Uchiha Obito. During the Battle of Kannabi Bridge, he was crushed by a boulder while saving Kakashi and left on the brink of death. In his final moments, he entrusted his Sharingan and his wish to protect the girl he loved, Rin Nohara, to his best friend, Kakashi Hatake.
His death was undoubtedly a tragedy.
But his spirit had always lived on in everyone's hearts.
The Fourth Hokage had always believed that Obito was the least "Uchiha-like" Uchiha he had ever taught. He was proud to have had a student like Obito, who upheld the meaning of "protection" until the very end.
But now, everything he was seeing shattered his perception of the past.
Although Obito's appearance had changed, Minato recognized him in an instant.
"You've... grown up," the Fourth murmured, his expression distant and dazed.
A deep, profound sadness immediately washed over him.
Of the three students he had taught, one was dead, one had defected, and his own son had also defected.
Looking back on his life, he had protected Konoha, but he had failed to protect those closest to him.
He remembered Obito as a passionate, warm-hearted boy. How could he have become like this? Neither human nor ghost... and his heart was filled with such negative emotions.
He must have suffered so much.
Seeing the sorrow in Minato's eyes, Obito was suddenly filled with disgust.
"It's been a long time, Sensei," he said, his tone cold and detached.
"So, you know each other," Naruto remarked, a strange look on his face.
Minato's student, his son, and even he himself had all defected from the village. Fate was truly a cruel mistress.
"Naruto, could you let me talk to him?" Minato asked, his eyes pleading.
From what he knew of Naruto, what would likely follow was a brutal interrogation, which could very well end with Obito's body being ground to dust. When it came to his enemies, Naruto never showed mercy. The moment he determined Obito had no value, he would eliminate him without a second thought.
Hearing the request, Naruto nodded and began to walk out of the Meta-Sphere.
"He's all yours. If he's of no value, just kill him." Naruto typically left such minor matters to his subordinates. While he was willing to cultivate the strong, a sneak who relied solely on his eyes didn't qualify.
After Naruto left, Minato's face grew serious as he looked at Obito. "Do you... have an explanation?"
"An explanation?" Obito's expression twisted into a sneer. "Why would I, Uchiha Obito, ever need to explain my actions?"
"This ninja world is sick, and I will control everything!"
"Why? Is it because... of Rin's death?" Minato asked, having already guessed the likely reason for Obito's fall to darkness.
"Shut up!"
At the mention of her name, Obito reacted as if his tail had been stepped on, his face contorting with rage.
"You have no right to say Rin's name!" Obito roared, his face a mask of fury.
"My, my, Minato-kun, I must admit, you were a responsible Hokage, but you seem to be quite terrible at handling your relationships with your family and students," Orochimaru chimed in from the side, his tone teasing. "If I were you, I wouldn't let my student be so insolent~~"
Orochimaru was confident that his own cold, rational approach to teaching would produce disciples who were unfailingly loyal to him.
"My apologies for the scene," Minato said with a gentle smile, raising his Zanpakuto. "Obito, the Seireitei's goal is to rule the ninja world. If anyone stands in our way, we will naturally sweep them aside. So... we stand on different sides. I trust you can understand that."
A flicker of astonishment crossed Obito's eyes. He had expected the Fourth to earnestly try to persuade him to "return to the light," just like he would have in the past. He never imagined Minato would so decisively raise the executioner's blade, not even bothering to ask about the reasons for his descent into darkness.
This decisive Fourth Hokage was nothing like the warm "Yellow Flash" he remembered.
"You've changed too, Sensei."
"But I can't die yet!" Obito's Mangekyo Sharingan began to spin again, radiating killing intent.
"I'd advise you not to resist," Minato said, instantly appearing in front of Obito and thrusting a Rasengan forward.
"I won't die until I've created a world with Rin in it," Obito declared as his body became intangible, dodging the attack. He lunged with a kunai aimed at the back of Minato's head.
Voom. Minato vanished again, a Rasengan descending from above and slamming directly onto Obito.
Boom! Obito had no time to react. He was sent flying by the explosion, tumbling across the ground and carving a series of craters as he coughed up mouthfuls of blood.
His eyes were filled with helplessness. Even though he now understood the principle behind the Fourth's attacks, his body simply couldn't keep up with his teacher's speed.
"Obito, you rely too much on your eyes. While your phasing ability is impressive, the moment you attack, your weakness is exposed."
The crisp sound of footsteps echoed from within the smoke as Minato emerged, his expression unreadable.
