"Say what you need to say."
Tobirama Senju had always hated this kind of inefficient communication.
"Skip the pointless parts and get to the core. What happened to Izuna? What does he have to do with solving the problem in that parallel world?"
Ōtsutsuki Obito, who had come from the Question-and-Answer World, cut out all the unnecessary details. He simply explained that in one particular world, Izuna Uchiha had survived just fine even after Konoha was founded. However, because of something he could never obtain, he was ultimately consumed by jealousy and awakened the Rinnegan.
"I never expected Izuna's Rinnegan to have the power to rewind time."
As Izuna Uchiha's long-time opponent, Tobirama Senju took a sip of tea and commented, "Just like him. Using time reversal, he rolled back everything in that world—except for Sasuke, Naruto, and a few others—to one month earlier. That solved the issue of humanity being trapped in the Infinite Tsukuyomi for too long."
Having just returned from work at the Hokage Building and made it home in time to have dinner with his son, Fourth Hokage Minato couldn't help but sigh.
"All the parallel worlds we've visited before were still within the scope of the main timeline. Looks like there are many more parallel worlds out there, far beyond what we imagined."
"Far beyond imagination? Some of them are completely unhinged!"
Ōtsutsuki Obito wore a pained expression, putting on such a vivid performance that it made everyone curious. Just what kind of world could make even this almost–Fourth Shinobi World War boss look like he was suffering?
Seeing the stunned looks around him, Ōtsutsuki Obito casually added, "You'd never guess. A world where every single one of us has the exact opposite personality…"
"A hot-blooded idiot Kakashi, a completely unmotivated Might Guy, an elite-style Naruto, and a Sasuke Uchiha who does nothing all day except trick girls into going on dates."
Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura all stared with their eyes wide open. It was hard to imagine that such a world could even exist.
Adult Obito shot a sideways glance at Kakashi, who stood beside him looking utterly lifeless—like a fish that had been salted and left to dry. The mere thought of Kakashi suddenly turning into a hot-blooded, loudmouthed maniac like Might Guy nearly made Obito choke on the red bean cake he was chewing.
"What about me? What am I like in that world?"
Minato Namikaze asked curiously, genuinely wondering what kind of person he'd become if his personality were completely reversed.
Ōtsutsuki Obito hugged his arms tightly, looking genuinely shaken.
"A Kushina who's gentle like flowing water, and a Minato-sensei with a dark personality, short-tempered and irritable, coming back from every mission reeking of blood. It's a nightmare!!"
Although the Yellow Flash's reputation in other villages was synonymous with bloodshed and killing, within the village—and during ordinary missions—Minato Namikaze had always shown remarkable patience toward both tasks and clients. He was gentle with everyone and had never once shown open anger.
Who would have thought that in another world, the Fourth Hokage would be like that?
Young Obito thought of the gentle, water-like Kushina and felt his heart grow uneasy.
Naruto slapped the table, laughing so hard tears nearly came out.
"Sasuke's been attracting girls since we were kids. If he turned into a full-on playboy, I bet he'd be surrounded by girls all day long, dattebayo!"
Ōtsutsuki Obito shot him a look, his expression impossible to describe.
"But compared to everyone's personalities changing, what's even more terrifying is that everyone's gender changed too…"
The moment he said it, even the First Hokage and Second Hokage froze.
"Their genders changed?!"
Hashirama Senju immediately pressed.
He looked at his younger brother, then turned toward Ōtsutsuki Obito, who had become the center of attention.
"You mean we turned into women, and the kunoichi turned into men?!"
Rin and Sakura were the most shocked. She hurriedly questioned Obito.
"Don't tell me there's a world where Sakura and I are boys, and Obito, Kakashi, Sasuke, and Naruto are girls?!"
Just recalling that world nearly made Ōtsutsuki Obito lose his soul.
When he first arrived there, he'd seen a boy who looked pleasant no matter how you looked at him. Long brown hair, loosely tied into a small braid at the back like Itachi's, two purple markings on his face, and an overall gentle, warm demeanor.
At the time, Obito had thought that if Rin ever had an older brother, he'd probably look exactly like this.
And while he was still thinking that…
The other person walked straight up to him and said, "You wouldn't happen to be Obito's long-lost older brother, would you? You and her look really alike~~"
She…
She...
At that moment, Ōtsutsuki Obito was wondering how he'd never known that there was a girl in Konohagakure named Obito.
Immediately afterward, two female voices rang out behind him, one full of energy, the other cold and sharp.
"Rin!"
"Stay away from that person!"
He turned around and saw a female version of himself, along with a female Kakashi. The shock nearly made him forget how to breathe.
Later on, things only got worse. Being taken to the Hokage Building, meeting a female Minato-sensei, then seeing a male Kushina delivering her lunch… and behind the pretty, adorable Naruto, that Byakugan boy who kept nervously poking his fingers together…
All of it nearly made Ōtsutsuki Obito collapse on the spot.
Hashirama Senju rubbed his face. "My god. I really can't imagine a world where Tobirama, Madara, and I are all girls…"
"Same," Adult Obito and the teenage Obito said in unison.
Seeing that Rin beside them seemed oddly fascinated by the idea of that world, the two of them couldn't help trying to picture it. A boy-version of Rin, and themselves as girls, standing next to a female, idiot Kakashi.
OH. NO…!!!
Naruto, on the other hand, had little reaction. He used the Sexy Technique to turn into a girl all the time anyway.
Sasuke was the only one whose mouth kept twitching. He simply could not imagine himself and Itachi as women.
