A Sage's Pursuit of Power

Madara completely ignored Obito, his eyes were locked solely on Hashirama.

At this moment, he had no Mangekyō Sharingan, no Nine-Tails' power, and even though Hashirama wasn't at full strength, Madara himself was far from his peak.

But none of that mattered to him.

All that mattered was the chance to fight Hashirama once more.

Since Madara had engaged Hashirama, Aoba naturally refocused his attention on Obito.

At this point, Aoba was also feeling exhausted.

Fighting head-on against Hashirama's colossal Wood Release had drained an immense amount of chakra.

On the other hand, Obito was in no better condition, overusing the Rinnegan's abilities had left him visibly fatigued.

However, Obito knew one thing for certain, if he fell into Aoba's hands, his fate would be far worse than death.

Unlike Kakashi, Aoba had no sympathy for him.

Obito could clearly feel Aoba's deep-seated hatred.

If he got captured, he was dead for sure.

This time, their fight wasn't as grand or destructive as before.

Both of them had exhausted a massive amount of chakra.

Aoba had previously activated his full-powered Susanoo to counter Hashirama's Wood Buddha.

The chakra consumption was so overwhelming that even his chakra cloak was nearly depleted, and the tailed beast essence within him had fallen into a weakened state.

At this moment, he was relying solely on his own chakra.

Fortunately, thanks to the Hashirama Cells within him, his chakra reserves were still enormous, enough to sustain a conventional battle.

This time, Obito was careful not to recklessly use Shinra Tensei or Banshō Ten'in.

Ever since Madara arrived, Obito had been feeling uneasy.

After all, these Rinnegan belonged to Madara.

Even though Madara hadn't acted against him, Obito had a gut feeling that if he overused these abilities, it would draw Madara's attention, making his situation even worse.

Besides, those two abilities were practically useless against Aoba.

Instead, Obito relied on his Rinnegan's Limbo: Border Jail.

Two invisible Limbo clones fought alongside Obito, attacking Aoba from three directions simultaneously, creating a significant threat.

To avoid overstraining his Mangekyō Sharingan, Aoba deactivated the effect of Elysium.

Instead, he relied on Sage Mode's sensory perception and his swordsmanship to battle Obito.

It had been a long time since Aoba had fought purely with a sword.

Ever since he had grown stronger, most opponents didn't even qualify for him to draw his blade.

Furthermore, swordsmanship in the ninja world had too many limitations, it was ineffective in top-tier battles.

However, against Obito's Limbo clones, swordsmanship was actually the best counter.

Overcoming Limbo: Border Jail

Limbo clones were extremely difficult to deal with.

Without full-body Susanoo for absolute defense, relying only on sensory perception made fighting two invisible opponents extremely challenging.

However, for Limbo clones to remain undetectable, Obito couldn't allow them to wield weapons.

Because of this, while they were a nuisance, they couldn't deal a decisive blow to Aoba.

To counter them, Aoba activated his signature Wind Release technique, 

A Wind Release Sensory Field formed around him.

This allowed him to track the movement trajectories of the Limbo clones.

After all, while Limbo clones were invisible, they still existed physically.

This meant that physical-based sensory abilities could detect them.

However, this came with a downside, the feedback delay was too slow.

Against ordinary ninjas, this technique worked well.

But against Limbo clones, which moved at extreme speeds, by the time the wind sensory field detected them, they had already moved to a new position. This left Aoba one step behind in reaction time.

After several exchanges, Aoba realized he hadn't gained the upper hand.

Had he been at full strength, he could have simply activated full-body Susanoo and Idealism, making himself immune to attacks and brute-forcing his way through.

But without his Mangekyō Sharingan, he had to acknowledge the strength of the Rinnegan.

Just then, another group of Konoha shinobi arrived.

Among them was the Second Hokage, Tobirama Senju.

Upon receiving Aoba's message, he immediately jumped into action.

As soon as he arrived on the battlefield, he wasted no time,

He unleashed one of his signature techniques: "Bringer-of-Darkness Technique!"

"If I can't see you, then let's make sure no one can see anything!"

Check out the patreon and get 50 chapters in advance -> SaintXI

Currently on Chapter 333 - Finally, A Trump Card in Hand