"Obito, open your mission scroll and take a look."
As soon as Minato Namikaze spoke, both Obitos reached for the places where they stored their mission scrolls.
The younger Obito had his scroll in the ninja pouch on his back, while the adult Obito, as usual, kept his in his Dōjutsu space.
Interestingly, the adult Obito was the faster of the two, as he had long relied on his Dōjutsu.
He opened the scroll. The latest mission, besides the previous one—
[Mission Level: A-Rank]
[Mission Content: Impersonate Madara Uchiha and converse with Hashirama Senju.]
[Mission Status: Completed.]
...was accompanied by another mission they hadn't seen before—
[Mission Level: C-Rank]
[Mission Content: Use Kotoamatsukami on the Masked Man.]
But this mission also had the stamp: [Mission Status: Completed.]
The First, Second, and Fourth Hokage, along with the others, quickly realized that in the previous parallel world, it was because he had completed this task that they had witnessed Jiraiya's dying illusion and heard his final words entrusting everything to Naruto Uzumaki during their darkest hour.
It was precisely because of this that Naruto, who had almost lost himself, was able to hold onto his true self.
Otherwise, honestly, even Minato wouldn't have known how to handle that situation.
The adult Obito saw that his mission scroll didn't contain any new tasks yet to be completed.
Upon hearing the exclamation from his younger self beside him, he immediately understood that this time, the new mission wasn't for him, but for the younger Obito Uchiha.
"What?! A new mission?!" Naruto crowded in next to the younger Obito.
The blonde-haired, orange tracksuit-wearing Uzumaki boy and the black-haired, navy tracksuit-wearing Uchiha boy stood shoulder to shoulder. From the perspective of the adult Kakashi standing behind them, the sight of two young boys with almost identical hairstyles gave him a feeling of stepping into a different time.
Stealing another glance at the now slightly taller adult Obito, who looked like he wanted to melt into the background and become invisible, Kakashi couldn't help but feel a mix of emotions. It was as though the place was the same, but the people had changed.
The young Obito looked awkward as he studied the newly appeared mission, a slightly uncomfortable expression on his face.
"It's..."
"It's a C-rank mission."
He displayed the mission scroll for the curious Naruto, the indifferent yet equally intrigued Sasuke, as well as Sakura, Rin, and Minato-sensei to see.
The young Obito's mission scroll was laid flat on the table.
Among the missions they had already seen, the new one stood out—
[Mission Level: C-Rank]
[Mission Content: Help 6,000 elderly women cross the street.]
"Pfft—"
That sound.
It came from the usually serious, almost adult-like young Kakashi.
Though he rarely made jokes, he never missed an opportunity to tease or mock a certain fool.
"You laughed, didn't you?! Huh?! Stupid Kakashi, were you just making fun of me?!!"
"Isn't laughing at you only natural?" Young Kakashi shot him a glance. "Only someone like you would get a mission like this, you idiot, the King of Latecomers."
"Hmph!!" Young Obito's face puffed up like a steamed bun in anger.
Rin comforted him. "But this mission really suits you, doesn't it? You're always helping the old ladies in the village, right? I just feel like whoever assigned this mission must know Obito really well!"
"The person who assigned the mission is someone who knows Obito well?"
Rin's offhand remark caused Minato Namikaze and the Second Hokage to ponder.
Indeed, all current missions seemed like divine arrangements—often appearing utterly illogical, yet revealing each person's destiny with astonishing precision! Especially in the parallel world they had time-traveled to last time... Because they had intervened in this world, even with Minato Namikaze's chakra acting as a gatekeeper before the Nine-Tails' seal, Naruto nearly lost his sanity. But thanks to the adult Obito Uchiha of this world, who completed a C-rank mission, they all heard the dying words of Naruto's most important mentor. Only then, like a turning point in the tide, did they manage to rescue Naruto from the brink of collapse.
"Is there a problem, Minato-sensei?"
The young Kakashi, seeing him repeat Rin's words, asked.
Minato Namikaze shook his head. "No, I just find Rin's words seem quite reasonable."
If these missions were all issued by 'a certain individual,' then they would naturally narrow down that person's scope to a social circle that knew all of them intimately. The most likely candidate would even be one of them. But among them, who possessed such godlike power to defy the laws of life and death, manipulate time, and create countless new parallel worlds?
