Looking at the serious and tense expressions of the people in front of her, the slug resting on Sakura's shoulder thought for a moment before turning to Shikamaru and speaking: "Well, here's the information about the enemy's ability."
Shikamaru and the purple-haired Anbu both froze for a moment, then spoke at the same time: "Please explain."
The slug nodded: "The enemy's ability allows them to shift their body to a different space the moment they are attacked. It's a Mangekyou Sharingan technique called Kamui, which is a space-time ninjutsu. The known weakness is that during an attack or when actively shifting, their body briefly becomes solid."
"How long does it last?" Shikamaru asked calmly.
"Unknown." The slug shook her head, admitting that she didn't know. "The information came from Hatake Kakashi. He has the other Mangekyou Sharingan of this person. It's a long-range attack; it can't turn intangible, but it can shift enemies remotely. The enemy, however, cannot shift remotely."
"That's good news," the purple-haired Anbu said, visibly relieved.
If the enemy could also shift remotely through space-time, they'd be in trouble.
Shikamaru, however, stayed silent for a moment before looking at Obito. "So, can I assume that the enemy's ability is something we can't stop? During the intangibility, they're absolutely invincible, and even if they want to escape, we can't stop them?"
The slug thought for a while, then tilted her head, puzzled. "I'm not sure either. Kakashi's info only covers what I said."
"I see." Shikamaru relaxed his hand from the seal and looked at Obito with a strange expression. "I guess you think so too, right?"
Obito, who had been still until now, suddenly moved. He raised his head to look at Shikamaru, his remaining Sharingan slowly spinning. "I knew it, Konohagakure is really annoying."
Shikamaru grinned. "Well, although it's troublesome, if your target was Sakura, you should've attacked when we were exchanging information. But you didn't, so can I assume that your target is not Sakura?"
As he spoke, Shikamaru subtly signaled to Ino with his eyes.
As long-time teammates, even though Ino didn't always like Shikamaru's laid-back attitude, no one trusted him more than Ino and Chouji.
Ino, picking up on Shikamaru's hint, maintained her hand seal.
Her expression didn't change much, but her eyes became slightly more serious.
The purple-haired Anbu paused for a moment, as if noticing something. But in the end, he stayed silent, quietly observing the enemy.
"Trying to trick me?" Obito found it a little amusing. He raised his head, looking smug. "Kid, do you underestimate me? Do you think those small movements of yours can be useful in front of a Sharingan?"
Shikamaru's smile faded.
Obito snorted and glanced at Ino. "Yamanaka clan ninjas... their techniques are troublesome, but their weakness is obvious. As long as you're not hit, it's fine."
The Yamanaka clan's Mind Transfer Jutsu was indeed troublesome, difficult to break once it landed, but the key was hitting the target.
With Obito's current abilities, he could become intangible the moment the enemy tried the Mind Transfer, so he wasn't worried at all.
"That being said," Neji spoke up, "you sure didn't hesitate for a second to turn intangible."
That's right. Just when Ino completed the hand seals, Obito had directly turned intangible.
A black shadow shifted silently.
Obito's eyes flickered, and he smiled. "Any action is useless in front of my eyes."
Shikamaru didn't answer, simply watching him silently.
It seemed like both sides had reached a stalemate. Obito didn't attack, as if thinking about something, while Shikamaru couldn't attack either due to Obito's intangibility.
After about ten seconds of deadlock, Obito suddenly frowned.
Something was off.
Seeing this, Shikamaru smirked. "Looks like I guessed right. Your intangibility has a time limit."
Obito's face darkened, his gaze turning cold, but he remained silent.
Shikamaru continued as if he were just thinking out loud. "So before your time runs out, can you avoid all the eyes watching you here? And how long does it take for your eye technique to recover? This is the heart of Konohagakure, after all."
As he spoke, something seemed to occur to Shikamaru, and he added, "Oh, by the way, our reinforcements are already on their way. They should be here in… a few minutes."
Obito's expression grew even darker.
He glanced at the shadow binding him and Lee together beneath Shikamaru's feet, then looked at—
Ino, standing behind him. Taking a deep breath, he muttered, "The Nara and Yamanaka techniques… so troublesome."
"Glad you think so," Shikamaru replied without the slightest worry, acting as if he hadn't noticed the sarcasm in Obito's voice.
"Hmph." Obito let out a cold snort. "You win this round, Nara. Next time we meet, I'll kill you first."
Instantly, everyone tensed up. Even the purple-haired Anbu in the group moved in front of Shikamaru in a flash, raising a weapon to strike at Obito.
"You're trying to escape?" Shikamaru narrowed his eyes. "With so many of us here, and no way to teleport yourself, how exactly do you plan to leave?"
Obito acted as if he didn't even see the Anbu in front of him. Slowly backing away, he said, "The Nara and Yamanaka techniques are indeed tricky, but they all have range limits. Once I step out of your reach, do you really think you can stop me?"
As he spoke, Obito suddenly vanished from where he stood, retreating backward.
The purple-haired Anbu hesitated for a moment, then instinctively turned to look at Shikamaru.
Out of Obito's sight, Shikamaru let out a quiet breath of relief, then gave a small nod to the Anbu.
The Anbu understood immediately, signaling to a few others to pursue while staying behind himself.
Of course, they had no chance of catching Obito. As soon as he left the range of Shikamaru and Ino's jutsu, he activated Kamui without hesitation, his body twisting into a spiral before disappearing completely, leaving the chasing Anbu grasping at thin air.
Seeing this, Shikamaru finally let out a long breath and released his hand seal. "Phew… what a pain."
"Well done." The purple-haired Anbu lowered his weapon. Though his face was hidden behind a mask, his relaxed stance showed his relief.
The others also exhaled at the same time. Facing an opponent like Obito had been nerve-wracking for all of them.
Nearby, the observing slug had remained silent out of politeness, but now she couldn't hold back her curiosity any longer. "What just happened? Why did Obito leave all of a sudden?"
Shikamaru and the purple-haired Anbu exchanged a glance and smiled.
"I'll explain." Shikamaru plopped down on the ground, turning to the slug with a grin. "Basically, we just made him feel like his abilities were no longer an advantage, and then let him sense the incoming reinforcements."
The slug blinked. "That's it? That simple?"
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