Heavy, dark clouds loomed over the Hidden Leaf Village, shrouding the entire settlement in an extremely oppressive atmosphere. Even the young children playing Hokage on the streets knew that the recent mood in the village was off. Something big was about to happen!
After finishing his tedious surveillance mission, Kakashi headed to the Leaf Cemetery as usual. This place held the remains of many Leaf shinobi who had sacrificed their lives on the battlefield, including his two closest friends, Obito Uchiha and Rin Nohara.
The former had been a dead-last ninja everyone looked down upon, while the latter was a skilled medical ninja. This combination of a genius, a dead-last, and a medical ninja was a classic lineup, a common sight in the Hidden Leaf.
Kakashi arrived before the grave of his friend, Rin Nohara, and gently placed a bouquet of flowers on the ground. His gaze at that moment would have shocked anyone who knew him; this man was actually capable of looking so gentle. His eyes were filled with an ultimate tenderness mixed with a hint of guilt. It was as if his vision could pierce through the stone slab and soil to see Rin with the markings painted on her face.
Rin, I wonder if you are doing well over there in the Pure Land?
Lately, many things have happened in the village. The conflict between the Uchiha Clan and the village seems to have reached an irreconcilable point. If this continues, I fear it will lead to terrifying consequences.
I am a bit lost on what to do. I think if Sensei were still alive, these things wouldn't be happening, would they?
And that guy, Obito...
With his personality, if he knew the Uchiha Clan wanted to launch a coup, he would probably stop at nothing to prevent it. After all, he always wanted to become the Hokage...
As the light gradually faded into dusk, Kakashi spoke a great deal. It was as if he wanted to pour out all the words he usually kept to himself to Rin in one go. After half an hour, he finally let out a sigh.
"Rin, that's enough for today. I need to go see that guy Obito now."
With that, he turned and walked to the front of Obito's grave. Unlike Rin's, Obito's grave did not contain his body; it was merely a cenotaph. Since Obito had been crushed by boulders while pushing Kakashi out of the way, his remains couldn't be found afterward, so a few items of clothing were used instead.
Unlike the bouquet he brought for Rin, Kakashi didn't bring anything for Obito or say a word. He simply stared in silence for a moment before leaving.
Following Kakashi's departure, the cemetery fell into silence once more. The sky was dark, and since it wasn't a special occasion, the gloomy weather suggested rain was imminent. Hardly anyone would choose this time to pay their respects. The only movement in the cemetery came from small animals moving through the grass, making faint rustling sounds.
Suddenly, the air in front of Rin's grave began to distort like a whirlpool. A man wearing a black trench coat and a spiral mask slowly emerged from the center of the vortex, appearing exactly where Kakashi had just stood.
The masked man looked in the direction Kakashi had gone and let out a disdainful snort from beneath his mask. "After all these years, Kakashi, you are still so arrogantly loathsome..."
What do you mean by "if I were still alive I would stop at nothing to prevent this"? You talk as if you actually understand me!
"I am no longer the person I used to be."
The masked man clenched his fist. In his heart, the hot-blooded youth who only wanted to become Hokage and sacrifice everything for his comrades and village had died along with Rin. He slowly turned his head toward Rin's grave. In an instant, the cold gaze he held for Kakashi melted into a sea of affection.
"Rin, don't worry. I will definitely change this shinobi world. I will use the Eye of the Moon Plan to create a truly perfect world—a world that has you in it!"
His voice wasn't loud, but it was filled with determination and obsession. Soon after, the black beetles hidden in the grass saw the masked man act like a child, kicking away the fresh flowers Kakashi had left at the grave. Then, he placed down his own bouquet.
Seeing this scene, Simu was somewhat speechless. He hadn't expected Tobi to be this childish. Simu curled his lip but quickly perked up. Though he didn't understand why Tobi and Kakashi liked to bare their hearts in front of graves, their "cross-time" conversation today allowed him to analyze a great deal.
For instance... Tobi's identity.
Regarding Tobi's identity, Simu now held several clues. First, he was closely related to Kakashi and Rin. Second, he hated Kakashi and loved Rin. Third, he possessed a powerful obsession to resurrect Rin. Fourth, he likely only had one eye.
After using the black beetles to browse through the Hidden Leaf's ninja archives and combining that with the information from this conversation, Tobi's true identity was practically shouting at him. It was their former teammate, Obito Uchiha.
As a teammate, he perfectly fit the first criteria of being close to Kakashi and Rin. Furthermore, according to Simu's research, Rin had been forced to become the Three-Tails Jinchuriki during the Third War and died by the hand of Kakashi's proud Lightning Blade. Because of this event, Kakashi had even been afraid to use Lightning Style to kill for a long time.
Therefore, Obito—who had willingly given his eye to Kakashi and hoped Kakashi would take good care of Rin—had every reason to host a grudge. Third, Obito's admiration for Rin provided a clear motive for wanting to resurrect her. The fourth point went without saying. Tobi usually only showed one eye, which matched the fact that Obito Uchiha gave one eye to Kakashi. Most importantly, one had the left eye and the other had the right; they were a perfect match!
From this, it could be determined that Obito Uchiha did not die during the mission at Kannabi Bridge. Instead, he had somehow survived and joined the Akatsuki under a mysterious identity, pushing the Eye of the Moon Plan to bring Rin back. Or rather, to create a world where Rin existed.
Clearly, this plan was vastly different from Nagato's plan of becoming the Ten-Tails Jinchuriki to deter the shinobi world and establish new rules.
"So, just how did you survive, and what exactly is this Eye of the Moon Plan?" Simu pondered with great interest. It seemed the waters of the shinobi world were even deeper than he had imagined...