"Because after I was captured by the Hidden Mist, the ninjas of Kirigakure sealed a monster inside my body. With my chakra, I couldn't suppress it at all. They wanted Kakashi to take me, and that monster, back to the village."
"At that time, I actually wanted to commit suicide, but whenever I had the thought of killing myself, my body would become completely paralyzed. So I decided to throw myself onto Kakashi's Chidori instead."
As Nohara Rin explained what had happened back then, she walked up to Uchiha Obito, crouched down, and reached out her hand, wanting to touch his face that had been battered beyond recognition by Kushina.
But Obito flinched back in panic, dodging her touch. Seeing that, Rin withdrew her hand, her face once again showing that gentle smile.
"I know, Obito, your biggest dream was to become Hokage, to protect the village, to protect everyone. How could I possibly let the things you wanted to protect be destroyed by me?"
When Obito heard that, his heart twisted in pain. Those words hurt him more deeply than all the torture Aoba had inflicted before.
"Rin…"
"No, that wasn't suicide either. Because that was part of a trap, one meant to make you die at Kakashi's hands," Aoba didn't intend to stop there.
"Huh?", Even Nohara Rin looked a little confused this time.
"Because this was all part of a trap targeting Uchiha Obito. As early as when you two hadn't even graduated from the Academy, Uchiha Madara had already set his sights on Obito."
"Madara understood all of your personalities. That cursed mark on your heart, he was the one who put it there. Because of that seal, you couldn't end your own life, so you would inevitably seek an opportunity to die. And when Kakashi killed you, Obito just happened to witness it."
"Then, seeing everything unfold before his eyes, Obito awakened the Mangekyo Sharingan and became Madara's most useful pawn."
As he spoke, Aoba looked at the dumbstruck Obito and said mercilessly,
"So, Obito, you have no right to resent Kakashi. If not for you, Rin might not have died at all."
Obito went blank.
Madara doing something like that… was absolutely believable. He was a man who would stop at nothing to achieve his goals, even giving away his own eyes.
And Rin… yes, she would definitely choose to die for the sake of the village.
So… was this the real reason Kakashi had killed Rin with his own hands?
But Obito couldn't bring himself to believe it.
If it was all true, then what was he, Uchiha Obito?
Just a clown, performing a pitiful act according to Madara's script?
"No… it's fake, all of it's fake. Aoba, you're lying to me," Obito shook his head like a wooden puppet, unable to face such a cruel reality.
Aoba stepped up to him, a glowing orb appearing in his hand.
"Then I'll let you see the truth with your own eyes."
With that, he pressed the glowing sphere into Obito's head.
It was one of the Rinnegan's abilities, extracting another person's memories.
That orb of light was Tobi's memory.
The instant it entered his head, Obito froze completely.
He was receiving all of Tobi's memories, from the moment of his creation up to now.
He saw himself. He saw his long-dead grandmother.
Tobi really had been observing him since his Academy days.
Madara had orchestrated everything. He really had lived all these years like a puppet on strings, a clown dancing to Madara's tune.
Everyone else was amazed by Aoba's methods, but only Obito sank into utter silence.
Everything was fake.
The hatred was fake. The ideals were fake. He'd wanted to create a new world for Rin. Yet all this time, he had lived according to the script of the man who had actually killed her.
At that moment, Obito's ninja way collapsed.
"Obito…", Rin called out softly.
"Kill me."
Obito spoke those words again. But this time, unlike before when he sought to die for his ideals, now he was utterly broken, as lowly as an insect.
"Obito!"
Rin looked at him, at what he had become, and even though she knew everything he had done, she couldn't help but feel her heart ache.
"Obito, if only you'd stayed on your original path, you could have become Hokage."
Kushina's voice trembled, "You were a good kid. The reasons you were always late… Minato and I never doubted them."
Obito's body trembled slightly. At this point, not only his heart but even his beliefs had shattered.
"I'm sorry too, Obito."
Rin gave a small, self-blaming smile, "If only I could've kept watching over you."
"Rin…"
Obito looked at Rin blankly. He remembered their old promise. He wanted, just once more, to hold her, but with his bloodstained hands, he would only taint the angel in his heart.
"I'm sorry… Rin."
He was a joke, from beginning to end, a complete joke.
———
"I thought you'd choose to forgive him, to let him live."
Inside the meeting room, Aoba spoke to Rin beside him.
"I'm not the kind of person who can't tell right from wrong. Obito did so many terrible things, he had to take responsibility."
Rin's voice was low; clearly, she still hadn't recovered from the shock.
Her childhood friend, the boy she'd grown up with, had ended up like this.
"Quiet down. We're discussing something important right now."
Tsunade, sitting at the head of the table, tapped her fingers against it, her eyes fixed on Aoba.
Aoba quickly made a "zip my lips" gesture.
Rin almost couldn't help laughing at that.
Tsunade only rolled her eyes at him before continuing, "First, about that Black Zetsu."
"I'll share his information, along with Madara's, with the other four great ninja villages, so they'll stay alert."
Aoba then revealed all the intel he had extracted from Tobi.
The fact that there had been such a dark hand manipulating the ninja world from the shadows made everyone present feel a deep sense of unease.
"I'll keep an eye out for anything suspicious while I'm traveling too," said Jiraiya.
Tsunade nodded. She hadn't expected this man to stay in the village anyway.
"Next is about housing arrangements for Kushina and Rin. Kushina will live with Naruto, so Rin, as for you."
"For me, just undo this technique," Rin said plainly. Since awakening this time, she no longer had much attachment to this ninja world.
Obito was dead. Kakashi had become an old man. The feelings she'd never had the chance to express had already faded away.
"Rin…", Kakashi hesitated, calling softly.
Rin gave him a gentle smile, "Kakashi, you probably won't have nightmares anymore, right?"