"What is that?!"
Raikage Ay roared fiercely, the lightning crackling uncontrollably across his entire body, his muscles tensed to the limit.
Minato's golden pupils contracted sharply, a Flying Thunder God kunai already held between his fingertips, his expression unprecedentedly grave.
"Such terrifying chakra... an oppressive feeling like never before!"
Suspended high above on his stone throne, Takuno's Six-Tomoe Rinnegan, which had remained indifferent, finally rotated slightly for the first time, focusing its gaze on the coffin that had abruptly appeared.
Behind the mask, the corner of his mouth seemed to curve into a barely perceptible arc. He was no longer a pure observer, but now carried a trace of cold scrutiny and intense interest.
Konan's paper shikigami also rippled violently at this moment, as if sensing a lethal threat.
They rapidly scattered into the distance, trying to get away from that coffin.
Under the watchful, wary gazes of countless individuals, the heavy lid of the coffin slowly slid backwards...
Heavy dust billowed from the coffin's opening, revealing the figure standing silently within.
A deep blue, Warring States era armor covered his tall, upright frame. A head of unruly, spiky black hair flowed like burning flames.
Beneath his closed eyelids were two crimson tear-trough markings.
Even standing there motionless, an aura of terrifying, domineering supremacy that looked down upon the entire world swept across the battlefield, as if even the air had solidified!
The moment that face came into clear view, the entire battlefield froze into a deathly stillness.
"Impossible!!!"
Kakashi exclaimed involuntarily, his Sharingan trembling violently from extreme shock, almost tearing from its socket!
This person before them... this ancient armor, this iconic hairstyle, this terrifying aura that could not be imitated...
Minato's heart sank to the depths, as he forced out that name that had long become legend and taboo.
"Uchiha... Madara?!"
Ōnoki's aged, turbid eyes fixed on the figure in the coffin. The bone-deep fear sealed away for over seventy years instantly surged to the surface, making him almost stagger.
That... the Ghost of the Uchiha, who had once, with his power alone, plunged him and his master into despair!
Raikage Ay's Lightning Nature chakra churned wildly, yet for the first time, he felt a tremor.
The gold sand controlled by Gaara flowed unconsciously, betraying the extreme unease in his heart.
Obito stood beside the coffin. The swirling mask concealed all expression, only that crimson Sharingan fixed intently on the figure within.
Finally, in the suffocating silence, the figure in the coffin...
The legendary Asura of the Shinobi World, the lifelong rival of Hashirama, the strongest in the history of the Uchiha Clan.
Madara slowly opened his eyes.
A pair of crimson Mangekyo Sharingan!
No confusion, no bewilderment, only an indifference that seemed to look down upon ants, as if awakening from a long slumber.
His gaze traversed space, first landing on Obito, who stood so close. That look seemed to be confirming the state of a tool.
Then, that icy gaze swept over the horrified and panicked members of the Allied Shinobi Forces below, swept over the distant, suspended Takuno, and finally, settled on the colossal, mountain-like Ten-Tails.
A voice of undeniable power struck deep into the soul of every person present:
"Nagato... that brat, has he dragged the war out into this laughable state?"
"This... is impossible!" Fourth Raikage Ay was the first to erupt. Lightning exploded across his body as he pointed at Edo Madara.
He then whirled violently towards the Masked Man, his voice hoarse from extreme shock and fury.
"Uchiha Madara?! Then you bastard... just who are you?!"
The veins on his thick arms bulged. The fury from his recent fierce battle with Edo Kakuzu had not yet subsided, and now he was struck by an even greater sense of absurdity.
That "Uchiha Madara" who manipulated the Akatsuki... was actually a fake?
"..." Even Minato's usually calm golden eyes were filled with grave disbelief.
He had always suspected the Masked Man's strength fell short of the legendary Madara's, but he had never imagined the truth would be like this.
The real Madara had long been dead, now summoned as an Edo Tensei revenant!
Then the Masked Man before them, who controlled the Akatsuki, instigated the Nine-Tails Riot, and called himself "Madara"...
His true identity and purpose instantly became shrouded in mystery. The shadow of a massive conspiracy loomed over their hearts.
"...So that's how it is."
Kakashi's Sharingan fixed intently on the Masked Man. That Sharingan, gifted by his dear friend, spun wildly, as if trying to see through that swirling mask.
