Without noticing anyone behind him, Ōtsutsuki Obito continued his enthusiastic performance:
"You don't believe me?"
"Waaah, Tobi is so pitiful! The Sixth Hokage-sama played with my feelings. He hasn't even taken office yet and he's already abusing his authority, banning Tobi from eating red bean cakes! This is outrageous!! And he's always staring at me with that suspicious look. Where's the most basic trust between people?!"
Heaven knew that Ten-Tails caretaker Kakashi was only worried that his elementary-school classmate, now wielding absurdly overwhelming power, might pull off something life-threatening again.
That was why he had no choice but to keep a constant eye on this currently malfunctioning Ōtsutsuki Obito.
"Waaah, Tobi's life is worse than a pack of ninken! At least the dogs get paid, wear cool Konoha forehead protectors, have official ninja status, eat the most expensive canned food, and even get top-tier spa treatments with essential oil massages and baths…"
Comparing himself to ninken—this line of thinking and execution was truly beyond saving.
The surrounding Konoha ninja and the residents of the Missing-nin Inn were completely numb, all staring at the lunatic in front of them with dead-fish eyes.
Their gazes subtly shifted toward Adult Obito and Adult Kakashi, who had just returned from outside.
That was… a lot of information to process.
The fact that Kakashi would become the Sixth Hokage in the future was apparently something no one here was unaware of anymore.
These two regarded each other as heroes. One hated the world yet couldn't bring himself to harm the other, only erupting in fury after his death. The other believed him dead and had mourned at a fake grave for more than ten years.
The looks being cast their way grew increasingly complicated.
"Tobi," thinking he had earned everyone's sympathy, sniffled and fake-cried even harder, accusing the Sixth Hokage of betraying his feelings like a tragic heroine from a prime-time melodrama.
Behind the wildly committed performance of Tobi Ōtsutsuki, Adult Obito's expression was indescribable.
Especially when he saw Rin's gentle, understanding, all-encompassing smile—his mental state instantly collapsed.
Young Obito snapped in humiliation and rage, "Can you act normal for once?!" Do you want all of us to die of collective embarrassment?!
"And when did I ever have a crush on stupid Kakashi?! Don't say things that Rin could misunderstand so easily!"
Rin smiled at Ōtsutsuki Obito from another world.
"Hehe, it looks like Obito and Kakashi get along even better in that other world~"
Hehe…
The expression beneath Ōtsutsuki Obito's black cat mask stiffened.
From what Rin just said…
Had he exposed himself?
Why did Rin know he was Obito? The mask was still on properly! What was going on?!
Meeting Rin's sincere gaze, Ōtsutsuki Obito coughed lightly to cover his awkwardness, then immediately switched to an imitation of Madara Uchiha's voice:
"You've got the wrong person. I'm not Obito Uchiha. I'm actually Madara Uchiha."
"..."
Nothing was more terrifying than sudden silence.
The antenna-like bangs on the forehead of the First Hokage, Hashirama Senju, twitched slightly—a clear sign he was about to switch from cheerful to terrifying.
Madara… secretly in love with the Sixth Hokage?
Heh.
The Second Hokage, Tobirama Senju, pressed a hand to his forehead and sighed. Was this a distortion of human nature, or the collapse of morality? How did the Uchiha clan give birth to something like this?
Young Obito endured the pitying looks aimed at him, his face burning red.
"What does that old man have to do with anything?! Can you be serious for once?! Me from another world!!"
Standing behind the question-and-answer-world Ōtsutsuki Obito, the Adult Obito who had just returned from the mission scroll world had long since reached his limit.
His gloved hand landed heavily on the shoulder of the white-haired ANBU-clad Ōtsutsuki Obito.
"Want… red… bean… cake?"
Each word was pronounced slowly, clearly, and through clenched teeth.
"Huh…?" Ōtsutsuki Obito stiffly turned his head.
Adult Obito, standing beside Kakashi, didn't waste a single word. He yanked off the mask and shoved the freshly bought red bean cakes straight into his mouth.
"Fine! Then eat all six hundred billion red bean cakes for me!!! You bastard!"
Several cakes were forced in at once under the pressure of black gloves. Ōtsutsuki Obito nearly became the first Obito Uchiha across all parallel worlds to choke to death on red bean cakes.
Originally, he could have used intangibility, but with his sugar intake strictly controlled, he felt it would be a waste not to eat those few red bean cakes.
His face twisted as pain mixed with pleasure. That pretty much summed up the man standing before everyone—the Obito from another parallel world.
All eyes turned to the man desperately forcing down the red bean cakes…
This Obito still had both eyes, the Uchiha clan's signature deep black pupils intact.
The whirlpool-like scar on the right side of his face had faded somewhat, but the traces of battle damage from beneath Kannabi Bridge were still clearly visible.
His hair was about the same length as Adult Obito's.
Yet compared to Kakashi's silver-gray hair, his was even whiter—far too white for an Obito who should only be around twenty-eight or twenty-nine years old.
Minato Namikaze sensed that this parallel world was anything but simple. He handed a cup of water to Obito, who had nearly choked, and asked,
"Has your world already reached the era of the Sixth Hokage?"
Ōtsutsuki Obito muttered a quick thanks and gulped the water down.
"It's still the era of the Fourth Hokage. Minato-sensei is in charge."
He shot a glare at Adult Obito.
"If you exist, why didn't you show up earlier?! I thought your entire Team Minato had just reverted to childhood!!"
Ōtsutsuki Obito was completely baffled. Why did Team Minato from the past, his younger self, and Kakashi all exist at the same time here? And not only that—they knew he was Obito Uchiha, and they also knew Kakashi would become the Sixth Hokage?
