Obito's half-face, wrapped beneath the spiral-patterned White Zetsu body, twitched slightly as the muscles trembled.
He wanted to shout.
He wanted to greet them in the way he always had.
But it was as if something was stuck on his throat.
He lay amid the bushes, mud and broken leaves clinging to his black cloak.
That kick hadn't been particularly heavy.
What Obito found truly unbearable was the unfamiliarity and hostility in Rin's eyes.
"Careful, another monster has appeared!"
Among the Mist shinobi laying siege to them, someone issued a low warning.
Several masked Mist ANBU quickly adjusted their positions, tightening the encirclement around Kiyohara, Kakashi, and Rin, while simultaneously keeping wary eyes on the suddenly appeared Obito.
"What is that thing? Is it reinforcement?"
A Mist jonin asked with a frown.
"No… I've never seen anything like this. That skin is deathly pale, and that face looks like a spiral… Could it be a shinobi from the Land of Grass?"
Another replied.
"But since it was attacked by Konoha shinobi, it's probably not from Konoha. Most likely it's related to Kusagakure or some other nearby hidden village."
The Mist ANBU whispered among themselves.
Rin also stared at Obito with vigilance.
"What… is that?" she asked.
Kakashi frowned.
Even though the figure wore a cloak, it was easy to see that his neck, face, hands, and feet were all white.
"Not… not that…"
Obito struggled to stand up from the bushes. The Sharingan exposed through the opening in the spiral White Zetsu flesh trembled violently.
"I'm not a monster… I'm—"
His gaze turned toward Rin.
Rin had her back to him. Mud flecked her red thigh-high stockings, and her brown short hair was slightly disheveled from the fighting.
That was the silhouette he had dreamed of countless times—the person he had sworn to protect with his life.
For months, he had endured the agony of recovery in dark underground passages. The only belief sustaining him had been the thought of returning to Rin's side.
He had imagined their reunion again and again. Rin would call out his name in surprise, marvel at how he had changed, and then they would fight side by side, just like before.
Or perhaps he would appear in the form of a hero.
But never, not once had he imagined this.
She had kicked him away and looked at him with the eyes she reserved for an enemy.
Neither Kakashi nor Rin had recognized him.
They had completely forgotten him.
If they truly remembered… if only a few small changes had occurred… how could they possibly fail to recognize him?
Kiyohara watched Obito standing there in a daze and vaguely guessed what was going through his mind.
He was probably heartbroken that Rin and Kakashi hadn't recognized him.
That was normal.
In the original story, Obito had followed the same line of thinking.
He wore a mask, his voice changed, his fighting style changed—and then he launched a night attack on Konoha, released the Nine-Tails, and caused Kushina's death.
In the end, he even blamed Minato, his own teacher, for failing to recognize him.
The Obito of now was likely in the same psychological state.
Looking at Obito, now utterly different from the bright, cheerful boy he used to be, Kiyohara couldn't help but feel that this way of thinking was… very Uchiha.
In the next moment, Obito's arrival only caused a brief lull in the chaotic battle.
The Hōzuki clan shinobi in front of Kiyohara directly launched another attack, and the two resumed their fight.
"Rin…"
Obito's voice was hoarse.
"It's me…"
Rin seemed to hear something and slightly turned her head, but her gaze did not linger on him. Instead, it quickly shifted toward Kiyohara.
"Kiyohara, be careful of that person!"
Rin shouted, her voice filled with concern.
That concern was not for him.
The face beneath Obito's mask twisted.
A scorching mix of grievance, anger, and despair exploded in his chest.
The two tomoe in his Sharingan spun wildly. Deep within the blood-red pupils, something seemed to be brewing—struggling to break free.
He could feel heat surging in his eyes. The world before him became even clearer, every movement seeming to slow down.
But it still wasn't enough… still just a little short…
Short of what?
He didn't know.
He only instinctively felt that if he could gain more power, if he could prove himself, if he could—
"Obito."
At that very moment, more than ten kilometers away at the Mountain's Graveyard, Madara formed seals with one hand, a cold curve lifting at the corner of his mouth.
"The pain isn't deep enough yet. Let me give you a push."
His fingers shifted. Chakra flowed through the White Zetsu network, activating the Forbidden Individual Curse Tag buried within Rin's heart.
At the center of the battlefield, Rin suddenly let out a muffled groan, clutching her chest as she dropped to one knee.
"Rin!"
Kakashi noticed her abnormality and forced back his opponent, trying to rush over.
"I… I'm fine…"
Rin gritted her teeth, cold sweat seeping from her forehead.
