Rin’s thumb brushed over Obito’s trembling knuckles.
She was, and always had been, the only person who truly understood him.
“No matter what mistakes you’ve made, I’ll always be by your side,” she said softly.
The absolute, unconditional nature of her forgiveness did not bring Obito joy.
It drove a spike of pure, nauseating shame through his chest.
He couldn’t meet her eyes.
Kakashi watched his teammate fold inward.
The silver-haired Jonin understood exactly the guilt tearing Obito apart.
He stepped forward.
“Instead of drowning in guilt, you should figure out how to make amends.” Kakashi kept his visible eye locked on Obito.
“I don’t know the exact mechanics of what just happened.
But casting a space-time ninjutsu of that magnitude requires an unimaginable price.
A jutsu like that isn’t cast on a whim.
The caster was facing total annihilation.
Judging by the sheer number of lights that fell, dozens of people received these memories.
The caster resurrected an entire army.
Those people have to be allies, not enemies.”
“Not entirely,” a deep, drawling voice interrupted from the treeline.
Minato and his genin spun around.
Three imposing figures stepped out of the shadows.
It was Konoha’s legendary Ino-Shika-Cho formation.
Shikaku Nara led the trio, flanked by Inoichi Yamanaka and Choza Akimichi.
Shikaku stopped a few paces away.
He bowed his head slightly.
“Greetings, Fourth Hokage.
It’s been a long time.”
Minato didn’t flinch.
He held Shikaku’s piercing gaze.
“It has been a long time, Shikaku.”
A spark of confirmation flashed in the Nara clan head’s eyes.
Kakashi and Obito stiffened.
The air grew heavy.
Seven shinobi stood in the clearing.
Four of them—the future Fourth Hokage, the future Sixth Hokage, the mastermind behind the Akatsuki, and the greatest tactical mind in Konoha—were already playing a silent, high-stakes game of chess.
A single sentence could reveal a lethal amount of intel.
Choza broke the tension.
He gripped his staff tightly.
“Why wouldn’t the targets be enemies?”
Shikaku rubbed the back of his neck and sighed.
“What a drag.
Choza, think about it.” Shikaku dropped his hand.
“This kinjutsu requires the caster to sacrifice their own existence.
A shinobi capable of that level of selflessness commands immense respect.
Men like that do not leave behind many enemies.
Furthermore, I observed the lights falling across the village.
I ran into Asuma and Hizashi on the way here.
They received nothing.
That means the Reanimation Jutsu summons from the Fourth Shinobi World War were excluded.
Only the living participants of the war were targeted.”
Inoichi frowned.
His brow furrowed in concentration.
“Wait.
If only the living participants of the Fourth War received memories, why does Lord Minato have them?
He died decades before that.
And why did you call him the Fourth Hokage?”
“If my theory holds, it’s because of the caster,” Shikaku said.
He stared directly at Minato.
“The caster paid the ultimate price to send this warning back.
They needed a temporal anchor.
An anomaly.
They needed a spokesperson to explain the truth to the rest of the resurrected shinobi.
And that spokesperson had to be the person they trusted above all others.”
Shikaku shifted his weight.
“So that’s why you tested me just now?” Minato asked, his voice completely calm.
He had known Shikaku was probing him the moment the man used the Hokage title.
He simply chose not to hide it.
Changing a doomed future required brilliant allies.
“I apologize for the deception, Lord Minato,” Shikaku said.
His tone remained perfectly respectful.
“But given the sheer absurdity of this situation, I needed absolute confirmation before devising a strategy.”
Shikaku had approached the training ground intending to consult Kakashi.
Instead, he had overheard the silver-haired Jonin lecturing Obito about guilt and amends.
Shikaku’s razor-sharp mind had immediately connected the dots.
Obito possessed future memories too.
The caster had resurrected their greatest enemy.
The sheer magnanimity of the act mirrored the time Pain had revived the fallen of Konoha.
Only one shinobi possessed that kind of terrifying, world-altering empathy.
“Who cast the jutsu, Shikaku?” Choza demanded.
Shikaku looked at his oldest friend.
“Who possesses the sheer charisma to unite the Five Great Nations?
Who turns bitter enemies into lifelong comrades?
Who has the power to shatter fate itself…
and shares a direct bloodline with Lord Minato?”
Choza’s eyes went wide.
“Naruto Uzumaki.
You’re saying Naruto Uzumaki gave up his life for us?”
“It can only be him,” Shikaku confirmed.
Rin stood in the center of the clearing, completely lost.
Kakashi, Obito, and Minato hadn’t even blinked at the name.
Inoichi looked like he had been struck by lightning.
“What are you all talking about?” Rin finally blurted out.
Her voice cracked.
“Reincarnated people?
Who is Naruto Uzumaki?
Why is everyone calling Sensei the Fourth Hokage?
I don’t understand anything!”
Minato stepped close.
He rested a warm, reassuring hand on top of Rin’s head.
“Take a deep breath, Rin.
I will explain everything to you soon.”
Shikaku turned his cold, calculating gaze onto Obito.
“Since Naruto saw fit to resurrect you, he clearly considers you an ally in the end.
So, Uchiha.
Where do you stand?
Are you with us?”
Metal clinked.
Inoichi and Choza shifted their stances, dropping into combat-ready positions.
They locked their eyes on Obito.
Kakashi rested his hand on his kunai pouch.
Minato remained perfectly still.
The killing intent in the clearing spiked.
Rin gasped.
Panic seized her chest.
She didn’t know what her teammate had done in the future, but she refused to let him face it alone.
She stepped in front of Obito, throwing her arms out to shield him.
“Whatever Obito did, I apologize for him!” Rin pleaded, her eyes darting between Minato and Kakashi.
“He didn’t mean it!
Please don’t hurt him!”
Kakashi opened his mouth to order her aside.
Minato raised a single hand, cutting Kakashi off instantly.
The Yellow Flash didn’t want blood.
Naruto had sacrificed himself to give them a second chance, and no crimes had actually been committed yet.
But Obito had broken the world in the previous timeline.
If he wanted to stand with them now, he had to prove his loyalty.
He had to make a statement.