Hell
Uchiha Obito dashed through the forest, guided by White Zetsu, his eyes burning with desperation.
"Obito," said White Zetsu, voice calm but alert. "We're almost at the battlefield. But before we get there, there's something you should know."
"What is it?" Obito snapped impatiently, his gaze fixed ahead.
"Your combat abilities aren't up to par. My body—this body—is shielding yours. I should be the one fighting."
Obito didn't slow down. "I have the Sharingan now. I can fight. I can protect Rin myself!"
White Zetsu chuckled lightly. "That may be true. With the artificial cells of Hashirama Senju grafted into you, your body holds immense potential. Senju and Uchiha together—perhaps you'll awaken power even Madara didn't foresee."
Obito didn't respond. Suddenly, water droplets fell from the sky.
He paused briefly atop a high tree branch and looked ahead. The falling "rain" was caused not by weather, but by the violent clash of jutsu tearing through the landscape.
"I thought it was rain... but it's just the aftermath of battle," Obito muttered, eyes narrowing.
White Zetsu pointed. "The message from my other half said the location is just ahead."
Obito's expression hardened. "Let's go!"
As they drew closer, a terrible sense of dread tightened in Obito's chest. His heart pounded painfully.
"Don't think about it. I'll be there soon. Just hold on, Rin…"
He finally broke through the treeline—and what he saw shattered him.
In the clearing, Kakashi Hatake stood with blood on his blade. Rin Nohara was impaled through the chest, her expression frozen in sorrow and resolve.
"Obito… Kakashi…" she whispered weakly as she collapsed, lifeless.
Time seemed to stop.
Obito stared, numb, disbelieving. Everything around him vanished—except Rin's body lying motionless on the ground.
The surrounding Mist-nin erupted in chaos.
"Damn it! The Konoha ninja killed the girl!"
"She was the key to the plan—how could this happen?!"
Something inside Obito snapped.
His Sharingan twisted, transforming into the Mangekyō. White Zetsu instinctively enveloped Obito's head, fusing with him as if to protect him—or contain him.
"AAAHHHH!" Obito screamed, the sound of pure anguish echoing across the battlefield.
From his right side, blackened by Hashirama's cells, grotesque wooden spikes sprouted and twisted outward. Rage and power overflowed.
"…Where am I?" he muttered. "Is this… hell?"
The Mist-nin turned toward him.
"Who's that?!"
"Just one guy—kill him!"
Shuriken were hurled toward Obito.
They passed through him.
"What the—?! Did he dodge them?!"
"I won't accept this!" Obito roared.
He charged.
A Mist-nin stepped in to intercept him. "Don't underestimate the Bloody Mist!"
He slashed at Obito, but before the blade could land, Obito pressed a hand to his gut. A jagged spike burst through the Mist-nin's back, impaling him.
Obito didn't stop. He slammed his foot into another enemy, snapped off the spike, and prepared to drive it through the pinned ninja's throat. Just then, four more Mist-nin descended from above, blades drawn.
Their swords pierced Obito—or so they thought. Instead, their blades stabbed straight through him and into their own ally.
Without a moment's pause, Obito leapt up and launched a brutal counterattack, kicking them aside like ragdolls.
Panic set in among the remaining Kirigakure shinobi.
"What is he?!"
"His body… it phases through attacks!"
"We need to retrieve the girl's body! Don't let it fall into enemy hands!"
Obito stormed toward Rin's corpse. All attacks passed harmlessly through him.
"This guy… we can't even hit him!"
A Mist-nin reached for Rin's body.
Obito hurled a wooden spike straight through the attacker. After forming a hand seal, sharp branches erupted from the man's body, tearing through him from the inside.
White Zetsu's voice echoed in Obito's mind, awe-struck.
"Wood Release: Cutting Sprigs… So that's why Madara chose you…"
Another enemy lunged. Obito caught him by the head and slammed him into the ground—once, twice, over and over, until blood pooled and the skull cracked.
The Mist-nin could only watch, frozen in horror.
"Who… is he…?!"
Obito rose slowly, his form drenched in blood, his face blank.
"Wood Release: Deep Forest Emergence!"
Giant, spiked trees burst from the ground, curling and twisting, crushing everything in their path. Screams echoed as the forest swallowed the battlefield.
When it was over, nothing remained but corpses and blood-soaked soil.
Obito staggered toward Rin's body, trembling.
"I get it now…" he whispered. "This… this is hell."
He knelt beside her, arms trembling as he gently pulled her into an embrace.
Madara's voice resounded in his head, cold and calculated.
> "The longer you live, the more you realize this world is just pain, suffering, and emptiness. Wherever there is light, there are shadows. As long as the concept of winners exists, there must also be losers."
> "Give up on reality and embrace the dream world. In dreams, everything can be made as you wish."
> "Even the dead… can live again."
Obito wept, cradling Rin's cold body.
After a long silence, he rose with eyes void of light, yet burning with purpose.
"Rin… I'll create a world where you live. I'll sever the chains of this cursed reality."
Later, Obito returned to the cave.
"I've made my decision," he told Madara. "I'll tear apart this world. I'll create a new one… where Rin exists."
Madara, who had waited for this moment, gave a thin smile.
"No one saw you?" he asked.
White Zetsu replied, "Only me. Obito killed them all."
Obito's voice was hollow. "I don't care about anything else. In the world I'm going to create… Rin will live."
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