But in the next second, her pupils abruptly contracted, transforming into vertical, beast-like slits.
A violent, hatred-filled chakra exploded from her heart, instantly flooding her entire chakra network.
Crimson chakra leaked out of her body, bubbling like boiling blood.
The first tail formed behind her, then the second. The scarlet tails, composed purely of chakra, slammed against the ground, cracking the earth.
"This is…"
The Hōzuki clan shinobi, Kurotsuki Hōzuki, narrowed his eyes.
"The Three-Tails' chakra has gone berserk… Looks like the seal isn't stable."
This fluctuation in chakra naturally caught Kiyohara's attention.
He turned around.
Rin slowly stood up.
She opened her mouth, but the sound that emerged was no longer her own—it was a beastlike growl.
"Leave… get away from me…"
Her remaining consciousness forced those words out, but her body was already beyond her control.
The chakra tails swept violently across the forest!
"Watch out!"
Kakashi shouted.
But the eruption of tailed-beast chakra was far faster than anyone expected.
Rin or rather, the berserk Rin began attacking indiscriminately.
Her fist, wrapped in crimson chakra, slammed down viciously!
Kakashi barely had time to cross his arms to block.
Bang!
The sound of bones shattering rang out clearly.
Kakashi was sent flying like a cannonball, smashing into a tree trunk hard enough to leave a deep indentation before crashing into the mud, blood spraying from his mouth as his face instantly turned deathly pale beneath his black mask.
Meanwhile, Rin had already turned toward her next target, the spiral-faced, white monster who had just stood up.
Because Obito had been staring at Rin all along, he naturally drew her attention.
Obito stared blankly as Rin charged straight toward him.
There was no longer any gentleness on her face. The crimson Tailed Beast Cloak made her look both unfamiliar and terrifying.
"Rin…"
Obito reached out his hand—not to attack, but to embrace her.
"It's me… Obito…"
What answered him was a heavy punch wrapped in tailed-beast chakra!
BOOM!
Obito was blasted away, smashing into a tree.
If not for the extraordinary blunt-force resistance provided by the White Zetsu body, this blow would have fractured his bones just like Kakashi's.
Even so, he felt as if his internal organs had nearly shifted out of place.
"Restrain her!"
Kurotsuki Hōzuki gave the order.
"Before she fully transforms and releases a Tailed Beast Ball, reinforce the seal!"
Several Mist jonin moved at once. Clearly, they had long prepared for this scenario. Four of them took positions at the cardinal points and began forming hand seals simultaneously.
"Water Release: Water Prison Formation!"
"Sealing Technique: Water Manifestation Chains!"
…
Water surged up from the ground, forming a hemispherical prison of water that trapped Rin inside. Four chains formed from chakra lashed out from four directions, winding tightly around her limbs.
Rin's second tail lashed about frantically, causing the water prison to shake violently as cracks began to spread across the chakra chains.
"It won't hold for long," one Mist jonin gritted his teeth and said.
"Lord Hōzuki, please hurry!" another shouted.
Kurotsuki Hōzuki nodded, his hands beginning to form an intricate and complex sealing technique.
"Their objective is to regain control over Rin," Kakashi said as he struggled up from the muddy ground.
"The earlier attack sealed the tailed beast into her body. Now they want to reinforce the seal, turning Rin into a controllable tailed-beast weapon…"
"We absolutely can't let them succeed."
Enduring the pain, Kakashi gathered Lightning Release chakra in his hand.
Kiyohara nodded in agreement.
If Rin continued to go berserk and fired off a Tailed Beast Ball capable of flattening entire mountain ranges, even his Steel Release would probably be unable to withstand it.
The two exchanged a glance, then moved at the same time.
Kakashi charged straight toward the four Mist jonin maintaining the water-prison formation, forming hand seals with one hand.
"Chidori!"
Electric arcs crackled violently in his palm as he struck, interrupting the Mist jonin's hand seals.
Meanwhile, Kiyohara went straight for Kurotsuki Hōzuki.
"Don't even think about it."
Without even turning his head, Kurotsuki Hōzuki continued forming seals with his left hand while flicking his right. Several semi-transparent threads shot out from his sleeve.
Kiyohara swung his blade, slicing through the threads, but they seemed endless—and astonishingly tough.
Water Release: Water Transformation Threads!
Kurotsuki Hōzuki finally completed the first stage of his hand seals and only then spared Kiyohara a glance.
"My secret technique condenses Water Release chakra into threads tougher than steel. Brat, you do have some skill—but this is where it ends."
