"A strange report recently reached us."
Uchiha Obito recalled the statement of the third Hokage, Sarutobi Hiruzen.
"The land of whirlpools has been taken over by Kiri... under our nose, it said."
All the capable ninjas of Konoha were sent to the front line against Kumo and Iwa.
Due to the shortage of the force, Konoha had no choice but to enlist the young ninjas whose ranks were no higher than genin at best. Promoting them to chunins and placing more responsibilities on their small shoulders, the village began to issue many missions to them.
Obito, Rin, and Kakashi are the ones who have been taught under the infamous Yellow Flash, Namikaze Minato.
Having been taught by the elites of the elites, the village had a high expectation for them. Such expectation wasn't baseless, for they proved over time that they were the best among their generation.
"Head to the land of whirlpools and investigate the validity of this report. There is a chance that this report is an attempt by Kumo and Iwa to turn our blades against our allies."
"...Kakashi."
Obito, staring at the sight ahead of them, whispered.
The silver-haired boy, Hatake Kakashi, nodded.
"The report was true."
They saw the ninjas stationed just ahead. All of them were wearing the forehead protectors of Kiri.
Such a sight was absurd. Kiri was gathering troops on the eastern side of the land of fire, and to think Konoha wasn't aware...
Obito couldn't help but gulp upon imagining what would've happened should this have gone unnoticed.
"This is an urgent matter."
Kakashi voiced calmly.
"We swiftly return now, unnoticed—"
Kakashi paused. Slowly turning around, he grimaced as the sight of one Kiri ninja, wearing a mask of a hunter nin, was towering over them.
"What are the cute ninja friends of our allied Konohagakure doing here?"
"You..."
Obito growled, trying to conceal his panic with a forced rage.
Rin quickly snatched out a kunai, although her body was rigid from the pressure.
In this state, Kakashi quickly decided.
Puff!
Taking out a smoke bomb, he exploded it on the ground underneath them without hesitation.
"...!"
It was such a quick decision-making that the Kiri ninja who found them, Kurirare Kushimaru, found himself surprised.
"Chase them!!"
The game of cat and mouse began.
"A body of water separates the land of fire and the land of whirlpools anyway! There isn't much that they can do except to hide within his forest!"
And it was as they said.
"Huff... huff..."
Hidden behind one wood, Obito, Rin, and Kakashi breathed heavily.
"This isn't good..."
Rin bit her lips.
"At this rate, we will be surrounded."
"The only way out of here is to take a boat. Unless their attention is directed elsewhere, doing so will be impossible."
Kakashi sighed, feeling lost.
"I..."
Obito then spoke up, earning the two's attention.
His face seemed determined; it looked like he had made a decision of some sort.
"I will bait them."
"...! Obito! What—"
Rin tried to refute, but Obito shook his head.
"It is impossible for us to win against all of them. Now that I think about it, that guy with a mask must be one of the Seven Swordsmen whom we studied before coming here. Kuri... something."
"No! We can't do that!! If you remain here, you will...!"
"Rin..."
Obito stared at Rin with a complicated expression before turning his eyes toward Kakashi.
"Kakashi, you are the group leader. You know what you have to do."
"..."
Obito and Kakashi met their eyes.
"Rin."
Kakashi then spoke, coldly.
"We are now heading to the boat. Get ready to escape."
"Kakashi!!"
Rin seemed to be in disbelief.
"How can you say something like that?! Obito is... is..."
"This is an order."
Rin shut her mouth, at a loss for words. Kakashi turned back to Obito, with his eyes containing sadness.
"Obito."
"Don't say anything cheesy, smart-ass. Who do you think I am? I am Uchiha Obito, the future Hokage!"
Obito forced a smirk, although it didn't help.
"...Rin."
Obito then earned Rin's attention, as if about to say something. However, nothing more was spoken.
In the end,
"...Listen to Kakashi, alright? Even though he's annoying, he's the leader right now."
He wasn't able to gather the courage to say what he really wanted to say.
...
"What are you doing here, boy? Gave up? So fast?"
Kushimaru approached Obito, who was standing alone in the forest.
Quicker than Kushimaru, the Kiri ninjas found Obito and were surrounding him, fast.
Obito's head was cast down. Kiri ninjas laughed at such a sight, finding it pitiful.
At the same time, their eyes were filled with lust for blood. Licking their lips, they didn't say anything but revealed their blood-reeking weapons.
Still, Obito didn't react, standing in silence.
Kushimaru stopped his walk, finding that something about Obito was off.
"...Boy, say something."
Kushimaru unsheathed his prized sword, Nuibari.
"Where are your friends?"
Unable to hold it any longer, the Kiri ninjas launched themselves at Obito.
Instinctively, Kushimaru held his hand out,
"Wait—"
Then, he saw Obito forming a twisted smile as he raised his head.
He formed a hand seal.
Numerous explosive tags were revealed around the woods here and there as they began to glow blue.
Kiri ninjas saw this. Their eyes widened at the sheer number of the explosive tags.
They thought they trapped Obito. Turns out that they were, instead, surrounded by the explosive tags.
"...Today,"
Obito let out his final words,
"All of you die here with me."
Kushimaru then felt his body being knocked backward as a gigantic explosion consumed the scene ahead of him.
