Naruto World, Konoha Village.
"Rinnegan?!"
By now Kakashi had shifted from the shock that Obito was alive to the Rinnegan itself. True, future Six Paths Madara and Sasuke would both possess it,
but he knew that was only the future. At present, owning a Mangekyo Sharingan already counted as top-tier combat power.
Hmm... in a certain sense, once the current Sasuke awakened his Mangekyo and got a little practice with its ocular jutsu,
he'd basically be at the pinnacle of the Ninja World. Kakashi figured even he couldn't beat Sasuke—only Might Guy over here or Lord Jiraiya stood a chance.
What Kakashi hadn't expected was that Uchiha Madara's Rinnegan had existed all along; Madara had simply transplanted it into someone else.
"..."
Jiraiya stared at the video showing Nagato, Yahiko, and Konan. His expression was grim.
These three were his disciples. Before watching, he had always believed Nagato was the prophesied child—born with the Rinnegan,
the eyes of the Six Paths Sage. And Nagato was kind by nature; so were Yahiko and Konan.
Even after leaving them, whenever Jiraiya was elsewhere he'd get reports on them—word was they wanted to bring peace to Amegakure.
Not long after, however, he learned of their deaths.
That news left him deeply depressed. He returned to Konoha once to see Minato, then set out again—only for Minato Namikaze to die in the Nine-Tails disaster.
From that day on Jiraiya seldom came back to the village, devoting himself to "research" while tracking Orochimaru and investigating the mysterious Akatsuki Organization.
Now, watching the video of the trio meeting "Uchiha Madara"—or rather Uchiha Obito—his face darkened further.
Could this Obito have taken Nagato's Rinnegan? No... it was Madara's Rinnegan to begin with.
Wait, that can't be right. Later Obito appeared and still didn't have Rinnegan—so... Nagato isn't dead?
The revelations in the video made Jiraiya's expression turn heavy; he cared deeply about what came next.
What had really happened back then? Of course he cared—they were his pupils.
"Obito... you're alive? Why didn't you come back to Konoha?"
Kakashi wore a bitter smile. From certain lines he could pretty much tell Obito had wanted to reunite with him.
As for what happened later, White Zetsu's remark—"Who actually wiped the enemy out?"—gave it away.
Kakashi realized it must have been when he killed Rin. Only then had he been surrounded and nearly died.
Yet when he woke up, all the enemies were dead.
'Was it that moment? No... Obito not returning and instead working with Madara—this has to be the reason.'
Kakashi felt a heavy bitterness in his heart: because he had killed Rin, Obito fell into darkness.
There were reasons, but the fact remained—Rin died by his hand.
Naruto World, Hidden Rain Village.
Watching the video of himself with Nagato and the others, Uchiha Obito's Sharingan pupil shrank. He wanted to stand up right then.
But before he knew it, all Six Paths of Pain except Deva Path had arrived.
The five surrounded him; Deva Path was in a meeting. As long as Obito didn't try to flee or attack, the strongest Deva Path wouldn't leave his seat.
"Uchiha Obito, is it?"
Nagato, controlling the Six Paths, had him encircled. Their tone no longer held the usual caution.
Now that they knew the masked man wasn't the legendary Uchiha Madara who had once settled the Ninja World alongside Senju Hashirama, Pain—Nagato—had lost respect for him.
The reason was simple: Madara's fame was built on raw power.
Even now Nagato remained wary of the legendary Madara and Hashirama. Kakuzu had said he once fought Hashirama—
for only a "moment"—yet that seasoned immortal had compared Hashirama's strength to Pain's.
He said Hashirama was like the mythical Six Paths Sage; even current Pain could barely approach that level.
A man's name is like a tree's shadow.
The Uchiha Madara who matched Hashirama made Nagato cautious, and the earlier video showing Six Paths Madara in action had shown Pain just how formidable the pinnacle could be.
As for Might Guy? Pain wasn't worried. Mighty, yes—but the Eight Gates could be used only once. Kick Pain to death?
So what? It wasn't Nagato's real body; as long as he lived, Pain could be remade endlessly.
Now Nagato had Obito surrounded, demanding he behave and explain what he knew.
For instance... why had Madara transplanted the Rinnegan into him?
And what exactly was this "world-creation" theory?
Although the video had made things clear enough, some details were still missing, so Nagato wanted to force Obito to talk.
"Is that so? Then this ridiculous mask no longer needs to stay on."
Watching Nagato surround him with the Six Paths of Pain, Obito knew it was time to lay his cards on the table—he had no choice.
He quietly removed the mask, revealing his true face, and said calmly to Nagato, "Do you want Yahiko brought back to life?"
"!!!!!!!"
Those words made Nagato, who was controlling Pain, narrow his pupils slightly. Through Pain he said coldly, "Can the world you spoke of truly be created?"
If there was one thing Nagato desired most, it was to resurrect Yahiko—the very Deva Path Pain.
That was Nagato's wish; he had always believed Yahiko should not have died—he was the true leader of the Akatsuki Organization.
Because of that, the crippled Nagato split the power of his Rinnegan and made Yahiko the strongest of the Six Paths—the Deva Path Pain.
He also had Yahiko appear at every major and minor Akatsuki gathering.
"It can be created; otherwise, why would I be doing all this?"
Obito looked at Nagato, his tone perfectly calm. "And Madara's goal is very simple: he wants you, once you've grown up and mastered the Rinnegan, to use the Outer Path — Samsara of Heavenly Life Technique to bring him back."
"..."
Nagato frowned. He naturally knew that jutsu, but it was cast at the cost of the user's life; someone long dead could not be revived.
That was why he had never resurrected Yahiko.
