At heart, Obito was hardworking, but also easily satisfied.
So when his mission scroll turned blank, Obito realized that whether it was his dream of becoming Hokage or his promise to Rin that he would save the world in style, they were all things he wanted to achieve through his own efforts.
Wishing on gods or anything like that had never really been something buried in his heart.
Instead, his future self was the one who worried him.
Young Obito looked at Adult Obito and asked the same question Adult Kakashi had been worried about.
"Maybe you shouldn't do your SSS-rank mission after all. What if the mission scroll detects that the mission hidden deep in your heart is to trap everyone inside the God Tree and make them dream? That'd be a disaster."
"We're both Obito Uchiha! Can't you have a little faith in yourself?!" Adult Obito was at a loss for words. "I already know it was Black Zetsu's scam. How stupid would I have to be to keep obsessing over the Eye of the Moon Plan?!"
Sasuke said, "Judging by your wisdom stat, you really are that stupid."
"Show a little basic trust between fellow clansmen!!"
"Not when it comes to you."
After losing an argument to his junior, Adult Obito wanted nothing more than to turn into "Tobi," throw himself over Kakashi's shoulder, and cry his eyes out.
Minato Namikaze said, "The mission still has to be completed. Personal wishes aside, don't forget that the Compass component requires every SSS-rank mission on the mission scrolls to be cleared."
At that, Adult Obito's face twisted like he had bitten into something bitter.
"Forget SSS-rank missions. I should finish my SS-rank mission first."
As they were talking, Obito Ōtsutsuki returned from the Q&A World, having taken on the role of Kaguya Ōtsutsuki's personal fertility deity.
Sending Black Zetsu to the Kaguya of his own parallel world also counted as helping Black Zetsu fulfill his dream of a mother-and-son reunion. When he heard Adult Obito mention the SS-rank mission and the matter of eating six hundred billion red bean cakes, he immediately offered to take Adult Obito wandering through other parallel worlds.
Minato nodded.
The two of them vanished together into Obito Ōtsutsuki's Yomotsu Hirasaka.
By then, it was getting late, so everyone went back to rest. The Fourth Hokage, Minato, returned to the Hokage Tower to continue working. At the same time, he had to arrange for guards to stay alert in case any more members of the Uchiha Clan were resurrected, so they could be found immediately and he could be called over.
Sasuke and Itachi waited for the next 24 hours with excitement and restless unease.
At around 10:30 p.m.
Both Minato Namikaze sensed an unusual spatial chakra.
This time, the distance was quite far, in an area near the Naka River outside Konoha.
At the same time, they also noticed that Naruto's mission scroll had gained a new mission.
[Mission Rank: A-rank]
[Mission Details: Bring back the resurrected ninja.]
Near the river at the border between the former Uchiha Clan territory and the former Senju Clan territory, a man wearing Uchiha clan robes stood in place with a blank look on his face.
He remembered that he should have died together with Butsuma Senju on the battlefield. So why was he standing here, completely unharmed?
At the faintest sound, the wary Warring States Period ninja instantly leaped ten meters backward in the opposite direction.
He looked toward the sound. Though the night was dark, faint moonlight fell across the reddish-brown armor of the man opposite him, enough for him to recognize the other party at a glance.
"Senju... Butsuma..."
"What is going on, Tajima Uchiha?"
Both men remembered everything. They had been old rivals for decades, and as the leaders of the Uchiha and Senju clans, their thoughts and ways of doing things had been extremely similar.
So when Madara and Hashirama were both capable enough to shoulder the heavy responsibility of becoming the next Clan Head, the two of them had chosen to use their own deaths to teach their sons one final lesson.
Amid an endless barrage of explosive tags, their bodies had been blown apart until flesh and blood were scattered everywhere, impossible to tell apart.
That scorching heat and pain were absolutely not illusions an ordinary Sharingan could fake.
Tajima Uchiha was a master of Genjutsu himself, so of course he could tell whether that sensation had been an illusion.
And Butsuma Senju had decades of experience fighting Tajima Uchiha, giving him extremely strong resistance to Genjutsu. He could also clearly tell whether he had truly died back then and whether he was alive now.
As a result, the leaders of the two strongest ninja clans of the Warring States Period did not immediately attack each other. Instead, they stared at one another, each asking what exactly was going on.
After a brief pause, they spoke at the same time.
"Let's call a temporary truce, Tajima Uchiha."
"I was thinking the same thing, Butsuma Senju."
They looked around. The changes of more than seventy years were not something they could recognize at a glance. After jumping to the highest branches and studying the terrain for a long while, they finally dared to confirm it.
"It's the lower reaches of the Naka River, the place where we fought back then."
"If this forest wasn't created by that brat from your family with Wood Release, then it can only mean that decades have passed since I died in battle."
"There's no one else nearby. Who revived us, and by what method, when we were supposed to have been blown to pieces by explosive tags?"
"I wonder how the Clan is doing now. Madara must be supporting the Clan properly, right? Izuna should be assisting his brother well."
"Hmph. Maybe they were killed by those two boys from our family long ago."
"Oh ho ho, bold words, Butsuma Senju. What makes you so sure it wasn't my Madara and Izuna who killed those two boys of yours? One was called Hashirama, and the other was Tobirama, right?"
