Tobi had finally realized it.
The karma born from the killings of the past had eventually come back to claim him.
Natsue...
Even now, those experiences remained vivid in his memory.
But it was all over for him now.
And with that sword strike...
Tobi's corpse crashed heavily onto the ground and never moved again.
Shimizu let out a quiet sigh.
Everything had finally come to an end.
After calming the strange emotions in his heart, he recalled Tobi's first final request:
Destroy his body completely.
Was Tobi implying there was something special about his corpse?
But even without the reminder, Shimizu had intended to do exactly that.
The regenerative abilities granted by Wood Release were enough to make anyone wary.
Who knew whether a White Zetsu was truly dead even after being decapitated?
He bit his thumb, formed hand seals, and activated the Summoning Technique.
Samehada once again appeared in physical form within the world, flopping energetically across the dirt like a fish out of water.
"Can you eat it?"
A sufficiently powerful Fire Release technique could also completely destroy a corpse, but that level of Fire Release was beyond someone like Shimizu, whose mastery over the element was mediocre at best.
So he could only place his hopes on Samehada's devouring ability once more.
The moment it received the command, Samehada immediately opened its massive maw.
Several crisp crunching sounds rang out—
And Tobi's corpse vanished entirely into Samehada's stomach.
"Raising you wasn't a waste after all."
But then Shimizu suddenly remembered something.
White Zetsu weren't normal creatures.
That thing was toxic.
"Uh... you're not going to get diarrhea, are you?"
Yet Samehada only flopped around even more enthusiastically.
"Forget it. You should probably be fine."
After dismissing the Summoning Technique, Samehada returned once again to Shimizu's body.
Witnessing the process firsthand once more, Shimizu suddenly felt an indescribably strange sensation.
After all, the Summoning Technique was fundamentally a form of space-time ninjutsu.
Yet he could actually summon Samehada from within his own body...
Could it be that the place Samehada resided was some kind of separate dimension?
And that dimension just happened to exist within his body—or perhaps was literally a part of his body itself?
Furthermore, if it could be summoned, then the Samehada inside him had likely already surpassed the limitations of being merely "a small fish that once accompanied the Three-Tails" or some similar species.
Was it now a summoning beast?
Or perhaps even something closer to a Tailed Beast?
The Zero-Tails?
In an instant, all sorts of bizarre theories flooded Shimizu's mind.
Unfortunately, he still had no way to verify any of those ideas.
Because this was an entirely new path.
Still, regardless of the truth, Shimizu was in an excellent mood.
After all, the stronger Samehada became, the stronger he became as well.
Especially on the defensive side, its support was practically divine.
What shinobi could maintain perfect vigilance forever?
That simply wasn't humanly possible.
But Samehada's newly displayed autonomous defensive instincts could greatly reduce the pressure on him.
Without realizing it, Shimizu began comparing himself to Rasa.
Rasa's abilities and combat style offered valuable points of reference for him.
Lost in thought as he walked, he finally emerged from the sea of forest and saw Kakashi and Obito already waiting outside.
The two looked considerably recovered.
"Shimizu-senpai!" Kakashi and Obito called out at the same time.
"I'm fine."
Seeing that only Shimizu had returned, Obito asked,
"Tobi is dead?"
"Yeah. Dead."
Not even a corpse remained.
After receiving the confirmation, Obito stood there blankly, unable to speak for a long moment.
With Tobi dead, the matter of Hashirama's cells naturally became impossible.
So how was Rin supposed to wake up now?
Shimizu understood perfectly what Obito cared about.
But he did not take the initiative to offer any help.
Right now, he wanted to see Obito's genuine reaction after learning that Rin's hope of revival had once again been shattered.
He wanted to know whether the earlier beating, lecture, and threats had truly gotten through to him.
Obito slowly opened his mouth, his voice unbelievably hoarse.
"Maybe this really is fate..."
He gently stroked Rin's cheek as tears fell one after another onto her face.
