Konoha Village, Hokage Building.
Although it was late at night, the lights in the Hokage's office were still burning bright.
Minato Namikaze sat behind a mountain of paperwork, his brows furrowed. The pen in his hand hung in mid-air, hesitating to descend.
An emergency intelligence report recently submitted by the Anbu lay on his desk.
"Investigation Report on Village Rumors."
The contents were shocking.
In just three days, rumors that the Uchiha clan planned the attack on Konoha and that the Fourth Hokage was shielding the culprit had spread through the village like a plague.
What started as mere idle gossip had now escalated into physical confrontation.
This morning, an Uchiha clansman out shopping was cornered and verbally abused by several villagers who claimed to have lost loved ones. Although the Police Force arrived in time to stop the conflict, the anger in the Uchiha's eyes and the hatred in the villagers' gaze made Minato feel a pang of dread.
No casualties had actually occurred that night, so the true identity of those villagers claiming to have lost loved ones was glaringly obvious.
The Root.
"Danzo..."
Minato set down his pen and rubbed his aching temples.
He didn't even need to investigate to know whose handiwork this was.
This kind of dark, viscous method that struck directly at the heart—no one but that old man hiding underground could pull it off.
Knock, knock.
"Enter."
The door pushed open, and an Anbu wearing a fox mask entered, kneeling on one knee. "Lord Hokage, Uchiha Fugaku, the clan head, requests an audience."
Minato's eyes narrowed.
The moment had finally come.
"Send him in." Minato adjusted his Hokage Cloak and sat up straight. "Also, withdraw the Barrier Corps. There is no need for surveillance."
"Yes, sir."
A moment later, Fugaku Uchiha walked into the office.
The head of the Uchiha clan looked much older than usual.
His typically stern and rigid face bore deep exhaustion and a flicker of suppressed rage.
"Lord Hokage." Fugaku bowed slightly, his manners impeccable, but his tone was stiff.
"Clan Head Fugaku, please, take a seat." Minato pointed to the chair opposite him and even stood up to pour a cup of tea himself.
Fugaku didn't sit. He stood tall before the desk, his eyes locked onto Minato's.
"Lord Hokage, I have come late at night for only one reason."
Fugaku's voice trembled slightly. "You must have heard the rumors in the village by now, haven't you?"
Minato nodded and said frankly, "I have. The Anbu are already investigating the source, and I will calm things down as quickly as possible..."
"You won't be able to calm it down!"
Fugaku suddenly raised his voice, interrupting Minato. The normally composed clan leader was visibly agitated. "As long as the fact remains that the attacker possessed the Sharingan, the Uchiha clan will never be cleared of suspicion! The villagers won't listen to explanations; they only believe their own fear!"
"Lord Hokage, that night, Kakashi saw it, and your Anbu saw it too." Fugaku stared intently at Minato. "That masked man... was he really an Uchiha? Please, give me the truth!"
A deathly silence fell over the office.
Minato looked into Fugaku's bloodshot eyes.
He knew Fugaku was afraid.
The patriarch didn't fear dying on the battlefield, but he feared his people being isolated by the village, and he feared the Uchiha clan meeting its end in a spiral of suspicion.
Simply because he was the leader of the Uchiha...
Minato sighed inwardly.
He recalled Gamakon's warning, Obito's face, and Danzo's schemes.
If he spoke the truth now and told Fugaku the masked man was Obito, the Uchiha clan might clear their name of plotting rebellion, but what followed would be an even more terrifying political storm.
The return of a 'dead' Uchiha for revenge was a massive scandal in itself.
Furthermore, Obito's existence would become a weapon for Danzo to attack the Uchiha for poor management or even concealing the survival of their kin.
Most importantly, Kakashi.
Minato closed his eyes, and a moment later, snapped them open.
"Clan Head Fugaku."
Minato walked around the desk to Fugaku and placed his hands on the man's shoulders.
"I can guarantee to you, and to all the Uchiha people, in my name as the Fourth Hokage."
Minato's voice wasn't loud, but every word carried the weight of a mountain. "That masked man is absolutely not a member of the Uchiha clan. His Sharingan was obtained through illegal means."
Fugaku froze.
He looked into Minato's sincere eyes, trying to find a trace of a lie, but he failed.
"But... such visual prowess, without Uchiha blood..." Fugaku muttered to himself.
"The shinobi world is vast; there are countless wonders." Minato interrupted his doubts. "Things like human experimentation can achieve feats beyond normal imagination. Besides..."
Minato paused, his expression becoming incredibly serious. "If he were truly an Uchiha, why would he attack on that night? Why would he destroy the peace the Uchiha worked so hard to achieve? It makes no sense."
"That enemy wants to provoke a civil war between Konoha and the Uchiha to reap the benefits. If we suspect each other, we are falling right into his trap."
Minato's grip tightened slightly, conveying a sense of warm strength.
