Space was the foundation of everything that existed in the world.
Time and space had always been inseparable. Time without space could not be said not to exist—it simply had no meaning.
That was why the ninja world's techniques that traversed space were all classified as space-time ninjutsu.
Senju Tobirama's Flying Thunder God Technique and Obito's Kamui dōjutsu both belonged to that category.
Higashino Makoto had long since been a veteran user of the Flying Thunder God Technique, and he had never once relaxed his exploration and research into the ninja world's space-time framework.
There was no helping it—those abilities were practically standard equipment for the Ōtsutsuki clan. As an Ōtsutsuki himself, not mastering space-time abilities would honestly be embarrassing.
Even Kinshiki, one of the lower-ranking Ōtsutsuki, could use them.
At present, Makoto could already sense subtle fluctuations within spatial pathways and determine the direction of a target's transfer.
The problem was range. If the destination was too far away, he could no longer track it.
Fortunately, this time Obito had not gone very far.
Whenever Uchiha Obito came to Konoha, he only did three things: visit graves, visit graves, and everything else.
See? Grave-visiting was the real priority. Everything else was incidental.
Under normal circumstances, he chose to come at dawn, because at that hour, he could still see his old best friend Kakashi.
The former Team Seven often reunited under those bizarre circumstances.
One stood before the grave, one hid in the shadows, and one lay beneath the ground.
The way they reunited really was dark as hell.
Inside Konoha Cemetery, the vanished Obito reappeared before his and Rin's graves, seemingly lost in thought.
"I say, Uchiha Madara, right? You've got the wrong grave. Hashirama-sama's tomb isn't here."
Obito froze for a moment before abruptly turning around, only to see Makoto standing there at some unknown point in time.
"You? How did you know I was here? Did you sense me, or do you have some special tracking method?"
"I'm not that amazing. I just suddenly felt like coming to the cemetery to pay my respects to some heroic seniors I once knew."
"You think I'd believe that nonsense?"
"Hard to say. If you really are Madara, then you should be pretty old by now, right? Yet you still managed to visit the wrong grave. Are your eyes failing already?"
"Need me to help you over to Hashirama-sama's grave? Helping the elderly is a traditional virtue, after all. I do it all the time—especially helping old ladies cross the street."
"You bastard!"
Obito clenched his fists tightly. The memories of being verbally destroyed years ago, combined with everything he had gone through since then, assaulted him all at once.
"But you feel awfully young to me. Maybe you didn't visit the wrong grave after all. Perhaps someone you knew personally is buried here."
Obito's heart suddenly tightened.
"Higashino Makoto… what exactly are you trying to say?"
"What I'm saying is—how does it feel visiting your own grave, Uchiha Obito-senpai?"
"What a joke. You've mistaken me for someone else."
"Is that so? What a shame. If you really were Obito-senpai, I actually wanted to discuss resurrection-type ninjutsu with you."
"You see, I recently learned a forbidden technique capable of summoning the dead back from the Pure Land. Since Minato-senpai misses his two former students so much, I was wondering whether it might be possible to bring Obito-senpai and Rin-senpai back into the world of the living, then revive them through some special method."
"Higashino Makoto, you bastard! I won't allow you to disturb Rin's rest!"
"Oh? So you're no longer denying that you're Obito?"
Obito: "…"
"Ah, if Kakashi-senpai found out about this, I'm sure he'd be thrilled."
Obito once again exploded with rage just like he had years ago.
"Higashino Makoto, what exactly do you want?"
Makoto put away his joking expression.
"It's simple. I fully support your plan to create that so-called perfect world. But stop causing trouble in Konoha. Can you do that?"
Obito's eyes lit up.
"So you really were at the Uchiha clan compound earlier, and you heard what I said to Itachi, didn't you? Looks like you agree with me quite a bit. How about it? Want to join me?"
"No, I'm not interested. You just need to agree to my condition. Stop causing trouble in Konoha, and I won't interfere with your plan."
"How laughable. What makes you think you can stop me?"
"It's simple. I'll just kill you."
"How naïve. You think you can actually do that?"
Makoto did not answer. He simply clapped his hands together.