After recovering from his initial shock, Hashirama Senju reverted to his true, brother-bullying nature. "Isn't there a setting where I stay exactly the same, and only my little brother turns into a little sister?"
"What kind of weird nonsense are you even thinking about?" Tobirama Senju said flatly.
Hashirama Senju seized the chance to ramble on. "Actually, when I was a kid, I always thought I'd have a little sister. Sweet and soft…"
"Shut up!"
"Uh—"
These brothers were really something else…
Meanwhile, Indra, who had stayed silent the entire time, watched the Senju brothers' interaction while Ashura nearly drowned in envy.
Why couldn't his brother be a little more cheerful, like Hashirama?…
After dinner, with one more Obito Uchiha added to the table, the numbers on Adult Obito's mission scroll ticked up ever so slightly.
Ōtsutsuki Obito watched the Adult Obito from the mission-scroll world and the Young Obito who had crossed over from the Kannabi Bridge mission era. Both of them looked utterly miserable as they ate their red bean cakes.
"Are you two even me?" he couldn't help saying. "You don't need to look like you're bearing a blood feud just to eat red bean cakes."
Adult Kakashi responded by flinging the mission scroll straight at his face.
"See for yourself."
Ōtsutsuki Obito instinctively activated intangibility. Only afterward did he realize what had happened. He picked the scroll up from the floor and unfurled it.
[Mission Rank: SSS] [Mission Objective: Prevent the Fourth Shinobi World War.]
"..."
This mission…
They clearly knew that 'Obito Uchiha' was the one who would start the Fourth Shinobi World War, so they deliberately gave him a task like this.
Thinking back to when the Quiz first descended upon their world…
Seeing him frozen over his very first mission scroll, the Fourth Hokage had asked, "Is there a problem, Obito?"
Ōtsutsuki Obito recalled the moment. "When the Quiz first descended on our world, the very first image it revealed…"
"Hm?"
Everyone turned to look at him. He stood there wearing a Konoha ANBU uniform, having reverted to the Ōtsutsuki Clan and wielding power beyond imagination.
"The first image revealed by the Quiz was the masked man," he continued.
"That is, me in the main timeline, publicly declaring the Fourth Shinobi World War at the Five Kage Summit, right in front of Mifune of the Land of Iron and the leaders of the Five Great Shinobi Nations."
--Though I may not be exceptionally strong, I possess the power of all the tailed beasts collected thus far.
--The Fourth Shinobi World War—I declare it here!!
Young Obito, Adult Obito, and Naruto had all witnessed that scene in the previous world.
Adult Obito couldn't help asking, "Who was it exposed to? Please don't tell me it was broadcast to the entire world, like that Fourth Shinobi War Sasuke situation."
"..." Ōtsutsuki Obito looked like he was about to cry. "It was exposed to the entire world! Heaven and earth are my witnesses! I was in a meeting with Akatsuki at the time, okay?! Can you imagine the looks I got from Itachi, Kisame, Deidara, Sasori, Kakuzu, Hidan, Pain, and Konan?!"
Damn it!
Not only did no one feel sorry for him.
Why did they suddenly feel like laughing instead?!
"But speaking of which, I should probably make a trip back to the organization in a few days. Otherwise, Black Zetsu and Nagato will start getting suspicious," Adult Obito said.
He had already informed Kisame and Itachi, telling them he was handling some matters of his own.
Ōtsutsuki Obito said, "Black Zetsu is a ticking time bomb no matter how you look at it. It'd be best to seal him as soon as possible. Too bad I don't have any Friend Cards left. Otherwise, I could've just recruited him directly."
"Friend Card? Recruit Black Zetsu?!"
"What kind of thing is that?"
"It was a reward from the Question-and-Answer. A ridiculously broken item. Whoever you give a card to becomes Naruto Uzumaki's good friend, no questions asked."
Naruto was stunned. "There's actually something that awesome?!"
"Of course. And apparently, the more Friend Cards you give to the same person, the closer the relationship gets. What was the highest level again? Life-and-death companions? A lifetime together? Till the end of time? Mutual dependence? I don't remember exactly, but it's basically that level."
Young Kakashi said, "I don't know why, but I suddenly got goosebumps all over."
The adult Kakashi beside him hesitated for a long moment before finally voicing the question that had been weighing on his mind.
"Obito, after the footage was exposed, how did you manage to reintegrate into Konoha? It must've been really hard to get forgiven, right?"
Adult Obito turned to look at him.
He knew exactly what Kakashi was really thinking.
The question was about another world's Obito, but what Kakashi was thinking about was himself in this world.
Kakashi hoped he could survive and remain in Konoha…
"Pfft!"
Ōtsutsuki Obito suddenly spoke up, cutting off Adult Obito's thoughts.
"Forgiveness, my ass!!"
"Huh?" Adult Kakashi was completely baffled as he took in the resentful glare coming from Ōtsutsuki Obito.
Ōtsutsuki Obito said, "Back then, when the images were being exposed one after another, that idiot Kakashi from our world figured out that the masked man was me…"
"Mm-hmm. And then?"
"Absolutely unhinged!! He was even more unhinged than Konan!!"
Unhinged?
What kind of description was that?
Everyone else was completely confused.
Ōtsutsuki Obito beat his chest in frustration.
"That bastard Kakashi prepared six hundred billion explosive tags just to blow me up!! Afraid I'd use intangibility, he even had the ninken waiting outside the Kamui dimension with a massive spiral wheel that could wipe out the entire Konohagakure in one hit!!"
Six hundred billion…
Explosive tags?!!!
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