Chapter 321: What's So Wrong with the Infinite Tsukuyomi?
As the Divine Tree came crashing down, Obito Uchiha sat slumped against a rock, his face already carrying the pallor of death, waiting for the end to arrive.
He'd cast the Samsara of Heavenly Life Technique — but he hadn't reached Six Paths level, and without the vast reserve of life force that would have required, his own life was draining away by the second. It wouldn't be long now before he died.
Of course, if Madara moved fast enough, Obito might yet slip into the Infinite Tsukuyomi before death caught him — into the so-called "world with Rin in it."
"Obito."
As Obito sat waiting for death, a figure haloed in white light came to stand before him.
Rin Nohara, about to depart this world for good.
And it wasn't just Rin. Minato and Kakashi had come to stand before him too.
All of them, looking down at the man who had once been their comrade.
"Is... is that Rin?"
Obito fumbled, trying to push himself upright.
Both the Rinnegan and the Kamui Sharingan had been torn out of him by Madara. He was, for all intents and purposes, blind.
"It's me."
Rin looked down at the man before her, calm. Once, she would have rushed to help steady him.
But now...
"Rin, Rin — don't worry, the Infinite Tsukuyomi's almost here."
"Once it happens, once it happens — a beautiful world, a world where everyone can be happy, will finally be born."
"A world with Rin in it — it's finally going to exist."
Obito reached toward the sound of her voice, groping blindly toward her.
Watching that hand reach out, about to touch her — watching this man, half-mad, still clinging to the fantasy of the Infinite Tsukuyomi even at the edge of death — Rin took an involuntary step back.
"Rin, Rin... why are you pulling away?"
"Everything I've done, I did for you!"
Blind as he was, Obito's abilities were still intact — even without sensory skills, he could feel her retreat.
Unable to believe it, Obito tried to press forward another step — but a hand closed around his wrist.
"That's enough, Obito."
"You're beyond saving now."
"There's no way Rin could ever accept a world built on an illusion like this!"
Kakashi's expression was hard as he stared down the man who had once been someone he'd trust with his own life.
"Bullshit!"
"What's so wrong with the Infinite Tsukuyomi?!"
"Everyone trapped in a beautiful dream — the shinobi world would finally have peace!"
Obito roared, furious, utterly unwilling to accept what Kakashi was saying.
"And then what?!"
"Wait to die inside a dream?!"
"Obito, you're a menace to the entire human race!"
"If you want to chase your own selfish fantasy, fine — but don't drag everyone else down to die with you!"
Kakashi's voice was ice-cold as he glared at the man in front of him, still utterly unrepentant.
Trapping everyone in a beautiful dream might sound wonderful on the surface. But then what?
Where did humanity go from there?
If an entire generation died off chasing dreams, where would the next generation come from?
The ultimate meaning of any species' existence was to survive — for their spouses, for their children, sometimes even sacrificing their own lives to make that possible.
And besides, Kakashi refused to believe there was truly no cost to something like the Infinite Tsukuyomi.
Watching Obito in his half-mad state, Minato's eyes carried a note of genuine sorrow. He stood with Kakashi on this, and spoke:
"If a technique as wonderful, as dreamlike as the Infinite Tsukuyomi really existed with no downside at all, then surely someone would have cast it already, at some point in history."
"The most obvious question is this — why does Kakashi still exist?"
"Why do I still exist? Why does Rin exist?"
"Why am I still here at all?"
"If this beautiful, dreamlike world is possible, why hasn't it already come to be?"
"Could this be some kind of beautiful, dreamlike trap?"
"Just like flowers in nature — mushrooms, too. The more beautiful something looks, the more likely it is to be deadly."
Minato's words stopped Obito cold. He wrenched his wrist free of Kakashi's grip and roared:
"I don't care!"
"I can't afford to care about any of that!"
"A world without Rin in it shouldn't exist — period!"
Obito had no answer for Minato's question. But there was no turning back for him now.
"Enough!"
"Would you please stop using my name as an excuse for whatever this is?!"
Rin couldn't stand to listen anymore, glaring at Obito, furious.
"For me! For me!"
"Why do you keep using me as the excuse for your own ambition?!"
"If you want to chase some fantasy, go chase it alone at home!"
"Why did you attack Sensei Minato and Sister Kushina?!"
"Sister Kushina cared about you so much!"
"Do you have any idea how devastated she was when she found out you'd died?!"
Rin couldn't tolerate the way Obito thought.
To her, if Obito had gone mad and wanted to chase some delusion, fine — go chase it alone, without dragging anyone else down with him. But to turn on the teacher and mentor's wife who had always looked out for her, and to do it all in her name — how was she supposed to accept that?
"Rin!"
"Everything I've done — I did it all for you!"
Even without eyes, Obito's despair was palpable, radiating off him like a physical thing.
"I don't need it!"
