CHAPTER 188 - 188: MASKED MAN – “I’LL JUST RUN AWAY!”

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"Do you want to save him?"

Uchiha Haru stared at the masked man who claimed to be Uchiha Madara, his voice calm and detached.

If the real Uchiha Madara stood before him, he might have looked at the man with a touch more respect.

But this fraud? He wasn't even qualified to stand in his presence.

The masked man returned his gaze, eyes narrowing behind the swirling orange mask. He had never truly underestimated Uchiha Haru, but in the end, he still failed to comprehend the depths of his power. That realization left him with a storm of mixed emotions.

"Not to rescue," the masked man finally said, his voice controlled and cold. "He's already dead. I just want to take his body back. After all, he's a member of my organization."

His expression was neutral, but beneath the surface, he was fully alert.

The moment something felt off, he would use Kamui to disappear into his personal space-time dimension without hesitation.

"Oh?"

Uchiha Haru chuckled, his voice laced with amusement.

The masked man's words sounded righteous, even sentimental—but the truth behind them was obvious. Did he really think he could hide it?

He was after Nagato's Rinnegan. Nothing else.

The masked man felt a shiver of unease run through his spine, as though his heart had been laid bare before this man's eyes. But outwardly, he showed no weakness, only serene composure.

"You want to stop me?" he asked, his tone shifting into veiled threat.

He already knew—if even Nagato with the Rinnegan had fallen to this man, then what chance did he really have?

Still, he couldn't yield. To do so would be to die.

Being aggressive might not guarantee victory, but it might at least buy him time or keep the other wary enough not to kill him outright.

The masked man rarely revealed his hand. Kamui remained his trump card, mysterious and unpredictable. As long as he kept his real identity hidden, he could still invoke fear with the legend of Uchiha Madara.

He didn't believe Uchiha Haru could see through him with just a few brief encounters.

Uchiha Haru let out a low laugh.

Still pretending?

Maybe others would be cowed by Kamui's strange mechanics or the mere name "Uchiha Madara."

But not him.

He knew exactly who this man was behind the swirling vortex mask. He knew his secrets, his techniques, his strengths, and weaknesses.

He was a time traveler. He'd already seen the truth.

Pretending in front of him?

Impossible.

"So what?" Uchiha Haru said indifferently.

The masked man's lone eye glinted with tension. Was he really going to have to fight?

No. He didn't want that.

Not unless he was sure he could win—and he wasn't.

Nagato's defeat stood as a stark warning.

Still, he couldn't just walk away and leave Nagato's body behind.

He made his move.

A sharp wooden spike burst forth from his sleeve, stabbing directly at Haru.

Wood Release: Cutting Technique!

Strike first—gain the advantage.

As the secret manipulator behind the Akatsuki, the masked man's power wasn't to be underestimated. Chosen by Uchiha Madara himself, he was anything but weak.

His attack was lightning-fast, silent, and direct. A strike with no warning—no chance to counter.

But unfortunately, his target was Uchiha Haru.

One of the most fearsome, unfathomable shinobi in the current ninja world.

What might have worked on other elite-level enemies looked almost laughable against him.

When the wooden spike stabbed forward, the figure in front of him shimmered—and vanished.

Body Flicker Technique.

The place where Haru had stood became a blur, a phantom image rapidly fading.

But this wasn't an ordinary Body Flicker.

It was an advanced, forbidden-level version of the technique—one that blurred the lines between movement and spatial teleportation.

This was the same class of technique that made Uchiha Shisui legendary in the ninja world.

But Haru had long since surpassed even Shisui.

His mastery of the Body Flicker had reached such heights that even time itself seemed to bend around his movements.

The wooden spike pierced nothing but an illusion.

Still, the masked man remained unnervingly calm.

Even after his surprise attack failed, he didn't panic. He remained still, composed.

Because he had never intended to win in direct combat.

He was always several steps ahead.

As the true mastermind behind the Akatsuki and Madara's chosen proxy, his intellect was more dangerous than any ninjutsu.

Before arriving in Konoha, he had done extensive research. He had ordered White Zetsu to gather every scrap of intel on Uchiha Haru—analyze his fighting style, techniques, and history.

Haru's Body Flicker was no secret.

It had been seen numerous times during his rise. The masked man had already archived it in his mental database.

So when his attack failed, he was not caught off guard.

In fact, it was expected.

And he had already prepared for what came next.

The wooden spike in his hand suddenly sprouted barbs, growing rapidly, violently, like a wild vine. In the blink of an eye, the room filled with a dense, spiked wooden wall.

