Chapter 253: The Aftermath of Battle

"Weren't you just itching for a real fight?"

Controlling his Susanoo, Obito slowly drew a colossal blade, easily seventy or eighty meters long.

With a casual flourish, he twirled the massive sword and pointed it at the trembling ninja before him.

"I came all this way to grant your wish. Well then, draw your blade."

"What, am I supposed to thank you or something?"

The ninja, hands shaking, pulled out his own "long blade" and looked toward the source of the voice.

But no matter how far back he craned his neck, he couldn't even see the top of Susanoo's head.

His face twisted into despair.

He's not even as tall as the thing's feet—how the hell is he supposed to fight this?!

Obito's voice drifted down from above, puzzled.

"Hmm? Why aren't you attacking?"

"Well, if you're going to be so polite, then I won't hold back."

The enormous blade swung horizontally.

With a wild cry, Obito began hacking away at the ninja below.

"One-Sword Style Secret Art: Lion's Requiem!"

Blinding arcs of sword energy slashed through the air.

Wave after wave of sharp, cutting force surged toward the ninja, sending shivers down his spine.

Even the sheer wind pressure from the descending blade nearly swept him off his feet!

Faced with these monstrous attacks, all he could do was shut his eyes and pray for a quick and painless death.

But then... silence.

The howling wind faded.

The ninja hesitantly opened his eyes—he was still alive!

Dumbfounded, he glanced around.

The ground beside him was carved into deep trenches, each several meters wide, but miraculously, he was completely unharmed!

"Thank go—"

Before he could finish his thought, an enormous foot came crashing down on him.

Splat.

Inside the cockpit of Susanoo, Obito muttered to himself.

"I'm not some kind of precision artist, you know..."

"I just wanted to let him experience the highs and lows of life!"

"Yeah, that's totally it. Meow!"

With his little favor completed, Obito dispelled Susanoo.

He stroked his chin thoughtfully, his eyes flickering with intrigue.

"Wood Release originated from the God Tree... and now, I share some of its traits..."

"Maybe I should test something—see if I can absorb chakra through Wood Release?"

Obito had always been a man of action.

Closing his eyes, he focused, attempting to connect his consciousness with the vast forest around him.

"Hah..."

After a few breaths, he entered a strange state.

Every branch, every root within the forest became an extension of his senses and limbs.

Under his control, they writhed in all directions, transmitting information back to him.

"Hmm?!"

Obito's eyes snapped open, filled with curiosity and discovery.

"Sensing through the trees... extending my own body... this means..."

His excitement grew. He rubbed his hands together impatiently.

"I need to wrap this up quickly and share this with Rin-chan!"

Once again, he immersed himself in the forest, testing the God Tree's abilities.

Absorbing chakra from fallen enemies and channeling it into himself.

For humanitarian reasons, Obito only targeted the dead.

(Chakra doesn't immediately disperse after death, after all.)

Siphoning chakra from the living, leading to their painful demise—that was a line he wasn't willing to cross.

Killing them first, then taking their chakra? That was acceptable.

Otherwise, even he would feel guilty about it!

"Gulp... gulp..."

Under his control, the branches slowly extracted chakra from the corpses.

Through an intricate network of roots stretching across the land, all of it was funneled into Obito's body.

"It actually works!"

At first, Obito was ecstatic. But after a moment of careful sensing, his excitement faded into a frown.

There was an unavoidable loss of energy during the transfer.

By the time the chakra reached him, only about forty or fifty percent of the original amount remained.

"This efficiency is garbage..." Obito muttered.

"I just drained over a thousand units of chakra, and I'm left with barely half?"

"Damn it, this is worse than system taxes!"

Unjustly slandered, the system protested in his mind.

Ding! "Host, mind your words!"

"This system has always been fair and honest in business transactions!"

Obito scratched his head, sighing.

"Yeah, yeah, of course, you're the best, my dear system. Mwah~"

The system, now using a sultry "big sister" voice, scoffed.

"Hmph. Always insincere."

Obito rolled his Rinnegan eyes.

"Think what you want. Not my problem."

The system let out a dramatic, sorrowful laugh.

"I finally let my heart flutter for once... and you crush me so completely!"

Obito couldn't be bothered anymore and simply muted the system.

His eyes landed on his system panel, a small glint of anticipation surfacing.

After partially devouring the Ten Tails, his chakra reserves had already exceeded eight thousand units.

(Chapter 238 previously stated "over a thousand," but this has now been corrected to "several thousand.")

"So today... will I finally break past five figures?!"

—

Meanwhile, far away...

A monk clad in a white haori came to a halt.

Removing his black hood, he gazed in the direction of the battlefield.

From the front, his hairstyle looked like something out of a traditional comedy skit.

But make no mistake—he was ahead of the curve.

Not only did he sport a long braid at the back of his head, but he also wore red accessories on his neck and wrists.

His nails were painted black, a red sash cinched his waist, and red earrings dangled from his ears.

So out-of-date it had circled back to being fashionable!

Under his left eye, a Roman numeral IV was tattooed, and on his chin, a black diamond-shaped marking.

The mark of "Karma."

His identity was obvious.

Ōtsutsuki Isshiki's vessel—Jigen.

Or rather, the human shell hosting Isshiki himself.

Isshiki's eyes glinted with intrigue.

"That energy surge just now... was that the Ten Tails? Did Kaguya finally break free?"

"Heh. Seems like it's worth investigating..."

—

Even farther away...

A drifting chakra signature suddenly trembled.

A violent ripple ran through it, revealing the unease within the consciousness it carried.

"The Ten Tails... appearing now... I must see for myself..."

In the next instant, the chakra burst forward at an impossible speed.

Like a streak of light invisible to ordinary eyes, it shot toward the battlefield.

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Pls Drop some Power Stones

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