"Thud."
The sound of the ring hitting the ground made everyone inside Young Obito's Kamui's Dimension turn to look.
It was a strange object that had fallen out of Obito's ninja tool pouch.
It looked like a component of something, a copper ring engraved with strange patterns.
"A part?"
Obito picked it up and turned it over in his hands. It looked familiar, but he had no idea what it was used for.
"This material..."
Rin studied the copper ring in Obito's hand. "Doesn't it look a lot like Itachi Uchiha's compass?"
"A compass?! The mission reward from Itachi Uchiha's SSS-rank mission?" Looking at it that way, it really did seem like one of the compass's outer components!
Almost by reflex, the three members of Team Minato immediately thought of the mission scroll in Obito's hand.
A bad feeling rose in all three of them.
Young Obito tightened his grip on the mission scroll and hesitated for a long time, not daring to open it.
An SSS-rank mission?
Konan was rather confused.
Konoha was a major ninja village. What kind of mission could possibly be classified as SSS-rank?
The three people opposite her gathered together, staring gravely at the scroll in their hands as though facing a powerful enemy.
That made Konan feel somewhat nervous too.
Meanwhile, inside Young Obito's Kamui's Dimension, a man dressed in dark blue high-collared clothing was standing atop the Hokage Rock, staring in disbelief at the magnificent village below.
A small ponytail hung from the back of the man's head. With no wind blowing, it fell down behind him, half covering the fan emblem on the back of his blue high-collared clothing.
If Obito and the others saw him now, their first reaction would definitely be to call out Sasuke's name.
He simply looked far too much like Fourth Shinobi War Sasuke.
On closer inspection, the young man's upper lip curved up slightly, making him look as though he were pouting. It gave him a trace of cuteness that did not quite match his age.
Izuna Uchiha had no idea why, after dying, he had come to a place like this. This village was the size of more than a dozen Uchiha Clan territories, yet there was not a single person in it?
Aside from the Pure Land, Izuna could not think of anywhere else with a scene like this.
Unaware that he was inside the Mangekyō Sharingan space of a younger Uchiha, Izuna continued wandering through the empty village.
Although there was not a soul in sight, traces of ordinary life were scattered everywhere, as if people had been living here only moments ago.
There were shops in the village, and goods were still laid out for sale.
He passed all kinds of eateries along the way. Yakiniku Q, Ramen Ichiraku, Amaguriama, and a dango shop, all still carrying the warmth and smoke of recent cooking.
Izuna saw homes where non-ninja residents lived, while the weapon shops and ninja tool shops revealed that ninjas lived here as well.
There were also many clan estates, their gates carved with family crests he recognized from the hundred clans of the Ninja World.
"That's the Nara Clan."
"That's the Inuzuka Clan."
"The Sarutobi Clan really is one of the great ninja clans, second only to the Senju and Uchiha. Their estate is much larger than the Nara and Inuzuka estates..."
"Wait! Hyūga?! Even the Hyūga really exist in this village?!"
"Is this what you'd expect from the Pure Land? Even hostile forces that once killed each other can exist in the same village and live together in peace."
Izuna Uchiha, who had died at the age of twenty-four, strolled leisurely along the streets of Konohagakure. His limited understanding from the Warring States Period made him believe this place was the Pure Land of the afterlife.
When he saw Konoha Hospital, he paused for a moment.
If the Uchiha Clan territory had possessed a hospital with such complete medical facilities, then many of his relatives, friends, clan members, and their families would not have died in agony.
When he reached the Konoha Ninja Academy, he could not resist walking inside and carefully examining every classroom.
Blackboards filled with lesson content, desks covered in messy scribbles.
"I'll definitely become Hokage! I'll make the whole village acknowledge me!"
The words had been carved with a shuriken.
Hokage? What was that?
This place held traces of all the school-age children from Konoha's ninja clans attending classes here.
"If we had lived in a world like this, maybe my brother and Hashirama Senju, and I and Tobirama, might have become friends."
He flipped through the student roster inside the Ninja Academy. Everyone's basic information was clearly recorded within it.
"The eight ninja attributes: Ninjutsu, Taijutsu, Genjutsu, Intelligence, Strength, Speed, Stamina, and Hand Seals."
"Ninja Academy students, Genin, Chūnin, Jōnin."
"Mission assignment and mission reward system."
The more Izuna Uchiha read, the more absorbed he became.
"My goodness! If I weren't dead and could bring all this knowledge back with me, it would definitely be a huge help to my brother!"
"What kind of genius came up with this system? I'd really like to get to know them."
Unfortunately, after walking around for so long, he still had not seen a single person.
Even if this was the Pure Land, surely he could not be the only soul here.
He had thought he might be able to see his father, mother, and brothers who had died young.
Izuna Uchiha put down the book in his hands and looked out the window.
That was when he happened to notice the Hokage Rock he had overlooked earlier.
"Uh."
"Who thought carving such ugly faces into a cliff was a good idea? That's a terrible concept! Especially the first one. Is he bald?"
