Chapter 284: Weeping Heart
After quietly listening to Black Zetsu's description, Obito didn't immediately reach a judgment. Instead, he fell into prolonged silence and contemplation.
Even having obtained information about the face beneath Menma's mask, the doubts didn't decrease but multiplied instead, emerging one after another like tangled threads.
The black hair was a disguise. His true hair color was blonde, his eye color blue...
At first, Obito suspected this was merely coincidence—perhaps just someone with similar coloring to his teacher. However, Black Zetsu had specifically emphasized that the face bore at least eighty percent resemblance to the Fourth Hokage, Minato Namikaze!
Obito knew well that Black Zetsu had no reason to deceive him about such critical intelligence.
Yet the contradiction lay precisely here—the evidence proving this person was Minato Namikaze was almost equal to the evidence proving he wasn't!
The Flying Thunder God Technique, a jutsu similar to yet more powerful than the Rasengan, golden hair, azure eyes... These characteristics combined pointed undeniably toward his teacher, hailed as the "Yellow Flash."
First, there was the age problem. Obito tried to sort through his thoughts. If his teacher had faked his death back then just as he had, then it would be understandable for his appearance to change over so many years... but what Black Zetsu described was an abnormally young face, appearing only around eighteen years old. This completely defied logic.
Second, there was the extraordinary emotion he'd displayed toward the Second Nine-Tails jinchuriki—Kushina Uzumaki.
According to Black Zetsu's account, Menma had exposed a fatal opening in battle precisely because Orochimaru utilized Kushina's Impure World body, causing his mask to be knocked off. Even when sealing Kushina, the sorrow he'd revealed was incredibly genuine, without a trace of falsehood.
Could it be... even the face beneath the mask was a more sophisticated disguise? This thought flashed through his mind but was immediately dismissed. No, Black Zetsu's observation wouldn't fail to detect a Transformation Jutsu.
But then... how to explain the Adamantine Sealing Chains? That was a unique ability of the Uzumaki Clan—his teacher had no connection to Uzumaki blood.
Obito's thoughts wavered between two completely different deductive paths.
The first hypothesis followed the most surface-level clues. Assuming Menma was indeed the Fourth Hokage Minato Namikaze, he'd faked his death in that battle, then through some unknown method—perhaps a forbidden jutsu—not only survived but successfully obtained Uzumaki Clan abilities and even inherited that immense life force, causing his body to undergo a rejuvenating phenomenon.
This would explain why his first appearance was over ten years ago, yet he still maintained a youthful appearance now.
The second hypothesis was bolder yet more bizarre. An absurd thought surfaced—could his teacher possibly have an illegitimate child somewhere?
But this idea was strangled by logic the moment it emerged. If calculated backward from Menma's approximately eighteen-year-old appearance at his first sighting, then when his teacher conceived him, Obito himself would likely still have been attending the Ninja Academy!
At that time, his teacher and the Nine-Tails jinchuriki hadn't even established their romantic relationship, so one couldn't really call it infidelity...
Both paths were filled with contradictions and inexplicable points. Could he be a surviving Uzumaki clan member living in exile? But then where had he learned the Flying Thunder God Technique? An ordinary clan member wouldn't grieve so deeply over an Impure World body—he hadn't shown such sorrow when sealing the First Nine-Tails jinchuriki.
Despite numerous doubts still tangled in his mind, at least one thing could now be confirmed—that man called "Menma," though powerful, wasn't a monster from distant legends like Madara Uchiha or the First Hokage.
In his own plans, at most, this simply meant one more "Fourth Hokage-level" enemy had emerged.
The Akatsuki members are almost fully assembled... Obito thought indifferently. The plan is about to officially begin.
Finally, his figure melted like a reflection on water's surface, slowly vanishing amid space's gentle ripples.
---
"Who... who exactly are you...?"
Held in a giant serpent's mouth, trembling from physical weakness and inner terror amid the jolting and suffocating sensation of high-speed movement, Gaara stammered out his question.
The cold serpent tongue occasionally brushed against his skin, bringing a deathly sensation.
"What... what did you do to Kankuro and Temari?!"
