"Enough!"
Just as the masked man's fingers were about to close around Yahiko's throat—just as Yahiko had resigned himself to death—a large hand suddenly clamped down on the attacker's wrist.
"Jin-nii?!"
Yahiko's vision blurred.
Through the haze of pain and despair, he saw Uchiha Jin standing before him.
For a moment, he thought he was hallucinating.
The masked man reacted instantly. His body blurred and phased, slipping free before retreating several meters.
"Uchiha… Jin?!"
Cold sweat ran down his back.
He hadn't sensed him at all.
If Jin had intended to kill him just now, he would already be dead.
More importantly—
Why was he here?
Uchiha Jin.
A name he remembered well.
Back when he was still in Konoha, Jin had often appeared alongside Namikaze Minato. The Fourth's praise for him had been unmistakable. On the Kirigakure battlefield, Jin's performance had been nothing short of dazzling.
In his mind, Jin was a man unfathomable in depth—someone not inferior to Minato.
"Jin-nii… Konan, she…"
Yahiko's voice trembled—not from relief, but from guilt.
If Jin had come sooner…
No.
He wasn't blaming Jin.
He was blaming himself.
He hadn't been strong enough. He hadn't bought enough time.
"Don't worry," Jin said calmly. "She's fine. Very much alive."
He gestured lightly.
Only then did Yahiko notice—
In Jin's other arm, he was holding Konan around the waist.
There was blood at her neck.
But looking closely—it was only a shallow cut.
Her breathing was steady. She was unconscious, but unharmed.
"Th–that's… that's great!"
Yahiko's eyes reddened instantly.
"She's alive… thank goodness… she's alive…"
The overwhelming relief washed away his ability to think clearly. He didn't even question how it had happened.
Jin handed Konan over.
"Protect her well," he said quietly. "You did well just now, Yahiko. Very well."
There was no trace of exaggeration in his tone.
Only approval.
Yahiko held Konan like something fragile, like something irreplaceable.
Only then did Jin turn to the masked man.
His gaze was complicated.
He had arrived earlier than either of them realized.
After sensing disturbances here, Jin had immediately moved while controlling Hanzō from afar.
And what he saw—
Was not simply an assassination attempt.
He saw the masked man using genjutsu.
Using the Sharingan to distort Yahiko's perception.
Konan had indeed thrown herself toward the black rod.
Jin had almost intervened then.
But at the last moment—
The masked man had shifted the angle ever so slightly.
He had spared her.
Then he used illusion to make Yahiko believe she had died.
And then—
He began talking.
Trying to break him.
Trying to be acknowledged.
Trying to justify himself.
Jin understood in that moment.
The masked man wasn't simply trying to kill Yahiko.
He was trying to see himself reflected in him.
Yahiko's blazing optimism.
Konan's self-sacrifice.
It reminded him of something.
Of someone.
Of who he used to be.
And when Yahiko rejected him—
When he called him a coward—
The mask cracked.
Yes.
Obito had not fully abandoned himself.
Not yet.
Even in the original timeline, he had wavered.
That meant—
There was still a chance.
And so Jin changed his original plan.
Instead of eliminating him here—
He chose to step into the light.
To give him another chance to find himself.
Jin looked at him and smiled faintly.
"Three days apart, and one should look at you anew. I never expected that little dead-last to grow this strong."
The masked man stiffened.
His throat tightened.
"You are… Uchiha Jin. The brightest of this generation."
His voice tried to remain steady.
"I've heard of you. But we've never met before."
"I am Uchiha Madara."
The words lacked force.
Jin chuckled softly.
"When someone wears a mask for too long, it starts to grow into their face."
"And when you finally try to remove it…"
"You'll have to tear off flesh with it."
He took a step forward.
"It's not too late."
"You're still you."
"You're still Konoha's hero."
The masked man's eyes flickered violently.
"I don't know what nonsense you're spouting," he shot back stiffly. "Uchiha Madara is a traitor of Konoha. Not some hero."
"Madara?"
Jin's smile deepened.
"Drop the act. You can't fool me."
"You're clearly Uchiha—"
"I am not Ob—"
"Kenji."
Silence.
The masked man froze.
"…What?"
Jin nodded with complete seriousness.
"You're Uchiha Kenji, right?"
The masked man: "..."
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