Because of the appearance of the masked man disguised as Danzō Shimura, along with the three young Konoha ANBU—Adult Obito, Adult Kakashi, and Minato Namikaze—he did not immediately kill "Kyūsuke," "Daibutsu," and the others.
Instead, he watched "ANBU Kakashi," who was following "Danzō Shimura," and suddenly spoke with emotion:
"In this cursed ninja world, everyone changes. Even heroes of the past will have the justice in their hearts worn away. They forget their promises and turn into hypocritical trash."
Adult Kakashi, transformed into ANBU Kakashi: "...."
Adult Obito Uchiha, transformed into Danzō Shimura: "....."
Minato Namikaze wanted to laugh, but had to force himself to hold it in.
The masked man sighed in Madara Uchiha's voice. "Forget it. I lost all attachment to this false world long ago."
He continued, "When Nagato truly awakens those Rinnegan and can wield the power of the Six Paths, I will end this cursed ninja world and create a brand-new one, a world filled with peace, happiness, and tranquility."
"Sever cause and effect. Heroes will always remain heroes and will never turn into hollow trash."
"...."
If they hadn't known the masked man's true identity, neither Minato Namikaze's group nor the Akatsuki members on the opposite side would have had any idea what he was rambling on about.
But the problem was…
At this moment, aside from the masked man himself and the Black-and-White Zetsu beside him, who still didn't realize their secrets had already been completely exposed, there was almost no one here who didn't know about his past.
Former hero. Hypocritical trash. Justice worn away. Promises forgotten.
The Akatsuki members were collectively screaming in their heads:
You're talking about…
—Kakashi Hatake, right?
Wow. You didn't even bother adding a question mark.
Adult Kakashi's grip tightened around the hilt of his blade.
Adult Obito, transformed into Danzō Shimura, felt a phantom stab of pain in his waist.
Yet the masked man, feeling perfectly fine and completely oblivious to anything being off, was still drowning in his anger that someone had actually become one of Danzō's subordinates.
"Forget it. You wouldn't understand even if I explained it. You don't need to do anything. Just wait. Wait for me to change this world."
Please!
Drop the "you all" already!!
The former Akatsuki members—now disguised as the current super S-rank missing-nin organization Akatsuki—Hidan, Deidara, Kakuzu, Sasori, Itachi, Kisame, and the rest—were screaming internally!!
You were obviously talking one-on-one to Kakashi! Why did you have to add 'us' and drag everyone else in?!
Things were heading in a very strange direction.
Black Zetsu, of course, would not allow that to continue.
"Enough, Madara."
He spoke up. "Danzō Shimura also wouldn't allow these people to interfere with Hanzō's plan. Let's leave. Leaving it to them to kill these Akatsuki members will be more effective than us doing it ourselves."
Through the eyeholes of the mask, the masked man's crimson Sharingan fixed on Black Zetsu.
Black Zetsu went on, "Make Nagato hate Konoha even more. Erase his reverence for his mentor Jiraiya. The deeper his hatred toward the ninja world, the more advantageous it is for us. Creating our ideal world will be that much closer."
The reasoning was sound, the logic seamless.
The Masked Man—Obito Uchiha was completely under his control.
It had to be said that Black Zetsu's ability to manipulate the Uchiha had been refined to perfection over thousands of years. With his skill points fully maxed out, he had Madara Uchiha and Obito Uchiha firmly in hand.
Adult Obito, transformed into Danzō: …
Itachi Uchiha, transformed into Kyūsuke: ...
As the spatial dōjutsu vortex appeared before the "Masked Man," Minato Namikaze, transformed into a Konoha ANBU, charged forward!
"Knowing Danzō-sama's whereabouts! Don't think you can just leave like this!!"
Worthy of his future as Hokage, Kannabi Bridge Minato was the only one who still remembered the mission, completely unaffected by the social death and internal roasting going on around him.
From disguises to the script, everything fit together flawlessly.
His actions even conveniently gave the masked man a perfect excuse to brutally teach Danzō Shimura a lesson.
Coincidentally, "Danzō Shimura" was thinking the exact same thing.
Without a word, he charged straight at the masked man!! His ruthless attacks showed absolutely no mercy.
"You deal with that trash," the masked man ordered Black Zetsu, focusing all his attention on fending off the attacking Danzō Shimura.
Trash—Minato Namikaze. Perfect.
He went straight for Black Zetsu.
Black Zetsu snorted, complaining that the masked man really knew how to order people around, then produced several White Zetsu to deal with the charging "trash."
Minato used Shadow Clones to handle the White Zetsu, while he himself focused on restraining Black Zetsu, luring him into open terrain with nowhere to hide. In the process, he quietly left behind Flying Thunder God marks.
Adult Obito, disguised as Danzō Shimura, followed Minato Namikaze's rhythm and led the masked man toward another area.
"Worthy of Danzō Shimura indeed," the masked man mocked in Madara Uchiha's voice. "Despicable and vile as he is, he does at least have the strength he should."
Adult Obito had no idea how the real Danzō Shimura would feel hearing that. All he knew was that, to him, this so-called praise was nothing less than a vicious insult.
Unable to use intangibility, he deeply felt just how shameless his Mangekyō Sharingan was, and could only grit his teeth and trade blows back and forth with the masked man.
Adult Kakashi, dressed in full ANBU gear, ended up as the only one with nothing to do, standing alone opposite a group of Akatsuki missing-nin.
