It was a warm spring day in Konoha, within the Uchiha clan compound. At the home of Fugaku Uchiha, the front door creaked open.
Mikoto Uchiha looked at the boy standing before her with a bright smile. "Obito! Come in, come in."
"Hello, Aunt Mikoto." Obito Uchiha adjusted the goggles on his forehead. He was wearing his usual blue sports jacket, looking a bit fidgety as he held out a box of sweets. "I bought these on the way. They're for my little brothers."
"Thank you, dear. That was very thoughtful of you." Mikoto gently patted Obito's head. She fetched a pair of slippers from the entryway and helped him put them on before guiding him to a cushion by the tatami mats. After pouring him a cup of hot tea, she told him to wait a moment while she went to get Jin.
Obito clutched the warm teacup, watching her move about. She reminded him of his sensei's wife, Kushina Uzumaki. Although Kushina often gave him stern, ear-tugging lectures, he could never truly find it in himself to be angry with her. Obito hadn't understood why before, but after spending time with Rin, dealing with his rival Kakashi, and training under Minato Namikaze... he finally realized what it was. It was a sense of "home"—something he had lacked since he was a child.
He was an orphan of war, raised on village subsidies and the meager inheritance left by his parents. Like thousands of other orphans in Konoha, he had never known what it felt like to have a family until he started spending every day with Rin. That experience had sparked a desperate desire within him: to win Rin over and build a home with her, just like his sensei and Kushina, or like Chief Fugaku and Aunt Mikoto.
To achieve that, Obito felt his primary mission was to defeat his rival, Kakashi, and make Rin see him in a new light—or at the very least, have her look at him the same way she looked at Kakashi.
Unfortunately, Kakashi was simply too strong. Obito looked down at his tea. During yesterday's training session, he had been beaten into a pulp by Kakashi once again. The swelling on his face still hadn't gone down.
If he remained a "dead-last" like this, Obito feared he would only drift further and further away from Rin. Because of that, after witnessing Jin's ability to help clan members awaken their Sharingan during the last clan meeting at Naka Shrine, his heart had been restless. He had finally gathered the courage to come here with a gift.
The boy took a sip of tea, his gaze wandering distractedly toward the sliding door Mikoto had entered. It was midday, and the bright sunlight cast flickering shadows against the paper-lined doors.
One shadow was reclining in the arms of a much smaller silhouette. A lazy voice drifted from the room as the figure stretched. "Who is it?"
He heard a young, childish voice respond, "Nii-san, it's Obito."
Then came Mikoto's gentle urging. "Jin, get up. Don't keep Obito waiting."
"Fine..."
The sliding door creaked open, revealing a handsome, somewhat lethargic face. He possessed three parts of Fugaku's sternness and seven parts of Mikoto's refined, gentle features. The moment he looked over, a unique sense of authority radiated from him despite his casual demeanor—the authority of Jin Uchiha.
"Young Clan Head," Obito said, standing up abruptly and giving a stiff bow.
"This isn't the shrine, and there is no 'Young Clan Head' here." Jin smiled and gestured for Obito to sit. "Obito, just call me Jin."
"But... how could I?"
"Why couldn't you?"
Mikoto returned with three more cups of tea. She opened the sweets Obito had brought and placed them on the tatami. "Jin, Itachi, try the sweets Obito bought. They're from the Sanshoku shop."
They had just eaten some yesterday when their father brought some home after work. Fugaku was apparently still asleep in the inner bedroom. Itachi moved his cushion to sit right next to Jin. Before he could say a word, Jin reached out, grabbed a sweet, and stuffed it into Itachi's mouth.
Jin looked at Obito with a smile. "Father is still sleeping. Did you have something you wanted me to pass on to him?"
The Third Great Ninja War had begun, and the front lines were under heavy pressure. The Cloud Village had deployed the A-B Combo to ravage the battlefield. According to the original timeline, as the war intensified, Minato Namikaze would return to the front. His encounter with the A-B Combo and his mastery of the Flying Raijin Jutsu would earn him the title of "Yellow Flash," laying the foundation of popularity he needed to eventually become the Fourth Hokage.
"Actually, I came to see you." Obito rubbed his hands together, summoning his courage to look Jin in the eye. "Jin, please... help me awaken my eyes!"
Obito slid off the cushion and dropped into a perfect, decisive dogeza, his forehead hitting the floor. He had clearly made up his mind before coming here, offering a solemn prostration to the younger boy.
Itachi froze, a half-chewed sweet in his mouth. He looked from Obito to Jin. Bright as he was, even if he didn't know what had happened at the meeting, he had noticed the respectful looks the clansmen had been giving his brother lately. He had already suspected Jin had done something incredible. Seeing Obito's desperate plea confirmed it. As Itachi sat in thought, Mikoto signaled to him and led him away.
"Itachi, come help me prepare breakfast," Mikoto said, inventing an excuse to give Jin and Obito some privacy.
The "teru teru bozu" doll hanging from the eaves swayed gently in the breeze. A brief silence fell over the living room. Obito kept his head pressed against the floor, anxiously awaiting an answer.
Jin sat cross-legged opposite him, watching him silently. As his thoughts raced, a system notification chimed in his mind.
[SYSTEM: Detecting "Potential Believer" Obito Uchiha, a person of "Great Causality." The Faith Power he can provide for the host exceeds that of Itachi Uchiha and Shisui Uchiha...]
Jin understood why. This innocent, kind-hearted boy sitting before him was the same tragic man whose descent into darkness would define the entire Shippuden era.
It was a chain of manipulation—if Zetsu was the oriole and Madara was the mantis, then Obito was the cicada caught in their grasp. Zetsu's quest to save his mother, the arrival of beings from beyond the stars... who would have thought the Mother of Chakra who created the shinobi world was an alien?
A sense of absurdity drifted through Jin's mind, yet it was an absurdity that was strangely logical. He stared at Obito for a long time.
He stared until Obito grew restless, a cold sweat breaking out on his back as he remained pinned to the floor. Since the day he was born, Obito had never felt an agony like this—a wait where every second felt like a year.
A gentle breeze swirled into the room, causing ripples in the tea. The cups had grown cold, the steam long gone. Finally, a warm voice echoed through the room, drifting into Obito's ears and allowing him to let out a small, relieved breath.
"Obito, before we begin, can I ask you a question?"
Obito wiped the sweat from his forehead and looked up, forcing a nervous smile. "Of course."
"If Rin Nohara died... what would you do?"