Uchiha Obito stood on the branch, completely motionless.
But beneath the mask, his expression was already twisted with shock, disbelief, and simmering fury.
"That's… Pain, no doubt about it…"
"Yes… the Deva Path's body…"
"But how could he possibly be here?!"
Obito's right eye twitched uncontrollably, his Sharingan trembling in its socket, his Chakra roiling in chaotic waves under the strain of his emotions.
He knew all too well the structure of that "Deva Path" — crafted from Yahiko's corpse by Nagato, representing the will of a god and command over all things.
That body should be stationed permanently in Amegakure, obeying only Nagato's orders.
And now? It was standing in the middle of the Uchiha Clan Grounds?!
"This makes no sense!!"
"The Akatsuki's plan is still in its early stages. Nagato's far too cautious — he'd never act so recklessly!"
Ever since Yahiko had fallen into Hanzō and Danzō's trap, breaking Nagato beyond repair, Obito had been there, subtly guiding him, helping to reshape Akatsuki into its new form — twisting its ideal of "peace" into the extreme doctrine of "forcing the world to understand through pain."
And as the one pulling the strings from the shadows — Uchiha Obito — he had already secured Nagato's cooperation under the guise of Madara, turning the Tailed Beast Plan into the lynchpin of his Project "Tsuki no Me blueprint.
Yet now, the most powerful puppet in Nagato's arsenal was here, fighting in a battle Obito had never authorized.
"Did Nagato act on his own?"
"Or… has someone stolen control of the Deva Path?"
"No… Nagato has the Rinnegan. In theory, that shouldn't even be possible…"
"Unless… Nagato found out Danzō was behind Yahiko's death back then?"
The thought flashed through his mind — only for him to dismiss it immediately.
"If it were revenge, he would've acted long ago, not waited until now."
"And this timing is too damn strange…"
"Right on the night Itachi and I agreed to the Uchiha purge?"
It felt like his skull had been stuffed with water, every thought colliding into the next, tangling into chaos.
"Calm down… I have to calm down…"
Obito's gaze flickered beneath the mask. This wasn't the first time he'd faced a messy situation, but this time… this time he truly felt out of his depth.
Everything was in disarray —
The sudden appearance of the Deva Path,
The purge plan teetering on the brink of collapse,
Even Danzō being completely overwhelmed.
"Wait…"
He suddenly remembered — during that earlier battle, there had been two figures behind the Deva Path, neither of whom had lifted a finger.
A black-haired boy and a blonde-haired girl.
The boy's aura and attire couldn't have been more ordinary, yet the Deva Path had personally moved to protect them, to fight for them, to clean up their enemies.
Could that… even be possible?
A pulse throbbed in Obito's temple. A chilling sense of danger crept up his spine.
"…Could Pain be here because of them?"
He looked again toward the distance — the Deva Path was still pressing Danzō down, but the two were gone.
His instincts screamed at him:
"Leave. Now."
"Stay any longer and you'll be exposed!"
Logic pulled him toward retreat.
Greed pinned him in place.
Obito still didn't want to give up on gathering intel — especially on Uchiha Itachi.
That genius, with whom he had struck the Uchiha purge agreement, was the perfect candidate for Akatsuki's core.
But in the end, reason triumphed over desire.
Itachi wasn't the only "genius." Another one would appear in the shinobi world eventually.
He couldn't risk everything on tonight.
Too much was riding on him —
Madara's will,
The world Rin had dreamed of…
"I'm pulling out."
With that decision made, he began to activate Kamui.
But just as half his body began to phase into the other dimension—
A voice sounded behind him, abrupt and unhurried:
"Madara."
"What are you doing here?"
"…Or should I say—"
"Uchiha Obito?"
Obito froze where he stood.
Impossible.
He whipped around, locking onto the source of the voice.
Two figures stood in the shadows between the trees — the same two he'd seen earlier in the battle at the Clan Grounds.
When had they gotten here?
More importantly—
How did he know my name?!
"Brat… what did you just say?!"
Obito's wrist flicked, and three kunai whistled through the night toward Ryota's face.
Clang! Clang! Clang!
Three crisp impacts rang out in the forest.
Before they could even reach Ryota, the kunai snapped midair, scattering into glittering shards across the ground.
Ais sheathed her thin sword, Feather's Echo, and fixed her eyes on Obito's silhouette in the treetops, already poised in her familiar opening stance.
One signal from Ryota and she'd strike.
Beneath the mask, Obito's expression finally shifted completely.
When the blonde girl had cut the kunai so casually, he had already sensed something wrong.
She had almost no Chakra signature at all — as though she wasn't even part of this world's shinobi system.
"Taijutsu type? No… she's nothing like a ninja."
"And…"
His gaze shifted to the black-haired boy beside her.
Ryota hadn't moved an inch, only wearing a faint smile — yet Obito felt an oppressive weight pressing down on him.
A moment later—
Obito broke the silence.
"Who the hell are you?"
"And why are you here?"
The words were barely out before he instinctively stepped back.
Because he had just seen Ryota's eyes.
Eyes that didn't belong to the normal order of this world.
Purple, with rippling concentric rings—
The Rinnegan.
"You…!!"
"That's…!?"
Ryota's lips curved slightly, his gaze lifting just enough for the violet light to gleam cold in the dark.
Obito's heart lurched painfully in his chest. He had seen the Rinnegan before — but there was only one wielder, Nagato.
