Bab 130: Kanae vs. Uchiha Obito

In the midst of the chaotic battle, members of the Villains Chat Group were determined and ruthless, unwilling to retreat despite Eriri's sudden and brutal attack. After all, the man who had just died was only a Second Level weakling, someone who occupied the bottom ranks of their chat group.

Erica immediately clashed with Marquis Voban. Though both were Godslayers, Voban held several times more authority than Erica, having accumulated numerous divine powers over his long life.

"Little girl, are you prepared to be slain by me?" Voban sneered down at Erica with a tone of arrogance, dismissing her as just another freshly-minted Campione, hardly worth his attention.

"Old man, anyone can talk big. Let's see what your hands can do!" Erica taunted, summoning her weapon. With a swift slash, she sent a blade of energy racing toward Voban. While the move resembled the one she had used earlier against the Warrior God Verethragna, this time it was vastly more powerful, backed by the immense magic reserves of a Godslayer.

"You're not even using your divine powers? Are you mocking me?" Voban easily deflected the red sword energy. As his fighting spirit surged, the sky darkened, unleashing storms and lightning bolts—a power he had stolen from the three-in-one wind gods, Feng Bo, Yu Shi, and Lei Gong, allowing him to manipulate the forces of nature.

Without delay, Voban directed a barrage of lightning bolts at Erica. However, as soon as the bolts neared her, the strange energy field surrounding her body neutralized them effortlessly.

Voban's brow furrowed in confusion. Frustrated by his inability to harm Erica with lightning, he waved his hand, summoning a pack of massive, bloodthirsty wolves, their eyes glowing red with ferocity.

"Go, my children. Tear her apart with your fangs."

This was one of Voban's first stolen powers, taken from Apollo Lyceus, the Wolf God of Greek mythology. His summoned wolves were vicious beasts capable of crushing even a Campione's bones with ease.

As the wolf pack charged toward Erica, she raised her sword and stood her ground.

"O Steel Lion, I entrust you with my lament and anger. Bathe in the holy blood of the end times, and appear as the Lance of Longinus!"

She tossed her sword into the sky, and it transformed into a massive silver lance several meters long, surrounded by a glowing red magic circle.

Gripping the lance, Erica twirled it effortlessly before speaking again.

"I am the strongest, the one who commands all victories. Against demons or men, I shall break the will of any who stand before me!"

"Come forth, O Bull with Shining Golden Horns! Grant me your strength!"

This was one of Verethragna's ten incarnations, the Bull, which granted her tremendous physical strength. Wielding the Lance of Longinus, Erica charged into the wolf pack. Each wolf she encountered was effortlessly cut down, their bodies flying through the air as the spearhead cleaved through them.

In moments, the entire wolf pack lay defeated beneath Erica's lance.

On another battlefield, Kanae Kocho, wearing her black Demon Slayer Corps uniform with a butterfly-patterned haori, faced off against Uchiha Obito. She swung her Nichirin Blade upwards, executing the Flower Breathing Fourth Form: Crimson Hanagoromo, sending two fast-moving crescent slashes toward Obito, who wore his signature orange mask with a swirling pattern and donned the black robe with red clouds of the Akatsuki.

However, when her blade connected, it passed right through him as though he were made of air.

Kanae quickly retreated, her expression serious as she stared at Obito.

"Was that… some kind of intangibility? A 'ghost' form?" she thought, alarmed. Her attack had felt like slicing through nothingness. If her opponent could remain intangible indefinitely, her strikes would be useless, rendering him invincible.

At that moment, Obito's right eye distorted in a swirl of transparent space. He vanished into the vortex created by his Mangekyo Sharingan.

In an instant, a similar vortex appeared behind Kanae. Obito reemerged, holding a black kunai aimed at her neck.

Sensing the danger, Kanae stepped forward just in time, pivoting and slashing horizontally. But once again, her blade phased through Obito's body as he activated his intangibility.

"Che, dodged again… She has sharp reflexes," Obito muttered under his breath. He realized that this woman's skill level was on par with his own, forcing him to take her seriously.

"My, what a strange ability you have. Spatial manipulation, perhaps?" Kanae's eyes narrowed. She recognized how tricky her opponent was. Although he couldn't harm her easily, her attacks weren't effective either. Meanwhile, other members of her group—Lala, Shinobu, and Gabriel—had already dispatched several opponents with ease.

Obito snorted but said nothing, forming a series of hand seals with practiced speed.

"Fire Style: Phoenix Flower Jutsu."

Several large fireballs shot from Obito's mouth, heading straight for Kanae. Although it was only a C-rank technique, its power was formidable under Obito's control.

Kanae gripped her sword with both hands, inhaling deeply before exhaling sharply as she opened her eyes.

"Flower Breathing Eighth Form: Petal Deflection."

In a blur of motion, Kanae moved at high speed, creating afterimages as she sliced through the incoming fireballs, splitting them neatly in half. The severed flames crashed to the ground with explosive force, scattering debris.

