Malaise(P3)

The winds billowed the drapes of my Kage hat in my face, the gusts bending the stalks of grass in their path and ruffling against Obito's cloaked form. He stood several paces away, far from striking distance and yet all too close for comfort either way. The first and only thing in my mind was how expected yet unexpected his presence before me was.

It was only about a matter of time and I've had plenty. Plenty, yes, but whether I had prepared adequately in that time would be tested now. A heavy knot lodged in my throat at that thought, making it hard to swallow even as I scanned my surroundings for Zetsu. The plant man had clones moving underneath our feet, waiting for the right moment to sprout. 

I took a step back and felt Ao beside me. His long sword was drawn and chakra cycled within his pathways in readiness. Besides him was Junichi and then Genma, I worried about the former the most because, well, this would be the first time I'd seen him hold up a kunai in battle or training and it was against the Akatsuki.

Genma…does Obito know our plan? Everything about the meeting? I scrambled for answers against his masked face but none came. In the end I made a decision, "Ao, Junichi, protect Genma while he completes his jutsu."

"What?" the alarm came from Genma himself, "Should I still? Who are these shinobi?"

"Do you know of them, Mizukage-sama?" Ao asked, there was a strain of focus in his voice as he added, "The white one is strange, quite odd. It had tenketsu like a normal human but its chakra signature is…blank, almost as if there isn't a person there. And the masked one is…that is a sharingan, an Uchiha."

Genma gasped in shock, "An Uchiha? There's no way an-"

"Zetsu, take them." Obito ordered and the plant man and his clones shot out of the ground. Ao moved with precision, slicing through the Zetsu like paper. I let out a breath of relief—but it was short-lived as another clone lunged at him.

Genma spat senbon and Junichi dashed away, abandoning the backpack to keep at Genma's side while burying kunai in the reckless Zetsu-clone's neck. My support was stripped in an instant, Zetsu continued to replicate, hounding Ao especially as my bodyguard expertly sliced, diced and deflected the clones from all sides with his Byakugan.

With my subordinates and a diplomat fighting the Zetsu clones, Obito took a step towards me. I took my Kage hat off and reached underneath my haori for a scroll I pumped chakra into. In a puff of smoke my trusty Bo-staff appeared in my hands.

Obito chuckled in a deep rumble of mockery, "You…do you know who I am?"

Fear knotted in my stomach, but I forced a grin anyway. A Kage doesn't show weakness, even when standing before an Uchiha. Especially this Uchiha. "A masked Uchiha come to die?"

He wagged his finger at me and took another step. Kunai, swords and senbon clashed in the background of his approach, the sounds of Zetsu's joyful squeals slowly drowned out to the tense blanket of Yang chakra that began humming as it gathered within me. 

"You may know me as…Uchiha Madara. I have come for you, Mizukage, just as your shinobi have come for mine."

My eyes narrowed, "If you're talking about Amegakure, I don't recall that village ever belonging to an Uchiha or an Uchiha ever being trusted to lead one. But if that is the case now then I suppose my intuition was correct."

"Intuition?"

Yes, intuition. There was no point revealing how much I truly knew about this Obito, how his lies fell flat to me, how the longer he spoke, the longer he impersonated a legend long dead to have his way, the sooner my doubt and fears dissipated. Affirming my grip on my Bo-staff, I spun it about and pointed its hook at him.

"Uchiha Madara is dead, you are an imposter. Just as was Lord Funato's would-be assassin. What have you come for, imposter? What is the purpose of this chaos you seek to sow?" I eyed him from head to toe, his outfit was the same from Jason's memories and I knew what lay within those purple, baggy sleeves. "Are you the one who killed Sandaime Mizukage?"

Obito shook his head, "What matter is the Sandaime when the Yondaime stands here to serve me?"

"Serve you? Haha, come then, come and make the Fourth Mizukage bow to an imposter." I levelled my Bo-staff at him, beckoning him to make the first move.

He lowered his stance, his arms spread out wide with his palms wide open. I caught a glimpse of the manacles on his wrists and flared my chakra outward, soaking the air with Water Nature chakra so it quickly became moist and humid.

"You will be very useful to me, Fourth Mizukage." The ground shuddered beneath Obito's footfall, clumps of earth rupturing as he surged toward me, a blur of speed and deadly intent.

Isobu, are you ready? "Always."

With a swift twirl of my Bo-staff, I summoned a crystal-clear mirror of water before me, its surface shimmering like liquid glass, obscuring Obito's vision of my form. My fingers flew through hand seals and I hooked the mirror by its top and slammed it down. Water rippled violently, spitting out a perfect duplicate of the Uchiha, "Hiden: Water Mirror!"

