It was the same location as the last time-travel.
The place Madara Uchiha once called the crevice between the underworld and reality...
A pitch-black underground tunnel, empty and desolate, with almost nothing inside.
Only the wooden statue of "Hashirama Senju," which looked as though it were struggling to break free, stood there with eerie realism. Even the massive flower bud connected above it, still tightly closed, gave off an unsettling presence.
Heavy breathing. A body that refused to move.
He knew it at once. He had time-traveled again, returning to that era carved deep into his memories.
"Obito! Obito!!"
White Zetsu popped out from a corner near the ceiling, shouting as he emerged. His voice startled both of them awake.
One was young Obito, lying spread-eagle on the bed.
The other was adult Obito, whose soul was temporarily residing within the shell of "Madara Uchiha."
Both Obitos had only just time-traveled and were still disoriented. Hearing White Zetsu call their names, they answered in unison.
"What is it?"
They immediately realized who the other was and locked eyes.
Adult Obito said, "You—"
Young Obito blurted out, "It's you!"
White Zetsu didn't give them any chance to start fighting. He had far more urgent news.
"I just went outside!" White Zetsu rattled off at top speed. "That Rin you mentioned, and that clumsy Kakashi, things are really bad!"
Young Obito shot upright in bed.
"What?! What happened?!"
"Rin was captured by Kirigakure ninja!" White Zetsu said. "And that clumsy Kakashi is being chased by several ninja who don't look like they're from Konoha! Two of them seem to be members of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist!"
Young Obito didn't even process that the Seven Ninja Swordsmen included Kisame Hoshigaki and Zabuza Momochi. He instinctively assumed both sides were in grave danger.
"Rin and Kakashi are in different places?!" How was he supposed to save them both?!
The realization made his scalp prickle with panic.
"They're not in the same location," White Zetsu added casually.
"!!!"
"But the direction Kakashi's fleeing in happens to be toward Kirigakure's stronghold. They should end up converging there."
"Then say that first! Don't leave me hanging like that!!"
The moment he finished speaking, young Obito sprang off the bed without hesitation.
He was going to save them. He had to save Rin and Kakashi.
The exit.
Where was the exit?!
An overwhelming terror began to consume young Obito Uchiha. If there was no exit, he would dig a tunnel himself if he had to, just to reach them.
But there wasn't time for that.
"Why would they take Rin?!" he yelled as he searched frantically. "She's just an ordinary medical-nin! Is it really worth Kiri going to this much trouble for her?!"
"They plan to use Rin as a human test subject."
The aged voice came from the mouth of "Madara Uchiha."
And within Madara Uchiha's body resided the soul of Adult Obito, the one who would later become the Masked Man in another world.
"What?!" Young Obito froze. "Where's the exit?! I need to save Rin and Kakashi right now!"
"You can't," Adult Obito said quietly. "Rin will die by Kakashi's hand."
As he spoke those words, even he couldn't tell whether the pain cut deeper for himself, or for the other version of himself standing before him.
Rin's death was a sorrow destined to be etched into his very soul.
Young Obito was so furious he nearly threw a punch.
"I asked you where the exit is?!"
"There is no exit here," Adult Obito said. "Give up. This is fate. She was turned into the Three-Tails' Jinchūriki by the ninja of Kirigakure. Kiri will pretend to release her, then deliberately pursue her without relent, driving her and Kakashi back toward Konoha. Once Rin returns to Konoha, they'll use some method to extract the Tailed Beast from her body and destroy Konoha from the inside..."
Using Madara's body to say all that left Adult Obito gasping for breath. His lungs felt like an overworked bellows, barely functioning at all.
Across from him, young Obito stood frozen, completely stunned by what he had just heard.
These were things even Kakashi at that age would never have known. Only the future Obito, after taking control of the Mizukage, could have uncovered such secrets from within Kirigakure itself.
After experiencing several journeys across parallel worlds, young Obito already understood what it meant to be a Jinchūriki.
Overwhelming power.
A life of isolation.
Death if the Tailed Beast devoured one's will.
Death if the Tailed Beast was forcibly extracted.
And certain death if the Tailed Beast went berserk.
Death...
Obito's eyes widened to their limit, his pupils shrinking to pinpoints.
