Obito noticed the disgust in the villagers' eyes as they looked at Rin, and he was extremely satisfied.
This was exactly the effect he wanted.
Only after most of Konoha came to despise Rin as the Three-Tails' jinchūriki could he gain their approval when he killed her, complete the quest, and escape this damned illusion world.
'Damn, I've still got to keep grinding through this. How much longer is it going to take?'
However, Obito overlooked one detail.
The villagers' eyes contained disgust, but no fear.
That was what separated Konoha's civilians from those of other ninja villages.
…
The next day, an enraged Kushina kicked open the Hokage office door with Rin beside her, covered from head to toe in rotten eggs and vegetable scraps.
Inside, the Third Hokage and Danzō were discussing who should control the Three-Tails' jinchūriki.
"Lord Third, are you going to do something about those people or not?! Rin is so sweet and kind! She hasn't done anything wrong, yet they're treating her like this!"
Kushina ignored Danzō entirely, marched straight to Hiruzen's desk, and began filing her complaint.
As the Nine-Tails' jinchūriki—and someone who had also been bullied throughout her childhood—Kushina understood Rin's situation perfectly.
What infuriated her even more was that Kakashi and Obito, Rin's supposed friends and teammates, had done absolutely nothing to comfort or protect her.
Neither boy was anywhere to be found.
Obito naturally needed no explanation. He had planned the whole thing.
As for the Kakashi-faced Obito, the incident with the old woman had left him deeply traumatized, and he could not bring himself to face Rin yet.
More importantly, quite a few of the people bullying Rin were elderly women.
He was terrified that if he stepped in, he might lose control and do something to one of them in public…
By now, he completely believed Danzō's claim that the Uchiha Sharingan carried a curse that caused uncontrollable emotional fluctuations.
"What? Danzō, don't tell me this was your doing."
Hiruzen frowned and immediately looked toward Danzō.
Danzō himself was confused.
He had planned to finish arguing with Hiruzen, return to Root, and then order his subordinates to begin manipulating public opinion.
Why had the campaign started early?
Had Kakashi done it?
Naturally, Danzō would never admit responsibility even if he had been involved, much less when he genuinely was not.
"Hiruzen, stop dumping every pile of shit at my feet! I never issued such an order!"
Danzō denied it furiously.
"He's right, Lord Third. Don't waste time imagining conspiracies. You should issue an order and deal with the bullying immediately."
For once, Kushina unexpectedly agreed with Danzō.
The reason was simple.
She had experienced it herself.
When Kushina was young and regularly bullied by villagers and classmates, she had briefly developed conspiracy theories during her rebellious teenage years.
She wondered whether Konoha had deliberately sent people to torment her, then sent others to comfort her afterward so they could gain her trust.
It did not take long for her to realize that was not the case.
Konoha's villagers genuinely treated bullying others as a noble pursuit far removed from vulgar interests.
Kushina had never been a special target.
Therefore, when Hiruzen suggested that Danzō might have sent people to encourage the abuse against Rin, Kushina immediately rejected the theory.
She knew the villagers who had bullied her far too well.
"This…"
Hiruzen looked deeply conflicted.
Konoha had never solved this problem in the real shinobi world.
How could this illusion version of Konoha, which was still set before the Third Shinobi World War, possibly manage it?
In the end, nothing came of the complaint.
…
After leaving, Danzō found Obito and asked whether he had started the bullying campaign.
Obito looked equally bewildered.
He had assumed Danzō was responsible.
Eventually, both men were forced to accept that Konoha's villagers possessed extraordinary initiative.
They required no guidance whatsoever and could independently complete a bullying operation to perfection.
Obito then explained the next stage of his plan.
He needed to find a way to make Rin lose control once and cause some damage inside the village.
Only then could he sever her remaining ties to Konoha completely.
From Danzō's perspective, such an incident would also give him a stronger justification for taking control of the Three-Tails' jinchūriki.
Danzō agreed and promised to cooperate.
What Obito needed to do was simple.
He went to find Rin.
Rin and Kushina had only just left the Hokage Building.
Kushina was still fuming and intended to drag Rin along to confront Kakashi and Obito, demanding to know why neither boy had appeared when their teammate was in trouble.
Rin stopped her, insisting that both of them probably had their own difficulties.
"Kakashi's felt strange ever since that incident. It's almost like he became a completely different person.
"As for Obito, he seemed normal at first, but after what happened a while ago, he started acting strange too."
Rin described the changes she had noticed.
"Kakashi's" abnormal behavior had begun when Obito entered this illusion world and swapped identities with him.
"Obito's" strange behavior had started after the incident with the elderly woman.
Hearing this without knowing the truth, Kushina decided she should investigate them secretly when she had the chance.
Just then, Obito arrived.
"Kakashi, you brat! You finally decided to show your—"
"Rin! I heard the villagers were bullying you! How could they do something like that?! That's horrible! I'll go beat them all up for you!"
"?"
Kushina had been preparing to tear Kakashi apart, only for "Kakashi's" opening declaration to leave her completely stunned.
"Are you really Kakashi? You're not Obito using the Transformation Technique so you can take advantage of Rin, are you?"
Kushina marched forward, pinched Obito's face hard, and stretched it.
When the Transformation Technique did not dispel, she became even more confused.
That was completely Obito's personality.
How could this possibly be Kakashi?
Had the two of them swapped identities?
Still, Kushina did not dwell on it.
Rin's condition was more important.
Rin had become a jinchūriki and urgently needed someone who could fill the emptiness in her heart.
If Kakashi was finally here for her, that was a good thing.
Kushina applied her own past experiences—and the lessons Mito had once taught her—to Rin's situation.
Unfortunately, Kushina was far too innocent.
She never imagined that beneath Kakashi's identity lurked a thoroughly corrupted psychopath willing to do anything necessary to escape the illusion world.
And so, Obito began playing himself.
He no longer needed to imitate Kakashi.
He simply used his real thoughts and personality to portray someone hopelessly in love with Rin.
Even the Third Hokage, who was secretly observing them, began wondering whether Jiraiya's dirty book had actually worked and corrected Kakashi's preferences.
However, all that joy came to an end on a certain day.
Although Rin felt that Kakashi had strangely begun acting exactly like Obito, she followed Kushina's advice.
She needed to find something that could fill the emotional void inside a jinchūriki, so she continued spending time with him.
That day, Rin finally decided to visit "Kakashi" and speak openly about the matter.
Obito had been waiting for precisely this moment.
Rin arrived outside Kakashi's house and raised her hand to knock.
Then she heard faint wails and agonized screams coming from inside.
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