"Asuma… is dead."
After hearing Rin's words, Ebisu, Genma, and the others all fell into a somber silence.
Although Sarutobi Asuma had been rather unruly in his youth, he had gradually become steady and mature as he grew older.
Their group had been fortunate enough to survive the previous great war.
But no one had expected that Asuma would be implicated by the Sarutobi clan and die on the night of the clan's annihilation.
Kakashi couldn't help glancing sideways at Obito.
Because of his father, Hatake Sakumo, Kakashi had some understanding of the events surrounding the clan annihilation night.
Obito had personally taken part in the Sarutobi clan's extermination. For him to say something like that now…
Was this kid confirming his kill count?
Sensing the change in everyone's mood, Obito paused in confusion.
After thinking for a moment, he finally recalled Asuma's family name.
"Sarutobi…"
He muttered softly, then asked, "Did he have a full beard, always a cigarette in his mouth, looked like a middle-aged uncle?"
Rin nodded, curiosity flickering in her eyes. "Obito, you've met Asuma?"
"I have. On the night the Sarutobi clan was wiped out, he tried to sneak attack me from behind… so I killed him like a stray dog on the roadside."
Obito said it casually.
After losing everyone he cherished in the illusory world, he no longer showed the slightest mercy to his enemies.
As his words fell, Ebisu and the others sucked in a sharp breath.
Sarutobi Asuma was Hiruzen's son and already possessed elite jōnin-level strength.
Among them, he had been one of the strongest.
And yet, to Obito, he was nothing more than a stray dog?
Seeing Obito's smug expression, the usually taciturn Ibiki snorted coldly.
"No matter how many mistakes Hiruzen made, Asuma was innocent."
"He once fought alongside us as a comrade. I won't allow you to insult him with that attitude!"
Hearing this, the smile vanished from Obito's face. He stared at Ibiki coldly. "There's no such thing as innocence for those who benefited from the system. The Sarutobi clan's sins are monstrous—dying ten times over wouldn't be enough to atone!"
Ibiki clenched his fists in fury. "Passing judgment without a fair trial—are all Uchiha this overbearing?!"
Obito smiled faintly and crooked a finger at him.
Ibiki formed seals with both hands. "Summoning: Torture Chamber!"
A gloomy iron cage materialized, chains snapping out to bind Obito tightly.
Standing before rows of torture devices, Ibiki spoke coldly. "This is the Torture Chamber. I'll let you experience the ultimate pain!"
As soon as he finished speaking, Ibiki drew a long blade and stabbed straight through Obito's abdomen.
At the same time, his facial muscles twitched uncontrollably.
Inside the Torture Chamber, whatever pain the opponent suffered, he would feel it as well.
But to vent his anger for a fallen comrade, he no longer cared.
Yet Obito's expression didn't change at all, as if the blade piercing his body wasn't real.
Ibiki snorted and took out a pair of pliers, ripping off one of Obito's fingernails.
The intense pain caused sweat to bead across Ibiki's face.
But Obito remained unmoved, his expression calm.
"I want to see how long you can keep pretending!"
Enraged, Ibiki tore off all ten of Obito's fingernails, then continued applying various torture tools to him.
After a long while, Ibiki was the first to collapse, kneeling on the ground in agony.
Only then did a faint smile appear on Obito's face.
He stretched lazily, broke free of the chains as if they were nothing, and walked up to Ibiki.
"Who gave you the courage to use illusion-type jutsu in front of an Uchiha?"
Ibiki's pupils shrank as the scene around him changed completely.
No iron cage. No torture devices.
Only the noisy bustle of a barbecue restaurant.
He struggled to look up and saw a pair of scarlet Mangekyō Sharingan gazing down at him from above.
"Damn it… was that just a genjutsu?"
"When did—"
Before Ibiki could recover, a crisp cracking sound rang out beside his ear.
The next instant, a heart-rending pain exploded in his mind.
"Obito, that's enough."
"Ibiki's had too much to drink…"
Rin's voice came from behind. Obito didn't press the issue further.
Back in the Konoha Ninja Academy, Rin had been the only one who never treated him as dead last, always speaking to him as an equal.
Obito stepped back slowly, looking at Ibiki—whose ten fingers had been crushed under his foot—and said calmly, "Now I'll answer your question from earlier."
"The Uchiha clan… is exactly this overbearing."
With that, Obito turned his collar up and strode out without looking back.
Kakashi exchanged a glance with Guy. After nodding to the others, they followed him out.
"So that's the Uchiha clan. That's the power of the Sharingan."
"The former dead last has grown to heights we can't even reach anymore."
"Ibiki was too impulsive. The Uchiha are heroes who saved us from the Four Bandit clans. Even if we were close to Asuma, that kind of disrespect was uncalled for."
"Rin, help treat Ibiki first."
"Okay."
————
————
Outside the barbecue restaurant, the calm look on Obito's face vanished. He wiggled his eyebrows exaggeratedly at Kakashi and Guy who had followed him.
"Kakashi, Guy—how was I just now? Pretty cool, right?"
Seeing Obito's blatant 'praise me now' expression, Guy cooperated with an enthusiastic nod. "Obito, that was badass."
Obito closed his eyes, savoring it for a moment, before turning to Kakashi.
Kakashi gave him no face at all, merely snorting. "You're nothing more than Yuzuru-sama's clumsy imitator."
Obito didn't mind in the slightest, saying proudly, "Being even thirty percent like Brother Yuzuru is enough to make everyone fall for me."
"If we were still in the Ninja Academy, I'd definitely be the school's star."
Speaking of the academy, Obito rubbed his chin. "Come to think of it, Itachi, Sasuke, Naruto, Gaara… they'll probably be showing these Konoha natives what true genius looks like very soon."