13: The Mask Falls —
The moment Minato’s question appeared, the entire shinobi world erupted.
What did he mean?
Hadn’t the Nine-Tails attack on Konoha been a natural disaster?
Who was this masked man who attacked Kushina?
And he had actually been capable of controlling the Nine-Tails?
Live Chat Group One immediately exploded.
[Danzo Shimura: Hmph!
And none of you believed me.
I said from the beginning that the Uchiha had to be involved.
They’re the only clan with a history of controlling the Nine-Tails!]
[Hiruzen Sarutobi: So someone really was manipulating it from behind the scenes…]
Hiruzen’s expression darkened.
[Hiruzen Sarutobi: I always believed the Nine-Tails escaped because Kushina’s seal weakened during childbirth.
I never imagined someone had deliberately released it.]
Iruka stared at the screen.
[Iruka Umino: Then…
the person truly responsible for my parents’ deaths wasn’t the Nine-Tails itself, but whoever controlled it?]
Kakashi’s visible eye turned cold.
[Kakashi Hatake: Damn it.
So Minato-sensei didn’t simply die because of the Nine-Tails.
Someone caused everything that happened that night.]
[Kakashi Hatake: If that masked man is still alive…
I’ll make him answer for it.]
[Jiraiya: Minato…
was this the real reason you sealed the Nine-Tails inside Naruto?]
[Fourth Raikage: Anyone capable of escaping from Minato Namikaze is no ordinary shinobi.]
[Ōnoki: One thing is certain.
Whoever this man is, he’s been plotting something that concerns the entire shinobi world.
Every village should be on guard.]
[Rasa: Now I’m genuinely curious about the answer.]
…
Land of Birds.
Obito froze as he stared at the screen.
For the first time in a long while, genuine tension crept into his body.
Damn.
Is it finally going to expose me?
Deidara noticed immediately.
“Tobi?”
He gave him a strange look.
“Why’re you standing there like a statue?
Don’t tell me my art overwhelmed you that badly, hm.”
Obito instantly slipped back into his usual foolish persona.
“Nothing, Deidara-senpai!
It’s just a little cold!”
Deidara snorted.
“You’re seriously fragile.”
He tossed him a couple bottles of herbal tonic he’d picked up earlier.
“Here.
Maybe these will put some strength back in you.”
Obito caught one.
Then—
crack!
The glass shattered in his hand.
His playful expression disappeared beneath the orange mask.
Even if they expose me…
so what?
It changes nothing.
He was already sick of this false world.
The Eye of the Moon Plan would continue.
Nothing would stop him.
Then the answer appeared.
[TRUE IDENTITY OF THE MASKED MAN]
[UCHIHA OBITO]
For several seconds—
the shinobi world fell silent.
Uchiha Obito.
The name was shocking.
But at the same time…
it made an uncomfortable amount of sense.
If someone had controlled the Nine-Tails with ocular power, an Uchiha was an obvious possibility.
Then Live Chat Group One erupted again.
[Kakashi Hatake: Obito…?]
Kakashi’s entire body went rigid.
[Kakashi Hatake: The person who released the Nine-Tails…
destroyed Konoha…
and indirectly caused Minato-sensei’s death…
was Obito?]
[Kakashi Hatake: That’s impossible!!!]
[Asuma Sarutobi: I can’t accept it either.
Obito died during the Kannabi Bridge mission.
Everyone knew that.]
[Kurenai Yuhi: Even if he somehow survived, how could he possibly have become strong enough to control the Nine-Tails and fight the Fourth Hokage?]
[Kurenai Yuhi: He would’ve only been around fifteen years old at the time.]
Guy forced out a laugh.
[Might Guy: Hahaha!
Kakashi, this has to be some kind of mistake.
Don’t take it seriously!]
But Kakashi was no longer listening.
Something suddenly clicked in his mind.
[Kakashi Hatake: No…]
[Kakashi Hatake: Maybe Obito really didn’t die.]
[Kakashi Hatake: When Guy tried to contact him, the system returned “Person Not Found.”]
[Kakashi Hatake: If Obito had truly died, why wasn’t his soul there?]
Danzo narrowed his eyes.
[Danzo Shimura: So the one controlling the Nine-Tails was an Uchiha brat everyone thought was dead—not Fugaku or one of the other senior members.]
[Danzo Shimura: Regardless, the fact remains that an Uchiha was responsible.]
Hiruzen found the revelation much harder to accept.
[Hiruzen Sarutobi: This doesn’t make sense.
I knew of Obito.
He was a kindhearted boy who genuinely believed in the Will of Fire.]
[Hiruzen Sarutobi: Why would someone like that turn against Konoha?]
[Homura Mitokado: Whatever his reasons, this proves our caution toward the Uchiha was not unfounded.]