"I am so sick of you!"
"Isn't 'don't drag other people into your own mess' the most basic decency there is?"
"Your feelings make me sick to my stomach."
"Even in a dream, there's no version of me that could ever love you."
Rin looked at the madman in front of her, a chill of disgust running through her. She couldn't fathom how someone this deranged could fixate on her, use her name to build a world made of dreams, and try to drag everyone else into that dream along with him — it was simply beyond her comprehension.
"You can rot here on your own."
Rin didn't want to look at Obito for one more second. She'd once been willing to sacrifice herself for her comrades — and Kakashi, Minato, and Kushina had all been among those comrades.
Now that Obito had turned on all of them, and cost Minato his home and family besides, the only reason Rin hadn't killed him with her own hands was the memory of what they'd once been to each other.
"Rin?!"
"Rin!!"
"How could you do this to me?!"
"Everything I did — I did it all for you!"
Obito's wailing wouldn't stop, desperate to hold onto her, but Minato and Kakashi stood between them like two immovable mountains.
"Obito. I'm not going to kill you."
"You'll face Konoha's judgment."
"In front of everyone in the village."
Minato looked down, calm, at the student who had gone completely, irredeemably insane.
This was a decision he and Tobirama had already worked out together beforehand.
Obito's crimes were simply too severe.
And not just Obito — Orochimaru too.
If Sakura managed to take Madara alive, Madara would stand trial as well.
As for Orochimaru — Sakura would handle his capture personally. The man's skill at fleeing for his life was first-rate across the entire shinobi world; only Sakura had any real chance of finishing him off outright.
"Judgment?!"
"HAHAHAHA!"
"Who in this world is fit to judge me?!"
"You people?!"
"I am the savior of this world!"
Minato said nothing to the self-proclaimed savior in front of him. He simply reached out and pressed a hand against Obito's stomach.
Four-Symbols Seal!
Black markings spread across Obito's abdomen, and the life force draining out of him came, for the moment, to a halt.
The seal didn't just stop his life force from bleeding out — it sealed off his chakra entirely.
Obito was, for the moment, nothing more than an ordinary man.
Rin watched all of this, her expression betraying not the faintest trace of pity, and spoke, calm and even:
"Obito. You've disappointed me more than I can say."
"You're not the Obito I remember anymore."
"All you make me feel now is disgust."
With that, her Edo Tensei body began to dissolve, breaking apart into drifting scraps of paper. A pillar of light descended from above, and Rin's soul began rising skyward within it.
"Rin!"
"RIN!!!"
"RIN!!!"
"Everything I did was for you!!!"
"Both of you — GET OUT OF MY WAY!!"
Obito lunged, trying to grab Rin's arm, but Minato and Kakashi stood like two insurmountable peaks in his path.
Kakashi looked coldly down at the man sobbing and howling before him — pathetic now, defeated, like a beaten dog.
"That's right — that's right, there's still the Infinite Tsukuyomi."
"HAHAHAHA!"
"This world really was fake, after all!"
"HAHAHAHAHA!"
"There's still the Infinite Tsukuyomi!"
"The Infinite Tsukuyomi really is the only true reality!"
"HAHAHAHAHA!"
Obito had gone mad, pinning his last remaining hope on the Infinite Tsukuyomi — and watching it, Minato felt nothing but grief.
In the end... was Kushina's faith in this man simply wasted?
—
Eat me...
Become one with me...
Watching the Divine Tree slowly topple, Madara narrowed his eyes.
He could have sworn he felt the Divine Tree speaking to him.
Fuse with the Divine Tree, and the Infinite Tsukuyomi will be within reach.
The thought was enough. Madara surged forward without hesitation, pressing both palms against the tree that seemed to connect heaven and earth itself, and beneath Sakura's calm, watching gaze, the thousand-meter Divine Tree began pouring itself into his body.
"Are you sure that's really okay?"
A voice sounded beside Sakura.
A white-robed figure had appeared out of nowhere — cross-legged, floating in midair, nine black orbs arrayed behind his back.
"You were in that exact same pose the last time we met. Ever think about getting up and stretching your legs?"
Sakura crossed her arms, addressing the Sage of the Six Paths beside her.
By now she'd already dealt with every last one of the Limbo clones.
"If you're worried I might kill your mother—"
"I could throw you a bone here."
Hagoromo said nothing for a moment.
"What's your price."
He could sense it — Sakura now stood as an existence a match for him, even freshly stepped into this level. But strength was strength; regardless of the tier, the strong stood leagues above their peers.
"See those two reincarnations of your sons over there?"
"That Yin power and Yang power you promised me before — just give it to them instead."
Sakura pointed off toward Naruto and Sasuke in the distance.
"You alone are more than enough to keep my mother in check. You don't need the Yin-Yang power for that."
Hagoromo looked over at Naruto and Sasuke, well aware that both of them were among the pink-haired woman's most loyal and devoted people.