His back slammed into a wooden trunk and slid down. From the bottom corner of the mask, blood oozed out. Supporting his body by holding onto the trunk, he slowly stood up.
As the smoke and dust cleared, Kushimaru saw nothing but ruins—full of woods, dirts, burned vegetation, and gruesome body parts lying around here and there.
"You..."
Kushimaru's body shook.
"Piece... of... shit...!!!"
He roared, but there was no one around to vent his anger out.
By the time Obito successfully brought the attention to himself, Kakashi and Rin were long gone.
__________
Within the dark, closed area that seemed to be a cave of some sort, one very aged man sat on a throne-like chair that was made of stone.
Numerous tendril-like hoses that went through the back part of the throne were attached to his back, connected to a frightening statue of enormous size behind him.
The state of this man was nothing short of pitiful. It looked as if the man was going to die at any rate.
Yet, his eyes contained no emotion; he didn't seem to care about his state.
Instead, there existed a light of ambition in those eyes. He was anything but an ordinary man.
Uchiha Madara.
There he was, staring at the unconscious boy—Uchiha Obito—lying in front of him.
"I brought him, Madara."
Standing next to the unconscious Obito, the humanoid creature whose entire body was colored white, Zetsu, chuckled.
"Sheesh, it was a close one, you know! If I didn't put my clones in the way to dull out the blow of the explosion, this boy was already a goner!"
"Well?"
Next to Madara stood another Zetsu, except that this one had half of its body pitch-black in color instead of white.
"You've found your 'successor'. A careful arrangement will be required to fully make him yours, but the first step is laid out. What now, Madara?"
Madara didn't say anything back, but simply entered a deep thought.
Many thoughts ran through his mind.
Infinite Tsukuyomi.
Cast this world in an endless illusion.
The perfect state of life where each and every person can live in the ideal world of their own.
To achieve that... I need to become the jinchuriki of the ten tails. To gain the ten tails... all the tailed beasts must be collected and stored in this Demonic Statue of the Outer Path, also known as the ten tails's physical body.
At the same time, I need a physical, functional body that can utilize the dojutsu of rinnegans without an issue... instead of this old body.
Collection of the tailed beasts, as well as his revival following an eventual death. Those two could be considered the core plans of Madara.
Uchiha Obito would be deemed his 'successor'. He will be the one to revive Madara in the future—through the combination of the Impure World Reincarnation and the Rinne Rebirth technique.
Problem is...
"Akashi. Or should I say,"
Hozuki Akashi?
Madara let out a dry snort, feeling a long-lost sensation of rage upon thinking of such a name.
"A boy who made a relation with the host of my rinnegans... I never would've expected you to become such a nuisance for me."
Among all things that Akashi did, the death of Danzo hit Madara the most.
"It is because of you that I am forced to keep this war ongoing, to rouse it to become even worse."
By warring, the nations would weaken. This will open more gaps... gaps for the tailed beasts to be snatched.
It was thanks to these gaps that Madara managed to take Obito out as well.
"So? Madara?"
Growing impatient, black Zetsu asked once more.
"What will you do now?"
"We go according to the plan."
Madara cast his gaze on black Zetsu.
"It is the plan that I prepared for numerous years. Even if there are... hindrances, it isn't something that one mere man can ruin it."
"Then... what of Nagato?'
"...Tragedy."
Madara whispered.
"For a person to understand peace, a true tragedy must befall them. As long as the war continues, there will always be chances..."
His eyes flashed within the darkness as if he knew what he had to do.
__________
A rapidly spiralling orb of crimson color floated atop Akashi's palm.
Upon his will, the speed by which the orb's content swirled continued to accelerate.
The intensity rose. The light and heat emitted by the orb were reaching a staggering point.
Sweating profusely, Akashi continued. The orb's crimson color was lost.
With a black center and the shiny outer edges, the orb now appeared completely different than before.
The solar eclipse, yes. That's what it looked like.
"This is..."
Akashi realized that the technique had gone beyond the scope of fire release.
The heat, the vibrance, the surprising stability... he has unconsciously extracted 'Yang' out of the fire chakra that was formed by the mix of Yin and Yang.
Yes, this novel technique of his wasn't a fire release, but an energy release instead.
"With this..."
Akashi then felt the pain in his arm and had to release the technique.
The amount of chakra that the technique was sapping out of him was simply abnormal. It could be said that the single use of it required a chakra input equivalent to that of a hundred rasengans at the very least.
Taking in a deep breath, Akashi calmed his body down. As the shakiness died down in his right arm, Akashi then proceeded to turn around.
"Did you think I wouldn't notice?"
Nothing but the darkness lied ahead. However, Akashi clearly felt something—or someone, more like.
"...Or, perhaps, it was the other way around. You were trying to tell me that I'm not the only one in this space, all along."
Akashi walked through the darkness.
After walking for how long, Akashi came across the sight... of someone, no, a spirit of an elderly looking man.
His form was in pale blue; he didn't seem to have a physical body.
"At last, you found me."
The spirit opened his eyes.
"I was waiting for you, young shinobi."
"And you are?"
Peering into Akashi's lone eye, the spirit claimed,
"You witness the head of the Uzumaki clan, Uzumaki Gentaro."
Gentaro. Narrowing his eyes, he then asked,
"Now, what may your name be?"
"Akashi."
It was a strange meet, one unlike any other.