Inside an illusionary space filled with green grass and small flowers, Uchiha Ren and Uchiha Obito stood facing each other.
Their eyes locked.
"Long time no see," Ren said first with a faint smile.
"Uchiha… Runtu."
A vein bulged on Obito's forehead, forming a visible # mark.
"You really are just as annoying as ever," Obito growled.
Ren placed a hand over his chest in exaggerated sorrow.
"Kids in their rebellious phase really have no manners."
"Considering my relationship with Minato, you should at least call me 'Teacher'."
Here, "teacher" didn't mean a formal master.
In ninja squads, it was simply a respectful title used for a team's jōnin leader.
Between friendly teams, it wasn't unusual for members to address another squad's leader as "teacher."
Obito sneered.
"I don't even want to acknowledge Minato-sensei, let alone someone as irritating as you."
The moment Ren mentioned Minato Namikaze, the resentment that had accumulated in Obito's heart finally burst out.
From the day Team Minato was formed, Minato had taken on the responsibility to guide and protect the three members of the team.
But in Obito's eyes—
Every tragedy that befell them could have been prevented by the man known as the Yellow Flash of the Leaf.
Yet every single time…
Minato arrived one step too late.
Of course, Obito knew that war was full of unpredictable variables.
Minato, as a shinobi, didn't have much personal freedom either.
He had to obey orders from his superiors.
He couldn't devote himself entirely to protecting his students.
Logically speaking…
None of it was truly Minato's fault.
But Obito couldn't stop himself from thinking—
If Minato had arrived just a little earlier when he and Kakashi went to rescue Rin Nohara, would he still have been crushed beneath that falling rock?
Would he have avoided meeting Madara Uchiha?
If Minato had been beside Kakashi and Rin on the Kirigakure battlefield, would Rin have avoided capture?
Would she have been spared the need to sacrifice her life to protect the village?
Obito knew these thoughts were irrational.
Yet he couldn't stop thinking them.
If things had turned out differently…
Maybe he would still be the same old Uchiha Obito.
"How heartless," Ren said calmly, his expression now serious.
"So you're blaming Minato for everything you went through?"
"Shouldn't I?!" Obito shot back emotionally.
"Minato-sensei was called the fastest shinobi in the world—the Yellow Flash!"
"He clearly had the power to change everything!"
Ren didn't reply.
He simply watched Obito quietly.
After a moment, Obito calmed down slightly and continued.
"Of course… I know the reason he couldn't be there."
"Because he was strong, Konoha assigned him more important missions."
"He was stretched too thin."
"So the real culprits behind all these tragedies…"
"…are the incompetent higher-ups of Konoha!"
"They were the ones who assigned Rin and me to Team Minato."
"They forced us to follow someone as powerful as Minato into extremely dangerous missions!"
"They put us in harm's way!"
Obito's resentment toward Konoha wasn't entirely unreasonable.
Back then, the team assignments truly had their problems.
For example—
Students like Might Guy and Genma Shiranui, who had much better academy performance than Obito, mostly carried out relatively safe missions during the war, such as escorting supply convoys.
But Obito—the class dead-last—
Was placed in Minato's squad.
Which meant he had to accompany Minato deep into enemy territory on missions capable of changing the course of the war.
The difference between those roles was obvious.
In truth, the ideal team composition for someone like Minato should have been something like his later squad—mostly jōnin-level shinobi.
Within Team Minato, only Kakashi Hatake could barely keep up with Minato's pace.
At the time, Obito and Rin were essentially dead weight.
However, Kakashi's mindset had been unstable back then.
In order to prevent such a talented blade from being ruined, Hiruzen Sarutobi assigned Minato to guide Kakashi personally.
At the same time, Obito and Rin—two cheerful companions close to Kakashi—were placed on the team to help influence him emotionally.
And thus, Team Minato was formed.
Hiruzen had focused on solving one problem while ignoring another.
He never truly considered what Obito and Rin might face while serving in such a dangerous team.
Or perhaps he did consider it…
He simply didn't care.
If Kakashi could be forged into a powerful weapon—
What did it matter if a few insignificant dead-last students died in the process?
Under those circumstances, Obito's resentment toward Konoha wasn't entirely unreasonable.
After a brief pause, Obito continued.
"Minato-sensei was at fault."
"Konoha was at fault."
"But if we trace everything back to its origin…"
"The real problem is this world—this world filled with endless conflict and war!"
"If there had been no war…"
"None of this would have happened!"
"So I will correct everything."
Obito's voice grew firmer and firmer.
The mental cracks Yahiko had created earlier seemed to stabilize once again.
But Ren suddenly burst into laughter.
"Ha… hahaha…"
Shaking his head, Ren sighed.
"You're such a self-righteous kid."
"I used to wonder how you ended up with that Wisdom score of two."
"But now it seems…"
"Even giving you a two might have been too generous."
"..."
Obito's face turned completely dark.
At this moment, he really wanted to stomp on Ren's handsome face.
So what if you're good-looking?!
Does being handsome give you the right to humiliate people?!
The worst part—
Obito couldn't even argue against it.
After all, his Wisdom score of two was officially recorded in Konoha's archives.
But aside from Ren…
No one had ever mocked him about it like this.
Which meant—
This was all Uchiha Ren's fault!
"Damn it!" Obito growled through clenched teeth.
"You bastard—if you keep laughing, I'm going to attack!"
"Alright, alright," Ren said, waving his hand.
Seeing that Obito was about to explode, Ren finally restrained his laughter and spoke seriously.
"My apologies."
"But what you said just now was truly ridiculous."
"What's ridiculous about it?!" Obito demanded angrily.
"Did I say anything wrong?!"
Ren's voice turned calm and heavy.
"First of all, let's ignore whether your so-called plan to change the world is even feasible."
"I admit that the endless wars of this world have indeed caused countless tragedies."
"But here's the thing."
"What you experienced…"
"Actually has very little to do with war."
"Even if the Third Great Ninja War had never happened…"
"Everything you went through would probably still have occurred."
"And the reason is simple."
"You still know nothing about the truth behind it all."
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