Nagato was gripping the core of Chibaku Tensei, but the two targets he had intended to seal had already left the area. He couldn't very well use that technique to seal an innocent Kakashi, could he?
"So damn bored!!" Hidan shouted noisily, cursing as he went. "I thought I was finally gonna get a fight just now!!"
Sasori of the Red Sand spoke calmly, "There's another one over there. You can fight him."
Adult Kakashi: "....."
Watching the former Akatsuki member sprint toward him with a scythe raised, Kakashi would have to be blind not to realize that this guy was also one of the present Akatsuki members who had crossed over to this era.
With no other option, Kakashi could only grit his teeth and defend himself.
After only a few exchanges, what had originally been a familiar Akatsuki two-on-two style fight turned into a four-man brawl when Sasori joined in to settle old grudges, conveniently turning the whole thing into one of Deidara's art performances.
It wasn't exactly three-on-one either, since Deidara's explosions occasionally took Hidan out along with the target.
Hidan was so furious that he called Kakuzu over to help, only to be rejected outright with, "No money in it. Not interested."
All things considered, though, most of the time it was still Hidan slashing away, Deidara blowing things up, and Sasori sneaking in poisonous attacks from the shadows.
"Hey, hey! Isn't this way too unfair?!"
Even though Deidara's explosions were weakened by the heavy rain, Sasori's poison was still a nightmare to deal with, and Hidan's abilities were completely unknown.
Kakashi barely dodged an attack, then used Lightning Release to short out Deidara's explosive clay.
"I'm just the ordinary owner of a perfectly normal inn, right?"
He'd meant that as a way to tell these missing-nin that he was from the same world as them, someone who had crossed over through time as well.
Who would've thought that the moment he said it, even Kakuzu, who had been uninterested because there was no money to be made, suddenly joined the fight?!
Why?
Kakuzu: Ask Obito Uchiha how much lodging money he charged us before you start talking.
Kakashi was horrified. How was he supposed to handle four S-rank missing-nin by himself?!
Kisame hoisted Samehada onto his shoulder and grinned, asking Itachi Uchiha if he wanted to go help out.
Itachi replied flatly, "Help who?"
"..." Kisame paused, then sighed. "Forget it. Let's just watch."
Konan and Nagato: spectating.
...
On the other side, the masked man was fighting "Danzō Shimura." He wasn't exactly being overwhelmed, but he kept getting the uncomfortable feeling that the other side had him firmly figured out.
'Is this just my imagination?'
The masked man frowned inwardly.
Explosions rang out nonstop nearby. Massive chakra attacks of Wind Release, Water Release, Fire Release, Earth Release, and Lightning Release were unleashed one after another.
Now even Sunagakure's Puppet Technique was in play?!
Something was wrong!
In that brief moment of distraction, Minato Namikaze seized the opening. Taking advantage of Black Zetsu's lapse in attention, he used the Flying Thunder God marks scattered around the area to instantly appear behind him. A sealing technique he had prepared long ago slapped directly onto Black Zetsu, knocking him into the air and leaving him nowhere to hide.
"Now!"
Aside from the Reaper Death Seal, any sealing technique could only restrain Black Zetsu for a very short time!
Adult Obito didn't hesitate.
He abandoned his fight with the masked man, tore away the bandage covering his right eye as part of his Danzō Shimura disguise, and revealed a Mangekyō Sharingan the masked man was all too familiar with.
"Kamui!"
A spiraling vortex appeared beside Black Zetsu, pulling him in bit by bit.
"No!!"
Black Zetsu's expression changed instantly.
He tried to break free, but in such a short window of time, there was no way for him to undo the sealing technique on his body.
His twisted form only had time to curse out a single "Damn it" before being completely sucked into Adult Obito's Kamui space.
The masked man froze.
He stared at the Danzō Shimura in front of him, his gaze locked onto the Mangekyō Sharingan in that eye socket.
In his mind, that despicable bastard Danzō Shimura hadn't just taken Kakashi in as a subordinate. He had even gouged out Kakashi's eye!!
Or maybe Kakashi had handed it over himself.
Either way, that piece of trash was never going to keep the promise between them!!
And yet, despite all that, fragments of memory still surfaced uncontrollably in the masked man's mind, replaying that brief moment of farewell…
"Come to think of it, I'm the only one who hasn't given you a jōnin gift yet, right?"
"Don't worry. It's not something useless."
"I'm going to give you my Sharingan."
"Obito! You—"
"Kakashi, no matter what anyone else says, to me you're an outstanding jōnin."
"From now on, use my eye to see the road ahead clearly."
"And…"
"No matter what happens, protect Rin for me."
The image of Rin being pierced straight through by Kakashi's Chidori suddenly flashed before his eyes.
At the same time, his mind involuntarily conjured another scene: Kakashi in ANBU uniform, lying on an operating table, his eye transplanted into Danzō Shimura's socket.
A wave of nausea surged up so violently that the masked man nearly threw up on the spot!!
He forced that sickening feeling down, and what followed was an anger he could no longer suppress.
"Danzo Shimuraō!!!!"
Wood Release! Hell Stab Technique!!
Countless wooden spikes burst forth, stabbing straight toward "Danzō Shimura"!
"?!?!?!"
Adult Obito stood there completely dumbfounded.
What the hell is wrong with him now?!