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Six months.
It had been six months since that night he parted ways with Kisame and vanished, bound for his final battle with Sasuke. Obito had assumed he was dead.
He wasn't.
There he stood—Uchiha Itachi—between Obito and the Nine-Tails.
Fury, white-hot and bitter, coiled in Obito's gut. Seconds. He'd been seconds away from securing the Nine-Tails' other half, from resurrecting the Ten-Tails in a more perfect form. And this man had ruined it.
He ignored Kabuto for now, standing atop the Gedo Statue, his gaze locked on the one man who had always made him wary.
"Long time no see," Obito's voice echoed, flat. "Since you and Kisame went your separate ways, since you ran off to fight your brother… I thought you were dead."
Itachi's voice was calm water over stone. "I live. My apologies for the disappointment."
A dry chuckle. "Old history. You were clinging to life with medicine, just to see your brother one last time. And now look at you. Alive. Well. And with… new eyes."
Obito's hand clenched inside his black sleeve. His voice hardened, sharpened to a point.
"—Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan. And you've even incorporated Shisui's pattern. Not brothers. Not father and son. How. Tell me!!!"
The truth, laid bare by Obito, finally registered with Naruto, who now wore Madara's face and had fought Itachi before. His eyes widened. "So it's not a brother's eyes… you and the host of Kotoamatsukami!"
"..." Itachi offered no explanation. He simply stood, an unmoving shield before Naruto.
Obito knew better. The secret of those eyes wasn't the priority. The Nine-Tails was. The complete Nine-Tails. Not the scraps from the Gold and Silver Brothers. The real thing, half of which was right there, inside the man Itachi protected.
If he missed this chance today, it would only get harder. Much harder.
Facing Itachi head-on was a gamble. So, Obito played a different card.
"Itachi, let's not dwell on the distant past. That night in Konoha, when the elders moved against the Uchiha. You, the double agent, caught between a rock and a hard place. Without my help that night… could you have wiped out the clan and walked out of Konoha alive? Hard to say."
He continued, voice dripping with false reason. "And later, when you were on Konoha's ANBU kill list, a wanted criminal across nations… who gave you a place? The Akatsuki. My organization. We used each other, sure. But I did you a favor. You agree?"
Itachi's reply was immediate, devoid of guilt. "I agree."
"So," Obito's voice turned accusatory, "this is how you repay a debt?!"
"Stopping you from sinking further down this wrong path," Itachi said, his gaze steady, "is my repayment."
"Heh… hehehe… Wrong path?" Obito's chuckle was cold. "You're criticizing the Infinite Tsukuyomi?!"
His voice rose, cracking into a near-roar. "A world saved by beautiful dreams—is that not more romantic, more humane, than slaughtering your own flesh and blood!!!"
The verbal dagger found its mark. Nearby, as Karin helped restore his chakra, Sasuke's eyes went cold.
Itachi was silent for a long moment. Then he opened his eyes, his words deep and measured, flowing from a place of unshakable conviction.
"I have never run from the weight of my sins. But Obito… the sins of others are not your excuse. They do not absolve you of your own."
"Truly, Uchiha Itachi," Obito sighed, a hint of genuine admiration in his tone. "Such formidable conviction. But if conviction alone could change hearts, there would be fewer graves in this world. In the end… the world speaks the language of power!!!"
ZZZRRRROOOOM—!!
The Gedo Statue's maw gaped open. A Tailed Beast Bomb, swollen with the chakra of eight Tailed Beasts, coalesced with terrifying speed. No warning. No hesitation. It launched straight at Itachi.
—"If I can't have it, then I'll destroy it!!!"
Itachi's eyes narrowed. The threat was immense. He didn't dodge. He met it.
"Yata Mirror!"
CLANG!!!
The Tailed Beast Bomb slammed into the divine mirror. Light flared across its surface. The massive orb… wobbled. It began to deflect!
BOOM!
A second, smaller Tailed Beast Bomb shot from the statue's mouth—catching the first one just as it rebounded.
KABOOOOOOOOOM—!!!
The explosion was cataclysmic. A tsunami of fire and force swallowed Itachi whole.
"GYAAAAAH—!!!" The shockwave hurled Kabuto, who wasn't far, through the air like a ragdoll.
"Heh." A smirk touched Obito's lips. A Kamui vortex swallowed him.
And in the next instant, he materialized above Sasuke and Karin, his hand already shooting down for the grab!
He knew Itachi guarded 'Uzumaki-Madara.' That path was blocked. So he feinted. The real target was Sasuke.
Capture Sasuke, and he held the leash. Itachi would comply. Orochimaru would comply.
"Karin, move!"
Sasuke looked up, ready to fight. But this time, Karin didn't hide behind him.
Zzzzt—!!
Her Blood Dragon Eyes flared. The pupils distorted, becoming horizontal slits like a toad's, bathing the darkness above in a malevolent, bloody light.
"Take this…!!"
A sharpened rod slid from her sleeve into her palm. Without a flicker of hesitation, she drove it deep into her own chest.
—Dōjutsu: Death-Controlling Possessed Blood!
CRUNCH—!!!
High above, Obito's body convulsed violently. His grabbing hand snapped back. He hit the ground, curling into a ball, clutching his chest.
Blood soaked through his black robes, staining his fingers.
A gruesome, gaping hole—straight through his torso.
"This ability… it's Hidan's!!" He stared at Karin, horrified. "No ritual? No need for the target's blood? Just… a look? That woman… she hid this all along?!"
Clatter.
Karin pulled the bloody rod free and tossed it aside. She raised her arm to her mouth and bit down—right next to the mark Sasuke's teeth had left earlier.
—Uzumaki Regeneration!
Hiss… hiss…!
Steam rose. The hole in her chest closed seamlessly.
She looked down at Obito, her expression pure contempt. "A scheming, backstabbing coward. No matter how strong you are, you're still just a pathetic clown!!"
Hiss.
Obito pushed himself to his feet. Hashirama's cells already knitting his wound. His gaze turned icy. "Coward. Schemer. Scum. Call me what you will. The grand dream I'll realize by any means necessary… isn't something a dogma-spouting woman whose world revolves around some boy can possibly judge."
In the distance, the flames from the Tailed Beast Bomb faded. Itachi stood, the Yata Mirror held before him, utterly unscathed.
Further back, Kabuto—using Futodama—had transported Orochimaru, the reincarnated Nagato, and the others onto the field.
Enemies at his back. Karin and her deadly ability in front of him, making a direct approach suicide.
Seeing his plan crumbling around him, Uchiha Obito finally lost his composure.
"Sasuke! If you have any pride as an Uchiha, don't hide behind a woman! Face me! One on one!!"
Karin scoffed. "One on one?! You attack when everyone's exhausted from battle! Someone like you has no right to talk about honor!!"
Obito had thrown all pretense to the wind. "Sasuke! You only fight when the wind's at your back! When things get tough, you cower behind a skirt! I look down on you!!!"
"You—!!!" Karin's fury ignited. She lunged forward, ready to trade her life for his.
A hand settled on her shoulder. Sasuke's.
"Enough, Karin. Trading your life for his isn't worth it."
Sasuke's cold eyes met Obito's.
"You wanted to pull me into your Kamui dimension. Use me as a hostage. Force Orochimaru to hand over the other half of the Nine-Tails. Right?"
Obito snarled. "So what if I did?!"
Sasuke's voice was flat, absolute, final.
"You. Can't."
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