Candidates from various countries gathered in the large classroom of the Ninja Academy… Gaara from Sunagakure, Suigetsu from Kirigakure, and other foreign participants, along with local Konoha's Ninjas like Naruto and Sasuke, plus player candidates such as Utaha, Yukino, and Airi. The room was packed with a sea of people.
With a cold shout from Morino Ibiki, the first exam officially began.
The Jonin Instructor had a rare moment of leisure during this period, with no teams to lead. Some gathered socially, while others trained.
Makoto, holding a bouquet of flowers, walked through the quiet streets of Konoha to the secluded cemetery at the village's edge, isolated from the world.
The tombstones were arranged in neat rows.
Makoto stopped before a stone marker and bent down to place the bouquet against it.
Nohara Rin.
Two words carved into the weathered stone surface.
Makoto sat cross-legged in front of the grave, staring at the name without moving.
Wind blew through the cemetery, rustling the grass.
He sat there like that, as if lost in thought, as if waiting for something.
No one knew how much time passed.
Footsteps sounded behind him, followed by a voice deliberately exaggerated in a comical tone: "Oh dear, I didn't expect to run into Nishikawa-kun here. What a coincidence~"
The corner of Makoto's mouth curled up slightly, but he didn't turn around.
'The simp had come, as expected.'
He had been certain that as long as Obito returned to Konoha, he would come here.
As for why... well, everyone understood.
"Mr. Tobi," Makoto said with his back to him, his tone casual, "What brings you to Konoha's Ninja cemetery?"
Tobi maintained his exaggerated manner: "Just happened to be passing by… Saw Nishikawa-kun here and got curious, so I came over to take a look~"
As he spoke, his gaze passed over Makoto's shoulder and landed on the tombstone.
The moment his eyes touched the words [Nohara Rin], the Sharingan behind his mask involuntarily contracted.
A few seconds later, Obito-kun again used that frivolous tone to ask: "Nohara Rin? Never heard that name before~ A friend of Nishikawa-kun's?"
'Quite the actor.'
Makoto found it amusing but kept his expression unchanged as he replied: "No, she was Kakashi-senpai's girlfriend."
"...!"
Obito's pupil abruptly contracted to pinpoints.
"How is that possible!?"
The words slipped out before he could stop them. Immediately realizing his blunder, he forced a dry laugh to cover it up: "Th-That can't be right... I've never heard of Hatake Kakashi having a girlfriend..."
Watching the man struggle to cover his tracks, Makoto almost lost his composure.
'The title of [Number One Simp in the Ninja World] was well-deserved… mention the goddess's name and he instantly breaks down.'
He had come here today specifically to wait for Obito.
"I've heard about Kakashi-senpai and Nohara Rin's story,"
Makoto said slowly, his tone carrying just the right amount of melancholy, "It's quite touching. Ah, if she were still alive, their children would probably be old enough to run errands by now, right?"
As he spoke, he watched the figure behind him from the corner of his eye.
Obito's fingers had already clenched tightly.
His body beneath the black jumpsuit was trembling almost imperceptibly.
Makoto decided to turn up the heat.
"What a shame,"
He sighed, "With Kakashi-senpai's reputation as [Sharingan Kakashi], becoming the Fifth Hokage would be well within his reach. Then Nohara Rin-senpai would be the Hokage's wife… surely they'd become the envy of the entire Ninja World, a truly divine couple, wouldn't you say?"
"Kakashi isn't capable of that."
The voice from behind suddenly turned cold, the comical tone vanishing without a trace.
"He can't even fully utilize the power of the Sharingan."
Makoto smiled inwardly.
Hook, line, and sinker.
He turned his head with a feigned look of confusion: "Oh? Mr. Tobi seems to know quite a lot about the Sharingan?"
Only then did Obito realize he had spoken out of turn. His expression behind the mask froze for a moment.
He took a deep breath, barely suppressing the surging emotions.
'This kid was a bit unsettling.'
'Better to retreat for now.'
