Late at night—Konoha Military Police Headquarters.
"Release."
The sealing array was lifted temporarily. The Fourth Hokage, Namikaze Minato, pulled open the iron gate and stepped inside.
Behind him, the Uchiha clan's prodigy, Uchiha Shisui, raised a hand. The Uchiha guards posted nearby silently withdrew, one after another, until the corridor emptied.
Shisui turned as if to leave as well.
But Minato spoke without looking back.
"As expected of Shisui of the Body Flicker—the one who made even enemy shinobi fear him on the battlefield."
"You already guessed, didn't you? Then stay."
Shisui paused at the bars, then quietly came to stand behind Minato.
Minato let out a long breath.
"I think… as an Uchiha who awakened the Mangekyō, you understand what it means to gain love—then lose it."
"Obito and you… might share scars that feel the same."
Minato's hand reached the spiral-pattern mask.
Click.
The mask came off.
And the face beneath it—
was nothing like the bright, sunlit boy in Minato's memories.
Half of it was grotesque—Hashirama's cells molded into flesh that didn't quite belong, twisted and unnatural. The eyes were gone, the sockets already scabbed over and empty.
Even without eyeballs, it was obvious:
there was no "light" left in them.
"…Obito."
Minato's voice was so soft it barely carried.
Obito lifted his head—and laughed. A harsh, ugly sound.
"Sen…sei."
"You already knew it was me, didn't you? That person who gave you the intel… he didn't tell you my name?"
Obito kept talking, like he couldn't stop once he started.
"Of course you could figure it out. You and Kakashi… you're shinobi who made your names in war. Your ability to analyze information speaks for itself."
"Only Kakashi is too stupid about the Mangekyō to connect the dots. Otherwise…"
Minato shook his head. "I only want to know why you became this."
"Last night… you were going to attack Kushina, weren't you?"
"Release the Nine-Tails. Destroy Konoha."
"And maybe… kill your own teacher—and the woman who cared about you."
Obito's lips curled, no trace of shame.
"A Konoha without Rin… a world without Rin… has no meaning to me."
"When Kakashi's Chidori pierced straight through Rin's chest—this world lost all meaning."
"A teacher who's always one step too late."
"A Kakashi who killed Rin."
None of you kept your promises.
Minato opened his mouth—then Obito cut him off with a cold laugh.
"The Three-Tails was sealed inside Rin, right? I know."
"I also know Rin asked Kakashi to kill her."
"That's what you were going to say, isn't it… Sensei?"
Minato fell silent.
"HAHAHAHA—!"
Obito's laughter turned wild. In his empty sockets, two streaks of tears mixed with blood and slid down his face.
The pain of torn wounds didn't even compare to the pain in his chest.
Minato had countless questions for him—
and Obito had even more things he wanted to scream at Minato and Kakashi.
Because the only light in his world…
had been Rin.
Nohara Rin.
"Sensei…"
"Where were you when Rin was taken?"
"Where were you when the boulder fell and crushed me?"
"Where were you when Rin had the Three-Tails sealed into her?"
"If you were there…"
"If you—someone who mastered fūinjutsu—were there…"
"…Rin wouldn't have died!!"
Obito's body shook as he roared.
The iron chains binding him pulled tight, the links whining under strain.
But Minato and Shisui didn't move.
They just listened.
Minato closed his eyes for a moment.
Then he spoke quietly.
"Obito… as your teacher, nothing I say can undo Rin's death."
"But…"
"I'm sorry."
"I failed to protect you."
Minato exhaled, and when he opened his eyes again, there was a gentle curve to his mouth.
"So, Obito…"
"…can you come back?"
"Come back to Konoha."
"You'd still be Obito."
Still my student.
Still…
Rin's teammate.
Obito froze.
Minato kept going, voice steady.
"Last night—aside from Kakashi, Shisui, and Captain Fugaku—no one knows what happened."
"The two medic-nin will keep quiet too."
"Come back, Obito."
For a moment, the cell was utterly silent.
Behind Minato, Shisui glanced at him—genuinely surprised.
The Hokage's composure, his judgment… and his capacity—
Shisui couldn't help but respect it.
If they hadn't received intel in advance, the Nine-Tails being released would've been inevitable.
And the moment the Nine-Tails left the jinchūriki, Kushina—the Fourth's wife—would have died.
In the end, even Minato might not have survived.
Yet here he was…
trying to forgive a student who had almost destroyed everything.
And Minato had insisted Shisui stay and watch.
Not just for Obito.
For Shisui.
Because last night's Mangekyō power, Susanoo, and the truth of Shisui's dōjutsu—Minato had clearly taken note.
And that other Mangekyō—the one tied to a different dimension—was definitely weighing in the Hokage's mind as well.
This was Minato telling him:
Trust me.
I'm not Tobirama.
I'm not going to treat the Uchiha like a threat by default.
A low chuckle sounded inside the cell.
"Chi… heh…"
Obito suddenly raised his head.
His blood-hollow sockets stared straight at Minato.
"No."
"I don't need Konoha."
"I don't need you, Sensei."
"I don't need anyone."
"I only need to create a world where Rin exists."
"Everything else… doesn't matter."
"It doesn't matter anymore!!"
Blue chakra exploded out of him, a violent surge—shattering the chakra-suppressing seals in an instant.
A skeletal frame began to rise, snapping chains link by link—
"THUD!"
"Seal."
Minato's palm struck Obito's abdomen.
In a single motion, the sealing power clamped down and locked that chakra back into silence.
Shisui let out a breath, eyes narrowing. "Even without your Sharingan… you can still use Susanoo?"
"It's not even the first stage, but…"
"I'll say it."
"You really are an Uchiha genius."
Shisui closed his Mangekyō. He had been ready to manifest Susanoo as well.
Obito collapsed to the floor, unmoving.
He didn't want to speak anymore.
He'd asked his questions.
He'd gotten an apology.
And what did it change?
Rin wouldn't return.
This world had no Rin.
…
"Let's go," Minato said at last.
He gave his student one final look, then turned and walked out.
Behind him, Shisui locked the gate again and restored the seals.
In the corridor, Shisui hesitated—wanting to say something.
Minato spoke first, his back still to him.
"Wait a few days."
"Maybe…"
Shisui lowered his head.
He understood what Minato meant.
Even now, the Fourth still wanted to save his student.
Minato's voice softened.
"Obito was always late… because he kept stopping to help old people."
"I remember him saying once during a mission—'There isn't a single elderly person in Konoha I don't know.'"
"Even at the Academy, even when they called him dead-last… he never gave up."
"And to awaken the Sharingan…"
"He used eye drops, wore goggles—protected his eyes like it mattered more than anything."
Minato exhaled.
"He was a boy full of sunlight."
"And his light…"
"…was Rin."
…
At the same time—
inside the Military Police captain's office, a shadow slid in.
A black silhouette overlapped half of Fugaku's body.
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