Obito hurried back, desperate to stop the situation before it went any further.
Not because he genuinely cared about the innocence of his Kakashi-faced counterpart.
He had simply uncovered the "truth" and realized his actual target was Rin.
From now on, all his attention would be focused on finding a reasonable way to kill her.
He would no longer have the time to keep watch over the Kakashi-faced Obito.
That turned the current mess into a hidden time bomb.
If his rival had really been the Kakashi-faced Obito, then Obito could have monitored him throughout the entire plan, carefully controlled every detail, and prevented any accidents.
He even had Danzō cooperating with him.
But now that his target had changed to Rin, things were different.
If the Kakashi-faced Obito ever discovered that Obito was responsible for what happened, Obito's reputation would be destroyed.
No matter what he did afterward, completing the third quest would become nearly impossible.
After all, the quest required him to gain the approval of eighty percent of Konoha while killing his rival.
If his reputation became as rotten as Uchiha Itachi's in the real world before he completed the mission, then even killing Rin for the most reasonable cause imaginable would accomplish nothing.
"Obito, are you alright—?"
Obito had no time to act cautiously.
The moment he reached the house, he smashed through the door and rushed inside.
Dun-dun-DUN!
The sight before him caused the rest of his sentence to lodge in his throat.
The Kakashi-faced Obito was curled up in a corner, clutching a pillow and striking a perfect Tohsaka Rin pose!
His Sharingan glowed bright red as two streams of tears ran down his cheeks.
"Kakashi?"
"…Kakashi, it isn't what it looks like! I'm innocent!"
The Kakashi-faced Obito snapped out of his daze and hurriedly tried to explain.
Unfortunately, he had always been terrible with words.
Combined with the fact that he had no clue how to explain what had happened, his voice died halfway through.
"…"
Seeing Kakashi's face twisted into such misery filled Obito with intense satisfaction.
To keep himself from laughing out loud, he secretly pinched himself hard enough to force out a tear.
Then he stepped forward and patted "Obito" on the shoulder.
"Obito, I believe you. Don't worry. I won't tell Rin what happened today."
"Really?"
"Really."
"Thank you so much, Kakashi! Waaaah!"
While the two shared this touching moment of mutual trust and deep respect, Danzō arrived at the doorway with the Third Hokage and witnessed the entire scene.
Naturally, Danzō had deliberately guided Hiruzen here according to Obito's earlier plan.
He intended to use the incident to damage the Uchiha clan's reputation.
What Danzō did not know was that Hiruzen understood far more about "Kakashi" than he did.
The moment the Third Hokage saw what was happening inside, his shock quickly transformed into suspicion.
He immediately identified "Kakashi" as the probable mastermind.
In Hiruzen's mind, Kakashi must have realized that Obito's preferences were normal and that the boy would never accept him.
Driven by jealousy, Kakashi had devised a sinister plan.
He intended to make Obito commit an unforgivable mistake, lose his innocence, and suffer a complete mental breakdown.
Then Kakashi could take advantage of his vulnerability and successfully claim Obito's heart and body.
Hiruzen carefully examined "Kakashi's" eyes.
There were tears in them, yet not the slightest trace of genuine sorrow.
If anything, he could detect a faint glimmer of pleasure!
That confirmed his theory completely.
How terrifying.
What a kind child Kakashi had once been.
He had clearly inherited the Will of Fire.
So how had he turned into this?
Was he truly willing to commit such underhanded and vicious acts simply to obtain Obito?
If Hiruzen continued allowing him to run wild, how many more outrageous crimes would Kakashi commit?
"Hiruzen, surely you understand now."
Danzō launched his attack immediately, attempting to persuade Hiruzen to suppress the Uchiha clan.
A trace of smugness appeared in his eyes.
"The Uchiha have grown arrogant beyond belief. If you refuse to restrain them, the next victim might be Biwako."
"We'll discuss this matter later."
Hiruzen glanced at Danzō and ignored him.
In his opinion, Danzō was a complete idiot.
The man even had the nerve to mention Biwako?
Danzō himself had already been defiled by Kakashi, yet he was still standing here while Kakashi manipulated him like a puppet.
He was incurably stupid and utterly unworthy of leading Root.
"Lord Third, I've been wronged! I didn't truly want to do it! I-I suddenly felt like I couldn't control myself, and then…"
"You couldn't control yourself? Your emotions suddenly erupted?"
The Kakashi-faced Obito tried to explain through his tears, only for Danzō to cut him off sharply.
"Isn't that the classic condition that accompanies the Sharingan's awakening and evolution in the Uchiha clan?
"Wronged? How have we wronged you? This is the curse of the Uchiha!"
The Kakashi-faced Obito fell silent.
He had indeed heard that Uchiha often experienced intense emotional fluctuations when awakening their eyes.
But he had always assumed those emotions caused the Sharingan to awaken.
Nobody had ever said awakening the Sharingan caused the emotional breakdown instead.
"Enough. We'll leave the matter here for now."
Hiruzen turned toward "Kakashi."
"Kakashi, I don't believe Root's environment is suitable for you. Once your current assignment is finished, return to me. I'll arrange something else."
The Third Hokage felt as though he had worried himself sick trying to save Kakashi.
And just like that, the incident ended without any real conclusion.
From that day onward, however, the Kakashi-faced Obito never again used helping old women cross the street as an excuse for being late.
In fact, he developed full-blown trauma toward elderly women.
Whenever he saw one walking through Konoha, he instinctively hid.
…
Over the following days, Obito racked his brain and finally managed to redirect Danzō's plan.
His target was no longer his Kakashi-faced counterpart.
It was Rin.
Therefore, Obito revealed the location of the wild Three-Tails, Isobu, to Danzō.
He argued that the Uchiha problem could not be rushed and should be handled gradually. Capturing the Three-Tails, however, was of vital importance.
Every additional Tailed Beast under Konoha's control meant another source of strength for the village.
As for who should become its jinchūriki, Obito recommended Rin.
Not everyone possessed the qualities required to become a jinchūriki.
In neighboring Sunagakure, Rasa had practically worn his wife down trying to produce a child suitable for sealing a Tailed Beast.
Rin, however, genuinely possessed the necessary talent.
Danzō was stunned by Kakashi's willingness to sacrifice someone close to him.
He had originally assumed Kakashi wanted Uchiha Obito removed because of the girl on their team.
He had never imagined that Kakashi would even offer that same girl as a jinchūriki for the village.
Could it be that Kakashi, just like Danzō himself, truly loved only Konoha?
In any case, Obito successfully deceived him.
Danzō began cooperating and changed the operation into a plan to turn Rin into the Three-Tails' jinchūriki.
In Obito's opinion, Rin was far too kind.
Even though this version of Rin was merely an illusion, her personality remained the same.
No matter what Obito did, he could not force her to turn evil.
He was also somewhat reluctant to ruin her reputation.
Besides, the kind of scandal he had arranged for the Kakashi-faced Obito would not work on Rin.
If Rin became entangled in something like that, she would clearly be the victim. It would not truly damage her reputation at all.
Only a Tailed Beast could solve the problem.
A Tailed Beast could drive someone out of control.
A Tailed Beast could make the people of Konoha fear and hate her!