Looking at Obito's somewhat familiar face, Minato pondered a lot in this moment.
Five years without seeing each other, and it was still during the crucial period of adolescence when significant changes occurred every few months. Without a doubt, the present Obito was quite different from the Obito in Minato's memories.
The Obito in Minato's memories was a cheerful, smiling, and often absent-minded optimistic youth. He always liked wearing yellow goggles, and he usually dressed in a deep blue shirt and pants.
Although being referred to as the "Uchiha Clan's loser," he stick true to his beliefs. His childish face often carried a smile, and he always dreamed of becoming a Hokage.
The Obito before him, however, bore only a faint resemblance to the one from the past on the intact left side of his face. In other aspects, he seemed like an entirely different person. While the right side, when put together, formed a face, the swirling patterns made it difficult to discern anything.
The optimistic attitude that remained constant no matter what disappeared, the cheerful demeanor vanished, replaced by a darkness akin to ink. Just standing there emitted a heavy atmosphere.
Donning a black robe that covered his entire body, not a hint of skin exposed, even his hands were covered by gray gloves, as if he didn't want any sunlight to touch his body.
If he were to wear a mask again, his whole body would truly be forever shrouded in darkness.
"Ah, so it's you, Obito," Minato's gaze was complex, and the myriad of thoughts in his mind condensed into a light sigh and a brief statement.
"Sensei..." Obito looked at the teacher he had once admired and trusted, standing before him again. The beautiful memories of the past surged in his heart, with a thousand greetings, apologies, and the desire to confide in Minato.
He wanted to ask his teacher how he had been all these years, whether being the Hokage was tiring, busy or not, about his child—whether they were mischievous or not. He wanted to know if Kushina was in good health, and if there were any lingering effects from being separated from the Tailed Beast.
He also felt the urge to kneel on the ground and apologize tearfully for his actions, to apologize for his despicable inner thoughts and for the excessive things he had done.
But just as these words were about to be spoken, Obito found that he seemed to have a fishbone stuck in his throat. No matter what, he couldn't say those words. In the end, all his emotions and words merged into a simple shout of "Sensei."
The current time was two in the afternoon, the sun's most intense period. The warm sunlight bathed the earth, dispelling the remaining cold of late winter.
"It seems you've had a tough few years," Minato put away his kunai and gently touched the scars on Obito's face with a hint of distress. There, not only were the scars from the injuries that had once destroyed half his body, but also newly scabbed wounds.
The new ones were the result of a beating from Nagasawa.
In reality, Minato had many questions in his heart.
He wanted to ask Obito why he didn't return to Konoha if he was still alive this whole time.
He wanted to ask Obito why he attacked Konoha with a mask, even releasing the Nine-Tails from Kushina's body, almost killing her. When they fought, it was as if he was trying to kill him.
He had too many questions because of this sudden revelation.
But when Minato saw Obito's young but weathered face, he couldn't bring himself to reprimand him.
After all, he was his disciple.
Even if Obito didn't say it, Minato could guess some things just from what he had seen.
In that mission back then, Obito didn't die at all. He was saved by someone or something, and they were no ordinary person. After all, judging from Obito's strength during the Nine-Tails' attack, he had already reached the level of a Kage.
At that time, even Kakashi, who was the same age as Obito, had not reached this level yet. It was worth noting that Kakashi was much stronger than Obito back then.
To achieve such a significant leap in strength, it was not simple to think about it.
Moreover, that person or force must harbor great malice towards Konoha.
Otherwise, given Obito's previous personality, he wouldn't have done such a thing as attacking Konoha, especially not harming his own teacher. It must be the work of that person or force, perhaps involving some form of brainwashing on Obito.
Minato felt a deep sense of remorse for Obito encountering such a situation. If he had been faster at that time, maybe things wouldn't have turned out like this.
Or, if he had recognized Obito during the Nine-Tails' attack, the outcome might have been better, and Obito could have returned to Konoha a few years earlier.
"Sensei, I'm sorry..." Feeling the warm palm on his face, Obito couldn't hold back any longer. Tears uncontrollably flowed from his eyes, blurring his vision, and his speech became unclear.
On the surface, he was looking at the scenery of Konoha, observing its changes, but he was actually trying to alleviate the tension in his heart.
The last time he met Minato as Obito Uchiha was five years ago, and at that time, he hadn't committed so many sins.
Having committed so many crimes, how could he not be nervous when facing his teacher, whom he hadn't seen in a long time?
Obito had simulated many scenarios in his mind.
There was the tragic scene of Minato being indifferent, indicating that he didn't have a disciple named Obito Uchiha as his disciple.
There was also the scene of Minato showing anger, wanting to kill him.
Of course, Obito didn't loe a glimmer of hope. In his mind, he also thought of scenarios where Minato would scold him, then forgive him.
As for the last words between Minato and Obito in Nagasawa's memories, Obito felt that it was because his future self was going to die.
However, what Obito didn't expect was that there was neither indifference nor anger from Minato. Instead, Minato expressed concern for his ordeal.
Unable to control himself anymore, Obito's tears flowed uncontrollably, and he couldn't articulate himself.
Seeing the scene of teacher and disciple showing mutual kindness, Nagasawa showed a relieved expression. Although he didn't expect the way Minato came, the result was good, and the sudden appearance was a pleasant surprise.
"Isn't this great? I told you, I understand Minato better than you do." Nagasawa smiled and said.
This silly guy, Obito didn't see any pretentiousness when he attacked Konoha five years ago. He was just nervous without a mask, more nervous than going on a blind date.
Looking at Nagasawa, Minato asked, "Nagasawa, can you explain to me what's going on? I'm completely confused now."
