Seeing the Fifth Kazekage across from him staring blankly, Obito assumed it was because the other man was a Kazekage and looked down on someone like him, a mere Chūnin, and couldn't be bothered to speak.
Just as he was about to argue again and press the issue, begging him to tell him who that masked bastard really was—the one who had killed Minato-sensei and Kushina in this world, the one who made Naruto be treated like a monster by the village, the one who tried to control the entire ninja world through despicable means—
"Obito Uchiha."
Obito: "Huh?"
"Hold on to your dreams. Don't do anything you'll regret."
"Huh? Kazekage-sama, I'm asking you who the masked man is, okay?" Obito's face twisted in frustration.
Wasn't this future Kazekage a bit strange?
It had only been a few minutes. Did he really have to use such precious time to encourage a lowly Chūnin like him? Couldn't he just say something useful instead?!
Kazekage Gaara: "..."
I already gave you the answer. Adding one more warning was just being kind, wasn't it?
Left with no choice, Kazekage Gaara added,
"Be careful of Black Zetsu. And be careful of Madara Uchiha."
Obito tilted his head. Black Zetsu was definitely someone to watch out for. After all, he was the one who tampered with the Uchiha clan's stone tablet, the one even the masked man could make use of.
But their ancestor…?
Aside from being a bit too domineering, wasn't he more or less fine?
Beside Obito, the younger Kakashi quietly mulled over the exchange between the Fifth Kazekage and Obito. Something felt off, but he couldn't quite figure out what it was.
...
In another parallel world, Fourth Shinobi World War Naruto, about to depart, was filled with reluctance.
This time, he really had the chance to properly say goodbye to his Mom and Dad. There were so many things he wanted to say.
Not long ago, he had just said goodbye to his father as he returned to the Pure Land, forcing himself to smile through tears. Now, this farewell felt more like the moment he'd faced his parents inside the limited Tsukuyomi.
The atmosphere grew heavy with sorrow.
Kushina held tightly onto her son, who had endured countless hardships in the future, refusing to let go. Beside them, Minato wrapped his arms around both of them, just as unwilling to part.
After a brief moment, it was Naruto, the hero of the Fourth Shinobi World War, who gently pushed them both away first.
"Don't worry, Mom! I eat properly! I get enough sleep! As for friends… well, there's still that stubborn Sasuke who hasn't come to his senses yet! But I'll bring him back to my side soon, dattebayo!!"
Right next to him, Sasuke Uchiha, who was currently participating in the Chūnin Exams:
"......"
No matter when it was, he really was an idiot.
Sasuke couldn't imagine what kind of ending awaited him if he truly went all in on revenge.
Fourth Shinobi World War Naruto continued, "I still haven't run into anything like the Three Forbidden Things of Ninja, but I really respect the Pervy Sage! He taught me so many things..." His voice grew hoarse as Jiraiya's death came to mind.
"Oh, right! Dad!"
He suddenly turned to the Fourth Hokage of this era.
"I already helped you and Kakashi-sensei beat the crap out of that guy Obito! The only reason I can stand here talking to you now is because he saved me from that rabbit lady!"
Just half an hour ago, Obito had turned to ash and vanished. His final words still echoed in Naruto's ears.
'Naruto, you have to become Hokage.'
"…Yeah."
Fourth Shinobi World War Naruto paused, then added, "But the version of him in this world? Leave that to you, Mom, Dad, and Kakashi-sensei! Smash that guy's mask, help him find his dream again! Don't hold back! Beat him until he's bawling his eyes out!!"
"!!!!"
Kushina's eyes widened.
What did that mean? Was Obito still alive?!
In an instant, the Fourth Hokage's mind filled with the image of the masked man. That figure wasn't especially tall, didn't feel like a fully grown adult, and had once been mistaken for Madara Uchiha…
Could it be…?!
Obito?!!
"Naruto! Are you saying Obito is still—"
At the very last moment before Fourth Shinobi World War Naruto disappeared, Minato shouted the question.
That shout immediately drew the attention of Obito Uchiha and the younger Kakashi, who had been puzzling over the Fifth Kazekage's words.
Obito didn't understand why his name had suddenly come up, while the younger Kakashi looked over with equal curiosity.
