The hospital room.
Tsunade, Rin, Kakashi, Shisui, Kiyosuke, and Jiraiya stood around the bed where Obito lay unconscious.
Kiyosuke said, "I swear I really only punched him once."
This kid has Hashirama cells — he shouldn't be this weak, should he?
"It's not your punch," Tsunade concluded after checking him. "There are two ocular powers fighting inside him. They're still battling, it'll be a while before he wakes."
Inside Obito's mind, two forces were struggling for control — their commands contradicted each other, which naturally caused dysfunction. Right now neither could dominate; only time would tell.
Shisui sighed, "If this keeps up, it's going to be very difficult for Obito to wake."
Seeing Obito like that, he felt relieved that, years ago, by following Kiyosuke's advice and hiding in the Anbu, he had kept his other eye.
Luckily, that eye hadn't fallen into Danzo's hands — otherwise, who knows what would have happened.
Obito had done terrible things while under the Kotoamatsukami's control.
"How so?" Kakashi and Rin asked nervously, turning to Shisui.
"The Kotoamatsukami's power doesn't fade with time. It remains. Kiyosuke-san issued a command with the Kotoamatsukami that was the exact opposite — it looked like he'd disabled it, but with two opposing wills the forces clash. That's why Obito is unconscious."
"I see."
They all nodded. Kiyosuke asked, "Is there any way to fix it?"
"There is. I can relieve the Kotoamatsukami." Shisui's right eye showed the Mangekyō Sharingan, while the other eye showed no change.
Kiyosuke took out a test tube containing Shisui's Sharingan and said,
"The Sharingan only functions when both eyes are together. Tsunade, please implant it back for him."
"Okay."
Sharingan implants are plug-and-play — convenient as ever. Before long Shisui had his Sharingan reimplanted. The spare Sharingan that had been kept as backup was given to Kiyosuke; it wasn't of use anymore, so it was a small favor returned.
With both Mangekyō Sharingan reunited, their true power could be unleashed by their owner.
"Kotoamatsukami! Release!!"
Only the original owner could truly relieve the Kotoamatsukami, others could only say they released it. Doing so would put his Mangekyō Sharingan into cooldown, but the cooldown would be much shorter this way.
On the bed, Obito suddenly opened his eyes, screamed out once, and then fell back asleep.
Tsunade checked him again, nodded, and said, "He should wake up after a little while."
They'd gained a lot this time — not only had they uncovered the truth about the Hidden Rain Village, but they had also brought back Obito, the missing person Madara had kidnapped. They could now learn much more.
"Kakashi, Rin, come over here."
Kiyosuke whispered a few words into their ears. Kakashi's expression went oddly blank as he said,
"Isn't that... not a good idea?"
Rin considered and said, "True. Obito just came back."
"I think it's fine. The guy's got great constitution, and I want to see whether he's still the same idiot he used to be!"
"Alright then."
Reluctantly, the two agreed.
Tsunade had other matters to handle, and Jiraiya followed her out — the two of them probably had much to discuss. Shisui had missions to attend to, so he left too.
Only three people remained in the room.
Not long after, Obito slowly woke, clutching his head.
"It hurts. Damn it, Madara... what did I even do?!" he cried.
The memories came back vividly, like nightmares replaying — each scene burned into his mind. He was painfully lucid and felt like dying from guilt, not knowing what to do.
"Obito..." Rin came over and patted his back. "It's over now. It's over. Everything will be okay. Everything will be okay."
"But... sensei, Kushina..." Obito covered his head and sobbed, tearing at his hair with remorse.
After all, Minato and Kushina had died because of him.
"It's all Madara's fault," Kiyosuke said to help ease Obito's guilt. "I know his delusions. In the end, they wouldn't have succeeded. You were chosen because of your deep love for the village — that love was exploited, turning you into his pawn and making you act for many years."
"Madara..." Obito ground his teeth, then suddenly looked up. "Where's Naruto? Where is he? I want to see him!"
Kiyosuke, who had already guessed what Obito was thinking, said,
"He's at the training field in Konoha, practicing a new technique."
Without another word, Obito used Kamui to teleport himself away to the Konoha training field, where he found Naruto training.
Not wearing Akatsuki robes, no mask — just a black-haired man with wounds on his face. He approached Naruto and said,
"Hello, Naruto."
"Oh, hi there, mister."
Naruto greeted the man broadly and casually.
"I'm Uchiha Obito, your father's former subordinate — no, the one who harmed your parents." He knelt and placed his forehead to the ground.
"I don't deserve to be Minato-sensei's student. I'm the one who killed your parents. You can take my life if you want. I don't mind. If you kill me, I'll be at peace."
He closed his eyes and waited for Naruto to kill him, but Naruto said,
"Please raise your head."
Obito looked up and instead received a heavy punch from Naruto.
He didn't phase-shift to dodge.
Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!
Naruto pounded Obito with punches and kicks, showing no mercy.
Kiyosuke, Tsunade, and Kakashi hurried over and saw Naruto beating Obito. Kakashi and Rin wanted to stop him but didn't know how.
They knew Obito sought death, and Naruto's rage was real — but they had no right to stop him.
They weren't the ones who had lost parents.
After venting, Naruto stopped and panted. He snorted coldly.
"So you're the unlucky guy Kiyosuke-san talked about — the one who was controlled, right?"
Obito rose and wiped the blood from his mouth.
"Why did you stop?"
"Kiyosuke-san said you're just a pawn being controlled by someone behind the scenes. You're unlucky — my parents' deaths weren't your intent — but I still wanted to hit you. I've gotten my venting out."
He crouched and pulled Obito up. "If I want revenge, it's towards the one controlling you, not you. So stand up."
At that moment, Obito seemed to see his teacher's eyes.
He grasped Naruto's hand and sobbed like a child.
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