If Rin had followed Kakashi back to Konoha, then something like the Nine-Tails Incident would have happened years earlier. And Rin would have died from the exhaustion of her life force, just like Kushina in the original world.
If Rin realized this...
"That's right," Adult Obito said quietly. "That's exactly why Rin refused to return to Konoha with Kakashi."
The expression on Madara's face was bleak, reflecting the exhaustion of the soul residing within.
"Because Rin loved Kakashi, she would rather die by his hand. That's why she threw herself forward and ended her own life when Kakashi used Chidori against the enemy."
"..."
"So there was never a solution to this," he continued. "Rin wasn't wrong, and neither was Kakashi..."
"The one at fault was this world."
"....."
Adult Obito closed his eyes, recalling everything he had witnessed while wandering the ninja world afterward.
"Think about it. Rin and I were both declared dead before we even turned fifteen. If something was wrong, then it was this ninja world. The concept of villages. The system where ninja use war to stop war. Rin's death was nothing more than an inevitable result of cause and effect. And the only way to cut off that chain..."
That one and only method, however, he had recently learned might itself be a lie.
Young Obito stiffly forced out the words.
"Infinite... Tsukuyomi."
"That's right," Adult Obito said. "I don't know where you learned about Infinite Tsukuyomi or how much you understand, but only in the world of Infinite Tsukuyomi can redemption exist. Only within dreams can the dead return to life. Only there will heroes no longer have to repent in front of the Memorial Stone."
Even if he knew it might be a lie.
Even if Black Zetsu had other motives for pushing him to complete Infinite Tsukuyomi.
By now, after killing Minato-sensei's family, manipulating the Nine-Tails to attack Konoha, working with Itachi Uchiha to wipe out the Uchiha clan, causing the death of Nagato companions, leading to Yahiko's death, controlling Kirigakure, and reorganizing Akatsuki...
What path was left for him to turn back to?
Young Obito was left speechless. As his mind went blank, his gaze drifted past Madara's exhausted figure and slowly settled on the massive flower behind him.
Its color coincidentally matched the flower Rin had held that morning.
As he stared at it...
In his mind, it transformed into the flower placed in a vase, blooming brilliantly once more through Wood Release.
[Just like Madara-sama from another parallel world said, Obito really is a hidden genius. His talent is incredible!]
[Do your best, Obito. You'll definitely change the future of our world and save Kakashi and me. I'll always be watching you.]
[Go save the world in style, Obito!]
"!!!!"
Rin's voice from his memories jolted him awake.
Almost brainwashed by another version of himself, young Obito Uchiha suddenly snapped back to clarity.
"Then go chase your dream on your own."
"I can't shoulder the responsibility of saving the world yet. All I can do is keep my promise to Rin. Protect her. Protect Kakashi. And protect myself, so I don't become a worthless failure like you."
"If I really can't do it..."
His voice was quiet, but the next instant it hardened.
"Then no matter what, if I truly can't do it, I'll at least stand and fall together with my comrades. You don't have to tell me where the exit is. I have my own way out."
While Adult Obito stood stunned, young Obito turned to White Zetsu.
"You know where they are, right? Take me there. Now."
"Eh? But you can't get out," White Zetsu said. "After bringing you back here, Madara sealed all the entrances and exits with stone."
"I told you," young Obito said calmly. "I have my own way."
He closed his eyes, then opened them again.
The three tomoe in his Sharingan abruptly contracted, then rapidly expanded, forming a unique pattern like three curved scythes.
In his panic earlier, young Obito had completely forgotten.
His Mangekyō Sharingan had once been praised even by his ancestor. Like Minato-sensei's Flying Thunder God, it was one of the most exceptional space-time techniques in existence.
Once he activated his intangibility, what wall could possibly stop him?
Even the Uzumaki clan's sealing techniques couldn't bar his path.
Adult Obito had forgotten this as well.
Back then, at this moment in time, he had not yet awakened his Mangekyō Sharingan.
"You—!"
He got as far as that single word, then realized he had no idea what he wanted to say next.
The words young Obito had left behind were still the same.
"You just keep dreaming. As for me... I'll watch Rin grow up, and I'll see Kakashi become my Hokage assistant. Ah, he said he wanted to join ANBU, didn't he? Then I'll save the position of ANBU Commander for him..."
