Konoha.
As if sensing the storm on the horizon—and a certain someone's unbearable sorrow—dark clouds gathered over the village, and a light rain began to fall, pitter-pattering across the rooftops.
Despite the heightened alert across the village during this tense time, a black-robed figure now stood quietly before a gravestone.
Rain poured over him, soaking his body, but he didn't flinch.
It was as though he were borrowing the cold rain to smother the pain welling up from deep inside.
"…Kakashi."
Gazing at the name and photo engraved on the headstone, Uchiha Obito stood in silence, his emotions a tangled, seething knot.
Back at Kannabi Bridge, he had sacrificed himself to save his best friend and the girl he loved.
But in the Battle of Higashimatsuyama, all of that was shattered.
That day, he lost his best friend. He lost the woman he loved. Everything he once cherished—everything that made him human—was destroyed before his eyes…
…by the very man he once respected most—his own sensei.
Obito shifted his gaze from Kakashi's grave to the side.
To the left of Kakashi's headstone was a small, unmarked burial mound. No name, no headstone, not even remains.
This was the so-called "grave" of Nohara Rin, the Three-Tails Jinchūriki who, after destroying a critical Konoha position, was deemed too disgraceful to be given a proper burial.
Despite being Minato Namikaze's disciple.
Despite being a victim herself.
Konoha simply could not allow the woman who had—willingly or not—caused so many deaths to be honored like the rest. To do so would dishonor the true dead.
And yet, Minato… still built her a resting place.
Right next to Kakashi. And next to Obito's own empty grave.
"…Rin…"
Obito closed his eyes in agony, the ache in his heart like a thousand silver needles stabbing him with every breath.
"Why…"
"Why, sensei…? Why…?!"
Even if it was all Kirigakure's scheme—Minato had a thousand ways to save Rin. He could've used contract seals, or dozens of other jutsu.
So why… why did he choose to kill her?
Obito's whole body trembled. His pride as an Uchiha—his Sharingan—had let him see it all with terrifying clarity: Minato using Flying Thunder God to pierce Rin's heart in one clean stroke.
Now, three graves lay before him.
Kakashi on the right. Obito on the left. Rin in the middle.
And the man who once smiled gently behind them… now held a blood-stained blade.
Slaughtering the memory. Shattering the picture.
Uchiha Obito stood there, before the graves, until the sun set and darkness fell.
Endless pain transformed into darkness, completely engulfing and surrounding him.
After a long time, he slowly stood up, turned silently, and walked into the bushes behind him...
Meanwhile
Inside the Fourth Hokage's residence, Kushina Uzumaki, who was preparing dinner, suddenly clutched her heavily swollen stomach.
Her soft, maternal face twisted in both pain and surprise.
The ANBU stationed nearby noticed instantly. Within seconds, they were by her side.
All of them had been selected by the Third Hokage specifically for their medical expertise.
Realizing something was wrong, they examined her immediately and relayed the news throughout the village:
The Fourth Hokage's wife… was going into labor.
The response was instant.
Konoha's highest-ranking leaders—including the retired Third Hokage Hiruzen Sarutobi, and Aburame Shibi—gathered without delay.
Barriers were raised.
Every sensor and defensive specialist was deployed.
Hiruzen even called upon his wife, Biwako, to serve as the head midwife.
All to ensure a smooth, safe birth.
Or more accurately…
…to ensure the Nine-Tails didn't escape.
It was well-documented in Konoha's history: during childbirth, a Jinchūriki's seal becomes weakest.
When the First Hokage's wife, Mito Uzumaki, gave birth, the Nine-Tails had nearly broken free.
If not for Hashirama Senju and Uchiha Madara both being present…
…a catastrophe would've occurred.
(Then again, with Wood Style and Susanoo unleashed, the Nine-Tails wouldn't have stood a chance.)
...
"Aaaah… aaahhh… it hurts so much…"
Kushina's screams echoed from within the cavern. Outside the barrier, ANBU guards stood alert, not flinching even as her cries grew louder.
The sound was dampened by the sealing barriers, but everyone knew exactly what was happening inside.
"…Has Minato returned yet?" Hiruzen asked softly, turning to Fukasaku the Toad Sage.
Fukasaku shook his head grimly. "There was an incident in the Iron Country. The Five Kage Summit was attacked by Akatsuki. All three Kage were ambushed, and the city of Iron was nearly destroyed. The Fourth had no choice but to stay behind."
"Akatsuki?!"
Hiruzen's brow furrowed deeply.
He remembered how last time, when he and Yuki Yoru hosted the summit, Akatsuki had served as hired bodyguards for the Iron Country—and they'd performed well.
And now they were the attackers?
That made no sense.
Could Akatsuki really have grown powerful enough to wound three Kage and obliterate an entire summit?