Their truce was so fragile it did not even last ten minutes.
"Clang!"
The sound of a blade clashing with a kunai rang out as the two gritted their teeth and mocked each other.
"Think about the flaws of your Sharingan. Those two sons of yours might have gone blind ages ago!"
"Izuna would give his eyes to Madara, and the two brothers would become one, easily crushing your Senju Clan."
The two were evenly matched. The fastest way to settle the fight was always to disturb the other's composure.
"It's a good thing your other two sons didn't live to adulthood, or your family would have had an entire Buddhist hall by now!"
Butsuma, Hashirama, Tobirama, Itama, Kawarama...
"Hmph, you really dare to say that, Tajima Uchiha!" Butsuma Senju used his kunai to block Tajima Uchiha's ninja blade. "If our clan hadn't killed those three brats of yours, you'd have completed your whole set of Five Hokushin Peaks by now, wouldn't you?"
"Hmph!"
"Hmph!!"
The two of them truly had nothing to say to each other.
Their verbal truce had lasted less than ten minutes, but the fight dragged on for nearly half an hour.
Until Kannabi Bridge Minato arrived with Sasuke, Obito, and Naruto, the three children, to receive them.
The moment Tajima Uchiha saw Sasuke, he visibly froze.
"Izuna?!"
Sasuke said, "I'm not Izuna Uchiha. Who are you?"
This man was neither Madara Uchiha nor Izuna Uchiha. But since he could call out Izuna Uchiha's name while looking at him, he was probably not a ninja from this era.
Tajima Uchiha did not get angry at the young clan member's disrespect. Instead, he felt this boy had the pride and backbone of the Uchiha Clan.
"I am Tajima Uchiha. Who are you? State your name, brat."
"Sasuke Uchiha."
"Explain the current situation." Butsuma Senju saw that among the four people who had arrived, two were Uchiha. Although they were both children, he still had to judge whether they had awakened their eyes. He could not afford to be careless.
Minato Namikaze still had not figured out the two men's identities, so for a moment he did not know how to explain the current situation to them. Especially the fact that the Uchiha Clan had been wiped out. That was exactly the kind of news that could make an Uchiha with the Mangekyō Sharingan activate Susanoo at any moment.
Seeing the young man across from him hesitate, and not immediately seeing any Senju clansmen, left Butsuma somewhat disappointed.
Tajima Uchiha nodded in satisfaction.
The two Uchiha boys looked about thirteen or fourteen. One had a sharp gaze, while the other looked healthy, lively, and full of energy. At a glance, they seemed to be living well and carrying themselves with confidence.
It seemed the Uchiha Clan was doing well now.
It was all thanks to Madara and Izuna.
That boy who looked so much like Izuna might even be Izuna's descendant.
At that thought, Tajima Uchiha's gaze toward Sasuke warmed a little.
"Have either of you awakened the Sharingan?"
His tone was clearly that of an elder testing his juniors.
Sasuke could not help thinking of his own strict, taciturn father, while Obito thought of Big Brother Fugaku, who would often check his homework whenever he handed over his relief funds.
The best answer was for Young Obito and Sasuke to reveal their Mangekyō Sharingan at the same time.
Their black eyes suddenly turned crimson, and within those crimson irises, one tomoe appeared, then two, then three.
Tajima Uchiha's expression visibly changed from delight to excitement.
Then the three-tomoe Sharingan continued spinning in the boys' eyes, and both Tajima Uchiha and Butsuma Senju's expressions turned to shock.
"Mangekyō..."
"Sharingan?!"
Two boys only thirteen or fourteen years old?
And they actually had the Mangekyō Sharingan?!!
Never mind Izuna, not even Madara had that kind of talent.
"This is truly extraordinary," Tajima Uchiha said, his eyes full of approval. "Who is your current Clan Head? Since you have never heard this old man's name, it must be many years later, yes?"
Sasuke and Young Obito withdrew their Sharingan, and their eyes returned to ordinary black.
Minato Namikaze also finished organizing his thoughts and answered Butsuma Senju's earlier question, explaining the current situation. "It is currently Konoha Year 60, though the year is almost over. It will soon be Konoha Year 61."
"Konoha?"
Tajima Uchiha and Butsuma Senju exchanged a look. Clearly, neither of them had ever heard of this way of counting the years.
Minato Namikaze said, "Konoha is our village. It has been 60 years since the village was founded."
Our village?
Hearing that, Butsuma Senju's brows knitted tightly.
The Uchiha's village? Then where was the Senju Clan?
"Hey, blond one over there."
Minato exchanged a naturally blank look with his son, then looked at the man across from him who seemed like he belonged on a construction site and pointed at his own nose. "Me?"
"Yes," Butsuma Senju said after a pause. "What clans are you two from?"
Minato Namikaze blinked. "I'm Minato Namikaze. As for my clan..." He scratched the back of his head and gave a sheepish laugh. "I'm just an ordinary orphan. I don't have any great clan behind me."
Tajima Uchiha laughed. "What? Were you expecting a blond man to be a descendant of your Senju Clan? At most, he's a servant hired by the Uchiha Clan to look after the children."
S-servant...