October 10th, early morning.
After disappearing from the room at midnight and reappearing again, Shion now held a handful of thin, black iron rods.
These were the chakra receivers used by Pain's Six Paths—by far the most valuable spoils from the trip his clone had made to Amegakure.
Of course, it wasn't certain whether they could actually serve as a medium for Nagato. After all, they weren't pieces of flesh and blood, just conductors Nagato used to control the Six Paths of Pain.
Using flesh as a medium was always troublesome—especially with someone like Nagato, who was terminally afflicted with a god complex. He couldn't speak without invoking divinity.
Gods? In this world? What gods could there be?
[Intelligence Exchange initiated successfully]
[Rule Replication function activated]
[Medium failed to trigger]
"Tch. So that whole trip was for nothing."
Still, the clone had at least uncovered some strange details about Uchiha Obito. That was worth something—at least a consolation prize.
As for the Rinnegan? That was off the table for now.
Shion casually tossed the useless iron rods into a sealing scroll, deciding to send them over to his clone later.
He then opened the hidden compartment beneath his bed. From inside one scroll, he drew out a severed quarter of an arm.
[Intelligence Exchange initiated successfully]
[Rule Replication function activated]
[Medium triggered]
[Target lock available: Senju Hashirama (Pure Land), Uchiha Obito]
Target lock: Uchiha Obito
[S-Rank shinobi locked: Uchiha Obito]
[Adjusting temporal flow of the Exchange space]
[Enable Shadow Mode?]
Shadow Mode…
"Activate it."
After all, under the guise of Uzumaki Sora, he had already clashed with Obito twice. Deep-seated enmity lingered between them. Shadow Mode would at least soften the hostility, even if Obito guessed who he really was.
The scene shifted. This time, unlike his exchange with Senju Hashirama, Shion didn't appear within a rocky cavern.
Instead, before Konoha's Memorial Stone, Obito appeared—his heart instantly seizing in shock. His Mangekyō Sharingan spun rapidly within its socket.
But the Kamui space, which had always answered his call, failed him here. No matter how he tried, it wouldn't open.
From nearby, a figure cloaked in shadow spoke in a rasping voice:
"There's no need to struggle. Even the Mangekyō's ocular powers are useless here."
The sudden voice startled Obito. He swung a new iron chain across his body defensively, leaping back in an instant to put ten meters of distance between himself and the shadow.
"You don't need to be so tense," the figure continued calmly. "This Exchange space should have already etched its rules into your mind. Think about it carefully."
Obito froze, then slowly lowered his chain. He had considered attacking, but before he could even act, his body had locked up—rendered immobile by the rules.
"Who are you? This place…"
His words trailed off as his eye caught the stone before them—the Memorial Stone. It bore Rin's name. Fresh flowers sat at its base, left by Kakashi.
He clenched his fist. These days he had been too busy to remove them. That bastard Kakashi… what right did he have to offer Rin flowers?
"This isn't the real Memorial Stone," the shadowy figure said, watching him. "Just a space-projected scene. Perhaps the system chose this place because it best suits the nature of our exchange."
"Tch." Obito let out a sharp laugh. "So this is a place where lies cannot be spoken? Then who are you really? Judging by your tone, it seems you know exactly who I am."
Three sharp questions, fired in quick succession.
The shadowy Shion answered unhurriedly:
"As the rules etched into your mind have already shown you—there are limits here. You cannot harm me, not by any definition. That is this space's law."
"As for me… I'm just an information broker. Obito, whatever you wish to know about this world, you can trade for it with me."
Obito sneered. "The world? Everything about it? You overestimate yourself. This world is hell to me. What is there worth knowing?"
Shion shook his head slightly, eyes on the Memorial Stone before them. The engraved characters—Nohara Rin—were bathed in the light of a dying sun.
"Don't you want to know the true circumstances of Rin's death?"
Obito scoffed. "Hah. I thought you, claiming to know everything, might offer me something new. But what is there to say? Kirigakure ninja sealed the Three-Tails inside her, so she begged Kakashi to kill her. That's all."
"You think this information is valuable to me? I know full well that Rin asked Kakashi to end her life. What matters is that he failed—he broke his promise and couldn't protect her!"
His single eye lifted, Mangekyō flaring with feral malice.
"You dare to offer this as a trade? You're asking for death!!"
But Shion remained unshaken.
In this space, no matter how fiercely Obito's Mangekyō spun, its power was meaningless.
"Rin's death was orchestrated," Shion said evenly. "What you saw, what you know, was not the whole truth."
"…What?"
Obito turned sharply. Above, clouds in the sky twisted together, forming a single character: [Truth].
His eye widened.
True? Could it be true? Who had been behind Rin's death?
"Well? Have you considered it?" Shion asked. "One offering. That's all it would take, and I'll give you the name."
Obito gave another dry laugh, shaking his head. "Whether this space is as miraculous as you claim or not, I'll find out the truth myself. I don't need to bargain with you."
That surprised Shion. He had deliberately chosen the Memorial Stone scene to pry open a wound in Obito's heart. Yet the script hadn't gone the way he expected.
"It's been years since the Kannabi Bridge incident," Shion pressed. "If you had the power to uncover the truth yourself, wouldn't you have done so already?"
He fixed his gaze on Obito.
"You manipulated Yagura because of Kirigakure's involvement, plunging the village into the Bloody Mist era. But Uchiha Obito… you are not the type to endure in silence."
Obito chuckled behind his mask. "So you don't know everything after all."
He raised a hand, pressing it over the left eye hidden beneath his mask.
"For certain reasons, I now possess knowledge you can't imagine. And you've given me a point. From a single point, I can weave an entire picture. That's my power."
Shion's expression hardened.
That ability… it had never appeared in his memories of Obito. And the way Obito clutched the eye under his mask—
He thought through countless possibilities at once. This was beyond what he had foreseen.
If Obito truly had such a power, he would only become even harder to deal with from here on out.
"And your plan?" Shion asked coldly. "How much do you really understand of it? Project Tsuki no Me… the Eye of the Moon Plan. Perhaps it isn't what you think it is."
His voice dropped lower.
"You… you might not even be capable of dying by your own hand."