[Uchiha Obito: "Hmph. Then keep watching."]
[Hatake Kakashi: "Obito, turn yourself in. Outside Kamui, it's all Naruto."]
[Minato Namikaze: "That's right. Obito, stop this."]
[Uchiha Itachi: "Why does that line sound familiar…"]
Obito kept backing away. The words wouldn't come anymore.
He'd sworn Infinite Tsukuyomi was the right road—but on what basis? Because someone said so? Because he needed it to be?
Naruto stepped up and drew a steady breath.
"Do you get it now? Your name is Uchiha Obito, not Uchiha Madara."
"If that girl—Rin—were alive, she'd be worried sick about you. And she'd say this:
'Don't overdo it just to hide your pain. I'll be right behind you, watching your cool back as you save the world.'"
Obito's pupils snapped tight.
He lifted his hand—reaching for Naruto's—
—and clamped it around Naruto's throat instead.
"I'm not going to your side," Obito said, eyes like ice. "And I don't regret the road I walked."
"Then why," Naruto exploded, "do you keep fantasizing about becoming Hokage?!"
His fist sent Obito skidding away.
When Obito's vision snapped back into focus, the one who'd knocked him flying—
—was his younger self.
"Rin wanted to protect you," Naruto's voice overlapped with the child's, "the one named Uchiha Obito—not what you've turned yourself into."
Wind cut across a lonely hillside. Grass shivered. Leaves fell like quiet rain.
"Sorry, we're coming now…" Rin's voice floated from behind.
Obito whirled. Rin was walking ahead, hand in hand with him—toward Kakashi and Minato.
He reached—his fingers passed through her.
The scene buckled like a bad dream.
Rin's head tilted, eyes opening too wide—horror-movie wide.
[Kisame Hoshigaki: "Mr. Itachi, my cabinet moved. I can't watch this!"]
[Uchiha Itachi: "It's terrifying, yes. This is Obito's subconscious."]
[Pain: "He's wrestling with his heart."]
[Uchiha Shisui: "He might be the strongest Uchiha on record."]
[Indra: "Likely. Even I might not beat Six Paths Obito."]
[Ōtsutsuki Toneri: "So this is the strongest on the surface…"]
"Obito…"
"Give me a sec, Rin."
The child Obito stepped into the nightmare and yanked the older Obito's gaze to him.
"At this rate, Rin won't even look at you," the kid said, irritated. "The one Rin wanted to protect is Uchiha Obito. Got it?"
He grabbed the grown Obito by the arm. "That's you."
Cut back to the present—
Naruto seized Obito's hand, eyes unshaken.
"Alright. You've taken enough wrong turns. Time to come back with me."
"Don't underestimate… the Allied Shinobi."
Reality slammed in. Everyone was panting, faces gray with exhaustion—
—and still, the Alliance kept pulling.
They were betting on a sliver of hope because mortals can only fight gods by standing together—
So they staked everything on Naruto.
This wasn't just a war for peace anymore.
It was a war for liberation.
Old grudges fell away. Only will remained.
A million shinobi sparkled like red embers against the dark—a prairie fire waiting to roar.
Obito stared down at them, and his eyes shifted.
Relief. Maybe even release.
This battle… it wasn't that he had lost.
It was that Six Paths Obito no longer wished to continue.
He stopped resisting.
He let go.
He put down the name "Madara."
And at last—after more than twenty years—he remembered his own.
Tailed beasts ripped free of his body; the shell cracked away; the man inside returned.
On the ground, cheers detonated.
Fists flew up, comrades hugged, someone sobbed.
Obito fell from the sky, a faint smile on his lips.
He'd lost, yes—
But not wrongly. At the end, he'd finally seen himself clearly.
"I lost…"
The world watching went silent—
—and then the villages erupted.
"We won!"
"Seventh Hokage, let's go!!"
"Uncle Obito finally found himself!!"
"This war—he chose to yield. Obito's… a savior, too."
They'd scorned him at first.
But when they saw a boy start a war for the sake of a girl, take on an entire world because he hated its cruelty—
they couldn't deny the scale of his will.
They only burned again when he did unforgivable things.
And now, at the edge, he let go—and handed the future to Naruto.
Because of him, the Alliance had stood together for the first time.
[Sarada: "Seventh Hokage is incredible… and Uncle Obito too!"]
[Sasuke: "Now we just have to take out that useless Madara and end this."]
[Fugaku: "Mind your elders, boy."]
[Obito: "Actually… I can still bring the dead back."]
The world froze—
Then exploded.
"WHAT?!"
—And just when the tears finally dried, a new hope (and a new storm) crashed in.
Next: The Price of Redemption—What Will Obito Give?
◇ I'll be dropping one bonus chapters for every 10 reviews.
◇ One bonus chapter will be released for every 100 Power Stones.
◇ You can read the ahead chapter on P@treon if you're interested:
patreon.com/MugiwaraTL