Recalling his own scroll, the SSS-rank mission listed at the very top was to prevent the Fourth Shinobi World War.
Hidden within the space, Adult Obito Uchiha watched from the shadows. He knew that the "Obito" of the other world also possessed a scroll, but only now did he learn that the SSS-rank mission on that scroll was to kill the Masked Man.
There was no doubt about it.
That Masked Man referred to none other than himself.
The great villain of this world—Obito Uchiha.
And yet, the SSS-rank mission on Naruto Uzumaki's scroll was to "save" the Masked Man.
That contradiction left Adult Obito clutching his own scroll in silence.
Who was behind these scrolls?
What was their goal?
If the mastermind was an enemy who wanted him dead, then why assign Naruto a mission to save him?
Question after question deepened the sense of mystery surrounding the scrolls, as Adult Obito listened to Minato Namikaze and Tsunade speaking outside.
Tsunade said, "So how many Masked Men are there? Are we supposed to kill them or save them?"
"Could it mean killing him first, then reviving him?" Shizune said from a medical-nin's perspective, thinking of reducing someone to the brink of death before restoring them with powerful medical ninjutsu.
Jiraiya explained, "The Masked Man is the true culprit behind the Nine-Tails incident twelve years ago. He's the one who caused Minato and Kushina's deaths and controlled the Nine-Tails to wreak havoc on Konoha."
Mentioning the man who killed his own disciple, Jiraiya's expression darkened, his voice carrying restrained anger.
"You're all just confusing me!" Tsunade slammed her sake cup onto the wooden table with a heavy thud and demanded of Jiraiya, "You said the Fourth Hokage died, so what exactly is this man sitting in front of us? Resurrection?"
The word "resurrection" immediately brought Orochimaru's earlier words flashing through her mind.
[I can help you revive Dan and Nawaki. Won't you reconsider, Tsunade?]
"That's not the case, Tsunade-sama," Minato said calmly.
He explained that he was Minato from the Kannabi Bridge Timeline, leaving Tsunade utterly shocked.
"Then when are you going back?" Tsunade asked.
Jiraiya replied, "At the very least, we need to figure out who the Masked Man in the mission actually is first."
The moment he finished speaking—
Both their table and the neighboring one, where the kids were still finishing dinner, fell completely silent.
After several seconds, Jiraiya asked slowly, "Don't tell me… you already know the Masked Man's true identity?"
"…We do," Minato answered after a pause. "We already know."
Seeing his reaction, Jiraiya stared at him. "Is it someone you know?"
Minato's silence seemed deliberate, as if he were giving his teacher and Tsunade time to brace themselves.
The nearby table remained unnaturally quiet.
Young Obito Uchiha didn't know how many more times he would have to endure this kind of public execution. Every time the topic came up, the fear and unease inside him made him restless and on edge.
Inside the Kamui dimension, Adult Obito Uchiha remained expressionless, his thoughts impossible to read.
After a moment, Minato spoke again.
"Even though we've confirmed the Masked Man's identity, I'd like to ask the three of you to keep it confidential for now."
Letting out a long sigh, Jiraiya slumped back in his chair.
"So it really is someone familiar… and from Konoha, right?"
"From Konoha?!" Tsunade exclaimed.
"Jiraiya-sama, Tsunade-sama," Adult Kakashi, who had been silent until now, suddenly spoke.
"The Masked Man is…"
"The Masked Man who caused Minato-sensei's family's deaths is… Obito Uchiha…"
"Huh?!"
Jiraiya was completely stunned.
He dug a finger into his ear and asked again, "Who did you just say the Masked Man was?"
Tsunade's reaction differed from Jiraiya's. First, she didn't even know who Obito was. Second, she had no idea what kind of relationship this Obito Uchiha had with Minato.
But when it came to the Uchiha clan, neither she nor Shizune were blind.
Their gazes shifted to the neighboring table, where two kids sat with the Uchiha clan crest clearly emblazoned on their backs.
Tsunade asked, "Who is Obito Uchiha?"