Aside from those damned question-and-answer scenarios, he couldn't imagine anything more malicious that could expose the future of the ninja world ahead of time.
Just then, the three kids from Team Kakashi who had been training hurried over after hearing the commotion.
Naruto immediately crushed Ōtsutsuki Obito's last shred of hope.
"What reverting to childhood? Young Kakashi-sensei and Obito came from a parallel world during the Kannabi Bridge mission era. And besides, Kakashi-sensei in our world is definitely going to become the Sixth Hokage. And I'm absolutely going to be the Seventh Hokage, dattebayo!"
…Yeah.
That was solid confirmation. Kakashi being the Sixth Hokage was common knowledge here.
And what had he just said earlier?
That he had a crush on the Sixth Hokage? That even Kakashi's dog had more human rights than him?
Damn it—
Ōtsutsuki Obito's mind completely collapsed.
He berated himself viciously in his head, mentally slapping his own face for running his mouth again. Had he already forgotten what happened the last time he joked like this with Deidara? He'd been brutally chewed out by Sasori for "harboring inappropriate intentions toward minors"!
Ahhh!
He was really just joking!! No one took that seriously, right?! Right?!
The others had no idea what kind of mental meltdown Ōtsutsuki Obito was going through.
But thanks to Naruto's single sentence, everyone who had been there earlier now had the same scene looping endlessly in their minds: someone clowning around, calling himself Tobi, crying about secretly loving the Sixth Hokage and being exploited as a pitiful ANBU.
Young Obito and Adult Obito both felt utterly wrecked.
Young Kakashi and Adult Kakashi were dragged into this disaster as collateral damage and felt just as miserable. All because of Obito—this idiot—Kakashi was constantly forced to endure social-death-level embarrassment.
If his strength allowed it, young Sasuke would have crushed this freak who was tarnishing the clan's reputation on the spot. At this rate, "pervert" was about to become another permanent label. Not just Kakashi—his brother, himself, Naruto—everyone needed to stay far away from him!
The atmosphere turned unbearably awkward.
If anyone could salvage the situation, it was Minato Namikaze.
He spoke calmly,
"Obito, may I ask what happened in your world? Why do you possess Six Paths… or rather, power similar to Kaguya Ōtsutsuki's?"
The moment he said that, several expressions changed instantly.
Especially Young Obito and Adult Obito, who had experienced Naruto's life illusion in the previous parallel world—they knew all too well how utterly despair-inducing Kaguya Ōtsutsuki's power was.
That white-haired Obito Uchiha standing before them…
He actually possessed power comparable to Kaguya Ōtsutsuki?!
"And also…"
Young Sasuke asked skeptically, "Why do you have both eyes? Did you dig out Kakashi's Sharingan and put it back in?"
That question alone…was enough to freeze the atmosphere all over again.
"Bullshit! I, Obito Uchiha, would never take back a gift given for becoming a jōnin!"
"..."
Once again, everyone was hit with a wave of indescribable inner turmoil.
Adult Kakashi tugged at his forehead protector, half-considering pulling it down to cover his only exposed right eye as well, pretending he didn't exist at all.
Ōtsutsuki Obito said, "Both of these eyes were rewards for answering the question-and-answer trials correctly! My original eye was eaten by Hashirama-sama from another world!"
(For details, see The Collapsing Chūnin Exams: The Story of Six Paths Hashirama.)
That statement perfectly captured the spirit of "stun them or die trying.
Everyone instinctively turned to look at the so-called God of Shinobi, who stood there looking utterly harmless.
The God of Shinobi exchanged a glance with his younger brother.
Then he visibly deflated, curling in on himself.
He looked as wronged as it was possible to be…
"There has to be some kind of misunderstanding! Even if I were starving so badly I saw stars, I'd never eat the eyeballs of someone from Madara's Clan, okay?!"
Just as everyone's mouths twitched and his brother was about to snap at him, he suddenly curled his lips into a mischievous grin and added,
"Besides, who knows if eating them would give you an upset stomach?"
Sasuke Uchiha: "..."
Obito Uchiha: "..."
Itachi Uchiha: "..."
Unfortunately, this was exactly the moment when they were missing a Madara Uchiha to properly tear Hashirama Senju apart.
Only his younger brother muttered dryly, "An upset stomach is one thing, but eating weird ideas might rot your brain, big brother."
Tch…
Here it was again. The Second Hokage's snarky remarks that absolutely did not match his cold, dignified appearance.
If it weren't for personally witnessing it over this period of time, no one would have believed the Second Hokage was this kind of person.
"Tsk."
Seeing that no one believed him, Ōtsutsuki Obito clicked his tongue.
"You've never seen that Hashirama-sama. After he obtained Madara Uchiha's eyes, he became Six Paths Hashirama, trapped the entire world in Infinite Tsukuyomi, and even ate Kaguya Ōtsutsuki."
As everyone stared at him, eyes wide with disbelief,
Ōtsutsuki Obito continued, "He even set a trap, making the other Ōtsutsuki across the universe think the chakra fruit here had ripened. They all rushed over to harvest it—and then got eaten too. If my eye hadn't been the Rinnegan ability he'd been searching for all along, I probably wouldn't have made it out alive."
Thinking back on that figure—snow-white, straight hair rivaling Kaguya's, skin pale like wallpaper, a gaunt and sickly face—even now, Obito Uchiha couldn't help but feel lingering fear.
A being who wielded terrifying senjutsu, endured an unimaginably tragic life…
and ultimately descended into darkness so profound that even Madara Uchiha couldn't compare.
Six Paths Hashirama Senju.
***
…
If you'd like to support my work and unlock advanced chapters, you can follow me on p-@-treon.
[email protected]/PinkSnake (100 Chapters Ahead).
You can also follow as a free member to read a few advanced chapters.
***