He narrowed his eyes, feeling that the second face looked very familiar.
"Senju... Tobirama...?"
No way, no way?!
He did not recognize the third or the fourth.
He did not recognize the fifth either, but he did recognize the Sharingan in the eyes of the man wearing goggles!
Carving goggles together with Sharingan?
Which strange little brat in the clan came up with that?
Izuna Uchiha was utterly baffled, unaware that the strange little brat was actually in this world too, currently holed up in a house somewhere inside the Uchiha Clan territory.
At that moment, his face, along with Kakashi's and Rin's, shifted between pale and ashen. They looked as if they had been frightened, unable to believe what they were seeing.
[Mission Rank: SSS-rank]
[Mission Objective: Kill the Masked Man.]
[Mission Status: Completed.]
Outside the Dōjutsu Space.
Sasuke and Sakura Haruno had used the Transformation Technique to turn into Hanzō of the Salamander's subordinates, ninjas from Amegakure. Naruto Uzumaki had transformed into Konan and was being carried over Sakura's shoulder.
It was pouring along the road, and several times Sakura's shoulder jabbed into him so hard he nearly threw up.
He wanted to switch with Sasuke, but Sasuke heartlessly refused every time by looking away.
Sasuke, carrying the heavy weight of his idol-like image, had absolutely no desire to be turned into a woman and hauled around by Sakura. It would be far too damaging to his reputation.
After finally making it to Amegakure, they used Sharingan Genjutsu to successfully bluff their way through. After several twists and turns, they at last met Hanzō of the Salamander.
Naruto, transformed into Konan, was thrown heavily in front of Hanzō of the Salamander.
Although Sasuke and Sakura, transformed into two Ame Ninjas, had grown much stronger, this was truly their first time carrying out a mission of this level.
It was wartime.
Opposite them stood the leader of another ninja village.
All around them were experienced Amegakure Jōnin standing ready at any moment.
If they were exposed, the consequences were easy to imagine.
"Leader, Danzō Shimura has arrived with Konoha's ANBU."
At the sound of that name, Naruto, who was pretending to be unconscious, and Sasuke and Sakura on the other side, who were doing their best to lower their presence, stiffened slightly.
Sasuke especially nearly glared his Mangekyō Sharingan right out of his eyes when he heard the name Danzō Shimura.
Hanzō of the Salamander nodded. "Mm. Let him in."
Danzō Shimura, dressed in ANBU gear, walked in with two personal guards.
He glanced at "Konan," who was lying on the ground with her back to everyone else.
"Are you certain this woman can be used as a hostage to make that Yahiko give up resisting and willingly let us kill him?"
Danzō Shimura was a typical cautious personality, suspicious of everyone and everything. At the same time, because he had no real feelings to speak of, he could abandon anyone or anything for the sake of his own interests.
Hanzō of the Salamander chuckled coldly. "Rest assured. The people in that organization are far too young, so young they're naive. You claimed to be one of my subordinates from Amegakure and delivered them a letter, saying I was willing to negotiate with them as equals about Amegakure's future and peace in the Ninja World. Didn't they accept it without thinking twice?"
People like them, just like Danzō Shimura, knew how to exploit the weakness of human nature to achieve their goals.
Danzō Shimura mocked the younger generation of ninjas for lacking experience, for trusting the other party's words without even knowing whether they were enemies.
"Perhaps they're still celebrating their success right now?"
"According to the agreed time, they should already be on their way by now." Hanzō of the Salamander said, "How are Konoha's people prepared?"
"Same as Amegakure's people. They're already standing by in the valley. The explosive tags have also been planted. We're just waiting for them to appear."
"Very good."
Hanzō of the Salamander rose from his seat.
"Then let's set out too."
He gestured to Sasuke and Sakura, who had transformed into Amegakure ninjas, telling them to bring the woman on the ground and follow.
Because Sasuke was desperately suppressing his killing intent toward Danzō, his reaction was half a beat slow.
Fortunately, Sakura reacted quickly. Like a proper Amegakure ninja, she answered the leader with "Yes," hoisted "Konan" up from the ground, and blocked Sasuke, who was almost unable to restrain himself any longer, giving him a brief chance to release his Sharingan in the shadows.
At the same time, Obito, Kakashi, and Rin, hiding inside Kamui's Dimension, broke into a cold sweat.
The three of them fell silent...
Because Obito's SSS-rank mission had been completed and the masked man had been killed, their feelings were extremely complicated. Their memories of interacting with Adult Obito during this period surfaced one after another.
They still remembered how he had once told Young Obito and Young Kakashi that, after everything was over, he would let them kill him and complete the SSS-rank mission in their hands.
Over and over, through each crossing, they had watched him gradually learn the truth and become so overwhelmed with regret that he did not know what to do.
As Obito Uchiha, and as Obito Uchiha's companions, when Young Obito, Young Kakashi, and Rin saw the mission suddenly completed, their first reaction was actually resistance...