That was also what Shizune wanted to know. She looked at the elite Konoha jōnin standing before her, Kakashi Hatake, and saw fatigue and guilt he could not fully hide in his eyes...
Jiraiya realized he hadn't misheard after all. The surprise on his face quickly turned solemn.
Speaking on behalf of his student and Kakashi, he explained to Tsunade and Shizune, "Obito, like Kakashi, was Minato's disciple. He was supposed to be a hero who died honorably during the Kannabi Bridge mission in the Third Shinobi World War."
"!!!"
Shizune's expression shifted to shock and anger. Her first reaction was immediate.
"Minato-sama's disciple? Then that makes him a master-killer?!"
She didn't know Obito personally, but she deeply respected Tsunade-sama. If anyone dared to harm Tsunade, she would fight to the death. That was why she simply couldn't understand Obito Uchiha's actions.
Master-killer…
The moment those words left Shizune's mouth, Young Obito's pupils shrank sharply. Even though he knew she wasn't talking about him, but about the Obito of another world, the weight of those words still made it hard for him to breathe easily.
"Shizune, calm down," Tsunade said.
Her expression was heavy as she glanced toward Naruto's table, her gaze lingering between Obito and Sasuke.
"Which one is Obito Uchiha?" She had already heard Minato say he brought three students from the Kannabi Bridge to this world.
Sasuke didn't react. Young Obito slowly raised his hand.
If one looked closely, they could see his hand trembling. Whether it was anger toward his counterpart in this world, or fear born from the word "master-killer," even he wasn't sure.
Tsunade glanced at Adult Kakashi, who looked even more burdened than the young Uchiha. She sighed, took another drink, then let out a humorless laugh.
"He looks ordinary enough. Didn't expect him to be so capable."
"Based on our earlier experience with the mission scrolls sending us back," Minato said, "this world's Obito didn't die in the battle at Kannabi Bridge. Instead, he was saved by Madara Uchiha through a twist of fate."
Tsunade immediately spat out her sake.
Jiraiya was unlucky enough to be right in the line of fire, getting sprayed across the face and clothes.
"You're saying Madara Uchiha?!" Tsunade exclaimed. "Didn't my grandfather kill him long ago?!"
"It seems he didn't die," Minato replied. "The Uchiha have a dōjutsu called Izanagi, said to manipulate the gap between life and death to reverse one's fate. He saved Obito and granted him Wood Release. After that, he likely used Rin's death to drive Obito into despair, pushing him to help realize his plan for Infinite Tsukuyomi."
Jiraiya, Tsunade, and Shizune were left completely stunned.
"So Madara Uchiha is still alive?" Tsunade asked. What concerned her even more was Wood Release. It was her grandfather's most unique ability, one she herself never inherited.
Minato shook his head. "Based on my judgment, he should be dead. But I have a strong feeling he left himself a backup plan."
"A backup plan?" Jiraiya suddenly recalled something from long ago. During Konoha's early days, Itachi Uchiha had mentioned that the leader of the Akatsuki, Pain, possessed the Rinnegan.
"Are you talking about that organization, Akatsuki?"
Minato couldn't say for certain. Still, judging by Madara's actions in this world, he doubted Madara would leave no contingency behind. After all, the true method to revive Izuna Uchiha required Madara Uchiha's Rinnegan. And the leader of Akatsuki possessed the Rinnegan. What did that imply?
The deeper Minato thought, the colder his spine felt.
Jiraiya, who had reached the same conclusion, said, "Let's put that aside for now. We should deal with what's in front of us first. I'll make a trip to Amegakure."
"Amegakure?" Tsunade repeated.
Jiraiya didn't bother hiding anything and asked her instead, "Do you remember when we were in Amegakure, and I took in three students?"
Tsunade thought carefully. She remembered a little girl giving her a paper flower.
There were also two boys.
Memories from that time replayed in her mind—
…
"You're in there. Come out," Tsunade said.
