Kyoichi, who until a moment ago had stood as immovable as a stone, finally moved at the instant the blade was about to strike him. In that very moment, his bearing underwent a drastic change. His pitch-black eyes were tinged with a reddish-gold hue, deep crimson markings appeared around his eye sockets, and the aura he gave off transformed as if heaven and earth had been overturned.
He had clearly entered Sage Mode.
Moreover,
Unlike before,
This time,
The instant Kyoichi entered Sage Mode, chakra surged violently around his body. In the blink of an eye, a pale golden layer of chakra, like a suit of armor, draped itself over him from head to toe, sealing him in completely without the slightest flaw to exploit.
This was—
Sage Art: Golden Threaded Garment.
One of the two Sage Techniques Kyoichi had created himself.
He had fused together Earth Release: Earth Spear, Earth Release: Bronze Bell, Lightning Release: Lightning Armor that he had exchanged for from Ringo Ameyuri, fragments of insight into the Third Raikage's Lightning Release chakra reinforcement, and even the Tailed Beast Cloak of jinchuriki preserved in his memories, among many other elements.
After nearly a hundred failed attempts, he had finally succeeded in creating this defensive Sage Technique, Sage Art: Golden Threaded Garment.
Today,
Kyoichi intended to use Obito as the touchstone to test this self-created defensive Sage Technique.
He raised his left hand,
And met the incoming blade head-on.
Then… unsurprisingly, the short sword wrapped in crackling lightning was stopped barehanded. To be precise, the blade never even breached that pale golden Golden Threaded Garment. No matter how wildly the lightning on the blade leapt and surged, it was unable to pierce this seemingly thin, almost insubstantial layer of chakra.
"Sage Mode…"
At the edge of the training ground,
Uzumaki Kushina murmured under her breath.
She finally understood where that subtle sense of familiarity had come from. Minato and Jiraiya both possessed Sage Mode, and she had witnessed the two of them use it more than once. Aside from Minato and Jiraiya, however, she had never seen a third person employ Sage Mode.
So for a moment, she had not thought in that direction at all, until now, when Kyoichi's posture underwent such an obvious transformation, and realization struck her like a thunderclap.
"Sage Mode!!"
It was not only Kushina who realized it. Obito recognized Sage Mode as well.
Unlike Kushina's sudden epiphany, Obito had always paid close attention to any information concerning Kyoichi. He clearly remembered Orochimaru once saying that Koeda Kyoichi had mastered Sage Mode. Of course, that was something he had heard from Minato. He himself had no real dealings with Orochimaru.
Therefore,
Seeing this change in Kyoichi's bearing only surprised him slightly. It did not throw him into panic.
Seeing that his short sword had been stopped,
Obito immediately switched tactics.
"Demonic Illusion: Shackling Stakes Technique!!"
As their eyes met, he unleashed the Uchiha clan's signature genjutsu.
In an instant, Kyoichi's consciousness was dragged into a boundless illusionary space with no sky and no earth, where all that could be seen was an endless sea of dark crimson.
Moreover, Four massive iron stakes were driven into Kyoichi's body within the illusion, piercing his left chest, right side, left leg, and right leg respectively.
"Obito, did last time's lesson really not teach you anything?"
Kyoichi ignored the four iron stakes impaling his manifested consciousness and stared straight at Obito.
"Don't think I'm still the same as before."
Obito replied in a low voice.
Last time,
When he fought Kyoichi, his Sharingan had only just awakened, with merely two tomoe in each eye. Failing with the Shackling Stakes Technique against Kyoichi had been unexpected, but still acceptable. Now, however, his Sharingan had evolved to the three-tomoe state.
His ocular power had increased by more than double.
He had also received guidance from Shisui, a true master of genjutsu.
The most obvious difference was that last time, when he used the Shackling Stakes Technique, only two iron stakes pinned down Kyoichi's consciousness. Now there were four. Within the Uchiha clan, those capable of manifesting four stakes with this technique were exceedingly rare.
He did not believe
That this time, Kyoichi could still break his Shackling Stakes Technique as easily as before.
In the real world,
Obito pulled back the short sword that had been blocked and, with lightning speed, thrust it toward Kyoichi's right side. He wanted nothing more than to plunge the blade straight into Kyoichi's chest, but his reason had not abandoned him. He remembered that this was merely a spar, not a life-and-death battle.
So, He aimed for Kyoichi's right side,
Intending to wash away his past humiliation without killing him.
However—
The tip of the blade halted before Kyoichi's right side, unable to advance even an inch. To be precise, it did not even touch Kyoichi's clothes. It was stopped by that pale golden, armor-like layer of chakra.
"…"
Obito was stunned.
Immediately afterward,
He hastily withdrew the blade and swung again, slashing toward Kyoichi's neck.
The result was the same.
The blade was blocked by that pale golden, armor-like chakra. No matter how much strength he put into it, he could not break through that layer of chakra.
"Well? Obito, the defensive power of my Golden Threaded Garment isn't bad, is it?"
Kyoichi said with a smile.
Obito leapt back abruptly, opening distance between himself and Kyoichi.
"You… had you already broken free from the Shackling Stakes Technique?"
Obito asked with a grim expression, staring at Kyoichi.
"Do you even need to ask?"
Kyoichi countered.
Obito's face twitched, and for a moment he was unable to say anything. Indeed, the question had been redundant. Just like last time, Kyoichi had once again broken his Shackling Stakes Technique with absurd ease. If Shisui had not personally told him that his genjutsu ranked among the top five in the clan, he would have begun to doubt whether he lacked talent in genjutsu altogether.
All he could say was that
Koeda Kyoichi was monstrously gifted. His spiritual power was astonishingly strong, granting him an extremely high resistance to genjutsu.
Yet compared to marveling at Kyoichi's talent,
What Obito felt more keenly right now was shame.
Kyoichi had effortlessly broken his Shackling Stakes Technique, yet did not seize the opportunity to strike and end the battle. Instead, he allowed Obito to continue attacking. This cut even deeper than being defeated outright, filling him with intense humiliation and unwillingness.
"All right, Obito. The test is over. Our sparring match should end here as well."
The defensive strength of Sage Art: Golden Threaded Garment had already been verified.
This fight no longer needed to be dragged out.
"Fire Release: Great Dragon Fire Technique!"
Obito struck out in fury.
This time, he held nothing back at all. The attack was aimed squarely at killing Kyoichi. The blazing fire dragon radiated heat intense enough to melt steel.
However—
"It's useless!"
Kyoichi met the fire dragon head-on with his own body, smashing straight through it without suffering the slightest injury. Under Obito's stunned gaze, he closed the distance and gently pressed his right fist against Obito's chest.