"You, me, that bastard Kakashi, Sensei Minato, Mother Kushina... we can all be happy," Obito murmured to himself.
He finally lifted his foot, stepping forward toward the barrier surrounding Konoha. In his hand was a chakra-imbued token, prepared for activation.
But just before he could take his next step, a shadowy substance slithered out of the ground, crawling up his leg and wrapping around his body.
"Idiot. Wake up. You're caught in a genjutsu."
It was Black Zetsu, exerting his will to override Obito's consciousness.
As Obito's awareness returned, his first reaction wasn't fear or shame—it was wrath. Rin. The enemy dared to use her image, her memory, as a weapon. That was his reverse scale—the one thing he couldn't forgive.
His rage surged, ready to explode.
Then, he saw her.
A petite girl with markings on her cheeks stood before him, smiling gently.
"Obito."
She tiptoed and waved.
Nohara Rin.
Obito froze. That face—one he only ever saw in dreams. The wrath in his chest dissipated instantly.
Black Zetsu: ???
What the hell is this moron doing? That's obviously a genjutsu!
Even if it felt real, anyone should sense something was off.
Black Zetsu silently cursed Obito a thousand times. Realizing Obito was now unreliable, he forcibly seized full control over Obito's body, attempting to retreat into Kamui space.
But just as the Mangekyō activated, the token in Obito's hand flared with golden light, sealing the space around him. Kamui failed.
Black Zetsu tried to hurl the token away, but it clung to Obito's hand like it was fused to his flesh.
"Obito, come home with me. Everyone's waiting for you," Rin's voice called out.
As she walked forward, her steps triggered a surge of sealing jutsu—complex arrays of glowing kanji circled around Obito, enclosing him rapidly.
Black Zetsu panicked.
No more hesitation. He raised Obito's hand toward his eye.
If Obito was compromised, then he had to be discarded. But his Mangekyō Sharingan—Kamui—was too valuable to leave behind.
Just as Obito's fingers reached his eye socket, a sharp whistling sound pierced the air.
A kunai.
Ordinary in appearance, but moving at absurd speed.
In an instant, Obito gouged out his own eye—and at the same moment, the kunai struck his forehead. Yet, strangely, it vanished into his skull without leaving a wound.
Obito collapsed. His palm opened, revealing a blood-streaked Mangekyō Sharingan.
The sealing talismans activated, locking down his entire body.
Then, petals filled the air, swirling and gathering into a humanoid shape.
It was Kurenai Yuhi—but not the kunoichi of old. After being personally trained and enhanced by Kawaki Aoba, she had become a true Kage-level shinobi, flawless in both genjutsu and physical combat.
Her long crimson hair flowed as she gazed at the subdued Obito, frowning slightly as her eyes landed on the bloody Sharingan in his palm.
"Escaped? Even lost a Mangekyō... What exactly was that shadow?"
She picked up the eye and scanned the surroundings multiple times with her finely tuned sensory jutsu—amplified further by training in Kenbunshoku Haki (Observation Haki). But there was nothing left to find.
Annoyed, Kurenai stomped lightly on the ground.
Just then, Kawaki Aoba descended from above, landing softly beside her.
"What? Not satisfied after taking down a Mangekyō Uchiha with genjutsu on your first try?"
Kurenai pouted. "One of them still got away."
Then her eyes widened.
"Wait… That battlefield earlier... Are you okay? Did you actually take down—Uchiha Madara?"
Her eyes sparkled with expectation.
But Aoba shook his head. "Not that simple. He's strong. If he wanted to leave, no one could stop him. Still... after today, I doubt he'll come near the village again anytime soon."
The truth, of course, was that Kawaki Aoba had overpowered Madara—a feat that would shake the shinobi world.
He turned to Kurenai, reassuring her:
"You've done well here. That black thing—Black Zetsu—has survival skills beyond even Madara's. It's no surprise he escaped. But you retrieved the Sharingan and captured Obito. That's no small feat."
Kurenai tilted her head. "Is that shadow really that dangerous? Even you couldn't catch it?"
Aoba nodded seriously. "Black Zetsu isn't human. He's a manifestation of Kaguya Ōtsutsuki's will—a parasite. He can possess others, manipulate them, and has infiltrated even the greatest shinobi in history."
He paused.
"Still... he won't be able to control me. That, I'm sure of."
Suddenly, a burst of high-speed movement sounded in the distance—the Body Flicker Technique.
The two turned their heads to look, only to see a large group of Konoha shinobi rushing toward them, led by the Fourth Hokage—Namikaze Minato himself.
With Uchiha Madara retreating, it was only natural that he would take Nagato, the vessel of the Rinnegan, with him.