He raised his left hand, and the number of threads suddenly multiplied, spreading like a spider's web and sealing off every possible route of advance for Kiyohara.
Kiyohara erected walls of iron sand to block the threads while thinking rapidly.
The current situation was extremely troublesome.
Rin was rampaging, Kakashi was injured, and his chakra reserves were running low.
The enemy forces were numerous and their objective was crystal clear.
Once they completed the sealing technique, Rin would become nothing more than a tool of Kirigakure.
Moreover, prolonged tailed-beast transformation was an enormous burden for a jinchūriki.
Madara's core objective was to plunge Obito into darkness.
The simplest method was to let someone Obito cared deeply about die, causing him to question the very legitimacy of the shinobi system.
Judging from the original events, it wasn't even necessary for Rin to die. The moment Obito witnessed her being pierced, the violent emotional shock alone was enough to shatter his psyche and awaken the Mangekyō Sharingan.
'I can follow that route. With my medical knowledge, I can completely avoid the heart while destroying the curse tag.'
Kiyohara made up his mind.
Both Obito and Rin had been branded by Madara with a "Forbidden Individual Curse Tag," one that they themselves could not remove.
That was why Obito later guided Kakashi into stabbing straight at his heart.
As for why he didn't remove his own Forbidden Individual Curse Tag from the start, it was because Obito knew that Black Zetsu was Madara's will incarnate. The plan was not yet complete, and Madara might still be needed, so the seal remained.
"Future me."
Kiyohara called out inwardly, tapping the urn at his waist.
"I'm here."
The voice of Uchiha Kiyohara's spirit responded as it emerged from the urn.
He surveyed the surroundings at a glance and immediately understood the situation.
"The curse seal on Rin's heart must be destroyed, but the heart itself cannot be injured. My medical knowledge is sufficient to avoid it as much as possible, but performing such precise operations under those conditions will require the Sharingan, and chakra."
Kiyohara stared at Rin trapped inside the water prison, her crimson chakra violently clashing against the sealing chains.
"You want me to possess you, help refine chakra, and use the Sharingan's perception together with your medical ninjutsu to complete the operation?"
"Exactly. But before that, I need to deal with these enemies first," Kiyohara replied.
Before anything else, the enemies had to be dealt with.
Uchiha Kiyohara could help him refine chakra.
With that, the duration for which Kiyohara could maintain the Sharingan would be significantly extended.
He needed the Sharingan to fight these enemies, and he also needed it to clearly see the "Forbidden Individual Curse Tag" by perceiving chakra flow.
After all, that thing was driven by chakra as well.
"…Alright."
Uchiha Kiyohara's spirit fell silent for a moment, then smiled.
This development was different from the events he remembered.
In the next instant, Kiyohara felt his chakra steadily recovering, and even his digestive functions strengthening.
He quickly pulled out some compressed rations from his shinobi pouch and stuffed them into his mouth to replenish energy.
Then, within Kiyohara's pitch-black eyes, a trace of crimson appeared.
A single tomoe slowly emerged.
"!"
Kakashi noticed Kiyohara's eyes and froze, wearing an expression as if he'd just seen a ghost.
Kiyohara had the Sharingan too?
Where did that come from?
Why had he never known?
"Oh?"
Kurotsuki Hōzuki also noticed the change in Kiyohara, especially those eyes.
"So you're an Uchiha brat? No… that's not right. There's no record of Sharingan in your intelligence profile, nor any indication that you were born into the Uchiha clan… Were you hiding your strength?"
The crimson single-tomoe Sharingan slowly rotated in Kiyohara's eyes, and the entire world seemed different.
The Water Transformation Threads Kurotsuki Hōzuki had been swinging that had been previously difficult to track, now had chakra-flow trajectories that were as clear as lines drawn on his palm under the Sharingan's dynamic vision.
More importantly, Kiyohara could see the contraction of Kurotsuki Hōzuki's shoulder muscles, the subtle angle of his wrist about to turn, allowing him to predict the direction of the next attack.
"Magnet Release… Magnetic Field Rotation!"
An invisible magnetic field erupted outward from Kiyohara as its center, generating a powerful reverse force.
This force acted upon his own body, and combined with the explosive release of chakra in his legs, his speed suddenly leaped to an entirely new level.
"What?!"
Kurotsuki Hōzuki's pupils shrank sharply.
This speed was far beyond what it had been before!
He had no choice but to interrupt the sealing technique mid-cast and transform his body into liquid.
Slash—the shinobi blade passed through, stirring only a splash of water.
