"The eye?"
Kakashi touched his left eye. Obito Uchiha's words reminded him of the girl from his memories—the one who had smiled so brightly and finally had her wish fulfilled when she released herself from the Reanimation Jutsu.
Rin.
A former teammate, a former comrade-in-arms.
"Fine."
"There's no harm in telling you who the true owner of this eye is."
A faint smile played on Kakashi's lips, making Obito Uchiha feel a sudden wave of unease. His sharp intuition told him that whatever Kakashi was about to say would be devastating.
"Obito Uchiha."
Kakashi spoke the man's full name.
"This eye..."
"It belongs to the person you long for, yet can never reach."
Hearing those words, Obito's heart jolted violently. A figure he would never forget, even in death, surfaced in the depths of his mind.
As he thought of her, the image of Kakashi in his vision began to overlap with hers, finally narrowing down to that single jet-black, bright, jewel-like eye.
It couldn't be...
It couldn't be!
No, that's impossible. Kakashi lost his Sharingan during the Night of the Nine-Tails, and by then, Rin was already...
Obito tried to comfort himself, attempting to push the absurd thought to the back of his mind.
But then—
"Obito."
A familiar, affectionate voice—one that belonged only in his dreams—called out from ahead.
In Obito's eyes, it was as if that soul-haunting figure was standing right beside Kakashi, looking at him with an expression full of regret and disappointment.
"Rin," Obito muttered subconsciously.
"That's right."
"This eye belongs to Rin."
"Before she died, she signed up for organ donation. It just so happened that I had lost my eye, and Rin's eye was still preserved. And so, the me you see today was born."
Kakashi's words were like a massive hammer smashing through Obito's final line of defense, utterly shattering the last of his delusions.
Rin?
Rin.
Rin!
This guy!
This damned bastard!
How did he dare?!
How did he dare?!
He had been staring at Obito through Rin's eye this entire time!
And yet he...
He hadn't even recognized it?!
"What do you think Rin was to you?!"
"How... how dare you use Rin's eye!"
Obito felt a surge of pure fury at Kakashi's actions, resentment that Kakashi possessed her eye, and agonizing pain that he himself hadn't recognized it as hers!
"To tell you the truth, I recognized you the night of the Uchiha coup."
"I didn't acknowledge you, and I didn't say much to you."
"I just wanted to see what your ultimate goal was."
"I wanted to watch your so-called 'grand design' be interfered with, and see everything you did turn out to be in vain."
"You played the part of 'Madara Uchiha' in front of me like a petty clown. It was utterly ridiculous."
"Ah, yes, that's right."
"I was watching you with this eye."
As Kakashi spoke, he took a large stride forward. A sharp blade manifested in his hand at some unknown moment.
What kind of blade was it?
The sword was pure white and ancient-looking, soul-stirring yet deceptively plain.
Daylight [Bai Zhou], the blade that had recently slain Mōryō, appeared in his hand once more.
Upon hearing those words, Obito froze where he stood, his stiff body visibly trembling.
A Reanimated body shouldn't have such physiological reactions, but...
He wanted to cry, he wanted to vomit, he wanted to scream.
What is he saying?
What is he talking about!
What on earth is this damned guy saying!
Tears flowed uncontrollably from his eyes.
He felt rage, pain, and despair.
He wasn't despairing over Kakashi's twisted sense of humor; he was despairing because everything he had done had been seen by Rin.
"Obito Uchiha, calm down."
"There is still a way to fix this."
Nagato spoke up just in time. He could understand Obito's feelings; back when Konan died...
"Oh, by the way," Kakashi interrupted Nagato, stepping forward and raising Daylight high. "This guy was also involved in Yahiko's death. Yahiko was too rational and didn't trust him, so he decided to make things simpler by giving Hanzo of the Salamander a little push."
While Nagato was still dazed by the revelation, Kakashi swung his sword down at Obito!
With a single strike, everything seemed to perish. A pure light of the blade cleaved through Hōzuki Castle. In the distance, the city walls turned to dust, and the pure white sword intent rolled into the sea without causing a single ripple.
Obito stood where he was, completely unharmed.
Even with Kakashi's current level of power, killing Obito decisively was still a bit troublesome. After all, the ability of Kamui was far too broken.
