Gen Takuya looked as if he'd poured everything into that single technique.
Multiple vacuum blades screamed toward Obito.
And in the same instant, Gen Takuya's chakra aura seemed to vanish—like it had been completely exhausted.
Obito's mouth curved.
He stepped forward, ignoring the incoming blades.
They passed through him.
But they didn't disperse.
Instead, they curved—
And slashed toward the Demonic Statue's shoulder joint.
Nagato's eyes flickered.
It was time for him to fulfill his promise.
A tube-like conduit reappeared behind him, reconnecting him to the Demonic Statue.
"What?!" Obito snapped his head around.
The vacuum blades struck again and again at the same point—more than ten cuts stacked into one line.
Wind Release: Vacuum Serial Waves could slice through early-stage Susanoo.
Against the Demonic Statue, it still wasn't enough on its own—
But—
The shoulder joint had already been separated.
The massive arm tore free.
A limb dozens of meters long broke away from the statue and began to fall.
Obito's eye widened.
So that was it.
Gen Takuya's real target was the Demonic Statue all along.
Everything before this—every jutsu—
Had been bait.
A smokescreen to lock his attention.
And that meant…
Had Gen Takuya really exhausted his chakra?
Obito didn't want to admit it, but the answer rose like poison in his throat.
No.
Absolutely not.
He'd acted exhausted.
He'd shown Obito what he wanted him to see.
Obito cursed silently and shot toward the falling arm, intent on warping it into Kamui.
Even if Gen Takuya only wanted one arm—
Obito wouldn't let him have it.
Gen Takuya watched without moving.
There was no point.
Kamui couldn't be stopped like that.
If the arm hit the ground, it would be hard to secure.
But Gen Takuya had never planned to let it hit the ground.
Across the arm, black sealing script bloomed—spreading like ink through flesh and stone, consuming the surface in rapid waves.
Gen Takuya's voice drifted over, casual.
"I never said I only made one shadow clone earlier."
While he'd bombarded Obito with ninjutsu—drawing every eye—
It wasn't only to set the angle for Vacuum Serial Waves.
It had also been to let his shadow clone slip onto the Demonic Statue with Earth Release, unnoticed.
The Demonic Statue was too massive.
Sealing the entire thing would take too long.
But an arm?
Still enormous.
Still absurd.
But within the limits he could handle.
Obito's gaze sharpened.
"That is…?"
The giant arm dissolved into white smoke.
And in its place, a massive scroll dropped from the sky—
Landing neatly in the hands of Gen Takuya's shadow clone standing atop the statue's shoulder.
"Tch." The clone chuckled. "I wanted the whole 'creature,' but I guess one arm will have to do."
Obito lunged—his target clear now.
That scroll.
He needed to seize the sealed arm.
Gen Takuya's clone yawned, utterly unconcerned.
Then, as if mocking him, it tossed the huge scroll into the air.
Obito's eye tracked it instantly—
And then—
The scroll vanished.
Obito halted, frozen.
A soft, contemptuous laugh reached him.
Gen Takuya's clone puffed into smoke and dispersed on its own.
"Summoning Technique," Obito said sharply, turning toward Gen Takuya's real body.
"Right." Gen Takuya shrugged. "It's not like you're the only one with space-time ninjutsu."
It wasn't as combat-terrifying as Kamui, but it was space-time ninjutsu all the same.
Obito's anger burned, but he forced it down, smoothing his voice.
"Looks like you outplayed me."
"Outplayed?" Gen Takuya's tone carried annoyance. "I wanted the entire Demonic Statue. You forced me to settle for scraps."
A lie.
He'd never truly believed he could take the full Demonic Statue with Obito watching.
But if Obito hadn't shown himself…
Gen Takuya wouldn't have hesitated to try.
Obito's expression eased slightly behind his mask.
If Gen Takuya had only taken a limb, then at least Obito had "stopped" him—partially.
He glanced at the Demonic Statue's missing arm.
It could regenerate.
And the core remained here.
The stolen part was only a fragment.
It's fine, Obito told himself.
It's not a big problem.
Gen Takuya turned toward Nagato and Konan.
"Our agreement is fulfilled," he said. "I didn't get the whole Demonic Statue, but that isn't your fault."
Nagato and Konan looked at him.
It was strange.
This man had attacked them before, trapped Konan, threatened them…
And yet it was hard to truly hate him.
Nagato remembered the shock of being found by Gen Takuya's shadow clone.
He'd assumed Gen Takuya would take Obito's interference out on them.
But no.
Gen Takuya had only asked Nagato for one thing—
Use the Rinnegan to separate the arm at the shoulder joint.
With Obito present, taking the whole statue was impossible.
So Gen Takuya settled for a single arm.
And because the Demonic Statue's durability made cutting it directly difficult—
He'd needed Nagato's help.
Those vacuum blades had been a performance for Obito.
The real break had been Nagato's doing.
Konan's gaze softened slightly as she replayed the scene.
If even the man with space-time ninjutsu could be fooled…
Then her own mistake—falling for a Water Release clone—didn't feel so humiliating.
Gen Takuya chuckled.
"Then… goodbye."
His body dissolved into white smoke and vanished.
Not Body Flicker.
Summoning.
Obito stared, his gaze cold.
If Gen Takuya had fled on foot, White Zetsu could've tracked him, uncovered his identity.
But with summoning—
Finding that mysterious man again would be far more troublesome.
Obito reviewed the techniques Gen Takuya had used.
Shuriken Shadow Clone Jutsu—Konoha's.
Water Prison—more associated with Kirigakure.
And with that strange habit of collecting jutsu…
It was difficult to pin him down by style alone.
Obito could only keep an eye on Konoha and Kirigakure for now.
Then he looked at Nagato and Konan—sensing their distrust like needles.
He cursed Gen Takuya again in his heart.
But it didn't matter.
Whether they liked him or not…
He had to make them cooperate.
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