[To be honest, the scene of Obito using his body to take a blade for Naruto, rather than saying it was because of Rin, it would actually be more reasonable to say that Sasuke somehow secretly cast a Genjutsu and then used Amenotejikara on the two of them.]
[And one can only say that it really is hard for normal people to understand what an Uchiha is thinking. A person who had a deep hatred for the village ultimately wanted to return to the village and become Hokage.]
The Uchihas: "..."
That sentence was like a blunt knife stabbing into the hearts of every Uchiha clansman.
What did it mean that normal people found it hard to understand what an Uchiha was thinking? Were they Uchihas really that abnormal?
Still, judging from the behavior of Obito, Shisui, and Itachi, some of them really did seem… not quite human.
Of course, quite a few people also quietly turned their gazes toward Fugaku, staring at him until he could not sit still.
The scene continued, and Kakashi's inner voice sounded along with it.
"Thank you, Rin. Obito and I will be joining you shortly. We can catch up then, the three of us together."
But the bare-chested Obito had other plans. The sickle pattern in his right eye rotated, and the bone spike about to hit Kakashi was caught in a swirl and finally disappeared.
"Rin... this time, let's spend some alone time together, just you and me."
"Kakashi would just be in the way, so let's just leave him here."
In the end, no matter how the Six Paths Mode Naruto on the screen tried to save him, Obito still turned into a pile of ash and dissipated in the gravity space.
The people of the Shinobi World watching the screen sighed with emotion. This guy Obito's personality wasn't great, but his life had been quite spectacular.
At fourteen, he already had Kage-level strength. At fifteen, he launched the famous Nine-Tails Rampage. And in the end, he even declared war on the entire Shinobi World and became the second Six Paths-level powerhouse in a thousand years.
However, his final death was a bit hasty.
For such a powerhouse to have such weak resolve, and in the end even think about becoming Hokage again was a bit ironic.
Villains should stay villains to the very end.
Besides, what was so great about Konoha? Every day it was bullying this way and that. Did becoming Hokage mean you wouldn't be bullied anymore?
---
[In a certain cave somewhere in the Shinobi World]
When Kisame saw Obito turn into a pile of ash on the screen, a trace of unease flashed through his eyes.
His expression turned somewhat ugly, and he felt that his future was bleak.
He was now beginning to doubt whether it had really been right for him to be stirred up with a few words and follow this guy in defecting from Kirigakure and joining the Akatsuki!
What about the Eye of the Moon Plan?!
Where did the promised plan go?!
Why, after becoming the Ten-Tails Jinchuriki, did he not immediately activate the Genjutsu, but instead run off to fight Naruto and Sasuke?
Even if he lost, couldn't he at least have a little backbone? After being told off by a kid, he still wanted to become Hokage?!
Kisame: 'It's not that I look down on the Uchiha, but the probability of me becoming the Mizukage myself is greater than him becoming Hokage!'
This guy—did he deserve the sacrifice of him being devoured by sharks in the future?!
Kisame's shark-like eyes narrowed slightly, a cold glint flashing through his pupils. He was going to watch Obito, watch his every move. If he dared to abandon the Eye of the Moon Plan, Kisame wouldn't mind sending him on his way early.
Obito himself, standing to the side, did not notice the change in Kisame. He continued staring down at the mountain forest beneath his feet as if his soul had left him, muttering incessantly.
"It can't be… absolutely impossible. My future cannot possibly end like that."
To him, being defeated by Naruto and Sasuke was nothing. The Child of Prophecy, after all, had to have something special about him. And if worse came to worst, once he knew the intel, he could just target him in advance.
But the death shown on the screen—where he finally saw the light and even helped the enemy take a blow—was absolutely unacceptable! Otherwise, what meaning was there in everything he was doing now?
"No… no, fake… it's all fake!" He paused, then his voice grew louder, almost hysterical.
"These are all fake. Someone is definitely manipulating everything behind the scenes. They know some things from the past, and then casually make up some fake future, all to stop me from completing the Eye of the Moon Plan!"
"Damn it! I will never give up!"
"Never!"
---
[In a certain Timeline]
The extremely aged Madara sat up straight, his back leaving the stone chair he had been leaning against all along. Through the effects of Ninjutsu, the light cast by the screen into the underground base refracted in his murky eyes.
If Obito died, then so be it, it wasn't a big deal.
But what about him? Where had he gone?
Aside from that one time heard background voice that seemed to be his own, falling from the sky and hitting the ground, why had there been no scenes of him at all since then?
Had Obito not revived him?! Otherwise, there was no reason he would not have participated in the battle.
His brain spun rapidly, analyzing every piece of information from the screen.
Fortunately… he had Black Zetsu, an incarnation of his will injected into a White Zetsu. So, there was no way it could betray him, right?
And he had never really placed his hopes on Obito. Black Zetsu had been his final backup. After all, in a certain sense, that was himself.
Moreover, the screen had revealed that he had ultimately participated in this war and successfully reached the Six Paths-level. That meant Black Zetsu had perfectly played its role!
Maybe it was that after Obito died, Black Zetsu used the other Rinnegan to revive him, and then he absorbed the power of the Ten-Tails and reached the Six Paths-level.
Mm… that was probably how it went. Otherwise, there was no way to explain the content before and after.
The corners of the aged Madara's mouth curled up slightly. Everything was going according to his plan.
[To be honest, Obito really was a batshit crazy person; he stopped at nothing for his revenge, and even repaid gratitude with hatred.]
[Naruto had never eaten a dish made by Kushina, but Obito had. Yet the last thing he said to Kushina was: "The Nine-Tails has already been extracted, and you still haven't died?"]
[Not to mention that Minato also died because of him.]
[In fact, it was fortunate of Rin to not end up with Obito. One could even say that being secretly loved by someone like that was the worst luck in eight lifetimes. If she really had ended up with him, then someday when he had an emotional fluctuation, who knew what other things it might trigger.]
[And Rin was such a pitiful girl. To protect Konoha, she took her own life by Kakashi's hand, and yet in the blink of an eye, Konoha was more than half destroyed by Obito.]
[So let me ask you: are you touched or not?]
[And ask yourself honestly, would Rin be willing to live in the world he created?]
[Besides, just because his own Rin died, he hated the Shinobi World. But Konan, whom he killed, was she not someone else's "Rin"?]
[It can be said that Obito is the best illustration of Tobirama's phrase, "A clan born evil."]
---
[In a certain cave somewhere in the Shinobi World]
Hearing the Sky Screen say all that, Obito did not show any emotional fluctuations. He just sat at the edge of the cave, back against the stone wall, hands resting on his knees.
He had already decided that the future spoken of by the screen was fake, a deception manipulated by someone. His ears automatically filtered out those harsh words, leaving only one thought: the Eye of the Moon Plan must be completed.
Would Rin be willing to live in it?
Of course she would. Because in that world there was no pain, no war. She would be happy, joyful, and would smile forever.
Finally, the Sky Screen slowly disappeared from everyone's sight.
The light of the screen dimmed bit by bit, until finally only an empty void of sky remained.
---
[Akatsuki Hideout]
The remaining members: Sasori, Kakuzu, Hidan, Deidara, and Zetsu all looked at one another.
Wait, something was wrong.
Shouldn't the organization still have one more member?
The others fixed their eyes on Zetsu.
Where was Zetsu?
How the hell had he died?
It couldn't be that he was the only one who didn't die, could it?
*****
Upto 20 chapters ahead on patreon :-
patreon.com/ReduxMagister