Chapter 513: Space Alien X, Open Your Eyes
Before long, Uchiha Hikari arrived carrying her specially made equipment.
Following Shiromo's instructions, she modified the device's settings.
These settings weren't something just anyone could change.
Everything was built on the power of Yachihoko (Eight Thousand Spears), so only Uchiha Hikari had the ability to alter them.
"Here you go."
Using the same technique as throwing a shuriken, Uchiha Hikari tossed the modified VR headset onto Obito's head.
The straps automatically tightened around his head, and the device powered on by itself.
Obito instantly felt as though his body had fallen into an endless void.
He immediately understood.
He had been caught in Uchiha Hikari's genjutsu.
What he hadn't expected was that her genjutsu was so terrifying that it had already surpassed Itachi's Tsukuyomi.
No matter how powerful Itachi's Tsukuyomi was, it still required eye contact to activate.
Uchiha Hikari's Engraved Tsukuyomi, however, was more like the Infinite Tsukuyomi.
Simply closing your eyes and refusing to look couldn't stop you from being caught in it.
Obito had been pretending to be unconscious just moments ago, so his eyes had definitely been closed.
Yet he had still fallen under the illusion without the slightest warning.
More importantly...
After entering the genjutsu, Obito couldn't sense that he was under one at all.
It felt as though the Scorch Release: Heavenly Prison sealing his body, along with all his pain, had completely disappeared.
It was as if every restraint had been lifted.
His body felt light.
Comfortable.
That sudden, unnatural feeling of comfort chilled him to the core.
It meant Uchiha Hikari's genjutsu had not only surpassed Itachi's Tsukuyomi in how easily it trapped people, but was also no weaker in quality than Itachi's ability to freely manipulate time and space within Tsukuyomi.
What's more...
From everything he had overheard just now, the illusion's primary purpose wasn't even to trap people.
Its true function was to absorb chakra and natural energy, completely restricting him.
And from what they had said...
This thing was supposedly going to be promoted throughout the entire ninja world, just like Sage Mode...
Wait.
A thought suddenly struck Obito.
Could the widespread promotion of Sage Mode have actually been laying the groundwork for this all along?
The more he thought about it, the more terrifying it became.
Once everyone in the ninja world experienced the benefits of Sage Mode, introducing something new afterward would become far easier.
And if nearly everyone learned to absorb natural energy...
Wouldn't that simply give Yachihoko (Eight Thousand Spears) even more power to absorb?
At that point, every person in the ninja world wearing this device would become part of Uchiha Hikari's power.
How evil!
For some inexplicable reason, Obito suddenly felt a strong sense of justice.
He wanted to stop this evil plan.
Even though...
What he himself had originally planned wasn't all that different.
The truth was, neither Obito nor Madara knew that the Infinite Tsukuyomi would absorb the chakra of the entire ninja world into a single whole.
So from Obito's perspective...
Ignoring all the confusing information he'd later heard about the Ōtsutsuki, whose truth he couldn't verify...
He believed he only intended to capture the Nine Tailed Beasts and become the Ten-Tails' jinchūriki.
And he was doing it to save the ninja world.
To let everyone live forever in a beautiful dream.
But what about Uchiha Hikari?
The Nine Tailed Beasts weren't enough for her anymore.
She wanted the chakra of everyone in the world.
If people lost all their chakra...
Could they even survive?
Was she planning to sacrifice the lives of the entire world just to make herself stronger?
Compared to him and Madara, who merely wanted to cast the Infinite Tsukuyomi and let everyone live in a beautiful dream...
She was the ultimate Demon King!
As for everything he had heard before…
About Ōtsutsuki Kaguya...
About the Infinite Tsukuyomi absorbing chakra to create White Zetsu...
That all had to be fake!
The reason they had fabricated such stories was because Uchiha Hikari herself intended to commit those very atrocities.
She had simply invented someone called Ōtsutsuki Kaguya and shifted all the blame onto her, along with the Infinite Tsukuyomi.
No wonder...
After Madara had been revived with the Impure World Reincarnation, the two of them had constantly fought and guarded against one another.
The real reason was that both of them wanted to become the Ten-Tails' jinchūriki.
As the saying goes, rivals are each other's greatest enemies—you'd love nothing more than to see the other disappear.
That's why they had clashed.
Both he and Madara had overlooked one fact.
There was another rival.
A far greedier and more evil one.
Uchiha Hikari.
She wanted the same thing they did.
Following the logic that competitors eliminate one another...
Uchiha Hikari had imprisoned both him and Madara here.
She wouldn't even allow them to die or undo the Impure World Reincarnation.
Why?
Because once they died, their souls would be free.
Someone else could summon or revive them again, turning them back into her competitors.
Everything finally made sense.
Obito felt as though he had discovered the truth.
A powerful sense of mission rose within him.
He had to find a way out.
Not only to become the Ten-Tails' jinchūriki...
But, more importantly, to stop the inherently evil Demon King Uchiha Hikari from destroying the world!
Thud.
Obito felt his body, which had been falling through the depths of space, finally land on solid ground.
As for why he had landed...
He had no idea.
Earlier, while pretending to be unconscious, he had overheard them calling this a "game."
Obito's understanding of games was completely different from Shiromo's—and from that of the readers.
By the Boruto era, online games already existed.
But Amegakure had only just begun developing.
Right now, they only have arcade machines.
Even single-player games had only recently appeared.
And those games had the concept of "clearing" them.
So Obito naturally assumed this was a single-player game that needed to be completed.
As long as he cleared it, he would most likely escape this genjutsu.
What Obito didn't know was that the long fall through the void had actually been the game's shader rendering process...
And under the automation of Engraved Tsukuyomi, a beginner's village and opening tutorial, modeled after the Infinite Tsukuyomi, had been created for him.
Obito didn't wake up immediately.
He didn't know whether Uchiha Hikari was watching him.
He had just been pretending to be unconscious.
If he suddenly opened his eyes now, it would expose the fact that he had been secretly listening to their conversation.
So he decided to keep playing dead for another few minutes.
While keeping his eyes shut, Obito suddenly sensed a blinding light in front of him.
Even with his eyes closed, it was dazzling.
Like a beacon shining through darkness.
A voice, both familiar and unfamiliar, echoed from within the light.
"Space Alien X... open your eyes... I am Sa—XX."
What the hell?
Obito was completely confused.
Why was the voice cutting in and out?
And what was it even trying to say?
The only part he understood was, "Open your eyes."
Ignoring the voice, Obito stuck to his plan and continued pretending to be unconscious.
A few minutes later, he slowly opened his eyes.
Only then did he discover that the glowing figure before him was an adult Sasuke holding a Chidori.
Before Obito opened his eyes, Sasuke had simply been standing there striking a dramatic pose, endlessly repeating the same line.
"Uchiha Dairen... open your eyes... I am Sashi-ge."
"..."
What kind of lunatic is this?
(End of this chapter)