Thinking of how both had unhesitatingly stepped forward to protect him moments ago, only to collapse powerlessly in the end, despite fear soaking through his entire body like ice water, Gaara still mustered his remaining courage to demand answers.
"...How disappointing you are, Gaara-kun."
A calm, hoarse voice carrying obvious mockery drifted from ahead of the rapidly crawling snake head above.
"Them? They're about to die." Orochimaru's tone was flat. "Though my snake venom can't compare to that old woman from the Hidden Sand, being poisoned while completely defenseless without timely antidote treatment... they're already beyond saving."
"...!?"
Gaara's pupils contracted from shock and rage. "Why would you do this?! Have... have I offended you somehow?!"
He didn't understand why such disaster would befall siblings who'd just shown him a trace of warmth.
"Very simple—because of your 'existence.'" Orochimaru's answer was casual. "Just like how you took your mother's life the day you were born, monsters merely by 'existing' naturally take the lives of those around them. Because I 'value' you, to obtain you, eliminating those two inconveniences is perfectly natural, isn't it?"
This twisted explanation shattered the dawn-like fragile familial warmth he'd just experienced. Intense nausea surged up his throat—Gaara felt like he was about to vomit.
"That's why you disappoint me so much right now."
Orochimaru continued using words like knife blades to torture his heart. "Clearly a monster who could never be understood by the world—did someone tell you naive words? Making you suddenly get the delusion that you're qualified to touch those ridiculous emotions that don't belong to you?"
"Face reality, Gaara-kun. Your value lies solely in the beast sealed within you, not in your childish and superfluous fantasies."
"Stop..." Gaara painfully closed his eyes, trying to block out this cruel voice, but every word branded itself into his mind.
Was he right? Did he truly not deserve any warmth? Was the understanding and care he'd just felt really just a fleeting illusion that would ultimately be destroyed because of him?
"However, I'm not without options for you." Orochimaru's tone shifted. "Option one—you continue your futile resistance. Then I'll make your dear sister and brother, while fully conscious, die slowly before your eyes in the most painful, most undignified manner."
"Trust me, I'm proficient in human anatomy. I can absolutely let them fully 'enjoy' every detail of death's arrival. The process will be quite... lengthy."
"Option two—you come with me willingly. Abandon resistance and become my possession. That way, they can at least lose their lives while unconscious, oblivious, and relatively 'peacefully.'"
He deliberately paused, letting Gaara fully digest this cruel choice, then added the final blow softly.
"Think carefully... the reason they're dying—isn't it precisely because of your ridiculous 'selfishness'? Because you tried to touch things that don't belong to you, bringing down this punishment?"
His inner defenses completely shattered. Despair and self-loathing completely buried the tender sprout in his heart that had yet to see sunlight, devouring it whole. The last trace of faint light extinguished, leaving only suffocating darkness.
Slowly, using the last thread of strength, he opened those eyes that had already lost their luster.
"...Yes... I understand."
Excellent.
Orochimaru felt relieved. He hadn't been confident about maintaining control of the situation if Gaara's emotions fluctuated violently and Shukaku potentially rampaged again. If that happened, not only would he fail to obtain the Nine-Tails, even the One-Tail within his grasp might slip away.
Therefore, he'd resorted to this most despicable method of directly crushing the spirit, solely to completely extinguish any thought of resistance in Gaara.
Besides, this target was merely precious "experimental material" anyway. Orochimaru had long lost patience for playing "willing follower" games.
Getting farther and farther from Konoha... Sensing the summoned snake's swift slithering beneath his feet, this backup plan has finally succeeded.
Just as this thought crossed Orochimaru's mind, his spirit relaxing by an imperceptible fraction—
As though appearing from thin air, completely without warning! From the corner of his eye, Orochimaru suddenly caught an unnatural blue glow that blazed at an extremely close distance directly ahead, instantly expanding!
"Rasengan!"
He didn't even have time to react, only feeling violent impact force slam solidly into the side of his face!
Accompanying this fury-filled roar, tremendous power erupted instantly! Orochimaru's entire body flew backward uncontrollably.
And his dream target—Naruto Uzumaki—maintained his Rasengan-thrusting posture, voice burning like raging flames, appearing precisely where Orochimaru had just been standing!