Before telling Kakashi and the other Konoha Ninja the truth, Kabuto had already found the Scroll #2 that Tomoki left with the Ninja Cat clan.
He knew Tomoki's conjectures about the Six Paths Sage and Ōtsutsuki Kaguya.
Combining this with the powerful aura they sensed during the previous sudden change, an aura that no human could possess, Kabuto believed Tomoki's conjectures were correct.
The Six Paths Sage had descended, yet he was helpless against Tomoki, who could even protect the Kazekage and Orochimaru.
This forced the Six Paths Sage to target the other Ninja instead.
Kabuto's optimism was not unfounded; everything was based on facts.
If Tomoki knew he had caused such a misunderstanding, he would only say, "The revolution has not yet succeeded; comrades still need to work hard."
"I, your Tomoki, have more than enough self-preservation, but all my other abilities are lacking."
"Forget about fighting to a draw; I don't even have the slightest initiative. I can only wait for the opponent to come to me, yet I can't even touch a single hair on them."
To the current Tomoki, the Six Paths Sage was like a super-enhanced Obito.
It's just that the current Tomoki has grown; he no longer shrinks back, no longer fears. His raw strength is still far behind.
Sunagakure looked as if they were questioning life, especially the two researchers, no different from the Konoha researchers back then.
They didn't want to believe it, but the facts were right before their eyes, leaving them no choice but to believe.
Tomoki's conjectures aside for now, the part about Chakra was evident from the two researchers who couldn't accept reality, and from Chiyo, who was silently listening but couldn't utter any words of opposition.
The truth had always been there, just waiting for someone to uncover it.
And it depended on whether the one who uncovered it had the courage to face the cruel truth.
"To hell with Sage Mode! The Third Kazekage misled our Sunagakure!"
A unified thought emerged in the minds of some present who had participated in discussions with Rasa about Konoha affairs.
This was also why Tomoki had told Rasa that Sunagakure was fortunate to have the Third Kazekage.
Because the vague information the Third Kazekage left about Mount Myōboku's Sage Mode led Sunagakure to choose the correct side, despite everything.
However, among those present, besides Kabuto, no one else, including the Konoha Ninja, thought Sunagakure's choice was correct.
Feeling the extremely low pressure in the air, Kabuto spoke.
"People of Hidden Sand Village, there's no need to be so dejected. As long as Hokage-sama and your Kazekage return, the ultimate victory will be ours!"
"Whether you admit it or not, Hokage-sama is capable enough to deal with the Six Paths Sage, and Hokage-sama himself admitted in the scroll that Sunagakure is already Konoha's partner."
Kabuto vigorously promoted the invincible Tomoki in his mind to Sunagakure.
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Land of Demons, Shrine Maiden Palace.
All the Shrine Maiden souls in Shion's necklace had been absorbed by Mōryō, completing his own being.
The Shrine Maidens' resistance, while not entirely useless, had little effect.
Besides delaying for a bit, it served no other purpose.
Mōryō, who had already reached Shion, was about to take the most crucial step: fusing with Shion to fully restore all his power.
Mōryō, in Obito's form, embraced Shion, and then a dark purple light cocoon appeared in the Shrine Maiden Palace.
Completion, begin!
Obito opened his eyes; before he could fully rejoice in gaining Mōryō's power, he was instantly suppressed and lost consciousness.
Now, Obito looked at the surrounding figures, tearing at him like hungry wolves, and slowly recalled the past.
"I think I just gained Mōryō's power. Where is this?"
Before he could ponder, Obito felt a familiar pain, a pain that pierced his soul.
Obito had experienced it twice!
The moment the intense pain struck, Obito stopped thinking, wanting to drive away the figures tearing at him, but endless souls, like devils, bit into every inch of Obito they could reach.
Without Chakra, without Kamui, and without a body, Obito, stripped down to just his soul, had no power to resist.
The gnawing speed grew faster and faster, but Obito did not lose consciousness in the intense pain.
Having experienced all pain, Obito paid no mind to this pain; no suffering could compare to the pain of losing Rin.
Being torn apart at the soul was completely insignificant, not even comparable to Uchiha Tomoki's soul flame!
As his soul was gradually devoured, Obito slowly stopped feeling pain. It wasn't that he had gotten used to it, but his thoughts were no longer coherent; he couldn't even perceive pain.
Every thought was blurry, and thinking became exceptionally difficult.
"Am... I... go... ing... to... die...?"
A very stiff thought flashed through Obito's mind, and then he continued to think.
"No... I... can't... die... yet!"
"Why... not...?"
"Be... cause..."
Obito struggled to think. Because of what? Obito couldn't find the answer, and his thoughts completely ceased.
Obito's soul, gnawed down to almost nothing, had lost the ability to think. Only its most core part, a fragment of soul emitting a soft glow, still shone brightly.
Humans are greedy, selfish, and brutal; they can be said to be the cruelest species in the endless universe. But humans are also contradictory; there are always things in the human soul that can resist these cruelties.
That is the noblest part of the human soul.
In the core of Obito's soul, there was nothing else; everything was related to Rin, holding all of Obito's beautiful memories.
It was also the most delicious piece; the endless souls in the soul pool were attracted, scrambling for the richest food.
Souls have no physical form, no collision volume; all souls devoured Obito's beautiful fantasies of Rin, his obsession with Rin, completely, leaving no trace.
The souls of previous Shrine Maidens had already been fused by Mōryō, becoming a part of him. Miroku, as the last one, just as she was about to be completely fused by Mōryō, suddenly heard an omnipresent cry, a cry from the soul.
"Rin!!!"
All the souls participating in the gnawing roared for some unknown reason, but then they understood.
"I cannot die!"
"Because I haven't created a world with Rin yet!"
This thought suddenly appeared in all the souls, originating from nowhere, simply arising naturally.
Bearing the power of a god comes at a price. Obito was not Indra's reincarnation and had not had his authority elevated by him.
But Obito, solely through his obsession with Rin, managed to withstand the Ten-Tails' assimilation, possessing the strongest soul in the Ninja World for a thousand years.
The Sage's power was only for Rin. Mōryō, after casually suppressing him, ignored him. How did his soul pool compare to the Ten-Tails'?
Ignorance and weakness are not obstacles to survival; arrogance is!
In the Shrine Maiden Palace, the dark purple light cocoon shattered, and a figure emerged, seven parts like Obito, three parts like Shion.
A satisfied yet sinister smile appeared on his face.
"Ōtsutsuki..."
Before Mōryō could finish speaking, his face suddenly changed, then his expression became quite blank, like an idiot.
Moments later, a bewildered expression appeared, then turned into understanding, and he slowly opened his mouth. Although it was one person, the voice came out in layers, as if countless people were speaking in unison, saying,
"I am, Uchiha Obito!"
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