Countless memory fragments surged in his mind: the unique ability of the Kamui Dimension, the familiarity with the Sharingan...
A conjecture he desperately wished not to believe, yet could not ignore, surfaced in his heart.
Edo Madara seemed to enjoy the chaos and despair his appearance had brought.
The corner of his mouth curled into a cold, mocking arc. His gaze swept over the Masked Man as his low voice resounded across the battlefield:
"Hmph... It seems you've been having quite a bit of fun in the years I've been gone, Obito."
Edo Madara's declaration struck the battlefield like a thunderclap.
When the name "Obito" fell, Minato and Kakashi instantly fell into a deathly silence.
Kakashi's single eye contracted sharply. Behind his mask, his breathing stopped for an instant.
His left hand unconsciously pressed against his left eye—that Sharingan, originating from Obito.
Memories surged like a tidal wave: the giant boulder at Kannabi Bridge, the dying young Obito entrusting him with the Sharingan and his vow, the despair of Rin's death by his own Chidori...
Madara's revelation confirmed his long-held suspicions about the "Masked Man's" identity.
But the sheer cruelty of the truth itself still made his body tremble slightly, a rusty bitterness rising in his throat.
Minato's blond hair fluttered in the chakra shockwaves, yet his azure pupils were frozen.
His knuckles, gripping the Flying Thunder God kunai, turned white from the force.
That cheerful boy with the goggles, who had loudly proclaimed he would become Hokage...
Had become the mastermind behind the Shinobi World War, the manipulator of the Nine-Tails' attack on Konoha?
Logically, Madara's identification perfectly matched Obito's abilities and the spatial Jutsu Formula used by the Masked Man during the Nine-Tails Riot.
Emotionally, the student he had personally buried beneath the memorial stone had returned in the guise of a demon. The sheer absurdity of it almost tore apart the calm exterior of the Hokage.
The desert battlefield, its dust yet to settle.
Edo Madara stood proudly, his domineering aura pressing down on the Allied Shinobi Forces like a physical weight, heralding an unprecedented crisis for the Shinobi World.
However, the storm of shock and turmoil raging in the hearts of Minato and Kakashi at this moment stemmed more from the man whose disguise Madara had just torn away.
As Madara's words fell, Obito saw no further need to conceal his identity. He removed the swirling mask.
As the mask fragments fell away, a face bearing traces of youth mixed with the weariness of time was exposed to all.
The horrifying scars on the right side of his face were shocking, but the contours of the left side...
Especially the familiar feeling in that intact eye, struck Minato and Kakashi's hearts like a heavy hammer.
"Yo!"
Obito's tone was flippant, as if casually meeting old friends. It was as if they weren't standing on a corpse-strewn battlefield, with the Ten-Tails exuding an aura of destruction and Edo Madara looming overhead.
His gaze swept over the stunned Kakashi, finally settling on Minato. That greeting was casual to the point of cruelty.
As if the bonds of the past, the sacrifices, and the current betrayal were all just an insignificant joke.
"Long time no see, Sensei... Kakashi."
That word "Sensei" instantly pierced through Minato's forced composure.
His pupils contracted violently. Countless images flashed through his mind.
The cold word "K.I.A." on the Kannabi Bridge mission report, the tragic news of Rin Nohara's death.
Kakashi's heart, closed off because of the Sharingan, and the guilt within his own heart that he had never been able to release...
All this accumulated weight found its most absurd, most cruel answer in the face before him—both familiar and alien.
"Obito... It really is you..." Minato's voice was low and hoarse, as if each word carried the weight of a thousand pounds.
The initial shock in his eyes was rapidly replaced by immense pain and incomprehensible confusion.
"Why... Tell me, why did you do all this?!"
Beneath the calm questioning was an uncontrollable tremor.
He could not imagine how that cheerful boy who had once thrown himself into danger for his comrades...
Had become the mastermind before him, who had ignited the Shinobi World War, stained his hands with blood, and sought to overturn the world.
Kakashi's state was even worse.
Already exhausted from overusing Kamui, he now felt dizzy, as if the desert beneath his feet was spinning.
Obito's face, that eye belonging to Obito, the master of that Kamui Sharingan he knew so intimately, even regarded as a symbol of his vow to protect his comrades...
Was now standing alive on the enemy's side, greeting them in such a lighthearted tone.
An overwhelming sense of betrayal, absurdity, and bottomless self-doubt instantly swallowed him.