Rin, who stood closer to that parallel world's Minato and his family, had been watching them the whole time. When she heard Naruto say "smash his mask," her face went pale, her lips trembling faintly.
And compared to Rin…
The adult Kakashi was in even worse shape.
Though his expression was hidden behind his mask, his pupils shrank sharply. His body trembled ever so slightly. In the depths of his heart, he desperately prayed that it wouldn't be the worst possible answer.
But those words—"smash his mask"—left him no room for even the smallest hope, dragging his heart straight down into the abyss.
Minato Namikaze's expression darkened. Standing closer to the two Kazekage, he had also heard the exchange between Obito and the Fifth Kazekage, Gaara, amid the bustling crowd.
He had long since listed both Shisui and Obito as suspects.
The moment Obito asked, "Who is the masked man?" and the Fifth Kazekage spoke the name "Obito Uchiha," everything fell into place.
From the very beginning, the Fifth Kazekage had already given Obito the answer.
Who was the masked man?
The answer was Obito Uchiha.
...
In that parallel world, Fourth Shinobi World War Naruto had faded into faint starlight.
Using the last of his remaining time, he shouted to the Fourth Hokage,
"Dad, Obito is still alive! There's the same Cursed Seal on his heart as Rin's…n…"
He never managed to finish pronouncing the final syllable of the seal's name. Naruto from the Fourth Shinobi World War, the Sage of the Six Paths, Kawaki, Kazekage Gaara, and the others all dissolved into starlight and vanished.
In the next instant, everyone who did not belong to that parallel world was returned to where they had come from.
Team Kakashi, along with Gaara from Sunagakure and the others, had originally been participating in the Chūnin Exams in the Forest of Death. However, after Gaara used the Feigning Sleep Technique, the fight spilled out into the forest beyond the exam grounds.
The members of Team Minato had been training on their own at Kakashi's old home.
Minato Namikaze and the adult Kakashi, having detected the Nine-Tails and the One-Tails, also appeared at Konoha's Training Ground No. 44.
Once his mobility returned, Kakashi's legs went weak. With a dull thud, he collapsed to his knees.
The Fourth Shinobi World War.
Obito Uchiha.
The masked man.
He still remembered clearly the private conversation Minato-sensei had once had with him and Itachi.
—Obito's body and Sharingan were never recovered, correct?
—That was only a possibility. He had no reason to hate Konoha.
Every detail of that journey through time and space was burned into his memory.
—At Rin's grave, the news of Kushina's pregnancy was revealed.
—Careless enough not to notice someone nearby.
—The masked man angrily throwing away the pink lilies he had placed before Rin's gravestone.
And the mission scroll in Obito's hands…
—Kill the masked man.
—Disguise yourself as Yagura Karatachi.
—The masked man controlling the Mizukage.
—The name "Obito Uchiha" slashed across the Memorial Stone.
All along, that mission scroll had been leaving clue after clue.
The masked man…
Was Obito Uchiha from their world.
"Kakashi."
Minato Namikaze sent a portion of his chakra into the silver-haired man's body, pulling him out of his daze.
He let out a long sigh. "It was precisely because I feared this outcome that I spoke to you and Itachi ahead of time. I hoped that if this situation ever truly came to pass, at least one of you would be mentally prepared."
"..."
Kakashi was in agony.
"If Obito hated me for killing Rin, then why didn't he come to Konoha for revenge?" he muttered. "Why kill you and Kushina instead? Why turn Naruto into an orphan? Why try to destroy the entire world?!"
Minato shook his head. He had no answer for that either.
"Pull yourself together, Kakashi. Do you remember what Naruto said before he left?"
He placed a hand on his disciple's shoulder.
"As his comrade, no matter what happened to Obito, shouldn't you be the one to wake him up?"
"But I—"
Kakashi stared at his own hands.
"I killed Rin… I broke my promise to Obito…"
'Kakashi, promise me!'
'No matter what happens, you have to protect Rin!'
"But I… I killed Rin with my own hands."
Minato lowered his gaze and said nothing more.
Though he was trying to comfort Kakashi, as Obito's sensei, he had just lived through the Nine-Tails Incident in another parallel world. As the Fourth Hokage, he had been forced to sacrifice his own life, his newborn son, and go to death alongside his wife to protect the village and the nation.