But it was only "troublesome."
"Obito Uchiha... is what he said true?"
Nagato didn't seem to have fully processed Kakashi's words yet. He looked at Obito blankly, searching for an answer.
"You... you're using Rin as leverage to mock my incompetence?"
Obito didn't even seem to hear what Kakashi said to Nagato.
"Oh, right, let me mention one more thing. Three years ago, in order to target me, Orochimaru specifically reanimated Rin."
"Did you know about that?"
A hint of mockery flashed in Kakashi's eyes as he turned his focus to Orochimaru, who had been watching him warily.
"What?"
Obito's fury reached a boiling point. He glared deathly at Orochimaru.
He hadn't known about this because White Zetsu never told him!
"Obito Uchiha!"
"I am asking you a question!"
Nagato's mind flashed back to the day Obito, under the alias of Madara Uchiha, had first approached them. Now, years later, under the powerful Yin Release brought by his Rinnegan, those memories hadn't faded; they had become even more vivid.
Now, with Kakashi's reminder and his own years of experience, everything seemed suspicious upon reflection. Nagato's chest heaved violently as he roared at Obito.
"Don't look at me like that."
"Reanimating Rin Nohara was simply a means to achieve victory."
Cold sweat broke out on Orochimaru's back. He felt a massive headache coming on. If he had known back then that the so-called "Madara Uchiha" was actually Obito, he never would have reanimated Rin.
But there were no "ifs" in life.
"You deserve to die!"
"Orochimaru!"
In Obito's heart, Rin was his final line—an existence no one was allowed to touch!
"Obito Uchiha, tell me the truth!"
"Was Yahiko's death your doing?!"
Nagato could no longer restrain himself. He lunged forward, trying to grab Obito by the collar, but his hands passed right through Obito's body.
"Shut up, you self-righteous piece of trash!"
"Kakashi is right! I was the one who twisted the information about the Akatsuki organization Yahiko founded and gave it to Hanzo and Danzo!"
"If you want to blame someone, blame yourselves for being too stupid to see through such a simple thing!"
In his state of pure rage, Obito snarled back at Nagato.
"What did you say?!"
Nagato's soul shook. Scenes of his life with Yahiko flashed through his mind.
How pathetic he was!
To have become Obito Uchiha's tool...
"By the way, those Rinnegan eyes aren't yours either."
"They belong to Madara Uchiha. Before he died, he transplanted his eyes into you when you were a child."
"Then, he used genjutsu to manipulate two Hidden Leaf shinobi into killing your parents in front of you, just to awaken a power that never belonged to you in the first place."
"From beginning to end, you have been nothing but a pawn in the so-called Moon's Eye Plan."
"A pawn meant to nurture the Rinnegan until it could be used to resurrect Madara Uchiha."
The malicious amusement in Kakashi's eyes grew stronger as he revealed the truth behind Nagato's Rinnegan and Obito's ultimate goal.
Nagato froze in place, looking at Kakashi in disbelief. With the truth of Yahiko's death already established, the credibility of Kakashi's words was skyrocketing.
"And the so-called Moon's Eye Plan is actually a plot to gather all nine Tailed Beasts to revive the Ten-Tails. Then, a jutsu called the Infinite Tsukuyomi will be used to trap the entire shinobi world in a drunken dream."
Kakashi acted as though he didn't notice the atmosphere among his enemies was fracturing; he continued to speak in a nonchalant tone.
This time, it was Orochimaru and the Three Snake Sisters who couldn't take it.
Orochimaru would do anything in his pursuit of immortality—he would even discard his own body without a second thought. But if he were to be trapped in some illusory dream, he would rather be killed outright.
"What did you say?!"
"Obito Uchiha, tell me... tell me this isn't true."
Orochimaru's face turned pale as he looked at the raging Obito.
"What's so bad about the Infinite Tsukuyomi!"
"Orochimaru, tell me why you reanimated Rin!"
Obito's killing intent toward Orochimaru surged. He could barely comfort himself regarding Kakashi having Rin's eye. After all, in this painful reality, the person Rin loved had always been Kakashi. Only in the Infinite Tsukuyomi could he obtain her love.
But Orochimaru!
How did this filthy creature dare to stretch his dirty hands toward Rin—the girl who was the very definition of everything pure and beautiful!
