Chapter 83
He was safe now, right? He wouldn't come after him here, right? Hiruzen was probably in the deepest part of his mind. If he wasn't safe here, there was nowhere for him to go. But Hiruzen didn't feel safe at all. He still felt the pain; he would never forget how his body was torn apart multiple times.
He continued to fall, deeper and deeper. There was no bottom, as he couldn't imagine the end of it. Surrounded by the darkness, he could only think of the pain. He feared it, as any normal person would. He didn't think he could endure it anymore.
So, he would continue to hide here until it was over. But when would it be over? How long would he have to drift down in fear, hiding in hopes of not experiencing something that painful again? How much deeper did he have to fall to feel completely safe?
Probably never, as his fears were as endless as the ocean he imagined. But in the end, none of this was real, though the pain sure felt real. Still, it was now over, right? He found a way to escape, so he wouldn't be caught again.
But then again, when did he start running away? When did he start fearing death? After all, he was already a dead man walking. Sure, it was painful, so much so that he wanted to crumple into a ball and cry, but when wasn't it?
What was he so afraid of? He was someone who pretended to be the Hokage for almost two years. A normal person who looked straight into the eyes of terrifying shinobi and lied to them daily. So why was he afraid of pain now?
He knew that if he was caught, he would be tortured, and probably even worse by more competent people at the craft. Stopping himself from falling any deeper, Hiruzen looked forward, up, where there was still darkness, and he could not see anything else.
It sure was bad. It was a normal reaction to run away from it. And in the end, he was just a normal person who fell into this world after his death. It might be a dream or a nightmare. But none of it mattered anymore.
He had long since forgotten his name. He was now Hiruzen Sarutobi, the Third Hokage. Pretending or not, that's who he was now. Nothing could change that. He had family, friends, and a home. This was his world right now. And there was nowhere for him to run.
He wouldn't be waking up to reality. He would have to create his own, as he always had. It was about time to accept it. It was the worst experience he had to go through, but so was becoming Hiruzen Sarutobi. And being stabbed. And always being afraid that he would mess up soon enough.
He was always afraid, but that didn't stop him, did it? He continued to move forward, so why was he falling because of pain now? In the end, it was just pain, the worst kind of pain, but still just pain. He had already endured it, and he would do it again if he must.
The darkness disappeared before his eyes. Now, only light remained in front of him. He only needed to reach it and pull himself up. But there stood the man of his fears, the masked man. And he once again started to doubt himself.
He was safe down here. Why would he need to go up there? There was only pain and suffering up there. And down here, he was safe. But he was alone. Down here was nothing but himself, surrounded by darkness, all alone. Even this masked man wouldn't come down here.
But then again, why wasn't he coming down here? He was right above Hiruzen right now. If only he looked down and searched for Hiruzen here, the masked man would find him. And yet, he didn't even look down into the darkness.
Then again, who was this masked man? Hiruzen started to realize who was behind that mask: Obito Uchiha. Why was he afraid of him again? Sure, he was powerful, just like the Fourth Raikage was, but Hiruzen wasn't afraid of that man, so why was he afraid of Obito?
Because he didn't think of him like that. From the very beginning, before even seeing the man, he had already started to fear him. But was there any reason to? It was just his imagination in the end, and the illusion he created himself.
So, he had to break that illusion himself, too. Hiruzen didn't reach for the light; he reached for the man who was the center of his fear. He was way too tired and too old to run and hide; he had a village to protect. And people were waiting for him.
Who was this Obito Uchiha to stop him? Just a mask that Hiruzen had put all his fears into. It was time to break that mask and break his own mask. As it was now so thin that it couldn't even cover his face anymore. He had already become who he was pretending to be.
…
What was this? He could not understand. It was endless; wherever he turned, he couldn't see a way out. Even looking down, he could not see its depths. And above was nothing but blue sky. What kind of place was this?
But he knew it was the Third Hokage's mindscape. What else could it be? Still, he never expected to be trapped like this, nor did he expect to see someone's mindscape, especially not the Third Hokage's.
It was so vast. Below him was only darkness and coldness, while above him was nothing but light and warmth. But where was the Third Hokage? He couldn't see him; could it be that he was in the complete darkness below him? Would he dare to go down there to look for him?
No, he couldn't even see through that darkness. It was a place where no light could penetrate; there was simply no way he could go down there. And so, he was completely defeated. This was the difference between them.
This place wasn't where he belonged. Though he had to admit, it was quite a lonely place. As far as the eye could see, there was nothing but the ocean. Even the sky had no clouds or sun, just a warm light that disappeared once it touched the water.
Even with his Sharingan, he could not see through the Third Hokage's mind. It was still a complete mystery to him, something he might never be able to see through or even begin to understand.
"What a pointless show."