"Apparently, their leader was the attacker," Fukasaku said gravely. "I don't know the details—these are just what Minato relayed through Gamabunta. But there's one thing you'll want to hear."
"The leader… has the Rinnegan."
"What?!"
Everyone nearby gasped.
Except Danzo.
Who wisely kept his mouth shut.
He already knew Akatsuki's leader had the Rinnegan. Back during the Third Great War, Danzo had promised to help Hanzō of the Salamander eliminate Akatsuki in exchange for Amegakure's support.
He'd sent Uchiha Shisui and other Uchiha elites on the mission.
It had ended in disaster.
Shisui went missing. Most of the Uchiha and Hanzō's men died. Their alliance collapsed.
To avoid repercussions, Danzo had used his authority as "Acting Hokage" to erase the mission from official records.
Even he hadn't imagined Akatsuki would grow so dangerous…
Now, everyone stared anxiously toward the cave entrance, praying nothing went wrong.
However, besides them, several other gazes had been secretly watching the place.
On one side was Uchiha Obito, hidden in the shadows using Kamui, ready to strike with a major attack at any moment.
And not far off—
"Tsk, how rare… a Jinchūriki giving birth," said Hōzuki Gengetsu, Second Mizukage, cloaked in a white haori. "You don't see that every day."
He glanced at the heavily guarded mountain cave. "But seriously, with this level of defense? Even a mosquito couldn't sneak in. The Fourth is being pretty paranoid, huh?"
"I thought your mission was to search for Orochimaru in the Land of Rice Fields," replied Uchiha Shisui, who wore the captain's haori of Squad Two.
"I did go! But the place was empty—just a few abandoned bases, not a shadow of Orochimaru anywhere," Gengetsu said with a shrug. "And since the Land of Fire is so close, I figured I'd pop over here for a breather."
"But man, the Land of Fire's got everything—resources, entertainment… If I were the Fourth, I'd just blow up Konoha and take the whole country for myself!"
"…You're not helping," Shisui muttered.
This old man was nothing like his history textbook image. More like a moustached gremlin spouting off wild nonsense.
"I'll go after I watch the show," Gengetsu said with a grin. "But seriously, do you really think something's going to go wrong tonight? Even if I came back to life, I doubt I could break through this defense."
"Four Sixty-Four Seal Arrays, inner ANBU units… they really aren't taking chances."
Shisui said nothing, but silently agreed.
Even multiple Kage-level foes would struggle to breach this fortress.
Still… Yoru had predicted something would happen tonight.
So something would.
But in what form?
...
"Uuuuuuugh…"
Inside the cavern, dim torchlight flickered over stone walls. Kushina lay writhing on a straw mat, clutching a Flying Thunder God kunai in one hand, her body trembling with pain.
By her side, Biwako Sarutobi and her assistant Shizue worked quickly to deliver the child.
"Shizue, how's the Nine-Tails' seal holding?" Biwako asked between contractions.
"Still strong. The Fourth reinforced it before leaving," Shizue replied cheerfully. "Lady Kushina, just a bit longer! The baby's almost here!"
With that assurance, Biwako let out a soft breath.
She had feared the Nine-Tails might escape during the birth—but with the seal stable, things looked good.
"Kushina, deep breath. You're almost there!"
"AAAAAAAGH!!!"
Kushina screamed again.
And at that very moment… a black-robed man slipped through the barrier and appeared inside the cavern.
The seal barrier was strong enough to repel any ninja in the world…
…but utterly meaningless to a master of space-time jutsu.
Still, the elite ANBU stationed inside reacted instantly.
"Who are you?!"
The ANBU squad leader guarding the area asked in a deep voice, clutching his kunai tightly, ready to strike at any moment.
But his question obviously received no answer. The silent black-robed man seemingly ignored him, as if he weren't even there.
He simply looked calmly towards the depths of the cave, the gaze beneath his spiral mask obscured, yet the sinister aura emanating from him made all the guarding shinobi feel something was wrong.
"Attack!"
The squad leader gave the order without hesitation.
In a blur, he launched himself forward, becoming a shadow—his kunai flashing toward the intruder's throat in a deadly arc.
Anyone who appeared here at this time without authorization was to be treated as an enemy.
No exceptions.
This squad leader's strength was beyond doubt—undeniably elite jōnin level. At such close range, his strike was nearly instantaneous. The kunai whipped upward in a lethal arc, meant to sever the intruder's head in a single, clean blow.
But what happened next left everyone dumbfounded.
The kunai—so precise, so swift—hit nothing but air.
His entire body passed clean through the black-robed man … as if that person weren't even there. As if he were striking a phantom.
"A genjutsu?!"
"A visual mirage?!"
Everyone's thoughts raced—until the masked man turned around and slit the leader's throat with one fluid motion.