"Be careful. Even if they're just rats, they're still part of Amegakure," Orochimaru said.
"Kids?" Jiraiya muttered.
"Share your food with us," said the orange-haired boy.
"Where are your parents?" Jiraiya asked.
"Killed by ninja in this war…"
…
"Those three kids who lost their families in the war and were left wandering?" Tsunade said as she recalled it. "I remember Orochimaru even suggested killing them back then."
The reasoning was that children who lost their family's protection during wartime usually met tragic ends. Killing them before they ever tasted real suffering was, in his view, the kinder choice.
How was that resolved again?
Jiraiya's words from back then resurfaced in her memory—
…
"Enough, Orochimaru. You and Tsunade go back first. I'll take responsibility for looking after these kids for now, at least until they can stand on their own. Consider it Konoha's small atonement for turning Amegakure into a battlefield."
…
Thinking of that, Tsunade asked, "Those three kids… like Minato, they were your students too, right? How are they doing now?"
She didn't know why Jiraiya had suddenly brought them up, but she followed his lead and continued the conversation.
Jiraiya let out a sigh and said, "Maybe it really is fate. I once received news of their deaths too. Just like Minato, I mourned for a long time, believing my disciples were gone."
"You believed they were dead?" Tsunade asked sharply. "So you're saying they're still alive?"
"You've traveled the shinobi world long enough. You should've heard of an organization called Akatsuki, right?"
Tsunade frowned. "The group made up of numerous S-rank missing-nin?" She glanced toward the two Uchiha nearby. "I've heard that Itachi Uchiha from Konoha is part of it."
Jiraiya nodded. "Itachi is a spy planted there by the old man. That's how I got the information. Akatsuki's so-called 'public' leader… is one of my three former students."
"What?!" Tsunade was utterly stunned.
She couldn't reconcile it. Those three kids they could have killed with a flick of a finger back then were now connected to the Akatsuki, an organization that operated in the shadows yet possessed power enough to shake the entire shinobi world.
"I don't know exactly what happened back then," Jiraiya continued, "but according to Itachi, Akatsuki's leader, Pain, is that orange-haired boy, Yahiko. The girl named Konan is still by his side. Only the red-haired Nagato is gone."
Both tables fell into a heavy silence.
After a moment, Shizune spoke up. "Jiraiya-sama, when you say Akatsuki's 'public' leader, you mean…"
Minato gave a bitter smile. "It's hard to say out loud, but among Akatsuki's ten missing-nin, Itachi, Jiraiya-sensei's other two disciples, and the one manipulating everything from behind the scenes, Obito, already make up nearly half of them."
"..."
Jiraiya stared up at the ceiling of the tavern. "To think that Akatsuki's core members are all my own students and their successors… That's exactly why I have to take responsibility and deal with this major threat to the shinobi world."
Remembering how this world's Minato had died at the hands of his own disciple, Tsunade couldn't help but feel worried for Jiraiya.
"Your plans regarding Akatsuki can wait," she said. "First, tell me why you came to find me."
Minato guided Tsunade's attention back to the mission scroll in his hand.
"Among the missions on Naruto's scroll, there's one that involves…"
He paused briefly, then continued.
"Preventing Orochimaru from killing his master."
"What?!" Tsunade exclaimed in shock.
"Orochimaru plans to make his move against the Third Hokage during this Chūnin Exams," Minato said.
Tsunade crushed the sake cup in her hand, letting out an angry roar. "What the hell is Orochimaru trying to do?!"
Like Jiraiya, she remembered what Orochimaru used to be like. Sarutobi-sensei had once placed such great expectations on him.
"I'm afraid Orochimaru has been planning this for a long time," Minato said. "His goal is to force the Third Hokage to step down and install a new Hokage."
Force the Third Hokage to step down?!
Under everyone's stunned gazes, Jiraiya looked straight at the woman before him, the woman he had loved for nearly his entire life.
"So, to be fully prepared…"
"Are you willing to return to Konoha and take on the responsibility of Hokage, Tsunade?"