"It's Minato. You've come at the right time—I'll leave this guy to you," said Kawaki Aoba, gesturing toward Uchiha Obito, who lay on the ground like a lifeless puppet.
At this moment, Obito was still trapped in a genjutsu. Though his eyes had been gouged out, there was no sign of pain on his face—only a peaceful, almost happy smile.
A happy smile? Just what did this guy experience in the illusion? Aoba wondered.
Minato looked down at Obito, silent for a long moment. Then he nodded and said solemnly, "Thank you, Aoba. You saved the village today."
Standing behind Minato, Uchiha Fugaku cast a glance at Obito's empty sockets, then at the Mangekyō Sharingan that had been retrieved by Yūhi Kurenai. He opened his mouth to speak—but ultimately said nothing.
Noticing Fugaku's hesitation, Kawaki Aoba smiled faintly.
Though Fugaku's battlefield performance was impressive, his indecisiveness was unbecoming of a clan leader. If he wanted the Kamui Mangekyō returned to the Uchiha, he should have said so outright—or declared it the village's responsibility. This kind of silent longing and unspoken expectation was just… foolish.
Suppressing his irritation, Aoba looked up at the sky toward the massive sphere floating above them.
"Now that the battle is over," he said, "we need to take care of the aftermath. It's not good to leave everyone trapped in that thing for long."
He raised his hand and casually summoned a Truth-Seeking Orb.
Everyone turned toward him in shock. Minato's eyes widened. "Aoba… are you saying our comrades are still alive in there?"
Aoba nodded. "Exactly. I placed a failsafe on everyone beforehand. Even if they were sealed by the Chibaku Tensei, their lives weren't in danger. As long as we destroy that construct, we can rescue them."
Without another word, Aoba took to the sky. The Truth-Seeking Orb in his hand morphed into a radiant Golden Wheel Reincarnation Explosion, and he slashed it toward the Chibaku Tensei overhead.
Thanks to his mastery of Observation Haki and chakra sensory abilities, Aoba wasn't worried about harming the Konoha shinobi trapped inside.
Golden arcs of energy cut across the sky as he swung several times, cleaving the satellite-like Chibaku Tensei into massive chunks.
Then, with precise control, he summoned the Hundred Transformations Kannon, delicately catching each sealed ninja as they fell from the crumbling sphere.
From a distance, Senju Tobirama, controlling a shining silver Complete Body Susanoo, came to assist.
Working together, the two soon retrieved all the captured ninja.
Once the casualties were counted, Aoba was astonished to find that—though many had suffered injuries—not a single person had died.
Though he had taken every precaution, this result exceeded even his expectations. But given that the weakest among them were Jōnin and hadn't been directly involved in the clash with Madara, perhaps it wasn't so surprising after all.
"Let's head back. This victory belongs to everyone."
Indeed, it was an unprecedented triumph. They had repelled Uchiha Madara himself—without losing a single life. A feat only Konoha could achieve.
And it was all thanks to the man in front of them, the one they now regarded as a godlike guardian:
Kawaki Aoba.
When the group returned to the village, they were met with thunderous cheers.
Civilians poured out of the shelters, eyes wide as they looked from the untouched village to the devastated battlefield outside. It felt as though they had crossed into another world.
"Long live Lord Kawaki Aoba!" a voice cried.
There was a brief moment of stunned silence. Then, like a wave, the cheer spread until the entire village resounded with the chant.
Somewhere in the chaos, a restaurant owner shouted that food would be free that night—but his voice was drowned out by the crowd.
In a quiet corner of the village, Senju Tobirama—his eyes lost and bleeding tears—climbed Hokage Rock alone. From its summit, he gazed at the village, now alive with celebration.
Meanwhile, the Fourth Hokage had just finished securing Obito and had instructed Kakashi to keep watch over him.
Obito had remained in the genjutsu the entire time. According to Yūhi Kurenai, he had no desire to wake from it—unless she forcibly released the technique. Minato had asked her to let him sleep a while longer.
As Obito's teacher, it was all he could do now.
As Minato stepped out of the special holding cell, he was greeted by a breathless Anbu operative.
Minato's expression immediately tensed—this was one of the shinobi he had assigned to guard Kushina.
What happened to her?
But the news was not grim. In fact, it was joyous.
"Lord Hokage! Lady Kushina's water broke! She's gone into labor! Lady Biwako says you must return immediately!"
Minato froze. The words echoed in his mind:
Kushina is giving birth.
It took him a moment to recover. Then, with a burst of speed that nearly rivaled teleportation, he vanished in a blur, his Body Flicker Technique pushing the limits of light.
Had the barriers within Konoha not still been active, he would have instantly transported using the Flying Thunder God Technique.
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