"My student, in your next life, remember this: don't rely on your eyes."
"Uzumaki Naruto, the Land of Demons, Minato Namikaze, and this mysterious Reiatsu! The completely unexpected has happened!! Damn it. Rin, I'm sorry, Rin!" Obito's face was a mixture of anger and utter despair.
Just as the Zanpakuto was about to fall, Naruto's voice suddenly echoed through the domain. "Wait."
Obito despised Naruto, but in that moment, his voice was like a sound from the heavens.
The tip of the blade stopped just before Obito's forehead. He could almost feel the cold steel against his skin.
"Let him live for now. I have an interesting idea."
Within the Seireitei, Naruto sat on his high seat, a wicked grin spreading across his face.
"Konoha is too weak right now. If the other villages were to attack, the probability of its destruction is very high."
"In that case, why don't we give Konoha a little gift to help them get stronger?"
"Orochimaru, this is something I'll need your help with."
Suppressing their confusion, the others prepared to deal with Obito.
"Bakudo Number 9: Horin," Minato intoned, completely binding Obito with the Kido. The others added several more layers of restraints for good measure.
Only after confirming Obito could not escape did Minato sheathe his Zanpakuto.
After bidding farewell, Orochimaru took Obito and headed toward Naruto's location alone.
Along the way, they passed a garden where Rock Lee was diligently training his taijutsu. These next few days were crucial for him, as he pushed his body to its absolute limit to prepare for the Shinigamification process.
Aburame Neri was in her lab, carefully studying Danzo's organs. She had volunteered for Shinigamification a few days ago, but it was postponed because her soul was not yet strong enough.
Orochimaru had only come this time to help the Land of Demons set up the basic facilities for Shinigamification. Once he was finished, he would make a trip to Konoha.
Inside the office, the door opened, and Orochimaru dragged in a glaring Obito. He casually tossed him to the floor and gave a harmless smile. "Now, Naruto, I'm quite curious. What is your proposal?"
Naruto glanced at Obito and smiled. "Uchiha Obito, Kakashi Hatake's partner, and wielder of the Mangekyo Sharingan."
"To Konoha, he must be of great value, wouldn't you agree?"
Hearing this, Orochimaru's face broke into a twisted grin.
"Indeed. If I'm not mistaken, he has Wood Release cells in his body. He would be of great use to Konoha. Of course, the research value of his Sharingan is also very high. Naruto-kun, you don't intend to just give him to Konoha, do you?"
A look of excitement flashed in Orochimaru's eyes.
Based on his previous discussions with Naruto, Orochimaru was already planning to go to Konoha. He would deliver Naruto's sincere "greetings" and use his own technology to help Konoha become a little stronger.
At the same time, and most importantly, he would mentor Uchiha Sasuke.
This had been Orochimaru's own suggestion. During his research on Reiatsu, he had discovered that ninja who possessed a Kekkei Genkai could awaken their Zanpakuto in an extremely short amount of time after awakening their Reiatsu. Furthermore, the Zanpakuto's ability was likely to be an enhanced version of their Kekkei Genkai.
When it came to Kekkei Genkai, the most famous was undoubtedly the Sharingan. As a wielder of the Sharingan with considerable potential, Sasuke was naturally a person of interest for both Naruto and Orochimaru. However, Konoha's current level of instruction was too poor; it would take far too long for Sasuke to grow. That was why Naruto had considered sending Orochimaru to Konoha to teach him.
He was extremely curious about the Zanpakuto ability Sasuke might awaken and hoped to use him to explore the limits of Kekkei Genkai combined with Reiatsu.
With Obito as a bargaining chip, he believed Konoha wouldn't make things too difficult for Orochimaru, which would save a lot of trouble.
Listening to Naruto and Orochimaru's discussion from the side, Obito was completely stunned.
They're going to send me to Konoha?
And let Konoha research me?
Is this something a human being would even do?
Obito realized that, just like Orochimaru, Naruto had never seen him as a person. In their eyes, he was nothing more than a piece of research material.
He, who had always held himself in such high regard, who saw the entire ninja world as his chessboard, had never suffered such humiliation.
Furious, he writhed, trying to let out a roar of rage, but Naruto and Orochimaru completely ignored him.
"If there are no problems, you should leave as soon as possible. If I'm not mistaken, Jiraiya is already teaching Sasuke," Naruto said calmly.
"I'll have Minato accompany you back to Konoha to ensure your safety."