He pushed it forward like a battering ram—then immediately retreated.

But not to attack.

He never intended to fight.

From the start, his only goal was time—a brief distraction.

Enough to activate Kamui and escape with Nagato's body.

Uchiha Haru realized this the moment he reappeared from his flicker technique.

He didn't hesitate.

He punched.

The entire spiked wall shattered instantly—splintering into fragments, reduced to nothing in a single blow.

But it was already too late.

The masked man had used that fleeting moment to appear beside Nagato's broken body. Already, his form was beginning to distort, space warping around him as he started to phase into the Kamui Dimension.

"You think you can leave?"

Uchiha Haru narrowed his eyes.

He hadn't expected to be outmaneuvered by something so simple. Carelessness. But escaping from him wasn't that easy.

In an instant, he shot forward at full speed.

His body, blessed with the physique of an Ōtsutsuki, had become stronger and more refined alongside his rising power—approaching a state of near-perfection.

The speed he unleashed in that moment was almost indistinguishable from teleportation.

It felt like he was there one second, and the next—he was already here. It defied logic, transcended perception. That was the kind of speed he now possessed.

Just like now, with the masked man and Konan.

Once Kamui began to activate, how long would it take for them to completely phase out and vanish into the other dimension?

At most—one or two seconds.

When Haru shattered the wooden wall of thorns, the two had already begun to fade.

In other words, the time they'd left him to act was barely a second.

But that single second... was all he needed.

He was already in front of them.

He threw a punch.

The force screamed like thunder through the air.

A sharp sonic boom tore through the silence—the very air rippled and warped from the force.

The masked man's heart twisted with horror.

He had never met someone like this. The sheer intensity was enough to make the soul tremble.

Could even the legends... could even Madara Uchiha himself, do something like this?

He didn't know. He didn't have time to consider it.

All he could do now... was act.

Accelerate the shift into Kamui's dimension as fast as possible—bring himself, Konan, and Nagato's body into safety.

Otherwise, death was certain.

Bang!

Uchiha Haru's fist landed squarely against the masked man's back.

His body flew uncontrollably through the air, completely helpless.

A burst of bright, crimson blood sprayed from his mouth.

Despite the agony, the masked man gritted his teeth and didn't stop the jutsu. Instead, he used the force of Haru's blow to push himself farther away.

Kamui continued to spiral open—just in time.

In a final swirl of chakra and space distortion, the masked man, Konan, and the lifeless Nagato disappeared into the vortex.

They were gone.

"Hmph. He actually ran away?"

Haru stared at the spot where they vanished. His brows furrowed slightly.

Ever since he had obtained the five golden abilities, no matter what kind of opponent or situation he faced—he always handled it with calm ease.

There had never been a single misstep.

But this time... the masked man got away.

That didn't sit well with him.

Still, even if the man had managed to escape, it hadn't come without consequence.

The punch he landed just now was anything but light.

Even a veteran Kage-level shinobi would've been left in shambles.

The masked man might be stronger than the average Kage, but don't think for a second that he could just shake off that attack.

Haru glanced at the trail of blood still staining the ground, not yet dry.

He turned around and left for Konoha.

The masked man had taken refuge inside Kamui's dimension. Unless someone possessed the other Mangekyō Sharingan eye connected to it, it would be near-impossible to locate him—even with access to the most forbidden jutsu scrolls in the Hidden Leaf.

There was no reason to linger.

After all, this assault... wasn't a failure.

His real target had been Nagato.

Now, Nagato was dead.

Mission accomplished.

As for the Rinnegan?

He never cared for it in the first place.

The Rinnegan was a higher evolution of the Sharingan. That much was true.

And Nagato's pair—those legendary eyes—were indeed among the most powerful.

But no matter how mighty they were, those eyes had never belonged to Nagato. They were transplanted. They weren't truly his.

And without that deep connection, they could never be wielded to their full potential.

To Haru, his own Sharingan—rooted in blood, soul, and lineage—was far more practical and precise.

Let the masked man inherit the Rinnegan now.

His strength would increase, no doubt. Perhaps even surpass Nagato's level and rise to the ranks of a true super-Kage-level shinobi.

But what did that matter to Haru?

He had taken down Nagato with only modest effort. What threat could the masked man possibly pose?

Especially when Haru still had two of the five golden abilities he'd never even shown to the world.

Back when he was merely Kage-level, those two abilities had already stunned the shinobi world.

They had once been powerful enough to suppress the regeneration of both the First and Second Hokage—despite them being revived through Impure World Reincarnation.

Now?

Now, he had stepped into a level that no one could imagine.

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