["Obito!!!"]
In the footage, young Obito Uchiha had half his body pinned beneath a massive boulder. Young Kakashi and Rin rushed to his side.
Young Kakashi shoved against the stone, trying to move the huge boulder crushing young Obito.
But no matter what he tried, the boulder, large enough to cover the entire right side of Obito Uchiha's body, did not budge an inch.
"Obito-nii-san!"
The three youngest brothers of young Madara Uchiha stared fixedly at the image in the sky, unable to imagine what exactly was happening on the other side of the screen.
"Obito-nii-san's Sharingan lets him use Intangibility! How could an attack like that affect him?!"
Kurohi refused to accept such a tragic farewell.
Young Madara Uchiha told him, "The Obito we're seeing right now, the one trapped under that rock, hasn't awakened his Mangekyō Sharingan yet. Only the Mangekyō Sharingan can use the special powers granted by the Dōjutsu."
The four members of Team Minato from Kannabi Bridge watched the footage.
Just thinking that this was something that had happened to Adult Obito and Adult Kakashi, something that had happened in the main timeline and countless branch parallel worlds, made their hearts ache in waves.
That kind of parting between life and death.
Even knowing Obito Uchiha would not truly die beneath that huge boulder, it still hurt so much that their fingertips felt weak, numb, and aching.
In the footage, Young Kakashi was still trying to move the giant boulder off young Obito.
But the owner of that exposed, unfocused Sharingan told him to give up.
["Forget it... Kakashi."]
Just five simple words, and another mouthful of blood spilled from the boy's lips.
["I'm already..."]
["...done for."]
Aside from those who came from the future, the ninjas of the Warring States Period did not have much compassion to spare.
After all, in an era as chaotic as this, there were far too many young ninjas even younger than him, and far too many who had died even more miserable deaths!
Endless war had already numbed the humanity of the Warring States Period, leaving them unable to feel much pity for strangers they had never met.
Only the Uchiha Clan and Senju Clan, who had seen the peaceful Konoha inside young Obito's Mangekyō Sharingan Kamui's Dimension, let out faint sighs for the boy in the footage.
["The right side of my body... has probably been crushed. I can't even... feel it anymore."]
["Damn it!!"]
["No... Obito. How could this happen..."]
In the footage, young Kakashi and Rin Nohara could not accept this result.
Not long ago, they had set out from Konoha together, and Obito had even promised Kushina-san that every one of them would return safely, without a scratch.
["Damn it! Damn it!"]
In the footage, young Kakashi knelt on the ground and pounded it with his fists again and again.
["If I'd listened to you from the start, if we'd gone to save Rin together, maybe this wouldn't have happened!!"]
As Team Kakashi and Team Minato watched, their throats tightened.
From time to time, they could not help glancing at Adult Kakashi, who stood there with his hands clenched into fists, and Adult Obito, who had lowered his head and said nothing.
Naruto remembered when Sasuke had nearly been killed by Haku while saving him.
Back then, he had thought Sasuke was dead. His mind had gone blank, and the power of the Nine-Tails had unconsciously poured out of him.
He still remembered holding Sasuke and telling Haku, "I'm going to kill you!"
That feeling was probably the helplessness and regret young Kakashi-sensei had felt in another parallel world.
Kannabi Bridge Obito remembered when they had traveled back to the Kannabi Bridge mission. Because he had accidentally used Hashirama's cells directly, Obito had awakened his Mangekyō Sharingan early, but he had been unable to properly suppress the violent Wood Release power inside him.
Even so, when facing the Iwa Ninjas, he had still taken them with him and used the power of Intangibility to escape the falling rocks. In the end, he could no longer suppress the Wood Release power. Most of his body was burst open by trees, and just as his life hung by a thread, the others arrived and used White Zetsu components to suppress the Hashirama's cells inside him, finally saving him.
Obito, Kakashi, and Rin watched the footage. The three of them had once faced the same kind of danger, but in the end, they had all reached a HappyEnd.
But the version of himself from the mission scroll world, and the real Kakashi...
Obito did not even dare think about what would happen afterward to that other version of himself.
That scene, the one he had only glimpsed in fragments during a dream yet had still been enough to make him awaken his double tomoe Sharingan in rage, was all real. It was the personal experience of Adult Obito, who had remained silent over there the whole time.
Minato Namikaze desperately wanted to travel straight into the parallel world shown in the footage, mend that regret, and save his student.
But he knew that even if he succeeded in saving Obito, that world would only become one of the countless parallel worlds branching off from the main timeline.
No matter what kind of power he possessed, even that version of himself behind the mission scrolls probably had no way to alter the main timeline's decision.
["What captain?! What Jōnin?!"]
