In the distant battlefield, smoke and dust filled the air as two colossal beasts faced each other in the middle of Konoha.
An instant later, blue chakra flames collided violently against silver-gray armor.
"BOOM—!"
The shockwave alone destroyed more than a hundred nearby buildings in an instant.
"Ohh, now that's a spectacle," Tobi muttered in admiration before turning toward Madara. "By the way, didn't you get your Rinnegan back?"
Madara slowly shook his head.
"You're going to fight with just the Mangekyō Sharingan?"
"Hahahahahaha—!" Madara suddenly burst into laughter, and the more he laughed, the louder it became.
Tobi stared at him for a moment before muttering to himself, Oh no… Madara's gone crazy. That monkey must've hit him harder than I thought. Maybe he damaged his brain.
"Those people?" Madara's imposing arrogance returned in full force, the same overwhelming pride that had once stood above the entire shinobi world. "Even with my eyes closed, they would still die."
"Then why are you injured?"
"I was merely amusing myself earlier." Madara's tone was calm, almost casual. "If the Third Hokage still wishes to continue later, I'll gladly accompany him."
Tobi sighed meaningfully. "Careful you don't get overwhelmed. You still haven't recovered your eyes yet."
"They are nothing more than insects," Madara replied flatly, as though he were simply stating a fact. Then he glanced sideways at Tobi. "How is your task progressing?"
"You can relax when I'm handling things. This one's practically perfect. That Uchiha brat is about to fall right into my bowl—"
"He's made his move."
Tobi blinked. "Huh? Who?"
At that very moment, a gigantic adamantine staff suddenly appeared between the two Tailed Beasts.
"That's the Third Hokage's summon? Enma?!" Tobi's heart skipped a beat.
What the hell?! That thing's ridiculously huge!
In the next instant, the staff rapidly extended, pushing outward in opposite directions against the two monstrous beasts.
With a thunderous bang, both the Two-Tails and Three-Tails were blasted backward at incredible speed, carving two enormous trenches across the ruined ground.
Within moments, the two Tailed Beasts had been forced far away from the battlefield.
Clearly, the Third Hokage intended to drive them out of Konoha before they completely destroyed the village.
But Tobi's mind had already wandered somewhere else entirely.
"So it possesses the capacity to expand even further..." he murmured in amazement. "My data pool was structurally deficient.
"Impressive power," even Madara admitted with rare praise as he slowly rose to his feet. "The Third Hokage has gone toward the Two-Tails. It seems he's already discovered Kumogakure's presence."
"Then I'll go entertain them for a while."
The moment his voice fell, Madara vanished.
"You could at least show a little concern for your Uchiha descendant…" Tobi complained while watching him disappear. "Leaving in such a hurry."
Even without the Rinnegan, Madara still possessed strength powerful enough to dominate the shinobi world.
As expected of the man who had once stood at its peak.
"Madara really does have the right to look down on the world," Tobi muttered. "But trying to crush the entire shinobi world by himself? He's still missing something."
"Guess I'll have to work a little harder and find you a proper helper…"
…
By the time Tobi leisurely wandered over to the Three-Tails' side of the battlefield, the fighting there had already ended.
The enormous Three-Tails lay collapsed upon the earth, breathing heavily as though it had lost the strength to resist.
Nearly a hundred Konoha shinobi corpses littered the surrounding area, while several hundred more stood in the distance under high alert.
The mighty Three-Tails had gone down this easily?
Tobi refused to believe that.
Still, he had already guessed the truth.
Most likely, the jinchūriki had regained consciousness, allowing Konoha's forces to finally suppress it.
"That little girl's pretty impressive," Tobi clicked his tongue in admiration. "I didn't expect her to keep resisting the influence of Madara's seal the entire time."
Then his tone shifted.
"But even so… resistance like this is ultimately meaningless."
"Because fate… was decided long ago."
His gaze slowly settled on the true target of this entire operation—
Uchiha Obito.
"Rin?"
The moment the Three-Tails stopped rampaging, a glimmer of hope ignited inside Obito's heart.
"Is that you?"
The Three-Tails slowly nodded its massive head.
"Then… can you turn back?"
As soon as he spoke, the Three-Tails' flesh and chakra began dissolving like evaporating mist. Bit by bit, the enormous body receded until the girl's original form was finally revealed once more.
At this moment, Rin lay collapsed on the ground, her chakra completely exhausted. She looked terribly weak.
Obito's heart clenched violently.
He immediately pulled the girl's frail body into his arms and called out softly, "Rin…"
"Rin Nohara dared to slaughter shinobi of the same village. Arrest her immediately!" With Danzō's command, sixteen Root shinobi moved at once.
Earlier, in order to protect Obito and Kakashi, Rin had desperately drawn upon the Three-Tails' chakra and attacked Konoha's Root forces. The power unleashed by a jinchūriki was far beyond what ordinary shinobi could easily withstand, and Root had suffered devastating casualties because of it.
But Kakashi stepped forward with the White Light Chakra Sabre in hand, blocking everyone's path. Slowly but firmly, he shook his head.
"…Wait."
Because he could tell that Rin's breathing was growing weaker and weaker.
This was not merely chakra exhaustion.
It was the sign of a life nearing its end.
All around them, the Konoha shinobi fell silent as they watched the boy and girl in the center of the battlefield.
"Rin…"
Obito finally noticed something wrong.
A thin trail of blood slipped from the corner of her mouth. "What's wrong with you? Don't scare me!"
Rin slowly opened her exhausted eyes. "Obito… I'm tired."
"Don't fall asleep, okay?" Tears streamed uncontrollably down Obito's face as he clung to the last shred of hope. "Just hold on a little longer. The medical team will be here soon."
"It's okay, Obito…" Rin gently wiped away his tears before forcing out one final smile. "I'm sorry."
Her hands fell limply to her sides.
The lively dark-brown eyes that once sparkled with warmth had now gone dim and lifeless.
I'm sorry… I can't keep walking beside you anymore… in this world where you exist.
"Rin?"
Obito called to her softly.
"Rin."
He gently shook her shoulders.
"Don't leave me…"
The tears would not stop flowing, and his voice gradually became hoarse.
"Rin…"
"We promised… we'd always stay together."
"You said you'd always be by my side…"
Memories surged endlessly through his mind.
The day he first met Rin.
Their carefree days together at the Academy.
The nervousness they shared when they first entered battle as genin, and the excitement of becoming chūnin together.
Then came the brutal years of the Third Great Ninja War, the exhilaration he felt when he awakened the Sharingan for the first time—
And afterward, through countless battles, sweat, and scars, he had earned his three-tomoe Sharingan and the title of Konoha jōnin.
In the end… they had fallen in love.
Those beautiful memories…
Stopped abruptly there.
Over ten years together, they had carved themselves deeply into each other's souls.
And because of that, Rin held a place inside Obito's heart that could never be replaced.
Or perhaps—
Rin was his entire world.
At some point, the three tomoe in his eyes merged together, forming the shape of a three-bladed pinwheel.
A brand-new Mangekyō Sharingan was born.
Shimizu-senpai… why?
Why did I work so hard… only to end up with this?
A single tear of blood slid slowly down from the corner of his eye.
Ah… none of that matters anymore.
Because Rin is dead…
An overwhelming hatred erupted from him like a tangible force.
His newly awakened Mangekyō glared at the Konoha shinobi he now viewed as enemies.
"Root… Danzō…"
"You'll all be buried alongside her."