Madara had been dead for so long—why did they think the Outer Path — Samsara of Heavenly Life Technique could bring him back?
Could it be that they had some other method—some way to control that technique and resurrect the dead?
"As for why, I don't know. Madara didn't tell me anything more."
The video was still playing. Obito didn't know how much of "his" content would be exposed, so he chose to withhold certain things while still coming clean: "I don't trust Madara. Compared with that man, I trust you more."
As he spoke, Obito stretched out his hand toward the Six Paths of Pain. "After working together for so many years, don't you believe me yet?"
Nagato said nothing. He didn't trust Obito, but there was one thing Obito had said that was true.
Compared with Uchiha Madara, this Obito was more trustworthy—after all, he had dealt with him for a long time.
"I'll trust you for now. Keep watching the video."
Nagato decided to continue watching and would decide whether to trust this man based on what Obito did in the footage.
The video rolled on.
Yahiko flatly refused the man calling himself "Madara," then left with Konan and Nagato; he disdained joining hands with such an "evil" person.
The scene shifted slightly—Yahiko was dead, Nagato had lost the use of his legs, and while Konan had suffered little physical harm, her spirit was unimaginably scarred.
All other Akatsuki members were killed; how they died was not shown in the video.
Thus the original Akatsuki, which sought peace through dialogue, vanished, replaced by one that aimed to rule every nation by force.
Next came scenes of recruiting new members.
Uchiha Itachi and Orochimaru from Konoha.
Sasori from Sunagakure.
Kakuzu from Takigakure.
Biwa Jūzō and Kisame Hoshigaki from the Hidden Mist Village.
Deidara from Iwagakure.
Hidan from the Hot-Water village.
Plus Nagato, Konan, and behind the scenes Uchiha Obito and White/Black Zetsu—a terrifying organization capable of shaking the entire Ninja World.
Thus Akatsuki was born.
Outside the video, in the Naruto World, within Akatsuki.
"Hey, hey, it feels like even our underwear has been stripped off by whoever made this video," Deidara grumbled.
He didn't mind going to war with the Five Great Villages, but having all their intel exposed from the start irked him.
And the so-called "Madara," their strongest fighter, turned out to be some Uchiha Ninja nobody knew.
Frankly, Deidara didn't think much of the Uchiha Clan; yes, they once cast a shadow across countless battlefields.
After all, once those crimson Sharingan eyes appeared, a half-second lapse could leave you caught in an Uchiha genjutsu, and the next thing you knew an explosive tag–tied Kunai could come flying from nowhere.
Then you could only pray your tough body could tank the blast.
Besides, not every Uchiha was as monstrous as Itachi, Madara, or the future Sasuke, so Deidara couldn't care less.
Uchiha Obito? Never heard of him—just some rat hiding his face.
"Yes, I'm not pleased either," Sasori said.
He'd enjoyed the show at first—seeing Six Paths Madara and Itachi exposed had been fun.
After all, when it was someone else being exposed, it was entertaining.
But now most Akatsuki members were far from amused.
Kisame, Kakuzu, even Hidan all looked displeased.
"...Uchiha Obito," Itachi spoke up calmly. "I thought he was Madara. Turns out it's him."
"Itachi, from your tone, you actually know this Obito guy," Deidara said, curious. "Was he famous? What level was he before?"
Itachi glanced at Pain, who said nothing, then slowly replied, "Know Kakashi? His Sharingan came from Uchiha Obito. Back then Obito was only a Chunin in Konoha."
"A Chunin?? Hahaha, that's hilarious." Deidara burst out laughing. "What's a Chunin worth? Still, that Copy-Ninja Kakashi is interesting—his Sharingan is the only one left in the world besides yours, that Sasuke kid, and Obito."
No one else in Akatsuki said much; a mere Chunin was nothing—even most Jonin couldn't catch their eye.
Only the Kage of each village were the targets they truly aimed for.
The video continued.
Years after Akatsuki was formed, the organization finally moved—beginning to hunt the Tailed Beasts.
The One, Two, Three, Four, Five, Six, Seven, and Eight-Tails were all captured by them.
However, these actions also shocked the Ninja World, especially after the Raikage's younger brother, the Eight-Tails Jinchuriki Killer Bee, was taken away.
Finally, the second Five Kage Summit began. The specific details are unknown as most of it was fast-forwarded, but the only thing that could be ascertained was...
Sasuke was severely injured by the four Kage, and the Hokage was nowhere to be found. Just as Sasuke was about to be killed by the Tsuchikage Ōnoki, Uchiha Obito stepped in to save him.
Furthermore, he revealed his identity, self-identifying as 'Uchiha Madara', and decided to declare war on the Five Great Ninja Villages.
The Fourth Great Ninja War!
This move caused the four Kage to feel immense fear and wariness.
As mentioned before, a man's name is like the shadow of a tree; the name Uchiha Madara itself carried a terrifying power.
Thus, the Shinobi Allied Forces were formed, and their opponents were the countless White Zetsu and the Edo Tensei army within the Akatsuki Organization.
Some scenes fast-forwarded, finally stopping on a bandaged man. He placed one hand on the ground, forming a single-handed seal, and spoke: "Summoning Jutsu!"
A coffin appeared in front of him.
*Crack!*
The sound of shattering rang out, which made the bandaged man look exceptionally shocked, and he quickly retreated.
*Boom—!!!!*
Accompanied by a terrifying airwave surging into the distance, the coffin lid was kicked flying. The bandaged man hid to the side, expressing great surprise at this scene.
It was also at this time that a figure slowly walked out from inside. His voice sounded somewhat excited: "That day has finally come. That brat Nagato has finally grown up!"