"Fugaku, I trust you, and I trust the loyalty of the Uchiha clan to Konoha. In this difficult time, Konoha cannot be without the Uchiha."
Fugaku's body trembled.
After a long silence, the resolute man lowered his head.
"...I understand, Lord Hokage."
Fugaku took a deep breath. When he looked up again, the confusion in his eyes had vanished, replaced by a grim determination—the look of a man willing to die for one who recognizes his worth.
"Since Lord Hokage trusts us, the Uchiha clan will not let you down. The Police Force will increase patrols, and as for those rumors... we will endure."
"There is no need to simply endure."
Minato smiled, a smile that dispelled the gloom in the room like sunlight. "Tomorrow, I will convene a Jonin Meeting to publicly clarify this matter. Furthermore, I will have the Anbu cooperate with the Police Force to strictly investigate the source of these rumors."
"Since someone wants to hide in the gutters and take cheap shots, we'll drain the water and leave them with nowhere to hide."
Fugaku looked at the young Hokage before him, a surge of unprecedented respect welling up in his heart.
He finally understood why the Third Hokage chose him as a successor.
This man possessed a level of tolerance and charisma that none of the previous Hokage had.
...
Kamui Space.
This place remained a silent, desolate gray.
Obito lay on a floating rectangular stone platform, his eyes staring blankly at the void above.
It had been three days.
In these three days, he hadn't eaten a single bite or moved an inch.
Although he could no longer feel that cold restriction at the spot on his chest where Minato had placed the seal, it felt like a branding iron, constantly reminding him of his crushing defeat and the cruel truth.
Madara had left a seal in his heart.
The old man he viewed as a savior and a guiding light had, from the very beginning, treated him as nothing more than a dog to be sacrificed at any moment.
"Rin..."
Obito croaked the name hoarsely.
He remembered the scene of Rin's death; he remembered his vow to create a world where she existed.
But now, a crack had appeared in that conviction.
To create that world, he would need to use everything and sacrifice everything. Including his master's wife, Kushina, and the newborn Naruto.
"Sensei Minato..."
Obito closed his eyes in pain.
Minato's words in the Kamui Space echoed in his mind.
'You are free.'
'I will wait for you to come back.'
"Aaaaah!"
Obito suddenly let out a beast-like roar and jerked into a sitting position.
He clutched his head with both hands, tearing at his hair.
Confusion.
Utter confusion.
On one side was the Eye of the Moon plan Madara had ingrained in him—that perfect dream world. On the other was the cruel truth revealed by Minato and that heavy bond of master and student.
He struggled on the edge of a breakdown.
Until...
The White Zetsu cells in his body stirred.
Obito snapped his head up; it was a summons from the outside world.
It was Black Zetsu.
...
It was time to go out.
Obito took a deep breath and slowly stood up.
He reached out to touch his broken mask, his fingertips tracing the crack.
The confusion in his eyes gradually receded, replaced by a deep, dark gloom.
Obito admitted that while he was unwilling to believe what Minato said, after these past few days of reflection, he felt that Minato was right.
Uchiha Madara was indeed the mastermind, the true culprit behind everything and the reason for Rin's death.
He would see it with his own eyes.
A spatial vortex appeared out of thin air, swallowing his body.
...
The Death Forest.
Black Zetsu was staring at the point where space was distorting. A second later, Obito's figure appeared out of thin air.
His black robe was tattered, and his mask was half-shattered, revealing a face covered in scars.
But the aura he projected was even colder and more dangerous than it had been three days ago.
"You finally decided to come out."
Black Zetsu peeked out from a tree trunk, his tone slightly probing. "I thought you had died in there."
Obito shot a cold glance at Black Zetsu, his crimson Sharingan devoid of any emotion.
"Ran into a bit of trouble."
Obito's voice was frighteningly calm. "Minato's Flying Thunder God was more troublesome than I imagined. I spent three days inside recovering from my injuries."
"The plan failed."
Obito admitted it frankly. "But I confirmed one thing."
"What?"
"Konoha's defenses are not impenetrable." Obito turned his back to Black Zetsu, looking toward Konoha. "And, I have already planted a seed."
He didn't mention the heart seal being suppressed, nor did he mention that Minato had let him go.
He was like a wounded lone wolf that had learned to hide its fangs, even from its allies.
"Let's go."
Obito set off, his figure gradually vanishing into the shadows of the forest.
"Where to?" Black Zetsu asked.
"Rain Village."
Obito's voice drifted back from a distance. "Since the Nine-Tails is out of reach for now, we'll go monitor the key to the plan."
Black Zetsu watched Obito's back, a strange sense of dissonance welling up.
This pawn... seemed to have changed somehow.
But it didn't dwell on it. As long as Obito was willing to carry out the plan, nothing else mattered.
Black Zetsu remained silent, sinking into the ground and quickly following.