In the dark hideout of the Yami Akatsuki, the room was filled with silence.
Obito sat with his back exposed, the wound that had pierced through his chest and back now patched with White Zetsu's tissue.
Two Flying Thunder God seals were clearly visible on his back, one on the left, one on the right.
They had been left by Minato and Naruto.
Minato was already dead, so Obito hadn't cared much about his mark.
But Naruto's seal… that one kept him up at night. He couldn't eat, couldn't rest.
He had to get rid of it, no matter what it took, even if it meant harming himself.
"...Tobi, help me," Obito said.
Behind him, Tobi held a kunai and looked uneasy. "Should we at least give you some anesthetic?"
"No. Leave it. I want to remember this defeat…"
Obito bit down hard on a towel to prepare for the pain.
Tobi paused, then slowly brought the kunai to Obito's back.
Shhht!
"Ughhh…!!"
Obito gritted his teeth, his body trembling with pain. Sweat poured down his face, veins bulged, and he tried to suppress the sound of his agony in the silent room.
But this pain was nothing—nothing compared to the pain of losing Rin.
Snap...!
Tobi continued until all the skin on Obito's back had been scraped away, exposing bone.
Obito slumped forward, panting, blood pooling beneath him.
Tobi quickly disinfected the wound, applied medicine, and wrapped it in clean bandages.
Then he cleaned up the blood and discarded the ruined flesh.
"Haah… haah…"
Obito removed the towel from his mouth and stared blankly at the wall, deep in thought.
"There's no mistake… When Naruto moved his lips, he said: 'Beware of Black Zetsu.'"
"Black Zetsu is Madara's will. I've already been cautious of him. But if Naruto went out of his way to warn me, he must know something more... something I don't."
After covering the bandages on his back with his clothes, Obito asked,
"Tobi, besides being Madara's pawn to watch over me, what else do you know about Black Zetsu?"
Tobi hesitated. He had clearly seen Naruto's lip movements.
He murmured, "It's better not to talk about such things with me. After all, like all White Zetsu, I'm a product of the Gedo Statue... and in the end, I'll always obey the will of the Gedo Statue."
"And the will of the Gedo Statue,"
"is the will of the Rinnegan's original owner."
Obito gave a small smile. "So if Madara and I were both here, you'd obey him first, right?"
After a pause, Tobi replied quietly, "I'm your friend. So... I won't lie to you."
Obito nodded. "And because you're my friend, I'm willing to accept what comes next... even if it changes everything."
Tobi thought for a moment, then said,
"Black Zetsu doesn't really feel like Madara's will. What the Nine Tails Jinchūriki said… it might not be baseless."
"I see..." Obito's eyes turned cold as he reached for his mask and put it back on.
"Sasuke. Did you bring him back?"
Tobi answered, "Yes. But he was beaten down hard, back to square one."
"Heh..." Obito chuckled as he stood up.
"We're both Uchiha traitors and losers. Maybe that'll make it easier for us to understand each other."
Tobi asked, "Are you heading out?"
Obito replied,
"Yes. As much as I resist it… for the sake of the future, it's time I reclaim what's mine."
...
In another room, Sasuke sat with his head down, dazed and silent.
His eyes were blank, and he absentmindedly scratched at his neck.
The Flying Thunder God mark left by Naruto was still on his throat.
Unlike Obito, he couldn't just tear off the skin to remove it.
At the doorway stood the fused form of Black and White Zetsu.
Black Zetsu said, "White Zetsu, go check on Obito. I'll go comfort our defeated warrior..."
White Zetsu replied, "Alright, but don't overdo it. He's already suspicious~"
Black Zetsu smirked. "Relax. I serve the Tsuki no Me plan. I'm on his side..."
Snap!
The two split apart.
Black Zetsu walked into Sasuke's room and said,
"You look troubled. I can remove the mark from your neck…"
Buzz…
He placed his hand on the mark and activated Yin-Yang Release, erasing the Flying Thunder God seal.
Sasuke slowly looked up at him. "Who are you?"
Black Zetsu chuckled. "What? We see each other every day. Don't recognize me when I'm not stuck to White Zetsu?"
Sasuke narrowed his eyes. "Oh… it's you. The black half of that weird face."
"Heh. We're usually together, but sometimes we work separately," Black Zetsu said.
"By the way, how do you feel about losing to Naruto?"
Sasuke frowned. "You came here just to mock me?"
"Don't take it the wrong way," Black Zetsu replied.
"Naruto's strong because he has the Rinnegan… the one that originally belonged to Madara. Your defeat was expected."
Sasuke's eyes widened. "What did you say? Wasn't that Rinnegan Nagato's? And Madara... isn't he—?"
"To put it simply," Black Zetsu interrupted,
"That masked man wasn't the real Uchiha Madara. The true Madara is already dead."
"The Rinnegan wasn't Nagato's. It was originally awakened by Uchiha Madara himself."
"Madara, once the leader of the Uchiha, was defeated by Hashirama Senju, but he didn't die."
"Instead, he obtained Hashirama's power, and just before his actual death, he awakened the Rinnegan..."
"So, if you want to defeat Naruto now, you'll also need the power of the Rinnegan..."
"Maybe Yakushi Kabuto can help you," Black Zetsu suggested.
Black Zetsu's thoughts:
Obito went off script, he never planned to revive Madara.
So I made sure Kabuto found Madara's body and brought him back using Edo Tensei.
But Madara's two Rinnegan are now in Naruto's hands… and that brat doesn't follow normal logic.
I need a backup plan.
Sasuke is also Indra's reincarnation. Maybe he has the potential to awaken the Rinnegan too…
…..
Meanwhile, in Konoha, at the memorial stone.
Kakashi stood in silence, clearly worried.
"The man standing on top of the Hokage Rock that day wore a mask... but it was definitely Naruto underneath."
"Did seeing Naruto like that push Sasuke to leave the village?"
"If so, then Naruto really has…"
"Hey... Kakashi, mourning another old friend?"
A teasing voice suddenly came from behind.
Crack!
Kakashi's eyes sharpened in an instant, he spun around and slashed with Raikiri!
Whoosh!
But the blade passed right through the masked man's body…!
Calmly, the masked figure raised his hand toward Kakashi
Whoosh!
Kakashi quickly jumped back to create distance!
The masked man spoke calmly,
"As expected of Sharingan Kakashi… you're fast."
Kakashi narrowed his eyes. "You're… Madara!"
Snap!
Without hesitation, he pulled up his forehead protector, and swish! his left eye transformed into the Mangekyō Sharingan, locked onto the masked man.
"Madara… I'll stop you right here!"
"Don't bother, Kakashi. That jutsu won't work on me…"
The masked man raised his hand and removed his mask.
Boom!
Kakashi stood frozen, as if struck by lightning.
It was Obito.
"I've come to take back my eye…"
Snap!
Obito suddenly charged forward and gouged out Kakashi's left eye with one quick motion.
Thump!
Kakashi dropped to one knee, blood streaming from his left eye, but he only stared at the back of the man he once called a friend.
"You're still alive… but…"
Obito, holding his bloody eye, replied without turning around:
"This world is fake. You couldn't protect Rin. Minato-sensei didn't make it in time. We're all useless… even me."
Whoosh!
A Kamui vortex formed beneath him.
As his body began to vanish, Obito's voice echoed:
"Kakashi… you and I are both broken. But when I bring the dream world to life, we'll meet again. You, me, Minato-sensei… and Rin."
Thump…!
Kakashi's vision went black, and he collapsed into unconsciousness.
.
.
TO BE CONTINUED
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