The copy exploded forth with Obito's same lethal momentum, arms wide, palms open, body low to the ground. They were mirror images—hunter and hunted, identical in form, speed, and ferocity. I didn't hesitate.

"Water Release: Hidden in the Mist!"

I wove through the hand seals and the air I'd saturated with Water Nature chakra instantly thickened. A choking mist enveloped the field, blanketing us both. I smirked. Gone with that sharingan. I thought as I felt my [Water Mirror] duplicate cancel out. In contrast, I was home within the mist. Every droplet spoke to me through my Water Perception and I had years of sensitivity training to guide me through the fog. 

"Fire Release: Great Fireball!"

A blazing sphere of death illuminated the mist like a second sun. I cursed his swift reaction as the heat roared through the moisture, burning it away in an instant. I dashed right, barely escaping the searing inferno as it scorched the earth where I had stood moments before. There was still enough moisture for me to see him through Water Perception though and so I went after him with my Bo-staff in vice-grip.

I burst out through the fog nearest to him, my Bo-staff arcing through the air in a wide, brutal swing aimed for his masked head. As expected, my Bo-staff phased right through his skull like a ghost. He crouched, his body twisting with a fluidity born of honed battle instincts, chains rattled at his wrist, poised to snatch me as the momentum of my swing carried me forward.

In a heartbeat, his Sharingan gleamed— a swirl of crimson and black, spinning with dangerous calculation. Time slowed. His movements felt inevitable, like a hand guiding fate itself. He passed through me, his mask phasing through my torso. Before I could react, chains locked around my chest. The iron links dug into my skin, the cold bite of metal cutting into my flesh. Obito tightened his grip, pulling me closer as he turned, his Sharingan morphed into something sinister, something capable of twisting reality and space.

"It's over," he declared.

Just as his vortex pulled on my cheek Isobu's chakra surged through me like a tidal wave, raw and untamed. In an instant, my skin ignited with its power, evaporating it in an instant. That same instant thick, coral ejected from the surface of my chakra coated body, slamming into Obito and his vortex. His Sharingan widened in surprise as I whipped one of three burning tails and sent him soaring across the air to plummet in the field.

"RRAAAAGGH!!" My voice, Isobu's voice echoed in unison. I wasn't done. Not by a long shot.

My Bo-staff fell abandoned beside me, the earth cratered under my weight, the weight of Isobu's chakra. It was overwhelming, intoxicatingly so. My skin was peeled, muscles and chakra as dense as a mountain remained. My body was forced onto all fours, the most comfortable position when my back was rounded by a shell of chakra as heavy as an ocean. Horns and spikes grew from my shoulders and my face was resculpted into a box of power that had my ears poking upwards like a rabbit's. 

"Yagura-kun, are you alright? Can you move? Should I take over?"

Isobu battered my mind with questions I could hardly bring myself to answer while drowning in his chakra. This was the first time I'd transformed into his [Version 2 Demon Cloak] state and it was mind boggling how anything could hold so much chakra in itself.

"Yagura!"

I snapped out of it, the power meant nothing if I couldn't use it, if I failed to. My eyes searched but with the [Version 2 Demon Cloak] I'd seemed to develop a seventh sense. I spotted the void that was Zetsu instantly and dashed out at him.

Ao's eyes widened as I shimmered into existence before he or his four opponents could react. My tails surged, three of them slammed the Zetsu clones into the earth, burying them deep before at my will Isobu's chakra combined with some of the leftover Yang Chakra I'd gathered. The coral filled stuck to their bodies and covered their new graves. 

Fear-filled as he was, Ao took that instance to slice open the last clone. I pushed him aside and buried my fist in the clay white plant man's gut, sending it flying across the island and all the way to the sea as its body trashed, crashed and exploded through the earth and trees.

Ao stuttered, "Mizu-!"

I didn't wait a moment for him to finish his sentence before moving to the next target. The [Demon Cloak] had me moving at speeds over four times as fast as I could with the [Stage 0 Chakra Cloak], to my bodyguard I had vanished and reappeared besides Genma.

The poor Konoha shinobi was wrapped up in a Zetsu clone, looking halfway unconscious. The clone blanched once I appeared and snatched it by the head. A squeeze crushed it like a melon and poured chakra down its form, birthing coral at every open spot until I could drag it off Genma with ease. 