It was...
Wouldn't a mission like helping six thousand old ladies cross the street be a bit excessive?
Sasuke: "If we really had to complete this mission, how long would it take? Years, right? We couldn't finish it in that time."
"No," Young Kakashi told him, "Obito's physique is unique. Whenever he goes out, he's bound to encounter people needing help. Just take him out for a few extra laps, and I reckon six thousand could be done in less than a year."
"A year?!!"
Young Obito found that timeframe far too long.
"What did you expect?" Young Kakashi shot him a look. "Did you think you could finish in a month? That'd mean helping two hundred old ladies daily on average! Even with your massive chakra reserves and mastery of Shadow Clones like Naruto, you'd still have to consider whether the village even has that many old ladies needing help, okay?!"
"Uh..."
Under the weight of Young Kakashi's logic, Young Obito deflated instantly. Even his favorite mission—helping old ladies cross the street—suddenly seemed impossibly daunting.
Rin encouraged him. "Regardless, it's wonderful that Obito's specialty could be his mission!"
"Rin..." Young Obito gazed at the brown-haired girl with a distant look.
"Go for it, Obito! This is a C-rank mission!!" Rin's warm smile spurred him on.
Beside them, the adult Obito felt a wave of bitterness wash over him. The Rin of his world shouldn't have left in such a way at such a young age. Without his own actions, without Madara Uchiha and Black Zetsu's schemes, she should have grown up safely in Minato's Team. Minato-sensei, Kushina, Fugaku, Mikoto, the Uchiha clan members who died unjustly, Yahiko, Rin—all had been placed in the resurrection notebook he would create later.
He recalled Kakashi, who had died once in the previous world, mentioning meeting his father in another realm... White Fang-senpai had also been driven to his choice by the injustice of this ninja world. If he truly possessed the Rinnegan, could he perhaps indulge a small selfish wish and revive the White Fang too?
As for his own parents...
Adult Obito felt utterly helpless... Let them hold onto their hopes for their son, believing he would become an outstanding Konoha ninja. May the Uchiha elites rest peacefully in the Pure Land. Any fate was better than being resurrected only to discover their son had become Konoha's most wanted traitor, the feared big boss of the entire ninja world.
"Obito, Obito."
Adult Kakashi's voice suddenly snapped Adult Obito out of his thoughts.
"Hm?"
"Minato-sensei is calling for you." Adult Kakashi still felt somewhat awkward around the current Obito, so his tone carried a hint of unease.
As another Uchiha with a similarly sensitive nature, Adult Obito couldn't help but notice this, but he could only pretend nothing was amiss.
He looked toward the Fourth Hokage.
Fourth Hokage Minato: "It seems a new mission has appeared on your scroll as well. Take another look."
Adult Obito obediently unfolded his mission scroll again, laying it flat on the table.
"...."
The moment they saw his mission, everyone standing there froze for an instant.
Naruto: "Ten... hundred... thousand... ten thousand... hundred thousand... ten million... and then... then what is it? I mean..."
He nudged Sasuke beside him with his elbow.
Sasuke gave him a glare. "One hundred million, you idiot!"
That string of zeros after the six had genuinely stunned them.
Naruto pointed at the digits trailing the hundred million. "This looks like more than a hundred million, right?"
"Indeed." The two Minatos, the First and Second Hokage, Kakashi's team, Minato's team, Captain Yamato, and the others all scrutinized it repeatedly...
"The magnitude of this number should be..."
"...a hundred billion."
"....."
Everyone swallowed hard.
Minato Namikaze: "The sheer magnitude of this figure is terrifying enough, and then the mission content itself is like this..." Words failed him.
Adult Obito stared at the mission scroll, thinking he might as well just have his younger self complete that S-rank mission right now.
After all—
[Mission Level: S-Rank]
[Mission Content: Consume 600,000,000,000 red bean cakes.]
This...
He'd die before finishing it, right? From overeating, or... diabetes.
Young Kakashi Hatake finally couldn't hold back his snark. "Rin, you were spot on. Whoever assigned this mission really knows everyone here inside out."
Obito loves red bean cakes, so the mission is... to eat six hundred billion red bean cakes.
You gotta hand it to whoever assigned this mission—they're a genius.