No one is without resentment.
Ever since he had first considered the possibility that Obito might be the masked man, he had subconsciously rejected it.
Just like Kakashi, he had secretly hoped that even if it were someone else—Shisui, for instance—it would not be Obito.
Yet reality so often runs counter to one's wishes…
Minato cut off what he had been about to say to comfort Kakashi and instead shifted to a calm analysis of the information they had.
"Kakashi, there's something Naruto said at the very end that really concerns me…"
Kakashi's thoughts moved sluggishly. He couldn't recall what Naruto had said after that at all.
Minato sighed.
"Naruto said there was a Cursed Seal on Obito's heart. The same one Rin had."
"A Cursed Seal…?"
"Yes." Minato nodded gravely. "I think what he meant was that there's some kind of seal on Obito's heart, something that controls him. And more importantly, Rin had the same seal."
His expression darkened.
"If Rin is already dead, then that means she was being controlled by someone even while she was alive."
"!!!"
"!!!"
When combined with what the Fifth Kazekage had said earlier—beware of Black Zetsu, beware of Madara Uchiha—
Minato's calm, penetrating gaze fixed on the distance.
"I'm afraid Rin's death, just like Obito's supposed death, hides another truth."
...
On the other side, Team Minato had been sent directly back to the Hatake family's old residence and were now sitting together.
Obito and young Kakashi hadn't thought much of the Fifth Kazekage's words. They already knew Black Zetsu was someone to be wary of.
But Rin had been closer to Minato's family in the other parallel world and had clearly heard that sentence:
"Make sure you shatter his mask."
When Kakashi and Obito later repeated what the Fifth Kazekage had said, everything clicked for her immediately.
When Obito asked who the masked man was, the Fifth Kazekage's reply—"Obito Uchiha"—was already the answer.
...
Ever since they returned, Rin Nohara's complexion had been poor.
Obito assumed she had overused her chakra and was feeling unwell. He worriedly suggested she rest for a while, saying they could wait for Minato-sensei to return before continuing their analysis.
That only made Rin feel worse.
She knew Obito too well. He was earnest, warm, and gentle by nature.
"Obito."
"Hm?"
"The future Naruto said… Obito Uchiha is still alive. What do you think about that?"
She stopped both Obito and young Kakashi, her expression serious.
She had already guessed that neither of them had heard the first half of Naruto's words—the part where he told Minato-sensei and Kushina to shatter Obito's mask.
Obito froze.
"Did he get the wrong person? If I were still alive in this world, wouldn't I have come back to Konoha?"
"Do either of you feel anything wrong with your hearts?" young Kakashi asked, focusing on the part Naruto hadn't finished saying.
Rin shook her head.
"I've already checked all three of us. There's nothing unusual."
Young Kakashi thought for a moment.
"Maybe he meant there's something on Obito's heart in this world," he said slowly. "If something is restraining him, that could explain why he hasn't been able to return to Konoha."
Obito suddenly brightened and clapped his hands.
"That'd be great! Then future Kakashi won't be mad at me for carving my name off the Memorial Stone! As long as we find the version of me from this world, then—"
He stopped mid-sentence.
The excitement drained from his face as realization hit him.
Wait…
The version of himself in this world was still alive.
But…
What about Rin?
In a flash, the scene from his dream surfaced again.
Rin's heart—pierced by Kakashi's Raikiri.
Obito dug his fingers into his right eye.
"Stop showing me these weird images!!"
"Obito!" young Kakashi grabbed his wrist, stopping him from hurting himself.
Blood had already begun to seep from Obito's right eye.
And that shout—"Obito!"—triggered yet another vision.
In a place dark like hell itself, his hand passed straight through Rin's face.
He felt like a ghost who should have died, yet was still wandering the living world.
He looked at Rin's body, desperate to touch her, but his hand couldn't reach her.
That suffocating feeling—like sinking into the deep sea, air torn away—the abyss of despair.
Obito suddenly couldn't breathe. He collapsed onto the table, cold sweat pouring down his back.
Young Kakashi hurriedly urged Rin to treat him.
But as Rin looked at Obito in pain, her own lips turned pale as well.
"Obito…"
Tears slid silently down her face.
"Have you ever thought about it… that the masked man might be you…"
"!!!!"