Following Sasuke's memories, even ordinary civilians were drawn into a war between ninja for the first time.
Although Kagutsuchi and the Wind Release: Rasenshuriken were unable to shake Obito Uchiha's Truth-Seeking Orbs, they allowed those who had once looked down on ninja to truly witness the power they wielded.
"Naruto…"
Nara Shikaku: That's Shikamaru's voice. That kid's thoughts are being transmitted straight into everyone's minds through the Yamanaka clan's secret technique?!
And that red chakra covering everyone… there's no doubt about it. Naruto shared the Nine-Tails' power inside him with the others!
All at once, Shikaku recalled breakfast that morning, when his son had asked why everyone in class hated Naruto Uzumaki.
That kid… he actually overcame people's prejudice and became the hope of the entire ninja world?!
How unimaginably hard that must have been!!
"You've always been like this. Whenever it's something related to us, you throw yourself into it without holding back. Standing in front of you, I even feel embarrassed to complain about things being troublesome."
"Dad… sorry…"
"Naruto doesn't want me… To join you yet…"
Nara Shikaku: !!
I see. So that's how it is. No wonder that kid had to step up. Turns out we were already dead.
Tch, what a pain. Feels like Yoshino's definitely locking me out of the house later.
"It took me a really long time to realize just how much Naruto went through all by himself."
"And now… I never want him to taste even a little of that again!"
Shikamaru: …
What a pain, what a pain, what a pain, what a pain…
What is my future self even saying?! This is mortifying!!
Just thinking it would've been enough! Why use the Mind Body Switch Technique and let the entire ninja world hear it?!!!
"I want to be with him."
Shikamaru: Whatever. I'm done resisting. I've completely given up.
Also, why does Sasuke Uchiha's state of mind feel… slightly off when I'm thinking all this nonsense?
Slightly off my ass! What does that even mean? I don't want to know.
"Naruto's an idiot, but unlike the First Hokage-sama, he doesn't have a calm, intelligent younger brother to think things through for him."
"So…"
"I'll stand behind Naruto."
"When he becomes Hokage someday, there'll be the greatest Hokage strategist ever, helping him solve every single problem!"
Ino: Th-this… is that really something Shikamaru just said?!
Choji: Shikamaru actually believes Naruto Uzumaki can become Hokage?
Hearing Shikamaru's inner thoughts, all the Konohagakure villagers present were stunned.
Not just once or twice, not just for a day or two. That Nine-Tails brat they despised had always gone on about how he'd become Hokage one day, even a ninja greater than all the previous Hokage.
And now, the young head of the Nara clan acknowledged him. Earlier, the Fourth Hokage had entrusted his chakra to him…
Even the Uchiha clan's own Sasuke Uchiha.
Within his field of vision…everything was filled with Naruto's figure?!
"In just a few minutes, this world will end."
"You're just like me! Pain that builds up day after day will change you sooner or later!"
"If that's the case, why do you keep fighting?!"
Within the illusion, Minato Namikaze noticed that Obito cared deeply about Naruto's reaction…
As Naruto's father and Obito's teacher, he had long been aware of the similarities between the two. That was why Obito from another world saw Naruto as another version of himself, choosing to place his faith in the light.
The Naruto Uzumaki who clung to hope no matter what, and the Obito Uchiha who had fallen into darkness.
In the end… which one of them was truly right?
In that moment, the rebellious Obito Uchiha from the era of the Uchiha coup was watching the future of his other self in another world. Even though he already understood which choice was the right one, the bitterness rising in his chest was impossible to avoid.
Sasuke Uchiha's eyes were filled with nothing but Naruto Uzumaki's back. He watched him fight until his clothes were in tatters, watched him fall and get back up again and again, from childhood all the way to now…
"Because I say what I mean and I do what I say. That's my ninja way."
So there was no room for hesitation. He would keep moving forward, straight ahead.
"End him with the next move, Naruto!"
"Yeah!"
Susanoo…
Wrapped around the Nine-Tails…
Sasuke Uchiha and Naruto Uzumaki stood side by side inside Susanoo's control room.
Obito Uchiha swung the Sword of Nunoboko.
Naruto Uzumaki's comrades from Konoha all sprang in to help.
With everyone's strength gathered together, they smashed through Obito Uchiha's defenses. The Nine-Tails, now armored like a samurai and gripping a massive greatsword, chopped Obito Uchiha's Sword of Nunoboko apart section by section.
There wasn't a trace of doubt in Naruto's heart.
But inside Obito Uchiha…
There was only emptiness.
All that was left was a shattered dream of becoming Hokage.
Change the world. Make everyone happy.
In the end, it all came back to a single girl's words—
"Do your best, Obito!!"
"Let me see you save the world—show me how cool you look when you do it!"
"Yeah!"
...
The archvillain who wanted to destroy the world…
"Look at what you're doing now! You've made enemies of shinobi all over the world, and you keep shouting that it's all 'for the sake of this world' like that makes it okay. Isn't that just you making excuses for your own reckless crap?! And that girl you say you love… do you really think she wanted you to turn into this?!!"
Rebellious Obito:!!!
Naruto had started out with nothing. That was why, like Shikamaru Nara, he fought so hard for what he had, refusing to lose even a single comrade no matter what it took.
And if…
If he really did lose them, he would still carry their will in his heart and keep walking forward without the slightest hesitation.
"Come back to our side! Come back to Kakashi-sensei and everyone! Don't forget who you are, Obito Uchiha. You're a shinobi of Konoha!!"