"You bastard, tell me if the Infinite Tsukuyomi is real!"
Orochimaru spoke through gritted teeth. He would not allow his intellect and his talents to be made a mockery of by this lovesick fool's endgame!
"What's wrong with letting everyone in the world fall into a beautiful dream!"
Obito was in agony. The ocular power of his Sharingan began to climb, fueled by his violently fluctuating emotions.
"The so-called Infinite Tsukuyomi is nothing more than a conspiracy by Black Zetsu to revive the Rabbit Goddess."
"Once everyone is trapped in the Infinite Tsukuyomi, they will become nutrients for the Divine Tree, providing chakra for the descent of Kaguya Otsutsuki."
"And the humans whose chakra has been sucked dry will turn into White Zetsu—trash to be ordered around at Kaguya's whim."
Kakashi watched the scene with great interest.
See? This is the nature of a conspiracy.
When a conspiracy is stripped away like a fig leaf, all the results born from it become the most intense contradictions. Allies who stood together because of a lie will turn into enemies in an instant.
Only an open, honest strategy [Yang Mou] can force people to stand together.
"What?!"
Now it was Obito's turn to look at Kakashi in disbelief.
"Impossible!"
"Black Zetsu is a creation of Madara Uchiha's Yin-Yang Release!"
"How could Black Zetsu be involved with something so nonsensical?!"
If the result of the Infinite Tsukuyomi was this, then what had everything he had done been for?!
He had killed his teacher!
He had killed his teacher's wife!
He had even turned his blade against the Uchiha clan that raised him!
What was the point of all of it?!
"Do you know who the last person to use Yin-Yang Release to create life was?"
Facing Obito's denial, the corners of Kakashi's mouth curled into a mocking arc.
"Who!"
Obito's eyes were nearly bleeding. He didn't believe it! He didn't believe any of it!
"It was the Sage of Six Paths, Hagoromo Otsutsuki."
"And the Yin-Yang lifeforms he created were the nine Tailed Beasts stripped from the Ten-Tails."
"Do you really think the elderly, dying Madara Uchiha could be compared to the Sage of Six Paths?"
Kakashi spoke with complete composure. Everything he said was the truth, so he spoke with absolute confidence.
"But... all of this... how do you know?!" Orochimaru blurted out.
"As the first monarch to unify the shinobi world in a thousand years, is it really so strange that I know the history of it all?"
"In fact, the Infinite Tsukuyomi was already cast once a thousand years ago, during the time of the Sage of Six Paths."
"It was only stopped by the Sage of Six Paths and his brother, Hamura Otsutsuki."
"But even so, many humans were turned into White Zetsu. Otherwise, why do you think there are so many of them?"
Kakashi countered. Orochimaru was speechless.
However, as those words were uttered, Obito felt his vision go dark. He nearly fainted.
"Furthermore..." Kakashi looked at Obito.
"Regarding the events of that year—setting aside the fact that you were turned against the Leaf by a few sentences from Madara and even killed your teacher—Rin's death itself was incredibly suspicious."
"Why did Madara choose you to be his agent? Why was Rin captured by the Hidden Mist exactly when you were near Madara? And as you must have learned later, the Hidden Mist was already under Madara's control at that time."
"Through all of this, did you really never think about it even once?"
Kakashi's words completely demolished Obito's psychological defenses. He could no longer care about the truth of the Infinite Tsukuyomi; he simply stared blankly at Kakashi.
The Hidden Mist was a force controlled by Madara.
He was right next to Madara at the time.
And Rin was captured by the Hidden Mist.
"It's a lie."
"It's a lie! It's all a lie!"
"Hahahahaha!"
"This place is hell!"
Obito wailed, tears and snot streaming down his face as he roared in agony.
At that moment, someone could no longer hold back. Ignoring the fact that Kakashi—their greatest enemy—was right in front of them, they struck out at Obito with full force!
Nagato!
At this point, Nagato no longer held any hope for this so-called alliance.
Now, he only wanted to kill Obito Uchiha completely!
To erase him on a spiritual level!
And Madara Uchiha too!
If Madara wanted to use him to be resurrected...
Then he would resurrect him, and then erase him from the soul up just the same!
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