[Koharu Utatane: Danzo’s concerns about them were justified after all.]
Sasuke’s face twisted with fury.
[Sasuke Uchiha: No!]
[Sasuke Uchiha: The Uchiha are one of Konoha’s proudest clans!
Don’t use one man’s crimes to condemn all of us!]
[Sasuke Uchiha: I don’t even know who this Obito is.
Whatever he did has nothing to do with the rest of the clan!]
[Naruto Uzumaki: …]
[Sakura Haruno: Then besides Sasuke and Itachi…
there’s still another Uchiha alive?]
[Shikamaru Nara: What a pain.
Somehow the Uchiha just keep getting more complicated.]
…
[Live Chat Group Two]
Kushina stared blankly at the answer.
[Kushina Uzumaki: Obito…?]
[Kushina Uzumaki: No.
That can’t be right.]
[Kushina Uzumaki: Obito was such a sweet kid.
He would never do something like that!]
Minato was just as shaken.
[Minato Namikaze: The man I fought that night…
was my own student?]
Memories of that battle flashed through his mind.
[Minato Namikaze: But how?]
[Minato Namikaze: By then, he’d already awakened the Mangekyō Sharingan and mastered an extremely dangerous space-time ninjutsu.]
[Minato Namikaze: How did he become that powerful in such a short time?]
Shisui Uchiha suddenly turned toward Fugaku.
[Shisui Uchiha: Clan Head Fugaku…]
[Shisui Uchiha: Was the Nine-Tails attack somehow part of your plan?]
[Shisui Uchiha: Did you know Obito was alive and use him to attack Konoha, deepen the hostility between the village and the clan, and push the Uchiha toward rebellion?]
Fugaku reacted immediately.
[Fugaku Uchiha: Absolutely not!]
[Fugaku Uchiha: I didn’t even know Obito survived!]
[Fugaku Uchiha: And I certainly didn’t know he’d awakened the Mangekyō Sharingan!]
One particular word caught the attention of the others.
[Uchiha Yashiro: “He’d” awakened it…?]
[Uchiha Yashiro: Clan Head…
are you saying you possessed the Mangekyō as well?]
[Uchiha Tekka: If you had the Mangekyō, why keep it hidden?]
[Uchiha Tekka: With that kind of power, the clan could have forced Konoha to take us seriously.
We might even have been able to control the Nine-Tails ourselves!]
Tobirama immediately seized on the exchange.
[Tobirama Senju: Brother, do you see now?]
[Tobirama Senju: The Uchiha are dangerously emotional and unpredictable.
Obito was known as a warmhearted boy, yet he became the man responsible for the Nine-Tails attack.]
[Tobirama Senju: This is exactly the danger I’ve always warned about.
Even in my time, Madara’s influence didn’t simply disappear after he left.]
Madara’s response was immediate.
[Madara Uchiha: You have some nerve blaming the Uchiha, Tobirama.]
[Madara Uchiha: You’re one of the reasons the clan was driven into a corner in the first place!]
Hashirama frowned.
[Hashirama Senju: Madara, what are you talking about?]
Madara answered without hesitation.
[Madara Uchiha: The Konoha Military Police Force.]
[Madara Uchiha: Tobirama handed law enforcement to the Uchiha.
That guaranteed resentment from the people they had to police while encouraging arrogance among those who held authority.]
[Madara Uchiha: Then he placed the police headquarters beside the prison and pushed the clan farther away from the center of village affairs.]
[Madara Uchiha: Decisions like those helped create the resentment that eventually pushed the Uchiha toward rebellion.]
Hashirama’s expression hardened.
[Hashirama Senju: Tobirama.]
[Hashirama Senju: How many times did I tell you not to treat the Uchiha with suspicion?]
Tobirama refused to back down.
[Tobirama Senju: I gave them a responsibility that made use of their abilities.]
[Tobirama Senju: And if another Madara ever appeared, it meant Konoha would have an institution capable of identifying the threat immediately.]
He paused before adding,
[Tobirama Senju: Brother, you know better than anyone how dangerous the Uchiha can become when their emotions consume them.]
Izuna immediately mocked him.
[Izuna Uchiha: My brother really left a permanent scar on you, didn’t he, Tobirama?]
Minato had no interest in reopening an argument that had lasted generations.
There was something far more important he wanted to know.
[Minato Namikaze: Madara Uchiha.]
[Minato Namikaze: You know what Obito is trying to accomplish, don’t you?]
[Minato Namikaze: When he fought me that night, he used your name.]
[Minato Namikaze: What is his true objective?]
Madara scoffed.
[Madara Uchiha: You’re asking me?]
[Madara Uchiha: That brat is nothing compared to me.]
[Madara Uchiha: And you think I owe you an explanation?]
The countless souls in Jōdo fell silent.