"Rin... can you hear me?"
"Wake up... it's me. Obito. Your favorite Obito..."
He lightly shook Rin's body.
But the girl's eyes remained tightly shut.
Beside them, Kakashi had already turned his head away, quickly wiping at his face several times.
Meanwhile, Shimizu continued staring intently at Obito.
Obito... don't you hate anyone anymore?
"Obito, maybe something as luxurious as love was never meant for you."
"I was wrong... I was really wrong..."
Obito cried even harder.
"I'm sorry, Rin."
"It was my... fault."
"I'm really... sorry..."
The Obito sobbing uncontrollably now looked nothing like the madman who once carried thoughts of destroying the world.
As long as the hatred was gone, then at the very least, he was no longer beyond saving.
Shimizu pulled out a small sealing scroll he carried with him. It was roughly two fingers in length and had three sealing slots—a spoils item from a previous battle.
Summoning Technique!
With a bang, smoke dispersed, and two syringes appeared in Shimizu's hand—one green and one blue.
"Inject the green one first, then the blue one. Take them."
"Shimizu-senpai... th-this is...?"
Obito held the two syringes carefully as he asked in a broken voice.
The kid was crying so hard he could barely speak clearly anymore.
"Hashirama cells. And a serum that helps fuse with the Hashirama cells."
"???"
Both boys stared blankly in confusion.
Hashirama cells?
Fusion serum?
The sudden reversal completely exceeded their expectations.
"What are you standing around for?"
"R-right!"
Obito immediately followed Shimizu's instructions and injected Rin with the green serum first, followed by the blue one.
"Will this really work?"
Obito's voice was filled with tension.
"Just wait."
After all, this was something produced by Orochimaru. It shouldn't fail at a critical moment like this.
Sure enough, after several agonizing minutes passed, they could visibly see Rin's chest begin to rise and fall slightly.
She was breathing.
"Rin...?"
Obito called softly.
"Rin."
"Mnn..."
Rin slowly opened her eyes.
A relieved smile appeared on her face.
"So it's you, Obito."
"I'm really... glad to see you."
...
"Shimizu-senpai, I..."
Obito looked awkward and hesitant.
"Stop acting so indecisive. If you've got something to say, then spit it out already. You're not a child anymore."
Obito immediately straightened himself and gave a deep, solemn bow.
"Thank you. Thank you so, so much for helping us, Shimizu-senpai!"
"If it weren't for you, then this time we..."
"Anyway, thank you. Really, truly thank you."
"I've received your gratitude," Shimizu replied.
Now that Rin was no longer in danger and was steadily recovering, Obito himself had regained much of his spirit as well.
"Shimizu-senpai... that stuff just now... was it expensive?"
Obito asked quietly.
"More or less."
Hearing that answer, Obito let out a small sigh of relief.
At least it sounded like he hadn't caused Shimizu-senpai an unbearable loss.
"If you were to sell it... well... I think..."
The value of Hashirama cells and fusion serum?
Those things were naturally priceless treasures.
But if he said that directly, Obito probably wouldn't truly understand.
Better to give him a number so he could at least grasp that these were not things easily obtained.
Shimizu pointed at Obito's Wind Release chakra sword.
"About several thousand weapons like that."
"Several thousand chakra weapons?!"
How many chakra weapons even existed in all o
f Konoha?
How many zeroes was that worth...?
Obito suffered a critical emotional blow.
He didn't even notice the long string of snot dripping from his nose.
"Damn it, stay away from me."
Shimizu's composure instantly shattered.
How was Obito so unbelievably thick-headed again the moment he recovered his energy?!
Where had that mature Konoha shinobi, that elite ANBU operative, gone?
And what depressed him even more was this—
After suffering such horrific mental damage, why had Samehada not appeared even once to protect him?!
--------
Read Advanced Chapters on : www.patreon.com/c/ReadJin
~ Every 100 PS = Bonus Chapter!
~ Push the Story forward with your [Power Stones]