At that moment, Fugaku Uchiha also felt sorry for Obito. "He awakened his eyes directly at Two Tomoe, had a personality unlike the other clan members, and was loved and supported by the old people of Konohagakure. If he had lived... that Uchiha's dream of becoming the first Hokage might not have been completely impossible."
The only one here who did not know the truth was probably Fugaku Uchiha, who had only just been revived.
The moment he said this, Team Minato and Team Kakashi fell silent.
As for Adult Obito himself, his back was turned to everyone, so no one could see his expression.
["Speaking of Jōnin... right... Kakashi..."]
["I'm the only one... who hasn't given you a Jōnin gift yet."]
Those words stabbed into Obito, Kakashi, and Rin's hearts all over again.
Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura also turned their heads away, unable to bear watching that sorrowful scene in the footage.
But even without looking, they could still hear the farewell through their ears.
And that thing the Ōtsutsuki called BGM was damn good at making people cry!
Even the ninjas of the Warring States Period, who had experienced death, farewell, and pain countless times, felt a faint bitterness in their hearts.
They complained that the brats in the footage were being too sentimental, yet the softest places in their hearts had been pierced. At the same time, they could not help remembering the powerlessness and helplessness they had felt when losing their closest loved ones in this cursed ninja world.
["I kept thinking about what I should give you."]
["I only just thought of it now."]
["Heh... heh... Don't worry. It's not something useless... or unnecessary..."]
Hearing this, everyone watching the footage realized that young Obito in the image had actually cared a great deal when Kakashi called the charm Rin had sewn into the ninja tool pouch she gave him a "useless thing."
As the Clan Head of the Uchiha Clan, Fugaku Uchiha would occasionally look after this clan member, whose parents had died on a mission not long after he was born, either as Clan Head or as an older brother. So he knew that Obito Uchiha, who seemed careless and was always late because he was helping others, was just as delicate and sensitive inside as every Uchiha.
Over there, Adult Obito could no longer fully hide his emotions for the first time and turned his head away.
Back then, he had thought he was about to die, so he had simply said whatever came to mind.
Now that the whole world was watching what had happened that year together with him, those words were undoubtedly telling Kakashi: I spent a long time thinking about your gift, but I was afraid you'd dislike it, so I never decided what to give you.
The footage paused there, completely whetting the appetite of the Warring States Period ninjas.
They had no idea what this so-called Jōnin gift could be at a moment of life-and-death farewell.
Then, from Kakashi and Rin's perspective, they saw the boy whose body was half crushed beneath the boulder, already on the verge of death, slowly smile through the blood at the corner of his mouth.
["This Sharingan of mine..."]
["I'll give it to you."]
"!!!"
"Are you kidding me?!"
The Uchiha Clan ninjas immediately lost every trace of emotion they had felt!
"Giving the Sharingan to an outsider?!"
"That's a good eye capable of awakening the incredibly rare Mangekyō Sharingan!!"
"Don't the future Uchiha have any clan rules anymore?! If you die on the battlefield, you're supposed to destroy your eyes!!"
That was something even a child of eight or nine like Myoko knew.
Listening to the uproar among his clan members, young Madara Uchiha could no longer bear it. He warned the people around him, "That place is Konoha! It's a place where people can become comrades even if they aren't from the same clan! It's only that the family has grown a little bigger, so why must you stay trapped in the thinking of separate clans?!"
He could not help saying what was on his mind.
"What's wrong with drinking bond-sealing sake as brothers, ending grudges, and becoming as close as real brothers?"
"Madara, watch your words," Tajima Uchiha reminded him.
With his seasoned experience, he knew very well that light was always accompanied by shadow.
Until now, all the Konoha they had seen was "light," but the "dark" could not possibly be nonexistent. It was only that those people had not shown it to them.
If that village was truly so wonderful, why would Obito Uchiha and Sasuke Uchiha have awakened the Mangekyō Sharingan at the age of twelve or thirteen?
After being reminded by his father, young Madara Uchiha lowered his head and withdrew.
His four brothers gathered around him and comforted him.
Looking at his younger brothers like this, young Madara Uchiha found it even harder to imagine a future in which he would lose them.
...
In the town of the Warring States Period, Team Minato, Team Kakashi, and the others watched the image in the sky. Although they already knew what would happen next, seeing it with their own eyes still felt even more cruel than they had imagined.
["Rin... for us... perform the eye transplant."]
["Kakashi... no matter what anyone else says, in my eyes, you're an outstanding Jōnin."]
Young Obito Uchiha's voice in the footage was extremely faint, so faint that if everyone had not fallen silent because of the scene before them, they would not have been able to hear him clearly.
["This is my gift to you. Please accept it."]