Guessing was ultimately unreliable, and Minato needed to get a definite answer from Nagasawa.
"What else could it be? Your silly disciple was fooled by someone. He felt that the world was cursed and wanted to become a savior, creating a new world without war and worries, where everyone could be happy."
Nagasawa summarized Obito's experience.
"Creating a new world without war and worries, where everyone is happy..." Minato fell into contemplation. Such a world was beautiful, and if that was the sole goal, it should be fine.
But why would he attack Konoha to create such a world? Was there any connection between the two?
Upon hearing Nagasawa's words, Obito's face showed a hint of awkwardness. Nagasawa was being too direct.
Moreover, hearing Nagasawa repeat his earlier words, Obito felt like his dark history was being aired out, as if undergoing public execution.
"Do you remember your initial speculation about the identity of Masked Man?" Nagasawa asked Minato.
Obito smiled self-deprecatingly, saying, "I remember. At that time, I even guessed he was Madara Uchiha. Looking at it now, I was really an incompetent teacher, unable to recognize even my own disciple."
"That's not true. In my heart, you're the best teacher," without waiting for Nagasawa to say anything, Obito couldn't help but defend Minato when he saw him belittling himself.
"At that time, I was wearing a black robe, hiding my figure. I had a mask on my face, and my voice was completely different from before, becoming hoarse and deep. The aura around me was also completely different. In such a state, let alone you, even my past self would not have been able to recognize me."
A hint of bitterness flashed across Obito's face. After falling into darkness, he was no longer the Obito Uchiha that Minato remembered. Even he himself considered the person he used to be as dead.
"Regardless, as a teacher, I still have a certain responsibility," Minato still felt that he should have recognized Obito.
"Don't be so quick to take the blame." Nagasawa interrupted the teacher-disciple moment, saying, "Actually, Obito, you're not entirely wrong. It can be said that you were half-right. Although Masked Man is Obito and not Madara Uchiha, he is the successor of Madara Uchiha."
"The successor of Madara Uchiha? No wonder!" Minato nodded. It was in line with what he thought. Obito didn't die in that mission; someone saved him, and that person was Madara Uchiha. Everything made sense now.
The First Hokage, Hashirama Senju, was revered as the God of Shinobi, and Madara Uchiha was a strong figure on the same level as Hashirama. Both him and Obito was an Uchiha.
With the guidance of Madara Uchiha, a powerful ancestor, it was only natural for Obito's strength to skyrocket.
As for why Obito attacked Konoha, that was easily understandable. Because Madara Uchiha had also done such a thing; the Valley of the End was created by the clash between Madara Uchiha and Hashirama Senju.
Due to his hatred for Konoha, Madara Uchiha had his successor, Obito Uchiha, attack Konoha. It made sense.
"In that mission back then, Madara Uchiha saved the dying Obito and trained him as his successor, but this came at a cost. Madara Uchiha wasn't a generous person. He saved Obito and taught him not because they were both Uchiha, but because he wanted to use Obito to fulfill his evil plan."
Nagasawa told Minato the gist of the story, but he didn't reveal that Black Zetsu was the true mastermind hidden behind the scenes. He only mentioned the Eye of the Moon Plan.
"To create a Genjutsu that covers the entire world, making everyone fall into an illusory world and attain true happiness. In this way, war would disappear," Minato's face showed a surprised expression.
He was thinking that Madara Uchiha might be too old and had become senile, coming up with such an absurd way to solve the problem of war. It just didn't seem normal.
"If you think Madara is senile, thinking up such an absurd method to solve the problem of war and feeling like he's saving the world, then you're right." Nagasawa laughed.
"This kind of ending is too brutal." Because Madara Uchiha was once a Shinobi of Konoha, Minato still respected Madara Uchiha to some extent.
Obito glanced at Nagasawa, wondering why Nagasawa hadn't mentioned Black Zetsu. After all, Madara was just someone manipulated by Black Zetsu, and the supposed truths Obito thought he had discovered were all Black Zetsu's doing.
However, Nagasawa didn't bring it up, and Obito speculated that Nagasawa might have other thoughts on the matter, so he didn't say much.
"Sensei, how is Kushina-san? Is there any lingering effects on her since Nine-Tails was extracted from her?" Taking a deep breath, Obito gathered the courage to ask.
In these years of falling into darkness, he had done many regrettable things, but almost causing Kushina's death was the one thing he regretted the most.
Despite Kushina's temper and tendency to resort to violence, Obito could feel that, among Minato, Kakashi, and Kushina – she was the kindest one to him.
Her troublemaking with Obito was just to make sure he trained properly, preventing any danger during missions. This was Kushina's unique way of caring.
Minato smiled and said, "There's no such a thing, thankfully; her body is the same as before. But if you want to see her, be prepared. You know Kushina's temper."
Recalling Kushina's iron fists, Obito's body uncontrollably shivered.
Even though he understood that Kushina was doing it for his own good, Obito couldn't help but feel a little nervous. Kushina's anger was indeed terrifying, especially with her powerful Chakra that seemed to bring her hair to life, making her fists unstoppable.
"If Kushina-san wants to hit me, please don't stop her. It's a punishment I deserve," Obito raised his head and faced Minato.
"Having that kind of mindset shows that you are aware of the crimes you've committed. This way, even if you get hit, I believe Kushina will forgive you," Minato gently smiled.
He didn't say anything about helping Kushina forgive Obito. In matters like this, even though he was Kushina's husband, he couldn't make such decisions on her behalf.
However, based on Minato's understanding of Kushina, there was a high probability that after a good beating, she would forgive Obito.
Kushina was that kind of person – tough on the outside but soft and sensitive on the inside.