Nagato, the human vessel Obito had cultivated and entrusted with executing the plan.
But now?
Another Rinnegan, right in front of him.
Not in Nagato's body.
And… the aura this Rinnegan gave off was far stronger — dozens, maybe hundreds of times stronger — than Nagato's.
Obito's mind went blank, his throat tightening.
He even forgot to think about the most critical question — how this black-haired boy knew his real name.
Ryota chuckled softly.
"Well?"
"Interested in letting me carve my Falna into you?"
"…Falna?"
Obito blinked, brows furrowing, mind scrambling for any scrap of information on the word.
Nothing — not from the archives of the Great Nations, not from Madara's scrolls. The term had never appeared before.
Yet somehow, hearing it from this boy's mouth stirred an inexplicable, primal sense of fear… and reverence.
A tremor ran through his body.
But Ryota's eyes held no killing intent — only a faint, almost pitying look.
He could kill Obito in an instant, crush half his body without effort.
But this man… Ryota knew everything about his past.
From being crushed under rock, to being saved by Madara, to watching Rin die by the hands of his dearest friend, and finally choosing something as boneheaded as the Tsuki no Me just to bring her back into the world.
Ryota sighed inwardly.
"Kamui hides no tears—wherever you look, there's Rin."
"Mm… although, yeah, making your own teacher sick to his stomach like that is pretty scummy."
Obito was silent for a few seconds before letting out a cold snort, his tone edged with repressed irritation.
"I'm leaving. You think you can stop me?"
He had Kamui, after all.
Even Minato had needed several exchanges the first time they fought just to figure it out.
This brat in front of him—was he supposed to be stronger than Minato?
Ryota still didn't move from his spot, but the smile on his face gradually faded. His patience was wearing thin.
"Creating a world with only Rin…"
"In the end, isn't that just a load of crap?"
"You want to fulfill a dream?"
"But you don't even know who that dream really belongs to."
He paused.
"When the time comes, your so-called plan will just be Black Zetsu's wedding dress for Kaguya's resurrection."
"Oh? Or do you actually want Kaguya to keep your bed warm?"
The instant the words left his mouth—
BOOM!!
A surge of killing intent erupted from Uchiha Obito!
In that moment, Chakra seemed to flood back under his mask, the air itself tearing apart with a crackling snap!
"Shut up!!!"
"Rin is not someone you can insult!!!"
The eyes beneath the mask all but spewed blood.
Ryota could see it clearly—he'd lost control of his emotions.
The "Rin" in Obito's heart was his faith, his everything.
Even if that faith was wrong, even if the dream was false, the moment someone mentioned her name, he would pounce like a rabid dog.
Obito's gaze twisted completely, his scarlet Mangekyō Sharingan spinning madly, the lines of his face beneath the mask warping in rage.
"Fire Style: Bomb Blast Dance!!"
In an instant, the air around him warped and twisted at a terrifying speed, wind spiraling into a vortex like an eye that could swallow everything.
Then Obito drew in a deep breath, his chest swelling—
BOOM!!
Flames roared from his mouth, shaped by the wind into a scorching, spinning tornado.
Wind and fire entwined into a spiraling pillar of blazing destruction,
a man-made calamity hurtling straight toward Ryota and Ais under the night sky!
"Die, you little brat!!!"
…
At that moment, Obito didn't look like he was fighting to defeat an enemy—he was venting a pain and hatred that could never heal.
Hatred toward fate, rejection of reality, and the desperate defense of "Rin."
Facing one of Obito's killing moves, Ryota simply moved a thought.
The next second—
A shadow swept out from behind him.
Uchiha Madara raised his right arm and—
BANG!!
The blazing spiral of fire was smashed apart by an invisible force!
Not blocked, not extinguished—
but erased from the world entirely, like dust swatted from the air.
The flames vanished, the air collapsed, the shockwave faded into lingering traces.
Obito was left utterly stunned.
It wasn't the fact that his killing move had been broken—though it was powerful, he knew the black-haired boy wasn't ordinary.
What froze his mind was the figure emerging from behind the flames.
That face—so familiar it was carved into his soul.
"Madara…?"
His voice trembled beneath the mask, as if he were staring at a phantom that shouldn't exist.
"Uchiha… Madara?"
His pupils shrank violently, his body instinctively retreating a few steps.
Impossible…
Impossible…
He had seen Madara die with his own eyes, heard him entrust the plan to him, personally inherited the name "Uchiha Madara"…
And now, this man was standing right in front of him?
For the first time, real fear gripped Obito's heart.
From the sudden appearance of the Deva Path, to that absurdly strong unknown blonde girl, and now…
Even Uchiha Madara was standing against him?
Madara folded his arms, studying Obito before letting out a cold snort.
"Interesting. Are you my clansman?"
"Unfortunately—"
"You raised a hand against my master."
"…That, I will not forgive."
The words detonated in Obito's mind.
"…Master?"
"…Master???"
Who the hell was he calling "master"?!
Obito's gaze snapped toward Ryota.
He was Madara's master???
Uchiha Madara—the man once called the strongest alongside Senju Hashirama in the shinobi era.
The source of Obito's ambition, his plans, even his power—everything traced back to Madara!
And now, this legendary man had just called someone else "master"?!
"This is impossible…"
"What the hell is going on…?"
Madara ignored Obito's shock, turning his head toward Ryota and speaking with a respectful tone.
"Shall I rip his head off?"
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