"If it's not a dream... then what is it?"
Rin stared at Uncle Rinjin's impassive face, her voice barely a whisper.
"Reality," he replied.
With deliberate calm, Rinjin climbed up from the edge of the stone platform and settled down cross-legged before the little girl.
"Reality. You running toward Kakashi, your death, Obito's screams—they all happened. They're real."
The words struck Rin like a blow. Her single visible eye snapped open, wide with shock.
If all of this was reality... then Obito didn't die?
If all of this was reality... what about Kakashi, unconscious on the battlefield?
Her thoughts spun out of control, kindness tangled with confusion, and the searing pain in her left eye surged again, nearly dropping her to her knees.
Rinjin watched her clutch her eye, crying out in pain. His tone softened, almost gentle:
"Do you want to know everything?"
Rin nodded, desperate, her hand still pressed to her face.
Rinjin let out a long, weary sigh.
"This story goes back—way back. Let me start from the beginning.
Once upon a time, there was a boy named Senju Hashirama. He liked another boy—well... Anyway, Hashirama and Uchiha Madara founded the Hidden Leaf together. But the two of them split up over their ideals, and ended up fighting outside the village. That battle ended with Madara getting stabbed to death.
But Madara didn't really die. He'd hidden Izanagi in his Sharingan, turning his own death into a dream. He escaped.
To prove his point, Madara came up with Infinite Tsukuyomi—a jutsu to trap everyone in a dream, erase war and hatred forever.
Now he's old, nearly dead. Obito is the one he picked to carry out his plan.
And to make Obito hate the world enough to go through with it, the person he cared about most—Rin—had to die right in front of him."
The Kamui dimension fell silent, as if the whole world had stopped breathing.
After a long, aching pause, Rin finally raised her head, her gaze lost and trembling.
"Uncle Rinjin... can you bring Obito back?"
Rinjin smiled, shaking his head.
"You're still just a kid. The grown-up world is way too complicated for you. Why did Obito join the Moon's Eye plan? To create a world—with you in it. If you wanted, you could probably pull him back. You just need to be bold. Go up, hug him, kiss him—show him how you feel!"
He grinned, shameless, oblivious to the flush creeping across Rin's cheeks.
He wasn't lying, either. If Mizuguma came back to life and threw his arms around him, he'd drop everything—even Uchiha Madara. When Infinite Tsukuyomi hit, he'd just find a nice spot and hang himself up, let the world-saving fall to the overpowered heroes.
But reality was never that simple. Riie couldn't handle the Rinnegan. Killing Nagato would break Jiraiya's heart. So maybe he'd just wait—until Nagato destroyed the Leaf. Then, bring Mizuguma back with Impure World Reincarnation, send him to die in the Leaf again, and let a massive, indiscriminate Rinne Rebirth bring Mizuguma back for good.
He'd even come up with a name for it: The "Mizuguma Carries Rice Upstairs Plan."
Meanwhile, Rin was mortified by the uncle's advice. It wasn't that she didn't like Obito—it was just, hugging and kissing at twelve years old? Way too embarrassing!
She fidgeted, cheeks burning, and finally mumbled:
"Uncle... I... I don't want to get married so soon..."
Rinjin laughed, a knowing glimmer in his eye.
Not ready for marriage? Please. You're just stuck between Kakashi and Obito, can't pick one.
He curled his lip, muttering inside:
Men in this world have it rough. Guys who like guys fight with girls for affection, guys who like girls fight with other guys. Kakashi was smart—teamed up with that green spandex kid and got out of the singles game early. His dad never managed that.
After a moment of silent reflection, Rinjin scratched his head, half amused, half exasperated.
"If you listened to me, when Obito comes back, you should... treat Kakashi like a stranger from now on. Or, just bail and get out of here fast."
Rin shook her head, face blazing red.
"Uncle Rinjin, I haven't decided yet..."
"Alright then! In that case, let's get out of here for now."
He grabbed her by the back of her collar, and in a flash, the Flying Thunder God Jutsu activated.
Rain Village Chief's Office.
Riie watched her brother stride in, a young girl in tow, and the flames of gossip lit up behind her eyes.
She leaned close, voice low and teasing:
"Bro, you're something else! Last time I thought Xiao Mei was your secret kid, now you've brought home another one—I totally believe it now! So, does my sister-in-law know?"
Rinjin rolled his eyes, pushed her away by the forehead.
"Give it a rest. I swear, I don't know what goes on in your head. This girl's your sister's student. How's that my problem?"
Riie made a dismissive noise, waved him off, and slunk back to her seat, disappointed.
With the troublemaker dealt with, Rinjin turned to the nervous Rin, giving her shoulder a reassuring pat.
"Getting back to the Leaf is going to be tough. You saw how brutal the battlefield was. If you go back, the interrogation squad will definitely drag you in for questioning. If you really want to go, I can pull some strings. But honestly, I think you should stay in Rain for now. Your teacher Tsunade's here—she can train you when she has time. Shizune will be over soon too. As for Xiao Mei, she's gone home, so don't worry about her."
He gave her shoulder another pat and strode out of the room.
While Rinjin was busy settling Rin in, far away in the sand-swept Hidden Sand Village, Danzo—disguised as Kazekage—was up to his ears in work.
His desk was buried in intelligence scrolls, scattered in every direction.
Even though Rinjin had set everything up in advance, Danzo still felt like he was drowning in problems.
It had been more than half a year since Rinjin last called the Council of Eighteen together. Even after several more meetings, they still hadn't settled the newspaper issue.
Originally, Rinjin's plan was simple: if the proposal didn't pass in one meeting, scrap it. But Danzo saw genius in the newspaper idea—no way was he letting it die after one try. So he kept pushing, dragging the Council into more and more meetings.
To Danzo, the newspaper was dynamite: sell it to villagers for cash; use the news to secretly steer public opinion; even sell the corner ad spaces to merchants for extra profit.
If he wanted to control the Hidden Sand Village and sideline the Fourth Kazekage Rasa, the newspaper was the perfect weapon.
🔥 Want to read the next 80 chapters RIGHT NOW?
💎 Patreon members get instant access!
⚡ Limited-time offer currently running...
👉 Join on -
patreon.com/DarkGolds