"Obito, it hurts."
"Is this the world after death?"
"I'm sorry. I couldn't keep the promise between us and live on properly."
"I wasted the sacrifice you made to save me."
"I didn't want to."
"But I had no choice."
"They were too fast. There were too many of them. I ran too slowly."
"They caught me and stuffed something into my body. It hurt so much. I felt like my body was going to be torn apart by that thing."
"I heard it. I heard that thing's voice."
"It said its name was the Three-Tails."
"It hated us ninja so much. It wanted to destroy everything."
"It would control my body."
"I… I didn't want to become a monster!"
"I didn't want to hurt the village."
"The only way I could stop it was to die."
"I'm sorry to Kakashi too."
"I threw myself at the kunai in his hand on my own and stained his hand red with blood."
"I made him bear pain he never should have suffered."
"But for the sake of the village, that was the only thing I could do."
"I am a member of the village. I am a ninja of Konoha. As a ninja, I must do everything to complete the mission. I must sacrifice everything to protect the village."
"I suppose I can count as a qualified ninja, right?"
"Obito, I'm so cold."
"So cold."
"Can you hear me?"
"Why aren't you answering me?"
"Are you blaming me?"
Obito Uchiha's eyes grew wet.
Tears slid down his face.
"Rin, I'm not blaming you."
"I'm not speaking because I'm not dead."
"I have no way to talk to you."
"The one who should be blamed is me."
"If only I had appeared earlier, I could have saved you."
"Kakashi wouldn't have suffered so much either."
"It's all their fault!"
"It's Kirigakure!"
"It's Konoha!"
"It's Sunagakure!"
"It's war!"
"It's all the ninja villages. All those damned ambitious ninja!"
Seeing Rin Nohara in the dream had not brought Obito warmth.
It had brought him pain.
Obito could not stop himself from recalling the scene of that night.
Pain.
So much pain.
Obito felt his heart convulse, as though something sharp and jagged had pierced into it, pulled out, then pierced in again with barbs attached.
The tragedy between Gennosuke and Oboro made Obito feel as though it had happened to him.
The shogun filled Obito with hatred.
To Obito, these ninja villages were no different from the shogun's family.
All of them forced others to die for their own interests.
"Ninja villages only appeared in the last few decades. What right do they have to bind the fate of ninja so tightly?"
"This is wrong."
Obito looked toward the headline.
He became even more convinced that Danzo was the true culprit behind Rin Nohara's death.
Even if he was not, Danzo was certainly not a good person.
"The first target of revenge will be Danzo."
After that, Obito saw the content beneath the headline.
"I must take revenge on Danzo."
"I must take revenge ruthlessly."
"Destroy what Danzo cares about most. Make him feel pain."
"But what does Danzo care about most?"
Obito decided to ask someone.
A person from Konoha.
Someone who had once been in Konoha but was no longer there.
Obito believed that person hated Danzo just as much as he did.
And would tell the truth.
"Who are you?"
Yashiro Uchiha looked at the figure who had suddenly appeared before him, his guard rising sharply.
"I bear no ill will."
Obito wore a mask, his voice hoarse.
"I came to make a deal with you."
"What deal?"
"I need information about Danzo. As repayment, I can help you take revenge on Konoha."
The moment Konoha was mentioned, Yashiro Uchiha immediately became interested.
No matter who this person before him was, as long as he wanted revenge on Konoha, then in Yashiro Uchiha's eyes, he was a good person.
Yashiro Uchiha hated Konoha to the bone.
He wished Konoha would explode right now.
He wished every last one of Konoha's higher-ups would die cleanly.
And those Uchiha who still remained in Konoha—
They could all die too.
"Really?"
"Naturally."
Yashiro Uchiha thought for a moment.
"I know a little about Danzo, though not much."
"In Konoha, that man's authority is second only to Hiruzen Sarutobi. But all of it comes from Hiruzen Sarutobi's silent approval. He can make decisions on his own in many matters."
"Most of the targeting against the Uchiha came from this man's methods."
"He is the one who inherited the will of that evil Senju Tobirama."
"His personality is twisted. He holds grudges. He is vicious, malicious, capable of every evil, filthy, without a bottom line, and shameless. There is no method he won't use."
"He claims everything he does is for Konoha."
"He has a certain obsession with the Hokage position."
"With his help, the Shimura clan has become richer and stronger day by day."
"He spent tremendous effort creating Root."
"He likes planting spies and infiltrators in other ninja villages."
"…"
Yashiro Uchiha said a great deal.
Obito only picked out the parts he considered important and remembered them.
"First, Root. Second, the Shimura clan. Third, the Hokage position. Fourth, Konoha. And also his reputation."
Obito's eyes flickered.
"With my current situation, I cannot destroy Konoha."
"As for the Hokage position, Danzo never obtained it in the first place."
"Then Root and the Shimura clan."
"Root is hidden. Destroying it won't be easy. And even if some Root members die, Danzo can simply recruit new ones."
"What I can do more easily right now are two things."
"First, kill members of the Shimura clan."
"Second, destroy Danzo's reputation."
A White Zetsu emerged from the soil beside him.
"Obito, why didn't you invite those Uchiha to join the plan?"
"With their strength, they could provide quite a bit of help, right?"
"Besides, given their current situation, persuading them shouldn't be too hard."
"Especially in Madara-sama's name."
Obito glanced at White Zetsu and shook his head.
"These Uchiha have extreme personalities. They are not suitable to be brought into the plan right now. They would only have the opposite effect."
"When the time is right, I will naturally let them play the role they should."
…
…
An ANBU ninja hurried into the Hokage Building.
"Hokage-sama."
"What is it?"
"A ninja committed suicide."
"Suicide?"
Hiruzen Sarutobi frowned slightly.
"Why did he kill himself?"
"We don't know. But we found this suicide note on his body."
Hiruzen took it.
The next moment, his expression changed drastically.