His dazed left eye stared fixedly at Obito's intact right eye, as if searching for a trace of the past, but finding only an icy abyss.
"O... Obito..." Kakashi's voice was parched, carrying a tone of desperate disbelief and accusation.
"Rin... Rin's death... and all of this... was it all your plan? Have you been... deceiving me all along?"
That entrusted eye now felt like a red-hot brand, searing his soul.
What had he been protecting? All his convictions crumbled before the reality of Obito's identity.
Faced with Minato's heart-wrenching question and Kakashi's despair verging on collapse, Obito's expression held only a cold indifference.
His single eye swept over his former teacher and comrade, as if looking at two complete strangers.
"Why?" Obito's voice was like ice, filled with endless mockery and deep-seated resentment.
"Sensei, you ask me why? Because this world... is hell!"
His gaze became sharp as a blade, piercing straight into Minato's heart.
"False bonds, meaningless sacrifices, despair piled high like mountains...
"The moment Rin died, this rotten world became unworthy of existence!"
"I will create a world with Rin in it! A perfect world without pain, without loss!"
"That is the 'Eye of the Moon Plan'! What you call peace and protection is nothing but a futile struggle that keeps this hellish cycle turning!"
He ignored the gasps and sharp intakes of breath from the Allied Shinobi Forces. Turning his gaze to the teetering Kakashi, his tone grew even more caustic.
"Deceive you? Kakashi, you think too highly of yourself. You are merely... a pawn. A worthless failure who couldn't even protect the most important vow. What right do you have to question my path? This eye was truly wasted in your hands."
Edo Madara stood to the side, a hint of amusement curling his lips, as if enjoying a splendid drama.
Obito's icy, mocking words, and the face he revealed after removing the mask—
More mature than in their memories, yet also more twisted—plunged Minato and Kakashi's hearts into an icy abyss.
Their once most cherished comrade, their student, had now become the mastermind behind the Shinobi World's calamity!
On the battlefield, the brief silence was shattered by Raikage Ay's rough, furious question.
"Hey! Minato! Just who the hell is this guy?!"
Ay's roar echoed over the chaotic battlefield. He pointed directly at Obito, suspended above the Ten-Tails, his eyes filled with confusion and rage.
Many of the Allied Shinobi Forces, even Kage-level figures from other villages, wore expressions of bewilderment.
The name 'Obito', before the outbreak of the Fourth Shinobi World War...
For the vast majority of the Shinobi World, was just an insignificant name long lost in the smoke of the Third Shinobi World War, not worth remembering.
Minato took a deep breath, forcibly suppressing the shock and grief raging like a storm within him.
As the supreme commander of the alliance, he had to immediately stabilize morale and explain the earth-shattering change before them.
His voice carried pain and disbelief:
"He..."
Minato's voice paused, his gaze complex as he stared at the familiar-yet-alien figure high above.
"He is Obito."
This name stirred even greater ripples of confusion among the Allied Shinobi Forces. The vast majority of Shinobi remained bewildered.
Minato continued his explanation: "He was once my subordinate, in the same squad as Kakashi under my command."
"But..." Minato's voice was heavy with immense pain and incomprehension.
"He was supposed to have sacrificed himself during the Kannabi Bridge campaign in the Third Shinobi World War, covering his comrades' retreat! His K.I.A. report was personally witnessed and brought back by Kakashi."
"Kannabi Bridge?"
Tsuchikage Ōnoki, who had been silently observing, gave a slight start. A look of extreme complexity appeared on his aged face.
That brutal campaign had been the decisive battle between Iwagakure and Konoha, where countless lives were lost.
He never imagined that the war, stained with so much blood back then, would bear such a bitter, twisted fruit today.
Giving rise to an avenger willing to destroy the Shinobi World to realize the "Eye of the Moon".
Ōnoki fell silent. The cruel cycle of war and the weight of karma felt overwhelmingly heavy at this moment.
Within the Allied Shinobi Forces ranks, upon hearing the name "Obito", two Uchiha elites—Shisui and Itachi—
Both had their pupils contract simultaneously, their faces showing unconcealable surprise.
Shisui frowned, murmuring in a low voice.
"Obito... That name... I think I've heard snippets of it in clan records, or perhaps in some elder's casual talk. I only ever thought he was an ordinary clansman who died many years ago..."