My tail shot out towards Junichi who lay unconscious already and wrapped in a Zetsu clone nearby. The clone had already started detaching itself from Junichi but wasn't quick enough. My tail smacked it in the air where I sent two elongated palms to clap it together like a housefly, the clone sizzled out of existence in my enlarged palms.

With Genma and Junichi in my arms I unlocked my jaw with some effort and said, "Genma, perform your jutsu now, do it now!" I wasn't even sure he could, the young Leaf-nin was groggy from Zetsu's chakra absorption and with all the heat I was exuding in this form I likely wasn't helping matters either.

The sight of me startled him, he screamed and scrambled to get away but I snarled and snatched his foot. With my tail wrapped around Junichi I dashed out towards Ao, careful not to move too fast so I didn't rip off Genma's leg. "Ao! Quick, help this one perform his jutsu, that Masked Uchiha will-"

A manacled, gloved arm reached up from the ground at Ao and I. I cursed and swept up everyone in my arms and tails again, ignoring the yelps of pain from Ao and Genma as my chakra shrouded body burned them. As we soared away from the spot Obito stepped out of I released Ao, Junichi and Genma. They'll survive.

Ao righted himself mid-air and snatched Junichi while they fell, Genma, stung awake by burns from my [Demon Cloak] was quick to land on his feet as well. 

"Mizukage-sama!"

"Ao, go!"

Obito stood before me, his single Sharingan eye burning with hatred, a darkness so deep it felt like it could consume the world. But that hatred would never touch my subordinates. I wouldn't let it.

With a burst of speed, I charged forward, my fists cocked back, ready to strike. I slammed my fist into the earth where he stood, the ground shattering beneath the force. But he hadn't moved—not even an inch. My attack passed through him as though he were nothing more than a phantom.

His hand reached out toward me, and I froze as I saw the sinister spiral of his Mangekyo Sharingan whirl to life. "Sleep!" Obito's voice rang out like a command from the depths of the void.

My head felt light—too light. A wave of drowsiness swept over me, dragging me under, as if the very air I breathed was laced with poison. My knees buckled, and the soft grass beneath me beckoned for me to lay my head down, to surrender to sleep. My eyelids grew heavy, my vision swimming as the world darkened. 

"Wake up, Yagura!"

Isobu's voice thundered in my mind and jolted me awake just in time to fight against Obito's sucking vortex. The world around me spiralled, warping into his dimension and my body began to distort.

 No! Startled but prepared, I swept up all the Yang Chakra I could and smashed it against Isobu's, forcing it through my body just as my left arm started getting warped away. Coral erupted from my skin in a violent explosion, spearing outward from my warping arm. A jagged spindle of coral struck Obito's orange mask with a crack so sharp it echoed through the air. His head snapped back, and his vortex collapsed, the pull on my body suddenly vanishing.

"Let me." I leaped away from Obito, my heart and mind pounding from the near-disaster I quickly allowed Isobu to take over. 

Our shared body skidded to a stop, our three tails raised high above our head, each one bristling with raw power. Isobu unhinged our jaw, and the air around us thickened, saturated with the gathering of energy. Orbs of black, blue, and red chakra spiralled into existence, hovering in the air as they merged into a single dense sphere. The pressure was immense, the ground beneath us trembling as the power condensed. 

Obito stood clutching his mask, a shard of coral still stuck in it. But he did nothing. He simply watched as the chakra gathered, his eyes hidden behind that impenetrable mask.

Then, with a guttural roar, Isobu unleashed the [Mini-Tailed Beast Bomb]. The blast rocketed across the field, tearing the earth apart as it travelled. Grass, dirt, and stone were ripped from the ground, the sheer force of the attack leaving a scar in the land. The sphere slammed into the ground at Obito's feet, and for a moment, time seemed to stop.

Then, an explosion.

Water and earth erupted into the air, the very ground buckling beneath the blast. A shockwave rippled outwards, sending debris flying in all directions. I stood still, poised, waiting for the dust to clear, my heart pounding in my chest as I expanded every sense I had, pushing my perception to the limits.

We waited, Isobu and I, our bodies coiled and ready, searching for any trace of him by expanding every available sense to the extreme edge of their capabilities as we searched for Obito. The dust cloud hung heavy in the air, clumps of dirt and water raining down in a steady patter. 

Several more minutes passed until the dust did rest, revealing nothing in its place. Obito was nowhere to be found and for a moment I had a small heart attack thinking he'd instead gone after Ao and the others but I could sense the trio in the periphery and only Genma's chakra was disturbed as he attempted his jutsu. 

Did Obito retreat? Did we win?