For the first time, they had the chance to witness the future Five Kage fighting Madara Uchiha with their own eyes. The Uchiha almost wished Naruto had the Sharingan too…
On a battlefield choked with sand and dust, they were facing that legendary ninja head-on.
The Third Tsuchikage's Kekkei Tōta.
The Fourth Kazekage's Sand.
The Fifth Mizukage's Lava Release.
The Fifth Hokage's monstrous strength.
The Fourth Raikage's Lightning Release.
This battle was really…
How should it be described…
If the one standing on that battlefield back then hadn't been Naruto Uzumaki, but instead these Uchiha who only had one to three tomoe at most, they probably wouldn't even have qualified to fight at all!!
'As expected of the Five Kage! Even that legendary Madara Uchiha can be suppressed to some extent!!'
'That Susanoo is different from the one we saw Itachi Uchiha use before. Madara probably hasn't used his true power yet.'
Naruto wanted to join the battle, and the Uchiha within his consciousness, including Obito Uchiha, felt the same way.
"Listen to me, Naruto."
The Third Tsuchikage?!
To many Uchiha who had lived through the Third Shinobi World War, he should have been a crafty old man with schemes no less insidious than Konoha's upper ranks.
"This battle was originally forced upon us to bring down Akatsuki, which is why the Allied Shinobi Forces were formed. But after fighting alongside you, that way of thinking has changed."
That Tsuchikage…
"The ninja world, once torn apart, has become a single whole. Everyone now shares the same will to fight the enemy together. Even ninja who once hated one another have changed their views."
He actually said something like that?!
"Leave Madara Uchiha here to us. You go deal with the other one."
Tsunade said, "Naruto, use your shadow clones to pass our words and resolve on to the other squads!"
"Got it!"
With a bang, Naruto's shadow clones disappeared. At the same moment, the Uchiha consciousnesses scattered across Naruto's other bodies all learned about the Five Kage's battle against Madara Uchiha.
And the real encounter was finally here.
They finally came face to face with the other Madara Uchiha…
That is, Obito Uchiha!!
Right at the start, Naruto and the 'Masked Man' smashed their foreheads together.
The sensory pain was transmitted in full to the Uchiha trapped within the illusion.
Obito nearly got knocked out from that hit!
'Who the hell wears a mask that thick for no reason?! Even wearing a forehead protector already hurts my head!!'
'Oh… it's just another me from a parallel world.'
'Then it's fine. Let's just start fighting.'
At this moment, the Uchiha clan felt that the clothes in their own wardrobes had completely lost their appeal. Madara Uchiha and the Masked Man, the two major villains who had triggered the alliance of the Five Great Shinobi Nations, were actually wearing traditional Uchiha clan attire when going into battle…
That fan is huge! Are you afraid people won't know you're Uchiha?!
Please, seriously! Stop dragging more hatred onto the clan!!
Shisui Uchiha pressed a hand to his forehead and sighed.
Young Itachi Uchiha couldn't help rolling his eyes.
Fugaku Uchiha beat his chest in frustration.
They didn't know that others were experiencing completely different illusions. Instead, they were already starting to feel afraid of what would happen once they left this illusion.
How would Konoha and the entire ninja world look at the Uchiha clan then?!
They even had a faint, unsettling worry…
Would the Uchiha Police Force end up being forcibly renamed the Uchiha Psychological Rehabilitation Center under pressure from the entire ninja world?!
Meanwhile, all the Uchiha stared at the masked man across from them, dressed in the old-style purple Uchiha clan uniform, and thought in unison:
'Damn it… Obito Uchiha.'
For a long time after that, for Obito Uchiha, it was nothing short of a massive, public social death.
From Naruto Uzumaki's perspective, fighting Obito Uchiha, the guy trying to force the entire world into a dream… who has ever experienced something like that? And who would ever want to?!
Awkwardness and public humiliation went hand in hand. Yet because he had fully stepped into Naruto Uzumaki's life, all he could do after suppressing the masked man was cheer with everything he had…
Watching those Jinchūriki turned into Edo Tensei, controlled by another version of himself from a parallel world, and hearing them pour out their hatred for Akatsuki, for the Masked Man, and their worries about the ninja world…
Obito's state of mind was something ordinary people could never truly understand.
Adult Obito knew it very well. If the mission scroll had never appeared, all of this would have been his future.
"Who the hell are you?!"
"Call me Madara or Tobi, it doesn't matter. I'm no one, and I don't want to be anyone. As long as the Eye of the Moon Plan succeeds, nothing else matters. This hopeless world no longer has any value at all!!"
Adult Obito: ...
Rebellious Obito: ...
Young Obito: ...
'Who cares who he is. Just hurry up and wipe him out already!!'
'Please!!!!'
But the problem was that Naruto and Killer Bee were facing six Jinchūriki capable of fully transforming into Tailed Beasts, plus the masked man. They were instantly pushed into a disadvantage.
