Instantly, Kakashi revealed his left Mangekyo Sharingan and activated Kamui on Makoto.
Space began to warp. An invisible force coiled into a spiral black hole, distorting Makoto's body.
As he used this technique, Kakashi's ordinary right eye couldn't help but glance towards that figure standing unmoving amidst the storm of attacks.
To be honest, he had already guessed some possibilities, but he didn't dare to think in that direction.
Was that person... really him? The one who, during the Kannabi Bridge mission, was crushed by a boulder saving him, and gave him his left Sharingan as a 'congratulations on becoming a Jonin' gift before dying? His best friend?
Kakashi's throat tightened.
Then, everyone watched as, under Kakashi's Kamui, Makoto's body gradually merged into that warped cavity.
In the blink of an eye, Makoto had arrived in the Kamui Dimension.
This was a grey, otherworldly space, filled with an eerie silence.
Countless square stone pillars stood on the ground, arranged neatly like tombstones.
In the center of this space, Makoto immediately spotted Obito and Sasuke not far away.
"Oi."
Makoto called out, tilting his head.
Obito, within the Kamui Dimension, and Sasuke, who hadn't realized what was happening, instinctively turned their heads.
Seeing Makoto, the two were scared half to death.
"You—!"
Obito's pupils contracted sharply. He stepped back instinctively, stumbling.
But the next instant, Makoto suddenly appeared before them.
Makoto reached out directly for Obito.
Obito, terrified, couldn't care less about Sasuke. He tried to use Kamui to return to the real world. But the moment he activated Kamui—
In the real world.
The moment Obito's figure emerged from the warping vortex, he found Yu already charging towards him, braving the attacks.
His arm, transformed into a gun barrel, was aimed directly at Obito's head.
The instant he sensed Obito's head becoming tangible, Yu instinctively prepared to pull the trigger.
At the critical moment, Obito had to use Kamui a third time.
His body phased again.
Yu's bullet passed through Obito's vanishing afterimage, flying into the distance with a 'whoosh', leaving a white trail in the air.
Obito's figure vanished from the real world, returning to the Kamui Dimension.
However—
Inside the Kamui Dimension, Makoto's hand was already reaching out.
Crack—
The sound of a mask shattering was especially crisp in the Kamui Dimension, like something being snapped.
The ceramic-like orange spiral mask split down the middle, fragments flying, revealing Obito's disfigured face.
Makoto's fingers dug directly into his right eye socket.
His fingertips touched the warm eyeball, hooked onto the optic nerve.
Swoosh!
He forcibly gouged that Kamui Sharingan right out of the socket.
Blood gushed out like a spring, splattering on Makoto's hands, his cuffs, and even a few drops flying onto Sasuke's face.
Obito gritted his teeth and endured, letting out a muffled groan.
He covered his empty right eye socket, staggering back until his back hit a stone pillar, stopping.
Blood flowed from between his fingers, dripping down his chin onto the ground.
Sasuke, still shaken, finally saw the masked man's true face clearly.
He froze.
Mainly because this guy's appearance was completely different from the 'Uchiha Madara' he had imagined.
After all, although unlike in the original work, the current Sasuke hadn't defected from Konoha, he had still been to the Valley of the End and seen the two statues there.
And this guy claiming to be Uchiha Madara... his face was completely different from the statue's!
"Wh... who are you really?"
Sasuke's pupils shook like an earthquake, his voice sharp.
Obito didn't answer.
He just clutched his right eye, gritting his teeth, veins bulging on his forehead.
Makoto ignored their reactions, casually placing the gouged-out Kamui Sharingan into his inventory.
The next second,
'Kamui, activate!'
That Sharingan, which belonged to Obito, was now perfectly embedded in Makoto's own eye socket.
Makoto blinked. The new Sharingan spun in his socket, the Three-Tomoe pattern slowly transforming and finally settling into a strange scythe-like shape.
Then, grabbing Obito and Sasuke with each hand, space warped again.
The three figures vanished from the Kamui Dimension.
Real world.
The moment Makoto emerged from the warping vortex with the two, everyone's gaze focused on him.
Sasuke's feet were back on Konoha's soil. He was completely dazed.
'Wait, you can transplant eyes that quickly?'
Sasuke couldn't help but glance at the Mangekyo in Makoto's right eye, then at Obito's empty socket. A chill ran up his spine from his tailbone.
'So ruthless...' Sometimes he forgot that this guy was once his classmate.
Meanwhile, the Konoha's villagers who had been drawn by the commotion, seeing this, buzzed with shocked chatter.
"What happened? Why did the prison collapse?"
"Is there an invasion? Is it Otogakure and Sunagakure again?"
"I heard Uchiha Itachi is back!"
At these words, everyone was stunned.
"Uchiha Itachi? That madman who wiped out his own clan?"
"He just came during the Chunin Exams, and now he's back again?"
Fear spread through the crowd like a plague. After all, in the hearts of over ninety percent of the villagers, Itachi was an absolute monster who had slaughtered his own clan.
And he had also fought during the Chunin Exams incident.
Why would such a villain return to Konoha again?
"Quiet!"
Tsunade's loud shout overpowered all the noise.
As Fifth Hokage, she still commanded some authority.
Just then, Makoto walked out with Obito and Sasuke.
Especially when they saw Obito being held by Makoto's right hand—
The whole world seemed to pause for a second.
Kakashi was the first to recognize that face.
'That was... impossible... absolutely impossible...'
Kakashi stepped back half a pace with his left foot, lost his balance, and nearly fell.
His mind went blank.
Countless images flashed through his mind. After a long while, Kakashi finally mustered the courage to speak.
"Is it really you... Obito?"
Obito turned his face away, darkly, not responding.
Guy, Asuma, and the others' expressions were no better than Kakashi's.
Kurenai covered her mouth, speechless.
Although she hadn't been particularly close to Obito, she never imagined he was still alive and had become this inhuman, ghostly figure.
Behind the crowd, unnoticed, a bundle of venus flytrap suddenly emerged from the ground.
The venus flytrap opened, revealing the fused faces of Black and White Zetsu.
"This is troublesome," Black Zetsu said, his voice low and cold.
He genuinely hadn't expected Obito and Itachi, two Uchiha, to be so useless, unable to defeat Makoto even two against one.
He hadn't expected Makoto to be this strong, so easily taking down two Mangekyo Sharingan wielders.
White Zetsu whispered, "What should we do now? If we just stand by and do nothing, Madara's plan can't proceed, and the Akatsuki will be finished in name only."
Black Zetsu's ancient, scheming mind raced.
A silent brainstorming session lasted a few seconds, and he actually came up with an idea.
He lowered his voice. "Here's what you do..."