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This question contains spoilers for early manga readers and anime viewers

Konan mentions during her fight with Tobi that Tobi's dematerialization technique can last for only 5 minutes. This can be confirmed as true since Tobi resorts to Izanagi to escape her ultimate technique, Kami no Shisha no Jutsu. It is later revealed that Tobi's dematerialization technique is actually just teleporting himself into his alternate dimension with Kamui.

However, earlier during the Five Kage meeting arc, he had teleported Sasuke and Karin and kept them in the alternate dimension for quite a long time. He also kept Fu and Torune in the alternate dimension for several days. This shows that he does not face any significant side-effects, like draining chakra, by keeping people in the other dimension. Also, staying in the alternate dimension did not seem to have any adverse effect, on at least Sasuke and Karin.

Why can Tobi not keep himself in the alternate dimension for more than 5 minutes? In particular, why could he not just escape Konan's ultimate technique by staying in his alternate dimension for 10 minutes, rather than use Izanagi?

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    I am not really sure how/if I should use the spoiler block here. I prefer to avoid putting the entire question into a spoiler block. I have gone through the discussions on meta, but could not come to a conclusion on what to do. If someone has better ideas on restructuring the question, please feel free to edit.
    – Masked Man
    Jan 17, 2013 at 6:49
  • Nah! the technique you are following is a better one. You are warning it has spoiler, that is enough I guess :) Jan 17, 2013 at 9:00
  • which chapter is the fihgt between konan and Tobi?
    – debal
    Aug 6, 2013 at 2:49
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    @debal Chapter 509, 510.
    – Masked Man
    Aug 9, 2013 at 2:31

2 Answers 2

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There's no definite answer yet.

The technique is about sending parts of yourself to the other dimension, to avoid being hit.

Two reasons I can think of are:

  • Since it's an activated mode type technique, it constantly drains his chakra. Five minutes are his limit.
  • He cannot keep parts of his body separated for so long, because there could be some sort of biological limitation of transferring oxygen and blood to the organs in the alternate dimension.

The first sounds more feasible to me, but since it isn't explicitly specified, we can't give you a definite answer.

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    Thanks for the answer. I did have the second reason in mind, and that makes sense when part of his body is teleported. It should not be a restriction when the whole of him is in the other dimension.
    – Masked Man
    Jan 17, 2013 at 8:59
  • 2nd point is awesome! :) so upvoting the answer .. Jan 17, 2013 at 9:01
  • The second point is interesting but is it speculation or do you have something to back it up? The first point seems much more likely. Jan 17, 2013 at 15:32
  • Like I said, there's no definite answer on this one. It's all speculation because it wasn't revealed in the manga. Jan 17, 2013 at 16:38
  • Maybe we can update the answer now. We know he needs to SUCK things up for long term storage, but that takes time, a few seconds in some cases it seems, while dematerialization is instant,
    – Ryan
    Mar 11, 2016 at 16:10
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The answer is simple, the 2 situations you describe are actually 2 different techniques. This answer contain a minor spoiler about the ability, especially the wielder of the other Mangekyou Sharingan eye.

Kamui has 2 abilities.

1) The user can create vortexes that transport anything they suck in to the Kamui Dimension. Objects can remain in that dimension indefinitely it seems. The downside is that it takes time to suck objects in, and they are vulnerable while doing so. If Tobi tried to use this, he would be wide open and take the full force of those explosions by Konan. As well, Later on, Truth Seeking Balls (balls that destroy just about everything they touch) nearly touched him while he was trying to use this ability, because they got to him faster than he could teleport. He was forced to cancel the vortex teleport to dodge them.

2) Grant the users body intangibility, by temporarily transporting segments of the users body to the Kamui Dimension when objects in the main dimension come into contact with their body. The user is unable to attack while this is active. This is the one with a 5 minute limit, as it is not a complete teleportation, Only overlapping segments are moved. Tobi used this to dodge the 4th Hokage's abilities, but turned it off to attack, which is how Minato hit him with his Rasengan. This ability can be cast near instantly, though it may have a cool down after being turned off before it can be turned on again. Another downside is that if someone is in the Kamui Dimension, the segments of the body will be clearly visible to them, and they can attack it.

Now, Tobi had the right eye, which has ability 2, and could create vortexes, but only centered around the eye itself. It could control the direction of the sucking force of the vortex to a Cone shape, allowing him to decide if it was his target or himself being sucked in. Kakashi had the left eye, which could only create vortexes, but could do so at range, but the force could not be controlled, it was always spherical.

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