In a flash, Kanae appeared before Obito once more, slashing diagonally from above. But as before, her attack passed harmlessly through his body.

"Muda!" she muttered, echoing the legendary phrase, before grinning playfully. "So, masked man, I wonder… Can you maintain that 'ghost form' forever?"

Kanae decided to unleash her full power, maintaining a relentless barrage of slashes. Normally, she would avoid such a risky strategy, but with Eriri's defense buff protecting her, she had no need to hold back. Even if she became fatigued, she wouldn't be harmed.

Obito felt a sense of dread as Kanae's smile widened. Without hesitation, he activated Kamui to remain intangible, dodging her rapid strikes.

How many slashes did Kanae execute in that moment? Ten? Fifty? A hundred?

Her blade danced through the air, producing a pink trail of light. The sheer speed and intensity of her blows devastated the landscape, tearing apart the ground and surroundings.

As time passed, Kanae's attacks only grew faster, forcing Obito to maintain his intangibility for longer. His Sharingan drained his chakra rapidly, and after five minutes, his time ran out.

With his intangibility reaching its limit, Obito's body reappeared, directly in the path of Kanae's blindingly fast slashes. In an instant, his body was torn apart, reduced to a spray of blood.

Kanae came to a stop, exhaling softly as she lowered her sword. The blade's edge glowed red-hot from the strain, resembling freshly forged steel.

Luckily, Kanae hadn't reached her limit yet. After five minutes of non-stop attacks, she was still capable of fighting.

"So, it seems that intangibility has its limits after all," she mused.

Just as Kanae was about to move on to her next target, an unexpected attack struck the back of her head.

Spinning around, she was startled to see Obito standing before her, though he looked much weaker. A chill ran down her spine as she realized how close she had come to dying from that kunai strike—had it not been for Eriri's defensive enchantment.

"How is this possible…" Obito's eyes widened in shock. His surprise mirrored Kanae's, as he hadn't anticipated her having an automatic defense mechanism.

In reality, Obito had foreseen this danger five minutes ago, activating his left Sharingan's ultimate forbidden technique, Izanagi, to rewrite his death and restore himself to life. Otherwise, he would have been obliterated. However, the price was steep—his left eye had been permanently blinded. Not that it mattered; he had plenty of Sharingan eyes in his collection and could replace it easily.

But now, his right eye was exhausted from maintaining Kamui for five minutes, leaving him unable to use any other ocular techniques.

"So, what's this? Time reversal? Resurrection? You've got a lot of strange abilities up your sleeve," Kanae muttered, locking eyes with Obito, wary of any further tricks.

Obito, drained of chakra, stared back at her. His Sharingan had reverted to its three-tomoe form, the light in his eyes dimming.

He formed a hand sign, crossing his index and middle fingers in a familiar gesture.

"Shadow Clone Jutsu."

In an instant, a dozen shadow clones appeared around him, all charging at Kanae with taijutsu.

Though surprised by the sudden appearance of so many clones, Kanae was undeterred. Raising her cooled Nichirin Blade once more, she assumed a ready stance.

"Flower Breathing First Form: Profusion of Flowers."

Around her, an area ten meters wide bloomed with swirling flower petals, creating a zone of heightened perception. Kanae could feel everything happening within this floral domain, tracking the movements of each clone.

Moving gracefully like a flower in the wind, Kanae dispatched the shadow clones with ease, her blade carving through them effortlessly. As the last clone vanished in a puff of smoke, she closed in on Obito once more.

Obito, realizing the danger, retreated quickly, forming hand seals as he moved.

"Fire Style: Uchiha Flame Formation."

Flames erupted from his fingers as he slammed his hand to the ground, creating a fiery barrier several meters wide. The scorching heat created a near-impenetrable wall of fire between himself and Kanae.

But despite the hellish flames, Kanae walked through the inferno unharmed, thanks to Eriri's protective enchantment. Even the intense heat of the fire was completely neutralized, leaving her unscathed.

Obito summoned more shadow clones, surrounding Kanae once more, but with each of them performing the Great Fire Annihilation technique, the battlefield became a sea of flames. Yet, as the fiery deluge subsided, Kanae emerged without a scratch, standing amidst the smoldering landscape.

Seeing this, Obito froze in disbelief.

He looked at his hands, wondering if his fire techniques were somehow defective. How could his powerful ninjutsu have no effect, not even scorching her clothes?

Kanae, now standing in the center of the blazing battlefield, sighed as she realized the futility of Obito's efforts. With Eriri's defense in place, there was nothing he could do to harm her.

Meanwhile, Obito, thoroughly drained of chakra, was left in utter despair. None of his jutsu, no matter how powerful, had any effect on Kanae. Exhausted and nearly blind, he had no strength left to fight.

In the face of such overwhelming defense, Obito found himself utterly powerless. Even if Kanae stood still, allowing him to attack, there was nothing he could do to defeat her.