distortion he had hoped for, which forcibly tore the target apart and shredded, never occurred.
"No—something's not right!" After failing once again, Obito finally stopped. He was slightly out of breath, his brows furrowed.
However, he did not gain nothing.
During his repeated attempts, he keenly sensed that there seemed to be some commonality between the divine power in reality and the divine power displayed in his dreams.
At least one thing is certain: regardless of the form he takes, the spatial fluctuations he causes when activating his divine power are closely related to the divine power space before him.
In other words, the two are essentially the same, only their forms of expression are different.
Obito came to this vague conclusion in his mind.
This only made him more confused and perplexed.
What exactly caused these drastically different ways of expressing themselves?
His thoughts churned, and he stood there frowning, pondering for a long time, trying to sort out his thoughts and find a way to reproduce that power. However, no matter how he deduced, he made no progress.
After all, the divine power in his dream was just a fleeting glimpse for him, like catching a glimpse of the blurry outline of a distant, unfamiliar mountain when a bolt of lightning suddenly rips through the sky on a dark, stormy night.
He vividly remembered the shock of that moment; the ferocity of that power was captivating. However, he knew nothing about its operating principles or the details of its activation, let alone how to actively reproduce it in reality.
Obito couldn't help but show a look of longing.
The more he thought about it, the more his desire for great power surged and haunted his dreams.
"hateful!"
Obito cursed aloud. He had never craved power as much as he did at this moment, especially power that was more violent and ferocious than his current self.
That kind of power is essential if you want to defeat Madara Uchiha.
However, reality clearly does not intend to easily satisfy his ambitions.
After trying so many times to no avail, Obito took a few deep breaths and finally had to give up for the time being.
He raised his head and looked around the desolate and lonely Divine Might Space once more, feeling extremely frustrated.
It must be bright outside now, and a new day has begun.
Obito licked his chapped lips, a sense of frustration welling up inside him, as if he had worked for nothing.
"Tsk—what a waste of effort."
He muttered a curse under his breath, and finally gave up on dwelling on it.
The berserk form of Kamui in the dream doesn't seem to be something that can be replicated overnight.
To truly understand or even master that change, one would probably have to enter that dream again and experiment with it personally.
Right now, it's pointless to just daydream.
Obito bent down, picked up the whirlpool mask from the ground, and put it back on his face.
The mask clung tightly to his skin, concealing his half-disfigured face and the remaining complex emotions in the darkness.
Frustration in reality, resentment in dreams, irreconcilable hatred for the past, and meticulous planning for the future—all these surging emotions in my heart need an outlet for release and transfer.
Now, it's time to get down to business.
"snort----"
Obito gave a deep, cold laugh. "It's time to give those annoying Mist Ninja a good beating."
As soon as the thought crossed his mind, vortex-like spatial ripples suddenly distorted around his body, and he transformed into a blurry afterimage, disappearing abruptly in a vortex pull, leaving this space that belonged only to him.
Meanwhile, in a cold and damp underground cave in the Land of Grass, Sasuke woke up on time.
After a quick wash and a meal, he hurried away from his cramped and simple dwelling and headed deeper into the cave, where Madara Uchiha was located.
Inside the dimly lit cave, the rock walls were rugged and uneven, with droplets of water constantly dripping down the stalactites.
The monotonous daily routine made Sasuke intimately familiar with the terrain of this underground cave.
However, today, when he stepped into the wide area where Ban was, his keen intuition immediately sensed something unusual.
His gaze quickly locked onto the figure standing high on the rock seat in front of him—Uchiha Madara.
As always, the legendary man sat quietly on the huge stone throne, motionless yet exuding an imposing aura that suffocated people. Even sitting there without making a sound was enough to make people's hearts tremble.
However, Sasuke soon noticed that there was something extra next to Madara today.
On one side of the Banna Stone Seat, a dark stone pillar stands out abruptly.
On the narrow platform at the tip of the stone pillar stood a crow, its body as black as ink.
Sasuke's pupils contracted slightly, and his gaze suddenly locked onto the black figure.
The crow was slightly larger than its kind, and its feathers gleamed with a cold, eerie light in the firelight.
It perched quietly on a high rock peak, its blood-red eyes looking down at Sasuke, who had just stepped into the area, without any attempt to hide their gaze.
The moment Sasuke was stared at by those cold eyes, he felt a sudden tightness in his heart, and a familiar yet extremely unpleasant feeling of being spied on arose spontaneously.
The feeling was like a caterpillar suddenly crawling up your back!
Sasuke tensed his muscles instantly, and the hairs on his body seemed to stand on end as the warning signal approached.
This strange black crow—where exactly did it come from?
Sasuke was filled with doubt, but he still forced himself to remain calm.
He looked up at Madara Uchiha on the stone seat, trying to get an answer from him.
Surprisingly, Madara Uchiha seemed to ignore the questioning look Sasuke gave him.
Those weathered and cold eyes never once glanced at the strangely appearing black crow, nor did they offer a single word of explanation to Sasuke.
Just as Sasuke frowned and hesitated, Madara Uchiha slowly stood up from the stone seat, looked down at Sasuke below, and said with great authority, "Let's begin today's training."