"Nishikawa-kun, I suddenly remembered I have something else to do, so—"
"I'd really like to have a Sharingan too."
Before he could finish, Makoto interrupted unhurriedly.
Obito paused.
Makoto continued: "It's a pity that now in all of Konoha, only Kakashi-senpai and Sasuke have Sharingan. If I wanted one, I'd have to go after them."
'What was this kid trying to do?'
Obito's heart jolted.
Then, he saw Makoto turn his head and look at him with a knowing smile.
"Mr. Tobi,"
that gaze seemed to pierce through the mask, "don't you think having a Sharingan on Sasuke is such a waste? It would be better off with me."
Even Obito, with his composure, felt a shock go through him.
'Was this kid... actually thinking of stealing Uchiha Sasuke's Sharingan?'
'But the question was, why was he telling this to an 'outsider'?'
'Could it be… he knew my true identity?'
The thought flashed through Obito's mind like lightning, and his pupils behind the mask contracted again.
He took a deep breath, barely managing to maintain a facade of calm.
"I, I'm from Kirigakure, I don't know anything about that..."
He put on that exaggerated tone again, but it was noticeably stiffer, "Nishikawa-kun, why are you telling me all this?"
Makoto smiled and stood up.
"Nothing really. I just felt that Mr. Tobi and I hit it off, so I couldn't help but chat a bit more."
He walked past Obito with a light step.
"I'll take my leave now."
Obito turned and stared at the gradually receding figure, his expression complex.
Even Nagato, the current leader of the Akatsuki, was completely under his manipulation, but this young man before him—
He couldn't read him.
He truly couldn't read him.
After a long while, the ground at his feet slightly bulged, and a venus flytrap plant broke through the soil.
Its leaves parted to reveal a face half-white and half-black.
"What does that kid want?" Zetsu asked with a blank expression.
Black Zetsu frowned deeply, remaining silent.
As the master manipulator lurking in the Ninja World for a millennium, he too found Makoto's logic utterly incomprehensible.
If he just wanted to steal the Sharingan, that wouldn't be strange.
But why say it out loud? And why tell an outsider?
Obito was silent for a long time.
"Tell Itachi about this."
His voice was low, with no trace of humor left.
Truth be told, he also had no idea what Makoto was planning.
But he knew that once Itachi learned of this, he wouldn't just sit idly by.
On that night of the massacre four years ago, Itachi had nearly come to blows with him… because Itachi suspected him of stealing his father's eyes.
Obito had felt wronged too. He had indeed taken many Sharingan that night, but Fugaku wasn't among them.
What was even stranger was that, according to Itachi, someone had disguised themselves as Kakashi that night and lured both Hiruzen and Danzo away.
Even Obito was baffled back then.
—There was another mastermind?!
This time, by disguising himself as a Kirigakure's Jonin to infiltrate Konoha, his goals were twofold: first, to observe Makoto, this prodigy who had mastered the Flying Thunder God Technique; second, to investigate what had really happened that night four years ago.
A Mangekyo Sharingan falling into someone else's hands was ultimately a loose end.
But he never suspected Makoto.
First, four years ago the kid was only an eight-year-old brat. Second, Makoto's eyes were normal… non-Uchiha who transplanted a Sharingan couldn't turn it off, just like Kakashi.
Makoto's eyes being normal meant he wasn't the one.
But regardless, because of this incident, Itachi's suspicion of him had deepened.
Obito felt that keeping Itachi by his side was becoming too dangerous.
Not to mention other things, Kotoamatsukami would always be a thorn in his side.
In that case—
Why not use this opportunity to eliminate him?
'A genius who had mastered the Flying Thunder God Technique and an enhanced version of the Rasengan… surely that would give Uchiha Itachi a run for his money, right?'
He could just reap the benefits from the sidelines.
What Obito didn't know, however, was—
What Makoto wanted was precisely for him to call Itachi over.
Otherwise, how could he obtain the Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan before the Konoha Crush Plan ended?