"Chief Fuma, you're really amazing..."
In a private room at a yakiniku restaurant within the Uchiha compound, Obito's face was flushed red as he finally managed to squeeze out these words to Fuma.
Obito was visibly nervous—not just because of the deep admiration he'd held for Fuma since childhood, but also because he had witnessed the scene where Fuma had effortlessly crushed Jiraiya.
Instinctively, he couldn't help but feel a tinge of fear.
"Hmm? What's so amazing about me?" Fuma chuckled, patting Obito's head with amusement before handing him a large piece of grilled meat. "Eat more. Your body is still far too weak."
Obito grinned, initially wanting to flex his growing biceps to show off his progress.
But after catching sight of Fuma's arm, which was nearly as thick as his thigh, he decided to stay quiet and obediently started eating.
'His forearm… it's almost as thick as my thigh...'
Minato, sitting nearby, coughed disapprovingly. "Fuma, don't praise Obito so much. This kid gets cocky way too easily."
"What? Blond Tobirama, you're just jealous of my talent!"
With Fuma sitting beside him, Obito quickly regained his usual rebellious streak and even dared to call Minato by the Uchiha clan's less-than-flattering nickname for him.
"Hah? Blond Tobirama…?" Minato's eyes gleamed dangerously as he smiled gently. "You're asking for trouble, you wicked little Uchiha. Just wait for this afternoon's taijutsu training—it's going to be intense."
Hearing this, Obito's neck visibly stiffened, as if recalling the times he had been left vomiting after training sessions. Still, he forced himself to act tough in front of Fuma. "Bring it on! Obito-sama won't lose to mere training!"
Fuma laughed heartily and pulled both Obito and Minato into a side hug. "Alright, alright—enough bickering. Let's just enjoy the meal."
Watching Obito devour the grilled meat with gusto, Fuma downed a cup of strong sake and silently reflected, 'Genius? That's an understatement when it comes to you, Obito.'
After nearly thirty years of navigating the ninja world, Fuma had fought countless Uchiha and faced numerous enemies—but he had never encountered someone like the original Obito.
A body capable of almost perfectly adapting to Hashirama's cells without rejection… and even using Wood Release successfully.
And it wasn't like Obito had undergone a carefully controlled integration. He had received Hashirama's cells while critically injured, which made the successful fusion even more astonishing.
Obito had only awakened the double tomoe Sharingan after being cut once—and after Rin's death, he jumped directly to the Mangekyou Sharingan, something that had trapped countless elite Uchiha in a bottleneck for generations.
For Rin's revenge, Obito had single-handedly manipulated the Fourth Mizukage and plunged Kirigakure into the Bloody Mist era, crippling the village's strength for years to come.
That's why, even decades later, Kirigakure could only produce someone like Chojuro—a fairly average Jonin—as Mizukage.
Aside from his emotional instability and tendency to go to extremes, Obito's talent was enough to make Indra's reincarnation, Sasuke, weep with envy.
After all, Sasuke had to suffer through the massacre of his entire clan just to awaken the third tomoe of his Sharingan.
"Konan, your jutsu development is impressive," Minato said, wiping his mouth.
He pulled out an explosive tag crafted by Konan and handed it to Fuma. "Konan's technique could be classified as a secret art, but I think it's more akin to a unique kekkei genkai."
"Combining it with sealing techniques, she's able to control paper and convert it into explosive tags. This has serious strategic potential."
Fuma studied the tag closely. Its center contained a strange mix of chakra and a unique sealing pattern.
Fuma had already calculated before—given the current production capacity and economic power of the ninja world, even someone like Kakuzu working nonstop for a century couldn't produce that many explosive tags.
The only logical explanation was that Konan was personally creating them.
As for the massive chakra reserves required—perhaps it came from Nagato, or even the Gedo Statue's tailed beasts—but it certainly wasn't coming from Konan herself.
After all, producing six billion explosive tags by hand would have left Konan looking more emaciated than Nagato himself.
Konan nodded obediently and poured tea for Fuma, Minato, and Obito in turn. "My goal is to learn offensive sealing techniques from Sister Kushina. Right now, my paper can only carry basic explosive tags, which limits its offensive potential."
"If I can integrate functional sealing jutsu into the paper, I think it will increase my usefulness on the battlefield."
Fuma considered this seriously. Paper had always been an ideal medium for sealing techniques, second only to the human body.
The Fire Sealing Method, Four Symbols Seal, even the Reverse Four Symbols Seal—if properly modified—could all be activated through paper.
If Konan could accomplish this, then even without the ability to create her own sealing scrolls, she could become a versatile powerhouse through Kushina's guidance.
Fuma smiled approvingly. "Good thinking, Konan. Looks like Obito needs to keep working hard—otherwise, he'll have to rely on you to support him."
Obito wasn't the least bit embarrassed. He leaned back smugly and said, "It's fine—being Minato-sensei's student means I should learn to rely on others sometimes."
"Hahaha!" Fuma laughed loudly.
Obito and Minato seemed to have developed a genuine bond—not just as teacher and student, but as close friends.
It was reminiscent of the dynamic between Obito and Kakashi in the original timeline.
"Chief, why aren't you eating?" Obito, trying to avoid Minato's menacing gaze, playfully grabbed a piece of beef and placed it in front of Fuma.
Fuma smiled, raising a single finger. From his fingertip, a surge of fiery Nine-Tails chakra erupted for a brief moment before being suppressed by an ominous black smoke that pulled it back into Fuma's body.
"This… is my meal."
Obito's expression froze. He swallowed hard. "Chief… are you saying… you're eating the Nine-Tails?"
Fuma nodded and sighed. "If it were possible, I'd devour the whole thing."
Even Minato, who usually stayed composed, gave Fuma a strange look. "Eat the Nine-Tails"—only Fuma would say something so outrageous.
Noticing Obito's bewildered expression, Fuma suddenly had an idea. 'What would Obito think of the Infinite Tsukuyomi?'
Raised within the nurturing environment of the Uchiha Clan, Obito's outlook was bound to be different.
Fuma's expression grew serious as he began tapping his finger rhythmically on the table. Fixing Obito with an intense gaze, he said in a low voice:
"Obito… as the Uchiha Clan Leader, I need to consult you—a rising star of our clan—on an important matter."
Obito sat up straight, his face tense as he replied seriously, "Please go ahead."
"Underneath the Naka Shrine, I discovered a stone tablet—left behind by the Sage of Six Paths himself. It contains instructions for a method to achieve true and eternal peace in the ninja world."
"The Sage of Six Paths…?"
"A method for eternal peace…?"
The weight of those words was staggering.
The Sage of Six Paths was the legendary founder of ninjutsu, revered for a thousand years. Achieving peace in the ninja world was the deepest desire of every shinobi.
Even Minato sat up straight, listening carefully.
"The tablet states that if all nine tailed beasts are gathered and merged using a secret technique, they will form a monstrous creature.
This creature can project a genjutsu called 'Infinite Tsukuyomi' onto the moon."
"Under this genjutsu, everyone's desires would be fulfilled. Although they would die in reality, they would experience eternal happiness in their dreams—and in doing so, war would end at its root."
"What do you think of this technique, Obito?" Fuma's eyes gleamed with quiet intensity.
Obito's mouth fell open. He blinked rapidly, struggling to find the right words.
Even Minato, though composed, was inwardly amused. 'Fuma… you're testing him, aren't you?'
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