But it didn't matter. He didn't come here to understand things; he came to get information and do what he must. A defeat like this was pointless. If the Third Hokage wanted to stop him, he should kill him. That was the only way he would stop.
He could just leave this place at any moment and face the Third Hokage in the real world. Though now wasn't the time yet. Killing him wasn't a problem, but it wasn't the right time. Everything needed to be prepared before that.
Letting the Third Hokage go was the last mercy he would show him. He would let him cower and hide in fear, and once everything was prepared and set in stone, he would bring that pathetic old man to his demise. At the end of it, nothing would be left, only sweet dreams.
"As I thought, I shouldn't hide from you." Just as he was about to leave, he heard a voice from below him.
A hand reached for his foot, but he was faster and jumped away, only to see the Third Hokage emerging from the darkness of the ocean, a place where one should be afraid even to look, and yet it seemed like he had made a home of the darkness and coldness.
"So, you are done hiding, huh?" he asked the Third Hokage, who emerged seemingly having regained his composure completely. After all, he had already broken the genjutsu; there was nothing he could do to such a man within this place. "I guess it suits you, hiding in such a cold and dark place while your enemies look for you in the light."
It was petty. But he hated this man for all he had sacrificed and continued to sacrifice. He spouted nonsense and stood in his way. This man was everything he hated about the Shinobi System, darkness disguised as light.
"Darkness was never a thing I feared. It was what was inside it. In this place, there is only you and me. In this deep, endless bottom of darkness, there is nothing. It is not even cold. So, I waited for you to come, but you never did. And so, I realized, you are the most fearful man in the world."
He tried to reach for him, to take that impudent head of his, but just as he moved, the world moved with him. He was now behind the Third Hokage, and they both slowly turned to face each other once again.
"All that you are afraid of is in this darkness," the Third Hokage said. "I don't know what it is; even you probably don't know it. But you'll never be able to go into it because of that fear."
"Stop your yapping. Don't presume to know me. I might have underestimated you, but this is just the beginning. I will be in your shadow, always watching and waiting. You won't know when, but you will know that I will bring you down to hell."
"So, I should be afraid of you?" he asked, and suddenly the Third Hokage was before him. "You and I aren't that different. We cover ourselves with masks to protect ourselves, but in the end, those masks have to fall. I am no longer afraid of you, Obito Uchiha."
The world was gone, and Obito quickly disappeared. Cold sweat dripped down his forehead; he should kill him right now. But it was too late, the genjutsu was broken, and he was surrounded by his ANBU. Obito wasn't ready to take this any further.
"What happened?" Black Zetsu appeared next to him.
"I failed," Obito replied as he took off his mask and wiped his sweat. "The plans have changed. The Third Hokage is our priority now. Watch him. I need to prepare an opportunity to get rid of him completely."
It was a guess. That man guessed his name; anyone could come to that realization. But it changed nothing; that name held nothing anymore. He didn't wear the mask to hide; it was who he was now, a nameless shinobi who reflected the one they all feared the most.
…
"Wake up," Hiruzen said as his chakra burst out of him in a wave, hitting the people around him.
The ANBU around him quickly appeared before him, all kneeling. It was still early in the day. Only now did he remember what he was doing before he was caught in the genjutsu. He was in his office, looking over today's work.
"I am disappointed in you all," Hiruzen said, facing the ANBU, and considered what he should say next.
"What happened, Hokage-sama?" Owl asked. Though it saddened him that he had to call his son by his code name, right now, he was Owl, captain of the ANBU team protecting him.
"I was testing you and caught you all in a genjutsu."
Hiruzen immediately realized that all of them had been caught in a genjutsu. Looking at the clock, twelve minutes had passed since the last moment Hiruzen remembered before he was caught, too. But there was no need to tell them what had really happened. He would spare them from it.
"I thought that at least one of you would have been able to break free from it and free the others, but you haven't." They would only blame themselves and might even go further if they knew what had happened. "And I am not really that good at it; there are plenty of far more powerful genjutsu masters. How are you going to defend against them if you can't deal with this? From now on, I want all of you to start training with this in mind."
"Yes, Hokage-sama!" they all replied in unison.
There was nothing they could have done to begin with. He didn't think there was any better shinobi at using genjutsu than Obito right now. So rather than making them despair over their uselessness, he would give them a little scare and make them focus on training themselves.
And either way, now he wouldn't be caught by Obito by surprise ever again. It was just his luck that Hiruzen now had a jutsu that could detect Obito. As long as he was close to or within the village, Hiruzen would be able to watch him through the Telescope Technique.
A.N. As always, thanks for reading and supporting me, so I can continue writing without any concerns, and if you want more, up to seven more chapters, you can support me on pa treon. com \ ironwolf852.