An instant later, countless Ice Release kunai suddenly shot out from the surrounding air toward Obito, while massive branches erupted from the ground, encircling him completely. There was no path to the sky, nor any route underground, forcing him into his intangibility state.
The branches then twisted into a cage, countless sharpened tips frantically stabbing through its interior.
But every strike passed through empty air.
Obito said, "Those attacks are useless against me."
"Is that so? I can keep this up all day. Can you stay intangible all day? Oh right, you could use a space-time ninjutsu to escape."
"But why haven't you used it yet? Can't use it, maybe? No way, no way. Looks like you really can't use it."
Obito: "…"
The two entered a silent stalemate.
Then Obito realized that this bastard's chakra reserves seemed endless. There was no sign the ninjutsu would stop anytime soon.
But he also could not wait until his intangibility expired before retaliating. If he did that, the weakness of his dōjutsu would be exposed.
So halfway through maintaining intangibility, he formed hand seals within the alternate dimension, then pulled his right arm back into reality. Relying on his abnormal physique to endure the wood spikes piercing through him, he slammed one palm against the ground.
Uchiha Flame Formation!
This was an Uchiha-exclusive flame barrier ninjutsu, though the way it appeared this time was rather unique. The barrier was very small, enclosing only Obito himself while blocking the endlessly stabbing wood spikes outside.
That way, he could buy himself enough time. Before the barrier vanished, he could end his intangibility and transfer himself away.
This was the only solution he could think of.
Since a barrier could trap people, naturally it could also protect them.
And with enough time secured, he even turned to glance at Makoto, his eyes filled with provocation.
Makoto smiled at him.
Then he suddenly vanished.
The next instant, he appeared inside the Flame Formation barrier itself.
A rainstorm of punches immediately crashed down onto Obito, beating him so badly he could not even maintain the timing of his intangibility.
"ORA! ORA! ORA! ORA! ORA!"
"Ahhh—stop!"
A few moments later, Makoto lifted Obito up like a sack of mud.
"If it weren't for Minato-senpai and Kakashi-senpai, I'd have beaten you to death already. Did you really think I couldn't find where you were hiding? So, do you still have any objections to my proposal now?"
"No. I understand what I should do."
"Good."
"How did you get inside just now? I already removed the Flying Thunder God mark from my body."
"How naïve. Do you think Flying Thunder God marks are that easy to remove? Though you did remind me of something."
As Makoto spoke, a sealing formula condensed in his hand. He slammed his palm onto Obito's head, the technique continuing for several full minutes before finally ending.
Obito did not feel anything unusual.
Which only made it more terrifying.
"What did you do to me?"
"Simple. I placed a seal inside your brain. Only I can control or remove it. Of course, once you go back, you can try solving it yourself."
"Be careful though. If you make even one mistake, the seal won't kill you—but it will destroy every memory you have of Rin."
Obito: "…"
What the hell?
Was this guy a demon?
...
The next day, the sun rose high in the sky, and a new day began.
The residents of Konoha went about their lives as usual.
As for last night's battle in the open area, the official explanation was that they had been pursuing a high-ranking spy from an enemy village.
Konoha's people were already used to that sort of thing. It happened several times every year.
As long as ordinary civilians were not involved, nobody had anything to worry about. It did not even spark much interest for discussion.
The matter involving Uchiha Sōsuke had likewise remained confined within the clan and was internally suppressed.
A rebellion aimed at Konoha had ended just like that—full of momentum at the start, only to fizzle out quietly in the end, without creating any real waves.
Only a handful of people had vanished from the world forever.
Before absolute power, every scheme and conspiracy appeared laughable.
Even Uchiha Obito, the man who manipulated both the Akatsuki and Kirigakure from the shadows, had likewise ended up firmly under Higashino Makoto's control.
Now, if Obito wanted to complete the Eye of the Moon Plan and free himself from Makoto's control, he first had to remove the seal inside his brain.
But if he made even the slightest mistake, all his memories of Nohara Rin would disappear.
And if he no longer remembered Rin, then who exactly would he be carrying out the Eye of the Moon Plan for?
The one-track-minded fool had completely trapped himself from both directions.
Fortunately, Makoto had no intention of stopping his plan.
He had not even asked a single question about it.
Thinking about it that way, Obito suddenly felt that Makoto... was actually a pretty decent guy.
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