"And then… atone. For real…"
Adult Obito went rigid. After all the mistakes he'd made, the Naruto from another world was still…
Still trying to save him?!
Wait.
What was Naruto's SSS-rank mission again?!
[Mission Rank: SSS]
[Mission Objective: Rescue -- Masked Man.]
Somehow, in that instant, everything on the mission scroll finally clicked into place.
"Now!!"
Everyone watched as several monstrous silhouettes shot out of Naruto Uzumaki's body.
Every Kage recognized them at once.
They were the Tailed Beasts!!
Matching silhouettes surfaced from Obito Uchiha's body too, and there were two more of them than Naruto had.
Kazekage: It's Shukaku!
Raikage: It's the Eight-Tails! Isn't the Eight-Tails supposed to be with Bee?!
The Raikage was still worrying about his brother when he suddenly saw Killer Bee and the future Fifth Kazekage flash past right beside "him"!
"Leave the One-Tail and the Eight-Tails to us, the ones who used to be jinchūriki!!"
"Gaara?! Uncle Bee?!"
"Found a weak point? Then Little Eight's chakra is mine?"
This was…
A tug-of-war?!
Right then, Shikamaru Nara, who'd sworn to stay by Naruto's side as his Hokage strategist, used the Mind Body Switch Technique to call for help.
"No matter how small someone's strength is, if you use it in the right place, and everyone works together, you can pull off something unbelievable."
Naruto and Sasuke threw everything they had into yanking the Tailed Beasts' power out of Obito Uchiha's body. Even the entire shinobi world, fully aware this was an illusion and yet still dragged along by it, clenched their teeth and pulled with all their might.
Whoosh—
The first group to rush in and help with the tug-of-war were their classmates from the Ninja Academy.
The second group…
Was the entire Allied Shinobi Forces?!
It wasn't just Naruto Uzumaki's Konoha comrades and a few Hokage anymore. The entire Allied Shinobi Forces stood behind him, lending him their strength?!!
"Everyone! Grab onto my chakra!"
Minato Namikaze's chakra split into wave after wave of force. Following Naruto Uzumaki's shout, the massive Allied Shinobi Forces dug in and pulled together with everything they had.
No matter how overwhelming his power was, Obito Uchiha was still just one man.
In that instant, their consciousnesses overlapped, linked through chakra until they were bound together as one.
All at once, many of the Uchiha remembered something Madara had said in the previous illusion, back when he was still young: how do you resolve conflict? Only when everyone can be honest with each other, holding nothing back, trusting one another enough to drink sake cups together…
Trusting each other. Being completely open, with nothing held back.
Emotions and thoughts, even the paths they'd walked through life, flowed through chakra and blended together.
After so many generations, that wish was actually coming true at the very moment the Uchiha clan's former leader had become the enemy of the entire world?!!
"Alright! Come on!! Don't underestimate everyone's strength!"
Pop!
All nine Tailed Beasts were hauled out of Obito Uchiha's body by the Allied Shinobi Forces.
The gigantic beasts everyone had once feared—no, that people outside the illusion still feared—had appeared all at once… yet they didn't attack the Allied Shinobi Forces. Instead, they gathered behind Naruto Uzumaki, following him, listening to him.
As if…
As if he were the Rikudō Sennin himself?!!!
The sight left even the Nine-Tails within the several Narutos just as stunned. Even the Kurama among them couldn't hide it.
'Kurama… Naruto Uzumaki is the one I told you to wait for. The one who can truly lead you.'
The Nine-Tails inside the younger Naruto remembered that old Sage of the Six Paths who had shown up during the Chūnin Exams in their era…
Back then, the Nara clan boy had said that as long as it was for his comrades, Naruto Uzumaki would give everything he had.
Even when it came to saving them, the Tailed Beasts, he would throw himself into it without holding anything back.
It was almost like…
Like he saw beings like them as comrades too?!
Meanwhile…
When no one noticed, and no one could have noticed, the mission scrolls in Naruto's and Obito's ninja pouches were changing at the same time.
[Mission Level: SS-Rank]
[Mission Content: Eliminate mutual prejudice between Uchiha and Konoha (79/99).]
The number had once dropped into the thirties after they learned how Konoha had arranged the Uchiha clan's extermination.
But at some point, it had climbed back up to 79.
Not all at once.
It started after the First Hokage spoke about his dream with Madara Uchiha.
Then, in the second illusion, they witnessed the Fourth Shinobi World War, saw the Allied Shinobi Forces gather as comrades, and watched that impossible vision become reality.
The Uchiha clan… Konoha…
And they were still stuck, staring at something this narrow, refusing to move forward?!
If they wouldn't let go of hatred, wouldn't take that first step toward each other, wouldn't fight with everything they had for their comrades…
Then what right did they have to demand more from anyone else?
The world didn't stop turning just because of one person. So why couldn't the one to take the first step be you?
The Konoha shinobi clenched their teeth.
That Naruto they'd looked down on, bullied, pushed aside—the one most likely to be swallowed by a Tailed Beast's will and fall into darkness—had made it this far.
The Konoha shinobi and Uchiha clansmen Naruto and Obito had spoken to one by one didn't realize that every shift in their mindset was being recorded by the mission scroll.
[Mission Level: SS-Rank]
[Mission Content: Eliminate mutual prejudice between Uchiha and Konoha (79/99).]
(80/99) (81/99) (82/99)…
(90/99) (91/99) (92/99)…
— — (99/99).
— — (∞/99).
[Mission Status: Completed.]