After hearing Yuzuru Uchiha's voice, Obito froze for a moment before forcing his legs to move, step by step, until he reached the bedside.
His voice was hoarse as he spoke.
"Y-Yuzuru… big brother, what happened?"
The corner of Yuzuru's mouth lifted into a faint, pallid smile as he replied slowly, "Bloodline disease."
Obito repeated blankly, "Bloodline… disease?"
"Simply put, the body can't withstand the overwhelming power of a bloodline limit. The more you draw on it, the stronger the backlash becomes."
Yuzuru only offered a brief explanation, yet even that left him short of breath.
Forcing a smile onto his face, Obito asked nervously, "Then… if you don't use your bloodline limit anymore, big brother, will that be enough?"
Yuzuru said nothing. He merely smiled and shook his head.
Seeing this, Obito also fell silent.
After a long while, Yuzuru pushed himself up with both hands and looked at Obito with a smile.
"Obito, help me."
"Ah? O-okay!"
Obito snapped back to his senses and quickly supported Yuzuru, helping him sit up against the headboard.
No matter how hard he tried, he couldn't believe it. It had only been a little over a month since they last met, yet Yuzuru had become like this.
That heroic, invincible big brother—who once slaughtered tens of thousands of allied shinobi by himself, crushed Konoha through sheer personal might, faced everything with calm indifference, and seemed to have no limits to his strength—was now confined to a bed, so weak that he needed help just to sit upright…
"Obito, my body is already failing. Being able to hold on until now is a miracle."
"Shisui is still young, and Fugaku's personality is too indecisive. From now on… the Uchiha clan will be in your hands."
Listening to Yuzuru speak as if delivering his final words, Obito felt his mind go completely blank.
He had always shouted about surpassing Yuzuru, about becoming the greatest clan head the Uchiha had ever seen.
But he had never imagined it would happen like this.
"The clan's assets are managed by dedicated people, but you still need to keep an eye on them. Don't let corruption take root."
"Now isn't the time to cry. After my death, the other nations will definitely take the opportunity to invade the Land of Lightning. You must prepare in advance…"
"You must, absolutely must, protect our clansmen!"
Yuzuru's voice grew weaker and weaker. At last, the hand gripping Obito's slipped limply and fell still.
By the time Obito came back to himself, Yuzuru had already lost all signs of life.
Obito didn't know how he left the infirmary. He only knew that from that day on, the big brother who had always stood in front of him would never return.
That very night, Yuzuru was buried in secret.
In order to buy as much preparation time as possible, the strongest shinobi in the world was laid to rest without even a proper funeral.
In a daze, Obito became the new head of the Uchiha clan.
Staring at the stacks of documents on his desk, he felt completely at a loss.
All he could see ahead was darkness.
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One month later, the Fourth Shinobi World War erupted.
The Land of Fire was the first to launch an attack on the Land of Lightning, advancing with lightning speed and rapidly occupying most of the Land of Rice Fields, the Land of Waterfall, and the Land of Hot Water.
At the same time, the remnants of the samurai from the Land of Iron seized the opportunity to unite and began attacking the Kumogakure shinobi stationed there.
Under the leadership of the Third Raikage, the Land of Lightning launched a powerful counteroffensive, stabilizing the situation in just a few short days.
Just as Obito was about to breathe a sigh of relief, the Land of Earth, the Land of Wind, and the Land of Water declared war on the Land of Lightning simultaneously.
Facing the encirclement of four great nations, the Land of Lightning—having lost Yuzuru—was powerless to defend its vast territory.
A few months later, the Land of Grass, the Land of Rain, the Land of Tea, the Land of Frost…
All of them fell!
The flames of war spread into the Land of Lightning. Infrastructure that had taken more than a decade to build was reduced to ruins in an instant.
Obito's heart bled, yet he could think of no solution.
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Kumogakure.
Raikage Office.
The Third Raikage gathered the high-ranking officials and spoke gravely.
"Orochimaru has defected. After Yuzuru's death, Tsunade also disappeared with the necklace."
"Facing the combined assault of four great nations, Kumogakure's combat strength is already stretched thin."
"Obito, the Uchiha clan must enter the war!"
Hearing the Third Raikage's demand, Obito could only nod silently.
Although Yuzuru had told him to protect the Uchiha clansmen, the situation had reached a point of life and death. He had no way to keep the clan sheltered in Kumogakure forever.
Seeing Obito agree, the Third Raikage's expression eased slightly as he continued analyzing the situation.
"On the Land of Fire battlefield, there are Jiraiya, Danzo Shimura, Hiruzen Sarutobi, and the Nine-Tails jinchuriki, Minato Namikaze."
"On the Land of Water battlefield, there are Yagura Karatachi, Mei Terumi, and numerous bloodline-limit clans."
"On the Land of Wind battlefield, there are Rasa, Chiyo, and the One-Tail jinchuriki."
"On the Land of Earth battlefield, there are Ōnoki, Kitsuchi, the Four-Tails jinchuriki, Rōshi, and the Five-Tails jinchuriki, Han…"
"We must hold them back on their respective fronts. If they join forces, we'll have no chance of survival."
At his words, A, Killer B, Sakumo Hatake, Yugito Nii, and the others all nodded.
Obito also spoke in a low voice.
"I, Fugaku, and Shisui will do our utmost as well."
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Through Kumogakure's efforts, the situation on the battlefield gradually stabilized.
But everyone knew that stability meant a slow death.
With its current strength, the Land of Lightning simply couldn't afford a prolonged war of attrition against four great nations.
They launched several full-scale counterattacks, yet none achieved meaningful results.
Whenever they tried to concentrate their forces to break through one front, the enemy would retreat immediately, while the opposing forces on the other battlefields seized the chance to launch fierce assaults.
After repeated failures, the morale of Kumogakure's shinobi plummeted.
If not for the Uchiha clan fighting desperately on the front lines, Kumogakure would have fallen long ago.
But that also meant the number of Uchiha shinobi was dwindling at an alarming rate every single day.
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One year after the Shinobi World War began, most of the Land of Lightning's territory had already been occupied.
Enemy camps now lay within a hundred miles of Kumogakure itself.
As Obito led Shisui, Fugaku, Kakashi, and Guy in studying plans for a surprise assault, an utterly unexpected piece of news arrived.
While attacking an Iwagakure unit, the Third Raikage had been surrounded by ten thousand Iwa shinobi led by Ōnoki. After fighting for three days and three nights, he died of exhaustion.