Chapter 449: The Overlapping "Code" of Heavenly Prison and the Curse Mark
Obito secretly cried inside the cave like a thirty-year-old child.
At this moment, he was exactly like he had been on the night of Rin's death—his mentality had completely shattered.
For the time being, he had not yet entered the stage of: "This Rin who knows I'm no longer cool is fake. Therefore, I must cling even harder to the Infinite Tsukuyomi."
Sometimes, being simple-minded has its own advantages and disadvantages.
Originally, Rin had been Obito's one and only emotional pillar. As long as he kept Rin in his heart, he could temporarily transform into the T0 war god known as "Strong-Willed Obito."
But the downside was that once someone realized this weakness and chose to shake that emotional pillar, he would very quickly turn into the T0 trash known as "Mentally Broken Obito."
In this state, even if Obito held the Sword of Nunoboko, he probably couldn't stab through tofu without snapping the blade.
Normally, because Rin was already dead, this weakness was nearly impossible for anyone to exploit.
But now?
Rin had really appeared.
There was a saying: no one can compare to the unattainable "white moonlight" from the past—not even the white moonlight of the present.
But Rin was, in essence, still that "white moonlight" from the past.
Whether revived through Impure World Reincarnation or truly resurrected, the point in time she remained frozen at was still the same Rin from back then.
Her mental age, life experience, and even her body were still that of the young girl Rin.
How could Obito possibly endure this?
If Madara hadn't left a curse mark on his heart to prevent him from committing suicide, he might already have slit his own throat and ended it all.
"It's our turn to go tell him the truth about the Infinite Tsukuyomi."
After confirming from the screen that Obito had fully entered the "a defeated soldier must grieve" phase, Shiromo turned to Konan and spoke.
Not long ago, Senju Hashirama had spent considerable effort trying to make Uchiha Madara believe even part of the truth behind the Infinite Tsukuyomi.
To make someone believe something like that, several conditions had to be met.
First, you had to tell them while they were at a disadvantage and you held the upper hand.
That way, it gave the impression of: "He could kill me anytime he wants. There's no reason for him to lie to me."
Second, it was best not to tell them directly. If they "accidentally overheard" the truth, they would find it far more believable.
Now, Shiromo and Konan intended to satisfy both conditions at once.
As for whether Obito would believe it in the end...
They would do all they could and leave the rest to fate.
After all, telling Obito the truth wasn't just to give him one final chance to regret his actions after learning the truth, It was also to disgust him one last time.
Uh... that progression of priorities sounded fine, right?
In any case, a few minutes later, the utterly heartbroken Obito heard movement outside the cave, followed by a familiar voice.
That was...
Konan's voice? That vicious woman?
Obito immediately recalled the mountain of explosive tags Konan had prepared for him not long ago, along with the Izanami specifically designed to counter him.
If Senju Tobirama and Konan hadn't inflicted actual damage on him one after another, then even if he had eventually been captured, Rin wouldn't have needed to treat his entire body.
And his deepest, most hopeless secret would never have been discovered.
Was Konan coming to torment him again?
Obito immediately panicked.
Because of the whole Rin situation, part of him wanted to die already.
But he knew he couldn't.
And he also knew that after placing the Scorch Release Heavenly Prison on him, these people would never let him die easily.
Trying to kill himself using someone else's hands wouldn't work either.
Scorch Release Heavenly Prison → Use chakra and you burn to death.
Madara's curse mark → Suicide forbidden.
The result of the overlapping "code" became: → Unable to use chakra at all.
If he hadn't overheard the earlier conversation and had unconsciously used chakra, he might still have had a chance.
Unfortunately...
So now, the best solution was to keep pretending to be unconscious.
He wasn't afraid of death.
He just didn't want Konan tormenting him for no reason.
Crap!
The moment Obito closed his eyes again, he suddenly felt something sticky around them and instantly opened them wide.
He had overlooked something critical.
Earlier, after completely giving up and breaking down in tears, he had cried his eyes out.
Now the stone bed was covered in his tears!
How could someone in a coma possibly cry?
Was he supposed to be crying in his dreams?
And he definitely didn't look like the kind of person who sobbed violently in his sleep.
What now?
Listening to the approaching footsteps, Obito broke out in cold sweat.
Wait!
Suddenly, Obito had an idea.
The stone bed was large enough, so in that case...
He directly turned himself around.
At the same time, Konan and Shiromo arrived at the doorway outside.
Standing there was an actual medical ninja responsible for treating Obito's injuries. Right now, he was simply acting out his final "scene."
"Go inside and check whether he's awake yet."
Konan ordered.
"Yes."
The medical ninja walked in.
Obito lay on the stone bed holding his breath and focusing completely. Half his body consisted of White Zetsu and Hashirama cells, making him practically half-undead already. Pretending to be unconscious was easy.
"His breathing is extremely weak. Looks like we'll need to add more nutrient fluids... Hm? What's this?"
The medical ninja suddenly noticed a large wet patch on the stone bed.
And there seemed to be quite a lot of it.
Just as he was about to reach out and touch it, he noticed the exact location of the stain and immediately recoiled in disgust, taking several steps back.
He stopped checking entirely and returned straight to the doorway.
"Konan-sama, Shiromo-sama, the person inside is still unconscious. His body is very weak and needs additional nutrients. Also..."
"And he wet the bed. Looks like his equipment doesn't work properly."
The medical ninja lowered his voice while reporting.
But lowering his voice was useless. The cave was deathly silent, and Obito heard every word clearly.
"It's not that it doesn't work properly. He simply has no function left at all. Go notify Nohara Rin and tell her what happened here. Sorry to trouble her into coming over to clean this up too."
Konan's tone carried obvious mockery.
Inside the room, Obito felt as though his heart was bleeding.
Just as he thought.
That vicious woman had deliberately arranged for Rin to come here! All so Rin could witness his disgrace.
And now she was going to tell Rin about him wetting the bed too!
"Understood."
The medical ninja left.
And now, the real performance began.
Because Konan and Shiromo had now "confirmed" that Obito remained unconscious, they began talking openly.
First, the two casually discussed the background behind the Otsutsuki clan, the God Tree, and the Infinite Tsukuyomi.
Then Shiromo finally began talking about his "new discovery."
"Actually, even setting aside the fact that it absorbs chakra and eventually kills people, the Infinite Tsukuyomi wouldn't fulfill anyone's dreams anyway. Think about it carefully, Konan. If you developed a technique meant for absorbing other people's chakra, would you care whether the targets suffered? Would you deliberately make the technique feel pleasant for them?"
"...Why would I make a technique comfortable? Techniques are used on enemies, aren't they? What am I, some kind of pervert?"
Konan replied with a question of her own.
"Exactly. The core of the Infinite Tsukuyomi isn't the illusion itself—it's chakra extraction. The genjutsu is only there as a form of mass crowd control. So why would the Infinite Tsukuyomi grant pleasant dreams to the people trapped inside it?"
"Could it be to stop the victims from breaking free of the illusion?"
Konan continued prompting him like a perfect straight man in a comedy routine.
(End of this chapter)