"Impossible! Impossible!" Obito instantly shattered, his gaze fixed straight ahead, "I was the one who resurrected Rin! She can't forget me."
"As long as Rin is alive, as long as there's a world where Rin exists... that's enough."
"Oh, really?" Naruto sneered, "Uchiha Obito, who would've thought a scumbag like you could have such noble ideals? You're really handing over the woman you love to someone else just like that?"
"But Nohara Rin and Kakashi don't even know you exist. I won't breathe a single word about you to them. After all, didn't you say it yourself?"
He spread his hands and said with a mocking smile.
"As long as Nohara Rin is happy, nothing else matters."
"Aaaahhhh…!! Uzumaki Naruto!!!" Obito roared in fury, and pounced on Naruto with the last bit of his strength, only to collapse face-first onto the ground with a thud.
He realized in despair that everything below his neck had already gone numb, and death had caught up to him. His body was losing strength, and his consciousness was fading.
In one final act of desperation, Obito bit down hard on his tongue, and the metallic taste of blood flooding his mouth.
A crimson haze blurred his vision as he glared at Naruto, snarling with his last breath, "Uzu...maki... Naruto... Even as a ghost... I will never... let you go!!"
--Silence--
With a dull thump, Obito's head hit the ground, his eyes instantly glazing over as life drained from them. Naruto and Konan stood nearby, watching coldly.
A long moment passed…
"...Is he dead now?" Konan couldn't help but ask.
"Yeah, dead." Naruto nodded.
She took a deep breath and forced herself to observe Obito's death. She looked at the man's haggard and withered face, and also the sickly pallor of death creeping over his skin.
It turns out… No matter how unfathomable his power, no matter how many sins he had committed, in the end, even he could die when faced with a true adversary. The sheer agony and desperation in his final moments were indescribable.
Konan would never forget this sight. She would never forget how wretchedly Obito had died. She would live on for Yahiko and Nagato, ensuring they knew that the debt had been paid.
From now on, everything... would fade with the wind.
However, after Obito's death, the White Zetsu army grew even more frenzied. It was certainly not because of grief and anger, but simply because they desperately wanted to seize the Rinnegan.
But how could Naruto let them have their way? Stretching out his hand, he used Lava Release to destroy the Rinnegan. Obito's corpse vanished into the lava, crumbling into dust.
In an instant, the White Zetsu army fled into the ground like ants. The Rinnegan was gone, so what was the point of continuing to fight?
The mission failed, and after Black Zetsu received the news, he naturally controlled the White Zetsu army to withdraw. All that remained were the dismembered corpses of the reanimated shinobi, and the battlefield looked gruesome.
"...Is it over?" Konan suddenly felt empty. Her revenge had been achieved, but then what? She had played her part, but she hadn't been the one to land the final blow.
It's not that she couldn't have, but that she wouldn't.
The underhanded tactics, the psychological torture, the way Naruto had twisted the knife in Obito's heart… she could never replicate that.
Romance and sexual love could be learned through adult manga, but what about the ability to crush someone's spirit?
She had always believed herself incapable of such things.
Up until now, in her understanding, revenge had always been straightforward, clashing with swords, a swift and direct exchange of vengeance.
Conspiracies and taking advantage of people's weaknesses are too troublesome. Even if the revenge is successful, there was no satisfaction in it. In short, such methods had never been within Konan's considerations.
But after witnessing Naruto's methods these past days, she realized that Naruto had barely lifted a finger, yet it was as if he had crushed Obito's very soul.
At first, Konan hadn't felt much about Naruto's plan, and she just thought that maybe, she could stimulate Obito by pretending to be Rin.
It is no exaggeration to say that in order to maximize the effect of revenge, she was even prepared for real-life physical action. If it meant making Obito suffer unbearably, she was willing to do anything.
But, she didn't expect that Naruto didn't put any thought into Nohara Rin at all. That was just one part of his plan, and the real killing blow lay elsewhere.
"It's over. Uchiha Obito no longer exists." Naruto stood to the side, exhaling softly, "He never existed in the past, and he doesn't exist now."
"We're not the only ones who know his true identity, there's Zetsu." Konan reminded him.
"It's fine." Naruto turned his head and glanced at her, "Except for us, no one will care about the identity of a dead person, and Zetsu will not show up for the time being."
"Uchiha Obito can only blame himself for being too fond of using masks to hide himself. For twenty years, he's been jumping around. Now that we've severed the threads of his causality, no one remembered him before, and even fewer will now."
Hearing those calm words, Konan couldn't help but press her lips together.
"Let's go." He turned to leave.
"Where to?" Konan was still dazed, as if she had lost her purpose.
"Amegakure. We still have to clean up the mess you left behind." Naruto sighed, "No matter what, Amegakure is your hometown. You don't want it to be taken over by someone else, right?"
Hearing this, Konan was stunned.
'Amegakure, yes, there is still a village that we all want to protect. Even though Nagato and Yahiko were gone, the village remained, and I should continue their dream.'
"Understood," Konan quickened her steps to follow him.
The matter of Obito was settled for now. Konan was assigned by Naruto to guard Amegakure, and he also left her with a communication device.
Compared to the chaotic Kusagakure, Naruto clearly favored Amegakure with its steel industry. Whether in terms of location or climate, it was far more convenient than Kusagakure.
If true peace was to be achieved in the Shinobi World, villages like Kusagakure shouldn't exist. Since Naruto had chosen Amegakure, he naturally planned to strengthen the village in the future.
This means that in the future, between the Land of Fire, the Land of Wind, and the Land of Earth, there will be a formidable Land of Rain emerging.
Even though the country is small and short on defenses, its offensive capabilities would be unmatched.
High attack and low defense can perfectly balance the relationship between the three great countries.