As the name suggests, the Land of Water was a coastal country. Though called a "country," it consisted of only a single city. Over the years, Obito had traveled across many countries on this continent; using Kamui to teleport was just a matter of a few breaths. This small fishing city was rather poor, its people surviving mainly on fishing. In such poverty, thugs and bandits were not uncommon. Kamui's mark appeared on a corner of the city, and even walking out from the center, one would witness thefts and assaults.
A deep gray cloak enveloped Kita entirely. Pulling the large hood low, only a small section of her pale chin was visible. She reached out, gripping the wrist of a small child, stopping the hand that was trying to fish through a pocket.
People living in places like this survived almost like animals.
Obito produced a dog-faced purse and handed a hundred ryo to the would-be thief, speaking kindly, "Take this and fill your stomach." Half ferocious, half handsome, his face carried a smile that was half warmth, half warning. The child stared at the money, stunned—no beating, just that broken face, unsure whether to fear or feel grateful. Kita released the boy's wrist and continued walking. Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed Obito's dog-faced purse, eerily resembling a certain summoning beast from Konoha.
"Same as yesterday… the world's full of trash," she muttered lightly, watching a man beating a woman at the roadside. The caught thief wouldn't escape a beating either. Kita nodded; any desire to intervene dissipated—she had seen too much to be shocked. Yet, her peripheral vision caught Obito's finger quietly channeling chakra, silently stopping the roadside assault.
In essence, Obito was good. He wasn't truly evil.
Kita thought: if it were her, she wouldn't have cared. She wouldn't have handed the thief money for a meal, nor secretly stopped a man from beating a woman. She would have walked past, quietly, doing her own thing. But Obito was different. Many times during their travels, when they encountered injustice, she, as a bystander, looked on coldly—but Obito, as a bystander, acted to help.
Obito said: I just don't want to regret later, waking up from a nightmare wishing I'd acted. So I do what I can when I can.
—Have you ever regretted something that badly? Kita had asked once.
At that time, Obito had shown a deeply serious expression, without describing the event, only saying: yes. And it was the kind of regret that woke you from dreams, thinking you should have acted instead of watching.
—From my perspective, you're not trash.
Kita smiled, patting Obito's shoulder.
"Ha, of course. I'm a model youth, five morals and four beauties!"
A joking remark as they walked, leaving the city behind.
Ahead lay a sparsely populated, barren mountain. The impression matched the memory, though the exact location remained unclear.
—A glowing spring inside a cave, something like that.
As she spoke, a hologram appeared in midair. Obito indeed saw the glowing spring inside the cave.
"The mountains of the Land of Water aren't many. Three days and we can check them all."
Kita shook her head.
—Splitting up is faster. I'll go—
"No way! Why did I even come with you? Do you really understand?"
Persistent, Kita didn't comment further. From the smoke appeared three summoning crows, dispersing silently before stepping forward.
—You don't need to worry. I just woke up, haven't taken many pills. It won't act up yet.
"Just in case."
Obito followed Kita's steps.
…
For three years, Kita had extracted almost all the information about the Ōtsutsuki clan from Black Zetsu's memory, eventually destroying Black Zetsu in the process. The cost was her frail body. Kabuto was truly a genius; using Kita's body as a medium, he killed a fragment of consciousness—a real death, surpassing what the consciousness could endure. Tragically, Black Zetsu had exceeded his limits, leaving Kita at the edge of collapse. How long it took to fully awaken Kita's consciousness, Obito could not calculate—days, nights, minutes, seconds blurred together. Kabuto had patched together a being called Kita, and her current weak body was the side effect of three years' work.
The method had been brutal and simple. Painful.
When external wounds were ineffective, Kabuto chose poison. A poison that made life feel worse than death. Trapped inside Kita's body, Black Zetsu endured the same unbearable agony. Countless battles for control occurred within her mind, two consciousnesses torturing each other in an all-consuming struggle. Sometimes Kabuto assisted; sometimes Obito. Yet every confrontation ended inconclusively.
The pain continued, the torment persisted. Once Black Zetsu adapted to one unbearable suffering, a new one would be injected.
Then Black Zetsu had said:
—You're nothing! I've lived a thousand years! How can a mere mortal like you ever overpower my consciousness? The final winner is me!
Almost hysterical.
Yet, the final winner was Kita.
How much unknown was injected, Obito did not know. Kabuto seemed to treat her body as a lab; anything could be experimented on, as long as it caused pain.
The poison couldn't be cured—treating Kita would treat Black Zetsu. A buffer drug was developed, its main component morphine, addictive and anesthetic. Only a small trace of poison remained, enough to delay the transformation of the accumulated poison into a new form, torturing Kita inching toward hell.
Too many trials, too many injections; the mutations were beyond even Kabuto's analysis. Thus, crude and simple methods persisted. A new substance was injected to counterbalance the one within her, sometimes halting its spread, sometimes decomposing, sometimes merging into something new.
Like being near death by thirst, and only seawater to quench it.
All death, only one faster, one slower.
Sadly, the Kita containing Zetsu couldn't use Kabuto's "Immortal Resurrection." The seal trapped not only Zetsu but Kita herself. She could only drag her frail body, awaiting inevitable death.
Who was dragging them down? Zetsu dragging Kita, or Kita dragging Zetsu?
At first, Obito thought Zetsu dragged her down. But after the truth emerged, he realized Kita dragged Zetsu.
The mother of the Sage of Six Paths, Kaguya Ōtsutsuki, had manipulated the stone tablets to initiate the Infinite Tsukuyomi, aiming to release the Ten-Tails sealed on the moon by the Sage and his brother, Hamura Ōtsutsuki. Or rather, Kaguya Ōtsutsuki, the God Tree—call it whatever, alien nonetheless.
Obito thought he could relax once Black Zetsu was gone, no longer facing a Kaguya Ōtsutsuki beyond even the Sage's power. But more of her kind appeared—a swarm. Kaguya was only a runner, one of many, to confront countless enemies. She needed Infinite Tsukuyomi to create the White Zetsu army, countering invaders yet to arrive.
Might as well unleash Kaguya then.
Learning this, Obito despaired. Kita, exhausted, muttered:
—Kaguya studied Infinite Tsukuyomi because she couldn't defeat them outright.
One alien, plus a whole swarm ahead. The conclusion: destroy one if possible. These aliens could locate this place via coordinates; remnants older than Kaguya herself. Unfortunately, no one—not even Zetsu, nor Kaguya—knew exactly where. The solution: destroy all Ōtsutsuki relics. Without coordinates, the chance of discovery was minimal.
Life had been decided.
Stay at Kabuto's base during attacks, and handle Kaguya relics when lucid.
Kita said:
—I don't care what happens to this world. But they're here, so this can't become the Ōtsutsuki's testing ground.
For those few red-clouded, black-robed figures, Kita challenged the Ōtsutsuki alone—not merely for survival, but to create a world where they could live with dignity.
Protect the world? No. Compared to the world, she would unhesitatingly choose them. Even if it was hell, as long as they existed, it couldn't be destroyed.
—Here it is.
Kita stopped Obito at a relatively hidden cave.
"I'll go first," Obito said, stepping inside. Kita smiled, shook her head slightly. Thoughtful as he was, she was no weakling needing protection. Removing her hood, she stepped into the cave.
There was a genjutsu—a simple illusion to ward off intruders. The danger was minimal.
━━━━ ❖ ━━━
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