Chapter 519: Obito Discovers the Truth
"That guy Obito is late every single day. He always says he's helping an old lady get home. I'm going to follow him and see if it's actually true."
Obito replied without changing his expression.
"Oh, that's nothing. Come with me. I've got something good to show you."
Jiraiya remembered the mission the Third Hokage had given him, grabbed Obito, and started dragging him away.
"Something good? What is it? A new ninjutsu?"
Obito didn't resist and simply followed Jiraiya.
In any case, Danzo would be sending people here later to deal with everything. It didn't matter if he left now. It would even give him an alibi.
Jiraiya led Obito into a narrow alley. Looking mysteriously around, he pulled a book marked with a large slash, the symbol for prohibited material, from inside his clothes and handed it over.
"What's this?"
Obito froze for a moment after taking it.
Could this be the legendary "Icha Icha Paradise"?
"Kakashi, based on your abilities, you're already an adult in my eyes. So this is my coming-of-age gift to you. I hope you'll read it carefully and come to understand both the beauty and ugliness of human nature."
Jiraiya spoke with a serious expression as he patted Obito's shoulder earnestly.
"..."
Obito was speechless.
Learn about the beauty and ugliness of human nature by reading dirty books?
Are you sure you meant "human nature," and not just "human"?
He looked down and realized it wasn't "Icha Icha Paradise" after all.
Then it occurred to him.
At this point in time, Jiraiya probably hadn't started writing yet.
Obito wasn't sure.
Unlike Kakashi, he had never paid attention to this kind of pointless stuff.
Seeing that Obito seemed completely uninterested in the adult book, Jiraiya felt as if his heart had been stabbed.
Just as the Third Hokage had said!
Kakashi really did have unusual tastes. Otherwise, there was no way a boy wouldn't be interested in this kind of thing!
A powerful sense of responsibility suddenly filled Jiraiya.
Ordinary adult books weren't enough to save Kakashi anymore.
He would have to write an earth-shattering masterpiece himself to rescue misguided young men like Kakashi throughout the ninja world!
"Kakashi, it's fine if this doesn't interest you. Just keep it for now. I've made up my mind—I'm going to write a novel myself. As soon as I finish it, you'll be the very first person I give it to."
"In the meantime... could you please stop making moves on boys?"
Jiraiya finally revealed his true purpose.
"Oh, sure... huh?"
Obito nodded instinctively.
But the moment he answered, he suddenly realized what Jiraiya had just said.
What the hell?
Making moves on boys?
Could it be that someone had discovered how he'd been obtaining the power of the "Kakashi version" of Obito?
Obito instantly felt a little awkward.
The embarrassment only lasted a moment.
After all, he was committing all these outrageous acts while disguised as Kakashi.
The pervert was Kakashi.
What did it have to do with him?
Besides, this was just a genjutsu. None of it was real.
But then another horrifying thought struck him.
Wait... what had Jiraiya just said?
He was going to write a novel for Kakashi, 'Icha Icha Paradise', and give it to him as soon as it was finished?
Wasn't that exactly what had happened in the real ninja world?
Even though Obito had already caused enormous changes by impersonating Kakashi inside this genjutsu, why were events still unfolding exactly the same way they had in reality?
What Obito didn't know was that there was such a thing as fate—worldline convergence. At critical moments, events naturally returned to the "original story."
The true game version of Infinite Tsukuyomi was an open-world version without such restrictions.
But this special beginner area in the beta server had been deliberately designed that way because it was meant to test many different things.
Obito was genuinely terrified by the conclusion he had reached.
Because all the evidence now suggested one horrifying possibility.
The Kakashi in the real ninja world...
Really might have been exactly the same kind of pervert Obito was pretending to be now.
Then he remembered all those bizarre works Kakashi had written.
The more he thought about it, the more convinced he became.
It wasn't that Obito had ruined Kakashi's reputation by taking things in a different direction.
He had simply, by pure coincidence, done exactly the sort of things the real Kakashi would have done!
Obito couldn't help recalling their childhood.
He and Rin had gone to Kakashi's house many times.
They had eaten Kakashi's grilled fish.
They had even drunk his black tea...
And afterward, because they had played all day and were exhausted...
He really had fallen asleep at Kakashi's house before.
Could it be...
Obito's face turned pale.
Could it be that back then...
The tea Kakashi had given him had actually been drugged?
Had Kakashi taken advantage of him while he was unconscious?
Inside this genjutsu world, Obito was only doing those things because the mission forced him to.
But in the real world...
That would mean Kakashi was simply a pervert!
This genjutsu world had actually allowed him to uncover the truth that had been hidden for years!
Likewise, in reality, Jiraiya must have written 'Icha Icha Paradise' to correct Kakashi's orientation before giving it to him.
After all, what kind of elder gives a younger person an erotic novel that he wrote himself as a present?
Obviously, it was because Kakashi had already become a hopeless pervert, leaving Jiraiya no choice but to fight fire with fire!
Then, after that failed...
Kakashi read 'Icha Icha Paradise', absorbed its "good parts", discarded the rest, and became even more twisted.
He even went on to write the 'Buff Man' series himself, intending to corrupt the morals of the entire ninja world.
The more Obito thought about it, the more certain he became that he had uncovered the truth.
And there was something else.
If Rin liked Kakashi...
Why had Kakashi rejected her?
No one could reject adorable Rin!
Unless...
That person simply wasn't interested in girls!
Everything fits together perfectly!
Which raised another question.
Based on this reasoning, if he looked back at the third mission.
["Defeat your rival"—pierce your rival's heart.]
Did this "rival" really refer to him?
Was it really talking about some future battle where Kakashi would stab him through the heart?
Granted, Obito had once thought that doing so might remove the curse seal Madara had placed on his heart.
But that event hadn't happened yet.
It might never happen.
There was, however, one thing that had already happened.
Kakashi had personally killed Rin.
So this "rival"...
Wasn't Obito at all.
It was Rin!
Kakashi liked boys and coveted both Obito's body and heart.
Since Obito loved only Rin, that made Rin Kakashi's true rival in the fight over him!
When his reasoning reached this point, Obito sucked in a sharp breath.
Thank goodness he had figured it out in time.
Otherwise, he might never have been able to complete this mission and would have remained trapped inside this genjutsu world forever.
So what he needed to do...
Wasn't find a way to kill the Kakashi-version of himself.
It was to kill Rin?
After a brief moment of hesitation, Obito made up his mind.
The Rin in this genjutsu world was fake.
A dead Rin here was fake as well.
As long as he escaped and successfully activated the Infinite Tsukuyomi, there would be countless Rins.
There was no need to care about this one.
Wait...
Was there something he had overlooked?
Obito suddenly realized something.
If this really was the truth...
Then hadn't he made a huge mistake by encouraging the "Kakashi-version" of Obito to get along with that old lady?
On the contrary, that might end up causing trouble for what he was about to do to Rin.
"Oh no!"
Obito threw the book in his hand onto the ground and sprinted anxiously toward the old lady's house.
(End of this chapter)