"Wait, Obito~"
The scroll-wrapped White Zetsu appeared behind young Obito.
"Wear me. It'll make you stronger. Besides, you have my components inside your body too, right? I can help balance the Wood Release within you."
Young Obito looked at White Zetsu and remembered that part of White Zetsu already existed inside him. The mission scroll had only warned him to be wary of Black Zetsu.
After he agreed, White Zetsu attached itself to his body. Because young Obito could still use both eyes, the curly White Zetsu's head remained open like a collar instead of forming the mask-style appearance worn by the Masked Man.
Even after young Obito pulled out the oxygen tube from the back of White Zetsu's head, Adult Obito still didn't say a word. It was unclear whether he was so angry he couldn't speak, or simply too shocked by what young Obito had said.
"Goodbye, 'Madara.'"
Before leaving, young Obito spoke with his back turned, bidding farewell to the version of himself from another world and deliberately calling him "Madara."
Adult Obito froze again in disbelief.
The next moment, young Obito activated his intangibility, and even his resolute figure vanished straight into the rock.
"!!!!"
Using Madara's body, Adult Obito stared fixedly at the now-empty space with his single Sharingan.
...
Young Obito passed through the massive stone and entered the tunnel beyond.
"You're called White Zetsu, right?! You know where Rin and the others are?!"
"Of course we do" Curly White Zetsu replied. "We're different from humans. Within a certain range, all White Zetsu share our thoughts. You can think of us as White Zetsu clones if you want Anyway, let's get outside first."
"Yeah! Thank you!"
After thanking them, young Obito noticed the wall lined with ninja tools and forbidden technique scrolls.
He casually grabbed a robe and threw it over his shoulders, then glanced at the gourd-shaped war fan hanging beside it.
He remembered this thing. During the Nine-Tails incident, the Masked Man had used this fan together with the iron chain next to it to attack them.
For reasons he couldn't quite explain, young Obito suddenly felt the urge to confiscate everything.
The Kamui space-time storage ability he hadn't originally mastered became smooth and effortless after merging with White Zetsu.
Curly White Zetsu clung to young Obito as he watched him sweep up Madara's collection, accumulated over decades, and claim it all for himself.
"....."
Constipation... was this what it felt like?
...
After exiting Madara's underground tunnel, young Obito immediately asked,
"What's the situation with Rin and Kakashi now?! Who's in more danger?! Who's closer to me?!"
His comrades were equally important to him. He wouldn't abandon Kakashi just to save Rin.
"Hmm..." White Zetsu thought for a moment. "That clumsy Kakashi is fine. He's being chased relentlessly, but they haven't attacked him. Rin's side, though, looks pretty bad~"
"!!!"
Young Obito panicked.
"Then point the way! We're saving Rin first!"
"Okay~" White Zetsu replied calmly. They weren't human, after all, and didn't feel emotions the same way. "Some Kirigakure ninja are talking about a rare experimental subject. I don't really understand it, but that girl sounds like she's in a lot of pain."
"Rin!!"
With White Zetsu reinforcing him, young Obito's jumping, running, and even his dōjutsu abilities surged dramatically, as if he'd turned on some kind of cheat.
...
On the other side, because Rin Nohara had suddenly time-traveled back to this parallel world, events followed the original course, and she had already been captured by Kirigakure's assassins.
She should have only awakened after a certain ritual was complete, but she had forcibly broken free of the genjutsu ahead of time.
Unfortunately, it was still too late.
The ritual had already reached its midpoint.
A powerful chakra wrapped around her body.
Restlessness.
Anxiety.
Rage.
Hatred.
Every emotion expanded violently inside her.
["Humans..."]
Rin: "!!!"
...
–––––
During the Fourth Shinobi World War, Obito once said to Kakashi that Rin liked him, which was why she was willing to die by his hand.
So the dialogue between Adult Obito and young Obito above isn't personal interpretation.
Whether Rin truly liked Kakashi or not, at the very least, the Masked Man Obito believed it.
Also, who would've thought that just going to Konoha to buy flowers would set up two major plot points: awakening the eyes, and resisting mental manipulation.