Chapter 410: The Masked Man's Nightmare
People in the ninja world generally lack the ability to truly empathize or understand others.
Naruto's famous "talk-no-jutsu" targets, at their core, he never truly understood any of them.
Even his closest bond, Sasuke, only reached the level of "your pain is my pain", which already made them the closest of brothers.
So in this world, if you want someone to empathize with something, it usually has to actually happen to them.
And now, the masked man had successfully come to understand what Namikaze Minato once felt when he was killed by him.
Minato would rather believe that Uchiha Madara had crawled out of his coffin than suspect that his opponent was his own disciple, whose fate was unknown.
As the Hokage's successor, Minato very likely had access to Uchiha clan secrets such as Izanagi.
Even Danzo had used Izanagi to negate Shisui's genjutsu, and he had already mastered it before the night of the Uchiha massacre.
That meant Danzo's information on Izanagi wasn't gathered after the massacre, it was part of Konoha's original intelligence.
Other Uchiha who died on the battlefield had their bodies recovered.
After all, the Uchiha didn't have something like the Caged Bird Seal. If their corpses were left behind, Kakashi wouldn't be the only outsider with a transplanted Sharingan.
So if no body was found, and there was a possibility of activating Izanagi, then that person would be considered "missing, fate unknown."
But Minato still chose to believe that "missing" meant dead, rather than suspect Obito.
Even if he shoved his head into a toilet, he wouldn't have been able to understand why Obito would do such a thing.
Likewise.
Even if the masked man shoved his own head into a toilet now, he still couldn't understand how words could be arranged into something like this.
Kakashi had coveted his grandmother since he was a child, and after growing up, he treated Granny Chiyo as a substitute and fell in love with her.
Uchiha Madara, in order to compete with Kakashi for Granny Chiyo, had Orochimaru use Impure World Reincarnation to revive his grandmother, so that Kakashi would return to his "first love" and stop being a rival.
…
There was no way he would even dare to dream something like this!
The masked man no longer doubted whether he had already fallen into the Infinite Tsukuyomi.
Because even within that illusion, something this horrifying shouldn't exist.
Now, what he was starting to doubt was whether he himself was even real.
Maybe he was just a fictional character inside some White Zetsu's Infinite Tsukuyomi dream.
After all, only in White Zetsu's dreams could something this absurd happen.
"Obito, what's wrong with you? You have to hold on!"
Seeing the masked man kneeling on the ground without moving, especially with his expression hidden behind the mask, making him look almost dead, White Zetsu panicked and shouted.
"White Zetsu, go outside for a bit. I need some time alone."
The masked man's voice sounded weak.
For the first time, he felt an overwhelming sense of exhaustion.
Even after spending years pretending to be Madara and working tirelessly toward the Infinite Tsukuyomi plan, he had never felt this tired, mentally exhausted.
"Who's 'Alone'? Have you fallen for someone else too, Obito?"
White Zetsu obediently walked out of the cave, muttering to himself as he left.
After White Zetsu left, the cave finally fell silent.
The masked man let out a long sigh.
Originally, he had planned to take advantage of Madara being busy pursuing Granny Chiyo, seize Sasuke's Rinnegan, capture the tailed beasts, and secure more leverage.
But now?
Not only was Madara pursuing Granny Chiyo, Kakashi was also pursuing his grandmother.
Was he really supposed to ignore all this and go after the Rinnegan?
…Wait.
"White Zetsu? Are you still there?"
The masked man called out.
His sensory abilities were decent, but White Zetsu's concealment was even better.
So he had no idea whether it had actually left.
After a long while, there was no response.
It seemed White Zetsu had truly gone.
What he actually wanted to ask was about the thing White Zetsu shouted earlier, that "the person he cared about most had fallen."
So who exactly was that "most important person"?
Uchiha Madara? Kakashi? His grandmother?
Or… all of them?
Forget it. No point thinking about it.
The masked man decided to sleep first and clear his mind.
Maybe when he woke up, he would realize this was all just a dream.
After all, Madara's pursuit of Granny Chiyo wouldn't be completed in a day or two.
…The same went for Kakashi.
He believed his grandmother would stay true to herself.
Zzz…
Doubting whether reality itself was a nightmare wasn't the scary part.
The scary part was actually having a nightmare after falling asleep.
He had a terrifying dream.
In the dream, he wasn't wearing his mask. Instead, he was dressed in neat, elegant clothes, standing at a wedding venue.
He was completely confused. Whose wedding was this?
Could it be his and Rin's?
Had he already succeeded in casting the Infinite Tsukuyomi?
Joy!
…Wait.
He looked down and saw a nameplate. It turned out he was attending as a family member of the couple.
Sigh. Alright then.
He wandered around the venue in confusion until the bride and groom finally appeared.
It was Granny Chiyo in a white wedding dress…and his grandmother!
Could it be.
Sure enough, Kakashi and Uchiha Madara appeared.
What one thinks about during the day shows up in dreams at night.
Just like in the original timeline, when he became the Ten-Tails' jinchūriki and nearly broke down, only to be saved at the last moment.
Just as he was about to collapse, Rin appeared, dressed in a white wedding gown.
His eyes widened instantly.
If… if he could be with Rin…
Then Granny Chiyo and Madara, his grandmother and Kakashi, he wouldn't care anymore. Let them do whatever they wanted.
"Obito, thank you for coming to my wedding."
Rin smiled softly at him.
"No need to thank me, uh?"
He responded instinctively, but then realized something was wrong.
He saw that Rin had somehow linked arms with a shadowy figure, smiling happily.
"Nooo!"
The masked man let out a desperate scream and jolted awake from the nightmare, finding himself lying on a bed. He immediately let out a sigh of relief.
As expected, it was just a dream.
In reality, Rin was already dead.
Besides, even if it were real, that Rin marrying someone else must be fake. He would never accept it.
"Obito, another nightmare? Come here, let baby give you a hug."
A familiar voice sounded beside his ear. He suddenly felt himself being embraced by a soft body.
The sensation was strangely familiar, warm and gentle, making him relax both physically and mentally.
Could it be… Rin?
The masked man became confused again. After enjoying the embrace for a moment, he finally gathered the courage to turn his head and look.
"… "
There lay White Zetsu beside him, blushing shyly.
That so-called "hug" was actually White Zetsu wrapping its body around him.
Just like back when he had been crushed by rocks and gravely injured, and White Zetsu had attached itself to him.
No wonder it felt so familiar and warm.
"Ahhh!"
The masked man jolted awake again.
This time, when he woke up, he found himself in the cave.
Right. The cave.
After hearing all that nonsense yesterday, he had fallen asleep here. This time, he should truly be awake.
…Wait.
Why was there still a White Zetsu lying beside him?
(End of this chapter)