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"Hey, freeloader, what the hell happened to Lin? Why did she..."
Following Hakushi up to the hospital rooftop, Obito couldn't wait to ask, his face full of anxiety.
"Just as you saw, Lin has lost her memory now."
Unlike Obito's agitation, Hakushi replied calmly.
"Amnesia?"
Seeing how Lin didn't recognize him earlier, Obito had already guessed something was wrong, but hearing Hakushi confirm it still made it hard for him to accept.
"That's right. Maybe it's because of guilt, she feels too ashamed to face you, so she chose to shut herself off."
Hakushi sighed.
"Guilt?"
Obito looked utterly confused.
"At that time, she selfishly wanted to die by your kunai, leaving you to bear the pain of killing a friend all alone. That's where her guilt and self-blame come from. Compared to the pain she could feel for a moment, the pain you face would last a lifetime. That's probably what she thought then. She just couldn't forgive herself for being so selfish."
That's how Hakushi put it.
Obito's breathing became ragged, clutching his chest as if in pain, he said softly, "I never blamed Lin... Things turned out like this because of these eyes of mine, that's why Lin was targeted."
Hakushi walked up to Obito, meeting his regret-filled gaze.
"Exactly because of that, you are too forgiving toward everything about her. So, the moment Lin chose death, she felt guilty, shut her own heart, and couldn't face her own selfishness."
"..."
Obito fell silent.
"...Is there no way for her to recover?"
Obito still couldn't accept it.
"This is Lin's own choice, if you really think it would be a good thing for her to regain those memories."
Hakushi's words left Obito speechless.
Indeed, regaining those memories might not actually be a good thing for Lin.
He wanted to take on all the pain himself, and didn't want Lin to suffer any more harm. That was all Obito wanted now.
To him, the fact that Lin was alive—that was his greatest salvation.
"Setting aside Lin for a moment... what are you planning to do next?"
Hakushi asked Obito about his next steps.
"My plans?" Obito was stunned for a moment, then fell deep in thought before answering: "I want to take Lin back to Konoha. After all, I'm a Konoha ninja, and Kakashi is waiting for me, too. Now I've awakened the Mangekyo Sharingan, which should be pretty important to the village."
"Do you really think that?"
"Of course."
"Then do you want to kill Lin?"
Hakushi's question made Obito freeze.
How would taking Lin back to Konoha be harming her?
That sounded a bit too alarmist.
"What do you mean?"
"The reason Lin wanted to commit suicide was that someone implanted the Seven-tailed Beast in her body, and put a jutsu on her that prevented her from harming herself. Someone wanted to control her, using the Seven-tails inside her to attack Konoha. Lin wanted to stop all that, so she chose to die by your hand."
Hakushi briefly summarized what had happened, so Obito would understand why Lin wanted to die by his kunai in that situation.
For Lin, in that moment, it was the only choice she could make.
"But what does that have to do with me taking her back to Konoha?"
Obito was puzzled.
"The Seven-tails was one of the Tailed Beasts the First Hokage, Senju Hashirama, allocated to the Hidden Waterfall Village at the first Five Kage Summit. That's a fact recognized internationally. If Lin returns to Konoha, in order to avoid a diplomatic incident with the Hidden Waterfall Village, and to prevent the other Ninja Villages from accusing Konoha, what do you think will happen to Lin?"
Hakushi reminded Obito word by word.
"What will happen?"
Obito swallowed nervously.
"Lin will be taken by the Hidden Waterfall Village, and the Seven-tails will be extracted from her. And when a Jinchuriki has their Tailed Beast removed, the only outcome is death."
"It can't be that serious, right?"
Obito's heart tightened.
He had only heard brief things about the Tailed Beasts, knowing they were incredibly powerful biological weapons, but not much beyond that.
Obito wasn't even sure if a Jinchuriki would die after the Tailed Beast was removed.
But one thing was certain: he couldn't gamble Lin's life on an uncertain risk.
"You can take Lin back and try it if you want. I guarantee you, Lin will die, and that's a certainty. By then, even if I have the ability to save someone on the brink of death, I absolutely don't have the power to bring back the dead."
Obito said nothing. He didn't dare make that bet.
If he lost, Konoha would hand Lin over to the Hidden Waterfall Village for their own safety, extract the Seven-tails, and she'd die. Obito knew he'd never forgive himself for the rest of his life.
It was only because he'd experienced the pain of loss that he understood how precious it was to regain what was lost.
The moment Lin died, his whole world seemed to collapse, and he felt like there was no place left for him in this world and no joy left in his life.
It was then that Obito understood one thing: to him, dreams of becoming Hokage or protecting the village—none of that meant as much as a single one of Lin's fingers.
"Then what should I do now?"
Obito's mind was in chaos.
"Just stay here for now. You were manipulated and let Lin be taken away; ultimately, it was because you were too weak. If you want to protect Lin, you need to make good use of that new Sharingan you awakened because of her."
"If I use this Mangekyo Sharingan well, I can protect Lin?"
A flash of hope shone in Obito's eyes.
"Of course. After all, this is the Uchiha Clan's supreme Pupil Technique—it's fundamentally different from an ordinary Tomoe Sharingan. I'll teach you myself how to use this power."