"Captain!"
"Enemy alert! Broadcast the alarm!"
"Everyone, full alert!"
Kunai and shuriken flew, ninjutsu blasted toward him.
All of it missed.
And when the blood-red Sharingan emerged fully from behind the spiral mask—
—the slaughter began.
Within seconds, the entire ANBU unit lay dead.
Uchiha Obito stepped over the bodies and advanced toward the cave's rear.
Even the ever-chatty Tobi inside his mind didn't speak a word.
Because even he hadn't expected this level of power.
These weren't ordinary guards.
These were Konoha's best.
And yet… Obito had cut them down like wheat.
Maybe they should just build a shrine for Rin inside Kamui space and have Obito visit it before every battle. He'd wipe the floor with Minato and Yuki Yoru both!
Tobi's nonsense aside, Obito walked forward, silent and unstoppable.
Before long, he heard it—
—the cry of a newborn.
"Quick! The hot water!"
Biwako was drenched in sweat, but smiling as she cradled the crying baby. Shizue rushed to pass her a basin of warm water.
Kushina lay limp, completely drained, her body like jelly.
"You did great, Kushina. It's all over now."
Biwako sighed with relief. "Too bad Minato isn't here. He would've loved to see his child first."
"It's okay… he's the Hokage, after all."
Kushina's voice was weak, her grip on the Flying Thunder God kunai loosening. But her smile shone with motherly joy.
Biwako quickly cleaned and swaddled the baby, then gently laid him by Kushina's side.
Her eyes never left the child's face.
Her heart melted.
"…Naruto…"
"You need to rest now. We'll take care of—"
Biwako's words stopped cold.
Her eyes widened as she looked down… at the kunai buried in her chest.
Both she and Shizue collapsed in a heap, blood pooling beneath them.
"Biwako! Shizue!"
Kushina screamed in horror.
A black-robed man now stood silently beside her.
One hand on her belly.
The other—kunai poised—reaching for her newborn.
"NARUTO!!"
With a roar, golden chakra chains erupted from Kushina's body, blocking the blade an instant before it struck.
The kunai shattered against the Adamantine Sealing Chains, and Kushina snarled, forcing her near-dead body to defend her child.
"You…!"
"You were the one at Higashimatsuyama! The black-robed man!"
"You won't lay a hand on Naruto!"
Kushina clenched her Flying Thunder God kunai, launching wave after wave of chains to seal the enemy.
The chains spread like a spiderweb, sealing the entire cave.
She also triggered the emergency alarm seal.
"…Impressive. You really are the second Nine-Tails Jinchūriki."
Even Obito was taken aback.
To be able to manifest such powerful sealing chains right after childbirth… the Uzumaki clan was terrifying indeed.
But still…
"You've got it all wrong. I'm not here for the Hokage's son."
Uchiha Obito abruptly raised his head, his single eye from the spiral mask looking at Kushina. Their gazes met in mid-air, and the blood-red Three-Tomoe Sharingan instantly invaded Kushina's mind.
"You… who are you…?"
Within the Nine-Tails sealing space, a colossal fox demon, bound to a red fireball, suddenly saw a black-robed man appear before it.
A voice, not quite human, asked coldly.
Uchiha Obito did not reply. Instead, he met the Nine-Tails' eyes with his Sharingan, unleashing all the ocular power Madara had left him!
In an instant, a strange ocular power surged into the Nine-Tails' body.
"This power… this chakra…"
The Nine-Tails thrashed violently.
This chakra… it knew this chakra…
It was familiar.
It was…
Madara's.
The beast's eyes unfocused.
The red three-tomoe design appeared in both its pupils.
...
In the outside world.
Obito drew a deep breath, synchronizing his chakra with the Nine-Tails through Kushina.
"…It's done."
"Now then…"
"Come forth, Nine-Tails."
Kushina shrieked as the seal on her stomach burst open.
A dark, swirling portal appeared.
And from it—a storm of demonic chakra surged forth.
Hatred.
Bloodlust.
Terror.
Malice.
Resentment.
Spite.
Destruction.
A maelstrom of negative emotions poured into the world, eclipsing anything even the Box of Ultimate Bliss could produce.
Chakra solidified—
—and the Nine-Tails appeared, howling into the moonlight.
Its roar shook the world.
"…Perfect."
Obito turned to the swaddled baby Naruto…
…and the collapsed Kushina, barely clinging to life.
"No… don't…"
A weak voice suddenly spoke. Kushina Uzumaki barely supported herself, trying to rise from the stone.
"As expected of the Uzumaki clan," Obito said coolly without turning. "Even after a Tailed Beast is ripped from her body, she doesn't die immediately… impressive vitality."
He took another step toward the crying infant.
"I won't kill you," he said, flatly. "But this child…"
"…must die."