"Who in their right mind turns down extra power in hand?"
"And don't even think about fobbing me off with some watered-down trial version. I'm watching."
Sakura made her position perfectly clear.
It wasn't just Hashirama she wanted at Six Paths level. She wanted Naruto and Sasuke there too.
That way, if Boruto ever gave her too much backtalk once he was born, Naruto could just smack him upside the head.
A rebellious phase?
Please.
Have a Tailed Beast Rasengan Shuriken from your old man, courtesy of dear old dad.
Hagoromo had no idea what a "trial version" was supposed to mean, but he could roughly guess the gist of it, and let out a helpless sigh.
He'd successfully cultivated power in his own bloodline, in his sons from beyond the stars.
But...
He wasn't entirely sure he could still control what he'd created.
"Fine."
Thinking of Kaguya, Hagoromo sighed again.
"Good. Don't worry, I was already planning to trade a few blows with Kaguya."
"Once we're done, I'll seal her back up."
Hearing Sakura's words, Hagoromo let out one more sigh, then vanished from where he stood, off to deliver the upgrade package to Naruto and Sasuke.
By now, Madara had finished absorbing the Divine Tree entirely, his power surging once again to new heights.
Madara eyed the pink-haired figure hovering silently in the sky above, watching him, with open wariness, unsure exactly what game she was playing.
But that suited him fine. It bought him the time he needed to finish casting the Infinite Tsukuyomi.
"And so, everything ends here."
Madara tilted his head skyward. A blood-red moon rose into the sky above him.
He peeled back the horn-like growth on his forehead, revealing a crimson, vertically-slit eye.
"Infinite Tsukuyomi..."
Hidden away in some corner, an indistinct black shape watched everything in absolute silence.
Black Zetsu's heart had nearly skipped a beat when Hagoromo had shown up moments earlier.
If that damned, undutiful son noticed him now, everything would fall apart at the last moment.
Fortunately, Hagoromo hadn't spared him a glance. All that was left now was to wait quietly for the Infinite Tsukuyomi to activate.
Once it did — if the Fifth Hokage was affected by it, Black Zetsu just needed to find his moment, kill Madara, and let Mother out.
If she wasn't affected, then he'd let Madara and the Fifth fight it out.
If the Fifth won, Mother could simply be revived through Madara's body.
If Madara won, he'd still find a moment to finish him off eventually.
Once Mother was free, a mere Fifth Hokage would be nothing to worry about.
With that settled in his mind, Black Zetsu slipped down beneath the earth to await the final outcome.
By now, the nine tomoe of Madara's Sharingan had projected themselves onto the blood-red moon hanging in the sky.
"Now — this is the moment the world finds peace."
Madara felt something like genuine emotion well up in him at the thought.
He'd sacrificed so much, come so far, to reach this point.
And now, at last, everything would end.
"Infinite Tsukuyomi."
The instant Madara cast it, the blood moon in the sky released an endless flood of white light, pouring down over the entire shinobi world.
Sakura crossed her arms, watching it all unfold, perfectly calm.
Now that her Yin and Yang were fused into one, she had nothing whatsoever to fear from something as trivial as the Infinite Tsukuyomi.
Meanwhile, Naruto and Sasuke — freshly "upgraded" by the old Six Paths Sage — snapped back to full awareness at once. In the final instant before the light hit, Sasuke cast Susanoo, wrapping Hashirama, Kakashi, Naruto, and Tobirama all inside it together.
But it wasn't over yet. Madara, following the instructions carved into the Uchiha stone tablet, pressed on.
"God: Tree-Blooming Descent!"
The earth rolled and heaved, like a great dragon turning over in its sleep, and a colossal tree — dwarfing even the Divine Tree that had come before it — tore up out of the ground.
Its branches spread outward at blinding speed, reaching across the entire shinobi world.
Sakura watched, arms crossed, unbothered.
This new tree was, conveniently, about to flush Orochimaru out of hiding. The moment she cut it down, she'd make sure he was the first one she killed.
"What is that?!"
Hashirama stared out through the walls of Sasuke's Susanoo, horrified by what he was seeing.
A God: Tree-Blooming Descent on this scale — even he couldn't have managed something like this!
He watched, helpless, as the Konoha shinobi and coalition forces in the distance were swallowed up by the tree's spreading branches, one after another, wrapped tight and hung from its limbs like cocoons.
Sakura watched with quiet satisfaction as Orochimaru — who'd been hiding deep underground — was forcibly torn out of the earth by the tree's roots.
So the tree's good for something, after all.
"HAHAHAHAHA!"
"Sakura Haruno!"
"So what if you're stronger than me now?"
"In the end, I've still won!"
Madara looked out over the scene before him, his heart swelling with pure satisfaction. Even if he died now, he'd die without a single regret.
(End of Chapter)
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