Kurotsuki Hōzuki reformed several steps away, his expression grim.
Staring at Kiyohara's crimson eyes, he couldn't help but think: the Sharingan really was a troublesome kekkei genkai.
…
At the same time.
More than ten kilometers away, at the Mountain's Graveyard.
Madara sat on a wooden chair, observing the chaos of the battlefield through the shared vision of White Zetsu.
His expression was calm, even carrying a hint of detached appreciation, as though watching a play.
"Obito's emotional fluctuations are intense… very good. And that brat called Kiyohara, his performance is quite unexpected," Madara said to the White Zetsu beside him.
There were many more White Zetsu hidden within the underground tunnels.
"To hold out this long against members of the Hōzuki clan, Mist jonin, and ANBU while still finding chances to counterattack, this kind of combat talent would count as an outstanding junior even in the Warring States era."
White Zetsu replied in an exaggerated tone, "Looks like he's even stronger than Kakashi."
Madara gave a slight nod.
"Hatake Kakashi has decent talent, but his mindset is flawed. He shoulders too many meaningless burdens. This Kiyohara, however… his objectives are clear, his methods direct, and he knows how to use his environment and every advantage he possesses.
In terms of potential as a 'tool,' he might indeed surpass Kakashi. Unfortunately…"
He shook his head.
As he had always said—no matter how outstanding, without Uchiha blood and without the Sharingan, one was unqualified to bear his plan. At most, a variable worth mild observation, but nothing more.
Madara was about to refocus his attention on Obito.
And then—
Through White Zetsu's shared vision, he suddenly saw a scene that made him pause.
Not long after Rin went berserk, Kiyohara's eyes had abruptly turned crimson, and a pitch-black tomoe appeared within them!
Madara's half-lidded eyes snapped fully open, his brows lifting slightly.
For the first time, genuine emotion surfaced on his face—surprise beyond expectation.
"…The Sharingan?"
His voice echoed through the cavern.
White Zetsu also let out a surprised sound, learning of the development through its other counterparts.
"It's real—Sharingan, one tomoe! How did he…?"
Madara fell silent for a moment, the surprise in his eyes quickly replaced by contemplation.
The awakening of the Sharingan required intense emotional stimulation, usually tied to the loss or crisis of someone deeply cherished.
The more emotionally invested an Uchiha was, the more easily they could obtain this power.
"Uchiha blood…?" Madara murmured, countless possibilities flashing through his mind.
"Was it some junior who couldn't keep his pants zipped and left bloodlines outside the clan? Or… an even earlier branch, lost during the Uchiha clan's migrations?"
Madara sank into thought.
The Uchiha clan had not always resided in the Land of Fire.
During the Warring States era and even earlier, they had served different lords and traveled across many lands.
Madara clearly remembered that according to clan records, the Uchiha had once been stationed in the Land of Lightning for a long period, even tasked with guarding against the Chinoike clan after they offended a local lord.
In those chaotic times, when clan territories constantly shifted, it was entirely possible that some members had been left behind or formed unions with outsiders, leaving descendants behind.
After all, even within the Uchiha clan, only a minority ever awakened the Sharingan. Most never did in their entire lives, making it impossible to know whether they truly carried the bloodline—family names were often the only clue.
Later, when the village was founded and he led all known clan members to establish Konoha, those old matters gradually faded into obscurity.
"And he even possesses Magnet Release, another kekkei genkai…"
Madara suddenly found things interesting.
Even in the Warring States era, he had never seen an Uchiha with another kekkei genkai.
Watching through his vision as Kiyohara, now with vastly increased speed and perception after awakening the Sharingan—began to truly suppress Kurotsuki Hōzuki, a faint smile appeared at the corner of Madara's lips once more.
"What was originally an insignificant chess piece…"
"Now deserves a reevaluation."
His gaze swept once more over Obito, writhing in agony within the mud, his Sharingan on the verge of transformation, then shifted to Kiyohara, radiating sharp brilliance on the battlefield.
Madara found himself wondering if he had chosen the wrong person.
"No—ultimately, it still depends on what kind of dōjutsu Obito awakens."
Resting his chin on his hand, Madara found himself paying closer attention to the stage than before, now that Kiyohara had unexpectedly awakened the Sharingan.
Every Uchiha who awakened the Mangekyō Sharingan would gain two dōjutsu.
The Sharingan was the eye of the heart, it responded to the deepest desires within its bearer.
The abilities of the dōjutsu were often closely tied to the user's state of mind.
So… what kind of dōjutsu would Obito awaken?
(End of Chapter)