Although Minato Namikaze said he didn't believe it, a storm had already risen in his heart.
He didn't want to believe it, but he also knew his teacher would never make a baseless guess.
Since it was a possibility raised by Teacher Arisu, he had to think it through carefully.
Seeing Minato's complicated expression, Arisu calmly reminded him, "Under the mask... is a face that looks almost exactly like Obito's. One side is completely unharmed, while the other looks like it was crushed by a boulder, covered in terrible scars."
Minato's heart sank, and he frowned even more deeply.
Arisu looked at Minato, who had fallen into deep thought with tightly knitted brows, and his gaze softened slightly.
He didn't continue asking about Obito or pressure him.
Whether that person's identity should be revealed, and when it should be revealed, would be Minato's decision.
As a teacher, he had already said everything that needed to be said. The rest of the path was for Minato to walk himself.
Arisu sighed softly and took off the Hokage hat from his head.
He walked up to Minato and solemnly placed the hat, which symbolized Konoha's highest authority, onto Minato's head.
"All right. My time as Acting Hokage is finally over. Minato, do your best. I've already taken care of most of the difficult problems these past few days... Oh, right, there's also the matter of the Hidden Sound Village."
"Remember to bring them in and reorganize them. Don't let them keep drifting on their own.", Arisu said with a smile.
Only then did Minato come back to his senses. Looking at the teacher who had always protected him, his eyes grew slightly warm.
He sincerely lowered his head and said gratefully, "Thank you, Teacher... You've worked hard. I really couldn't have gotten through this time without you."
Arisu smiled faintly and gently patted Minato on the shoulder.
"There's no need to be so polite between teacher and student."
With that, he turned and walked toward the office door. He hung the white Acting Hokage robe on a coat rack and left without looking back.
"What great character... Truly great character..."
"Teacher Arisu really has noble character. He's not attached to power."
Watching Arisu's departing figure, Minato couldn't help sighing with admiration.
If Danzo had been Acting Hokage instead, he probably would have refused to step down.
———
[Meanwhile, At The Hidden Sound Village]
Another of Arisu's clones silently appeared in the village square.
Kimimaro and the Sound Four had already been waiting there in neat formation. The moment they saw the familiar figure, they immediately stepped forward respectfully.
Kimimaro was the first to kneel on one knee. His voice was low but filled with expectation.
"Lord Hokage, you said you would take us to see Lord Orochimaru."
Arisu waved a hand slightly and calmly replied, "Of course I know. It's just that I'm no longer Hokage now... But our previous agreement is still valid."
As soon as he finished speaking, he casually raised a hand. A faint light shone from his fingertips.
A deep blue spiral portal instantly opened before everyone. Inside it, distorted waves of space could vaguely be seen.
The Sound ninja all stared with shock, their eyes wide open.
Was this really something a ninja could do?
The scale of this space ninjutsu, and how casually it was used, had completely gone beyond their understanding.
Arisu looked at them and said flatly, "Go on."
Sakon stood where he was, looking hesitant. A trace of fear flashed through his eyes as he quietly asked his companions, "Th-This... could it be a trap?"
Kimimaro didn't hesitate at all. Looking completely calm, he stepped straight into the portal.
In his eyes, if Arisu wanted to kill them, there was no need for tricks. With the absolute power Arisu had shown, crushing them would take no effort at all.
Seeing Kimimaro enter without hesitation, the Sound Four looked at one another and stopped hesitating as well. One after another, they stepped through the portal.
After watching all of them enter, Arisu lightly waved his hand. The portal quietly closed, turning into specks of light that disappeared into the air.
With his hands behind his back, he turned and left the Hidden Sound Village.
———
[In The Pure Land]
The light of the setting sun spread across the vast and strange border of the Pure Land. Momoshiki, Urashiki, and Kinshiki had just finished a day's work expanding the land and were resting on a floating rock.
Kinshiki scratched the back of his smooth head and grinned.
"Want to go eat banmian later? I heard the new place has a special rich broth that's really good."
Seeing Kinshiki's foolish, food-loving expression, Momoshiki became irritated.
"Eat, eat, eat! Ever since you came to the Pure Land, all you think about is eating! Where's your Otsutsuki spirit from before!?"
Momoshiki immediately shouted. Even the horns on his forehead trembled slightly as he looked disappointed.
Kinshiki scratched his head.
To be honest, he quite liked this kind of life without fighting or killing.
Every day he could take it easy in the Pure Land, work from nine to five, enjoy all kinds of good food, and play games with Urashiki when he had nothing to do. It was much happier than before.
"Hahaha don't be angry~"
"Anyway, we've already lost our powers. Since we're here, we might as well settle in. I agree with Brother Kinshiki."
Urashiki smiled as he wrapped an arm around Momoshiki's shoulder from behind, looking completely relaxed.
Ever since Momoshiki and Kinshiki came to the Pure Land, Urashiki had been overjoyed.
He finally had people to eat, drink, and have fun with. He no longer had to wander around the border alone.
The three of them worked together every day, chatted, and found ways to entertain themselves. Life was surprisingly comfortable.
Now they had become somewhat famous around the Pure Land border as the "Three Musketeers." Wherever they went, people could be heard whispering, "There go those three Otsutsuki causing trouble together again."
After Urashiki threw an arm around him, Momoshiki's imposing manner weakened a little. Even so, he still muttered, "...What a decline in standards. The dignity of the Otsutsuki has been completely ruined by the two of you."
"One of you has become obsessed with playing around every day, and the other has been completely won over by food."
Even though he said that, when Kinshiki and Urashiki grabbed him from both sides and dragged him toward the restaurant, Momoshiki only struggled symbolically for a moment before following them out of the work area.
After hesitating again and again, Minato Namikaze finally chose to reveal Uchiha Madara's true identity for the sake of the village and the ninja world.
That person was Uchiha Obito.
As soon as the news spread, the entire ninja world was shaken.
The various ninja villages all condemned Konoha as the source of the chaos in the ninja world. The facts showed that nearly every major disaster in recent history had originated from Konoha.
At the same time, the Akatsuki naturally learned Uchiha Madara's true identity as well.
However, the Deva Path of Pain wasn't particularly surprised, because he had long suspected that this Uchiha Madara couldn't be the real one.
Would the real Uchiha Madara have been beaten into that state by Arisu?
Still, the Deva Path of Pain didn't care much. The missions still had to be carried out, and the cooperation still had to continue.
Although the final layer of deception had been exposed, the two sides silently continued working together without saying it outright.