Chapter 522: Playing Himself
Obito noticed the disgust in the villagers' eyes as they looked at Rin, and he was extremely satisfied.
This was exactly the effect he wanted.
Only if the majority of Konoha hated Rin for being the Three-Tails' jinchūriki would they approve when he finally killed her, allowing him to complete his mission and escape this cursed genjutsu world.
'Sigh... It's still so difficult. How much longer do I have to endure this?'
However, Obito overlooked one thing.
The villagers' eyes held only disgust.
There was no fear.
That was what made Konoha's villagers different from those of other ninja villages.
---
The next day...
An enraged Kushina kicked open the Hokage's office door, dragging Rin inside. Rin was covered from head to toe in rotten eggs and wilted vegetable leaves.
Inside, the Third Hokage and Danzo were discussing who would control the Three-Tails' jinchūriki.
"Third Hokage-sama! Are you going to do something about those people or not? Rin is such a kind and lovable girl. She hasn't done anything wrong, yet they're bullying her like this!"
Ignoring Danzo completely, Kushina marched straight to the Third Hokage's desk and began filing her complaint.
As the Nine-Tails' jinchūriki who had also been bullied as a child, Kushina understood Rin's situation better than anyone.
What made her even angrier was that, as Rin's teammates and friends, neither Kakashi nor Obito had shown up to comfort or protect her. The two boys had disappeared without a trace.
Obito needed no explanation—this whole thing had been his plan from the start.
As for the version of Kakashi actually controlled by Obito, he still couldn't face Rin because of the psychological trauma left by the old woman's incident.
Most importantly, quite a few of the people bullying Rin were elderly women.
He was afraid that if he stepped in, he wouldn't be able to stop himself from...
He had now completely believed what Danzo had told him—that the Uchiha clan's Sharingan carried a curse that amplified emotional instability.
"What? Danzo, don't tell me this was your doing?"
The Third Hokage frowned and looked toward Danzo.
Danzo himself was equally puzzled.
He had been planning to finish arguing with the Third Hokage first before returning and ordering Root to begin manipulating public opinion.
Why had it already started?
Could Kakashi have done it?
Of course, even if Danzo had been responsible, he never would have admitted it.
Much less when he wasn't.
"Hiruzen, stop pinning every bit of blame on me! I never gave such an order!"
Danzo shot back angrily.
"Exactly, Third Hokage-sama. Stop overthinking it and deal with the problem first."
To everyone's surprise, Kushina agreed with Danzo this time.
The reason was simple.
She had experienced it herself.
When Kushina had been bullied by both villagers and classmates as a child, there had been a brief period during her rebellious teenage years when she developed conspiracy theories.
She had wondered whether Konoha had deliberately sent people to bully her, only to later send others to comfort her and earn her trust.
But she had quickly realized that wasn't the case.
The villagers of Konoha genuinely treated bullying other people as an enjoyable pastime, free of any ulterior motive.
She wasn't special.
So when the Third Hokage suggested that Danzo might have organized the bullying against Rin, Kushina immediately rejected the idea.
She knew those villagers who had bullied her far too well.
"This..."
The Third Hokage looked conflicted.
This was a problem Konoha hadn't solved in the real ninja world.
Now, in this genjutsu world, where they were still before the Third Great Ninja War, how could they possibly solve it?
In the end, nothing came of the discussion.
After leaving, Danzo sought out Obito and asked whether he had orchestrated it.
Obito looked equally confused.
He had assumed Danzo was behind it.
Eventually, the two of them had no choice but to accept the truth.
The villagers of Konoha possessed astonishing initiative.
They didn't need anyone to guide them.
They could carry out bullying perfectly well all on their own.
Obito then told Danzo about his next plan.
He intended to make Rin lose control once, causing destruction inside the village.
Only then would she completely sever her ties with Konoha.
For Danzo, such an incident would also give him an even stronger justification for taking control of the Three-Tails' jinchūriki.
Danzo agreed and promised to cooperate.
Obito's next move was simple.
He went to find Rin.
Rin had just left the Hokage Building with Kushina.
Still fuming, Kushina intended to drag Rin to find Kakashi and Obito so she could demand to know why neither of those boys had been around when Rin needed them most.
Rin stopped her.
"I'm sure they both have their own reasons."
"Kakashi has felt strange ever since that incident. It's like he's become a completely different person.
"And Obito was normal before, but after what happened recently, he's become strange too."
Rin explained the changes she had noticed.
The "strange" Kakashi she referred to was actually when Obito and Kakashi had swapped identities after entering this genjutsu world.
As for "Obito," she meant the changes after the old woman's incident.
Hearing this, Kushina, who knew nothing about what had really happened, decided she would secretly investigate when she had the chance.
Just then, Obito arrived.
"Kakashi, you finally decided to show your—"
"Rin! I heard the villagers were bullying you! How could they do something like that? It's outrageous! I'll go beat them up for you!"
"...?"
Kushina had been about to scold Kakashi, but his opening words completely caught her off guard.
"Are you really Kakashi? Don't tell me that brat Obito transformed himself into you just so he could take advantage of Rin."
Kushina stepped forward, grabbed Obito's face, and gave it a hard squeeze and pull.
When the Transformation Jutsu didn't break, she became even more confused.
This was completely Obito's personality.
How could this possibly be Kakashi?
Had the two of them switched identities?
Still, Kushina didn't dwell on it.
Right now, Rin was what mattered.
Now that Rin had become a jinchūriki, she urgently needed something to fill the emptiness inside her.
Since Kakashi had come to her, that could only be a good thing.
Kushina simply applied the advice Mito had once given her about being a jinchūriki to Rin's situation.
But Kushina was too innocent.
She never imagined that hidden beneath Kakashi's identity was someone who had already descended into darkness—a twisted man willing to do absolutely anything to escape the genjutsu world.
And so, Obito simply played himself.
There was no need to pretend to be Kakashi anymore.
He simply acted according to his own genuine feelings, portraying someone deeply in love with Rin.
Even the Third Hokage, secretly observing from the shadows, wondered whether Jiraiya's little adult novels had finally worked and somehow corrected Kakashi's romantic interests.
However, all that optimism came to an abrupt halt on this very day.
Although Rin felt that Kakashi had become strangely similar to Obito, she followed Kushina's advice.
A jinchūriki needed something to fill the emptiness in their heart.
So she continued spending time with him.
That day, Rin decided to visit "Kakashi" and talk to him about it.
Obito had been waiting for exactly this moment.
Rin walked up to Kakashi's front door and was just about to knock.
Then she heard faint cries of pain and miserable screams coming from inside the house.
(End of this chapter)