Hiruzen persuaded me to die

The swirling mask shattered into pieces.

After years of playing the masked man, Uchiha Obito finally revealed his true face once more.

"It's been a long time, Obito," Hyuga Naraku said calmly.

He and Obito were originally classmates at the Ninja Academy.

They had plenty of interactions—until Konoha's 46th year, during the Battle of Kannabi Bridge, when Uchiha Obito was "killed in action."

After that, the only times they met, Obito was masked.

This was the first time in years Naraku was speaking to the real "Uchiha Obito."

"You don't seem surprised at all," Obito said coldly, clutching his injured body as he stood up.

"I went to take Kakashi's eye and didn't kill him. Even Guy noticed something was off," Naraku said nonchalantly.

To most, Kakashi's left eye was just an ordinary Sharingan.

If someone coveted a Sharingan, they would target an Uchiha with both eyes, not a half-Uchiha like Kakashi.

But Obito was different.

By taking Kakashi's eye, he'd have both of his Mangekyō Sharingan.

"Kakashi didn't want to believe it was you. He preferred to think someone took your eye and awakened Mangekyō. But deep down, he knew. You had a chance to kill him, but didn't. Only one person would do that."

Obito snorted. "Typical Kakashi."

He couldn't help but feel a mix of ridicule and nostalgia.

It was he who had betrayed Kakashi's trust.

"Even if you guessed it was me, aren't you curious about how?" Obito asked.

He knew the day would come when his identity was exposed.

But he had hoped it would be after he completed the Eye of the Moon Plan, when he'd take off his mask before the entire shinobi world and declare his triumph.

Hyuga Naraku's sudden appearance during the One-Tail capture had shattered that dream prematurely.

Still, Obito believed Naraku only guessed his identity, not his past or his goals.

"I asked Kakashi what happened after the Battle of Kannabi Bridge," Naraku replied, recalling the past.

At that time, Naraku was just twelve.

During the Third Great Ninja War, he was strong enough to survive, but not to influence a battlefield.

It wasn't that Iwagakure lacked ninja, or that Ōnoki's Dust Release wasn't strong.

And besides, Uchiha Madara was still alive then.

Drawing Madara's attention would've been a death sentence.

"You were already crushed by falling rocks. Under the Rock ninja's assault, your body was about to be buried completely. Then, Minato Namikaze, not yet Hokage, rescued Kakashi and Rin Nohara. More enemies arrived, so even the Yellow Flash had no choice but to retreat—he didn't even have time to recover your… corpse."

Naraku emphasized the word "corpse."

Afterward, both Minato and Kakashi believed Obito had truly died.

Iwagakure ninja weren't about to save a Konoha shinobi.

"I see," Obito murmured. He remembered little beyond being crushed.

By the time he woke up, he was already before Uchiha Madara.

After a pause, Obito sneered.

"The so-called Yellow Flash—so useless he couldn't even protect his own student, let alone recover his body! And that man became Hokage? Is that what Konoha calls a leader?!"

Naraku remained calm.

In the original timeline, Obito had said similar things to Naruto—right in front of Minato himself.

"You don't resent the Fourth Hokage because of yourself. You resent him because he couldn't protect Rin Nohara, don't you?" Naraku asked.

Even without the original plot, he could piece this together.

"After Rin's death, Kakashi's Sharingan evolved—not just from two tomoe to three—but to Mangekyō."

Naraku looked at Obito's right eye.

"Your Mangekyō must have awakened at that moment too. Whether you saw it or heard of it, her death triggered your evolution."

"She was made a Jinchūriki of the Three Tails by Mist ninja. Kakashi was forced to kill her."

"So after you gained control of Yagura, you began targeting Kirigakure in revenge, didn't you?"

"Even after losing control of Yagura, you continued to punish Mist. Because they were the real culprits."

Obito's face darkened.

Everything Naraku said was true.

"And!" Naraku added with disdain, "You resented Minato because he didn't save Rin."

"You started the Nine Tails Incident partly because of that, right?"

He chuckled. "What kind of twisted logic is that? Minato saved you more than once. But the one time he couldn't protect Rin, suddenly nothing else mattered?"

"You killed him and Kushina Uzumaki—who was always kind to you. And then, you even tried to steal their child!"

"You provoked Naruto into losing control of Nine Tails—when he was barely four years old!"

"No wonder Kakashi didn't want to believe the masked man was you."

Naraku shook his head with a mocking smile.

"Anyone who does that kind of thing isn't even human."

Obito's face grew darker and darker. "Enough!!"

If Naraku kept going, he was going to explode with rage.

On the sidelines, Fourth Kazekage and the Sand ninja had heard everything.

"Uchiha Obito? Who's that?" the Fourth Kazekage muttered blankly.

He had heard of Uchiha Fugaku, and the famed Shisui of the Body Flicker, but never of Obito.

"I remember a little," a Sand ANBU replied. "He was a disciple of Konoha's Fourth Hokage. Supposedly died in the war with Iwa. Gave his Sharingan to Kakashi."

"Kakashi's Sharingan… was a memento from Obito?" the Kazekage asked.

"Yes. Both of them were Minato's students."

The Kazekage nodded. He knew of Kakashi—one of Konoha's strongest shinobi.

"So this masked man… was a war hero of Konoha? A disciple of the Fourth Hokage?"

"And he started the Nine Tails Incident? Killed his teacher and teacher's wife?!"

The Kazekage couldn't believe it.

"Didn't he just call his teacher 'a failure who couldn't protect anything?'" another Sand ninja muttered, stunned.

"And apparently," an ANBU added, "he even tried to kidnap Naruto, the orphan of the Fourth Hokage!"

"After failing, he provoked the child and caused the Nine Tails to rampage…"

The Sand ninja looked at each other in disbelief.

"This guy… is he even human?!"

"It's not just killing your teacher. You tried to ruin the life of his orphaned son. And the boy was only FOUR years old?!"

"That's not a beast—that's something worse!"

"If Minato Namikaze knew what his disciple had become… he'd die from sheer filial shame."

To be continued...