It seems that this crow is no different from the water droplets dripping from the surrounding rock walls; it is just an insignificant part of the background in this cave.
Ban's attitude has already explained everything.
Sasuke remained silent for a moment, then finally let out a soft hum and withdrew his questioning gaze from Madara.
He has never been one to pry into things, so since Madara is unwilling to explain, there's no point in asking any more questions.
The appearance of that crow was certainly eerie and sinister, and the feeling of being watched made him extremely uncomfortable, but as long as it didn't interfere with his training or prevent him from becoming stronger, Sasuke didn't bother with it.
However, if it dared to do anything that was detrimental to him, a cold glint flashed in Sasuke's eyes, and a fierce look swept across the depths of his gaze.
The crow high up remained motionless, its scarlet eyes shifting slightly, always following Sasuke's figure, like a silent watcher.
On the surface of the Land of Grass, not far from the underground cavern, behind a towering rock wall, Itachi Uchiha sat cross-legged in the shadows.
His eyes were closed, his face was as calm as a still well, and his aura was restrained, blending into the surrounding environment.
Through the special connection established by the summoning contract, Itachi's perception is now looking down on everything happening in the underground cavern through the crow's perspective.
The dark and oppressive underground space was fully visible.
-
He immediately spotted the girl he had been longing for, DouDou, and another figure engaged in brutal training.
Sasuke has been defeated!
Itachi's heart clenched.
He could clearly see through the crow's eyes that his brother's body crashed heavily onto the hard rocky ground, raising a cloud of dust.
Even through eye contact, he seemed to feel the pain of Sasuke's old wounds tearing open and new ones piling up on his body.
However, the next moment, Sasuke gritted his teeth and stubbornly propped himself up, swaying as he stood up again.
Despite his numerous wounds, he still stared straight ahead with that stubborn and unyielding gaze.
Itachi tried to keep his breathing steady, but deep down, he couldn't completely calm the waves of anxiety and heartache churning within him.
This scene is one of the benefits of Madara Uchiha fulfilling his promise.
He allowed Itachi to leave the crow summoning beast by Sasuke's side, both for easy contact and to give Ryo a chance to witness Sasuke's growth from a distance.
On the surface, this appears to be Madara winning people over, making Itachi feel secure in following him.
However, Itachi knew very well that this was less a favor to him and more an invisible shackle and restriction.
Through this crow, Madara blatantly demonstrated his control over Sasuke, while also warning him not to overstep his bounds.
"Unable to meet face to face—" Itachi silently murmured bitterly to himself.
Madara's meaning was clear: he could not appear openly before Sasuke until Ryo proved his worth and loyalty.
This crow was both the boundary that Ban had drawn for him and the only gift he had received in return.
Madara Uchiha was far superior to Obito and Pain.
Itachi slowly opened his eyes, his gaze deep and intense.
Even when facing the former leader of Akatsuki and Obito, who was hiding behind the scenes, he was still able to feign compliance, secretly plot, and even hold back in certain actions to wait for an opportunity to strike.
However, when faced with the real Madara Uchiha, Itachi felt immense pressure.
The old methods of feigning compliance while secretly going against the enemy will probably not work here.
If anything goes wrong, not only will his own life be in danger, but Sasuke's safety will also be threatened, and the slightest carelessness could lead to utter ruin.
However—at least with this crow around, things can't be too bad.
The weasel, with its closed eyes, gazed once more through the Raven's Eye at the scene inside the cave, comforting itself with these thoughts.
With the special perspective of the psychic crow, he can know Sasuke's situation in real time, whether his younger brother is safe and sound, whether his training is going well, and whether he has suffered any irreversible damage.
This allowed me to relax a little, as my heart had been hanging in suspense all along.
Even though such reassurance is extremely passive and insignificant, it is still a stroke of luck amidst misfortune for Itachi.
The cultivation within our field of vision continues.
Madara Uchiha's training methods were harsh and ruthless, and Sasuke was knocked to the ground time and time again.
But no matter how much pain and exhaustion he felt, Sasuke could always get back up, his eyes becoming even more determined and bright.
Itachi's tranquil heart was eventually shattered, stirring subtle yet irrepressible ripples of worry, heartache, and deep self-reproach.
However, Itachi quickly suppressed these pointless emotions.
He knew that now was not the time to indulge in emotions.
Sasuke chose this arduous path himself, and it was the price he had to pay to gain power.
Under Madara's guidance, the speed at which one becomes stronger is undeniable.
Instead of worrying unnecessarily, he should think about his next move.
Thinking of this, Itachi slowly exhaled a long breath, regaining his composure and decisiveness.
He has confirmed through the crows that Sasuke is currently in a relatively safe situation and that his strength is steadily increasing.
Therefore, he himself could no longer remain a bystander.
What exactly does Madara Uchiha want?
Itachi narrowed his eyes and fell into deep thought.
At present, Madara has not given him any specific tasks or orders, but this is by no means a long-term solution.
If he remains aloof, it will only arouse suspicion. He must take action as soon as possible and proactively make some gestures to gain Madara's trust.
The image of the figure wearing the orange swirling mask flashed through Itachi's mind.
Obito ————