Knowing exactly how broken his own Mangekyō Sharingan was, Adult Obito now just wanted to pin Naruto down and go fight the masked man himself.
'Using my eyes against my own eyes… that should work, right?!'
As he was thinking this, he actually ended up seeing his own eyes fighting against his own eyes in the very next moment…
Because Kakashi arrived.
The three Obito Uchiha thought at the same time:
'Damn it!!! He always jumps out to show off at the most critical moments!!! That's exactly why I can never get along with him!!'
But watching the masked man come within inches of grabbing Naruto, Obito couldn't help feeling a dark, twisted sense of satisfaction. While he hated how Kakashi always stole the spotlight, he also really wanted to know just how severe the masked man's psychological trauma must be by now.
The six Edo Tensei Jinchūriki were extremely difficult opponents. Even among the Uchiha, people like Shisui and Itachi, without relying on their own Mangekyō Sharingan, couldn't think of any way to deal with the situation.
When there seemed to be no solution at all, none of them could have imagined that…
Naruto Uzumaki would voluntarily let one of the tailed beasts swallow him!!
This outrageous move nearly made the Uchiha inside his consciousness curse out loud.
'I swear Obito… your unpredictability is ranked No. 1!!!!'
'I've seen people walk into traps! But I've never seen anyone roll straight into the enemy's stomach to deliver themselves as food!!'
'Help! Once I get out of this illusion, I don't care what happens, I'm going to beat up Obito Uchiha!!'
Luckily, Obito couldn't hear the thoughts of the other clan members. Otherwise…
Well, forget it. It wasn't like they could beat him anyway.
At this point, the only ones in the entire Uchiha clan who could really fight him were probably Fugaku, Shisui, Itachi, and that Sasuke from the future.
Honestly, when you thought about it, the Uchiha clan really only had that few people who could fight.
["Kurama's Jinchūriki, what are you doing here?"]
The Four-Tails accidentally exposed the Nine-Tails' true name to Naruto and to the Uchiha residing within his consciousness. Through the Sharingan, Fourth Shinobi World War Sasuke sensed the Nine-Tails' displeasure deep in its heart, its tail lashing restlessly in irritation.
["Trying to stop us? To rescue us from the masked man? Do you really think we Tailed Beasts would still believe in you humans? Wanting to be friends with Tailed Beasts is nothing but a bad joke. Even if you saved us, we would never help you in return."]
Son Gokū's words struck the Uchiha deeply. With their keen sensitivity, they perceived the pain of the Tailed Beasts through Naruto's consciousness.
Unacknowledged by humanity.
Labeled as monsters, or reduced to nothing more than masses of chakra.
Back when Naruto trained by drawing in the Nine-Tails' chakra, he had only brushed against a small fragment of its hatred. Even someone as strong-willed as Naruto Uzumaki could not remain unaffected by it.
Naruto Uzumaki.
The Tailed Beasts.
The Uchiha Clan.
...
All of them were existences that had never truly been acknowledged.
Whether Uchiha or Tailed Beasts, they were alike in one way. They carried negative emotions, yearning for others to take the initiative to understand them, hoping someone else would change for their sake.
And yet…
Living through Naruto Uzumaki's life seemed to show them another path.
From that boy who struggled a hundred, a thousand times harder than others just to learn any ninjutsu.
From that fox-like child who had nothing at all.
From the son of the Fourth Hokage, whose parents gave their lives for the village, only for him to be isolated and rejected by everyone.
To the present, where even the Kage of every ninja village could no longer ignore his existence.
How much Naruto Uzumaki had sacrificed—no one understood it more clearly than the Uchiha who had existed within his consciousness for sixteen long years.
If there was anyone who understood even more…
Then it had to be—
The Nine-Tails Demon Fox.
["If you truly want to change our minds…"]
This voice…
Is it the Nine-Tails?!
For reasons unknown, the Uchiha could now hear Naruto Uzumaki's inner thoughts. At this very moment, they even heard the voice of the Nine-Tails Demon Fox dwelling in the deepest reaches of his psyche.
["Naruto, if you really want to bring about change, then do what you've always done! Prove it to me with your actions!"]
What kind of feeling was this?
Obito Uchiha experienced the entirety of Naruto Uzumaki's life—a life that never gave up hope, no matter how many setbacks it faced.
Tearing out the black chakra rods that bound the six Tailed Beasts under the masked man's control.
Watching the downfall of the masked man, the so-called ultimate villain of the ninja world—Obito Uchiha himself—losing his grip over the Tailed Beasts.
And deep within Naruto's psyche, the Nine-Tails Demon Fox was actually smiling.
Just like how they felt right now.
Having existed inside Naruto for over a decade, whether it was this step or the Nine-Tails itself, they had all become something closer to Naruto Uzumaki—no, his guardians.
They felt his thoughts and emotions.
They felt his persistence.
They felt the way he moved straight ahead, without ever looking back.
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