[Chapter Size: 2200 Words.]
Konoha, 44.
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...
Obito finally woke up. His training would resume that day, and he let out a soft sigh. Last night, he had spoken with Shukaku.
He had learned more about his story, and somehow, it even felt like he had formed a friendship with the Bijū. Something he still couldn't believe was actually real.
However, when Shukaku found out that Minato Namikaze, the same man who had beaten him up several times before, was Obito's sensei, he immediately started yelling at him.
He clearly didn't like the sensei one bit. He said that whenever Minato landed those black fists, he felt unbearable pain. No other human attack had ever managed to hurt a Bijū like that, but those black punches caused a kind of pain unlike anything he had ever experienced.
A pain that not even immortal creatures like the Tailed Beasts could ignore.
Obito was surprised. He remembered that unique technique of his sensei very well, one that completely reinforced the body for both offense and defense, making his skin as tough as steel. Minato used to demonstrate it by blocking kunai with his own darkened arm, producing a metallic sound every time the blade struck his black skin.
Obito had always imagined it was just some kind of body enhancement jutsu. Apparently, it was something far more complex than that.
Even so, he managed to calm Shukaku down.
Or rather, the Bijū eventually calmed down on his own, since, in a way, he should actually be grateful to Minato. After all, thanks to him, he had gained his freedom after being sent to the middle of nowhere by Minato's Hiraishin Jutsu. And to this day, Sunagakure still hadn't managed to capture Shukaku again.
So, thanks to all that chaos, he had remained on that continent ever since, wandering freely. Every now and then, some ninja from the Hidden Sand Village managed to track him down and tried to capture him.
There had already been three attempts over the course of those nearly two years. Obito had even told him to be careful.
A war was approaching. A war that would engulf the entire ninja world.
Sunagakure would certainly double its efforts to capture him, knowing it would need the Bijū. Obito had even offered his dimension as a hiding place.
But Shukaku immediately refused. He was far too proud to accept help or live in an unfamiliar place, even after Obito explained that no one would ever be able to find him there.
Besides, Shukaku said he would miss nature. The place Obito could send him to was cold, dark, and surrounded only by enormous stone pillars floating through space.
In the end, Obito returned to Konoha, while Shukaku went back to sleep.
Now, Obito headed toward the Namikaze Clan for another day of training. After washing his face, changing his clothes, and appearing in a swirling vortex in front of the residence, he was certain Kushina-san had already prepared breakfast.
He didn't want to be rude by refusing, especially since she always insisted that he eat with them.
And honestly, her cooking was delicious. Obito approached the house without a care, already knowing that everyone there had sensed his presence.
Instinctively, he tried to sense Rin's and Kakashi's chakras. Neither of them was nearby. He had arrived very early; not even the three Uzumaki girls were there yet.
"Excuse me." Obito stepped into the residence.
"Ah, Obito, come in. Join us," Kushina said with a smile as she welcomed him.
At the table, Minato sat at the head, reading a scroll. Mikoto remained beside him, holding little Itachi in her lap as she fed the baby some porridge.
Tsuna was standing, playing with her daughter, while Hanabi sat with impeccable posture, like a true Hyūga princess, eating in silence. Kushina walked back and forth, bringing food to the table while preparing eggs. She had even created two clones to help her.
"Good morning, everyone," Obito said.
Everyone looked at him and returned the greeting, either verbally or with a simple nod.
Obito quickly received several plates filled with rice, bread, cheese, and other foods from one of Kushina's clones.
"Eat everything. It's good for you!" Kushina said, raising her arm and flexing her bicep. Although she didn't appear particularly muscular, no one in that house doubted how strong she was.
"Thanks... I think," Obito replied.
He quickly began eating, receiving a small smile from Minato at the head of the table before the Hokage returned to reading.
As he ate, however, he remained somewhat uneasy. Every now and then, he glanced at Minato, who continued reading the scroll. After a few moments, the Hokage lowered the document and turned his eyes toward Obito, noticing his uneasiness.
Obito swallowed hard, took a sip of the juice he had been served, and spoke. "Sensei... I'd like to talk to you."
Minato raised an eyebrow. "Did something happen?" he asked.
"The clan... I revealed my Mangekyō Sharingan because of a conflict with one of the elders."
Immediately, Minato's expression turned serious.
Even Kushina paused for a moment and raised an eyebrow, paying attention to the conversation while her clones continued bringing food to the table.
Tsuna and Hanabi didn't seem to care much.
Mikoto, on the other hand, stopped lifting another spoonful of porridge toward Itachi and looked at Obito curiously.
"I imagine my father already knows about it," she commented.
"Yes. After the incident, your father summoned me to talk."
"I think we can discuss that later," Minato said in a serious tone. "Whatever happened, we'll find a solution."
If necessary, he would intervene. Or simply advise Obito on how to handle the situation. But if the Uchiha Clan already knew about Obito's Mangekyō Sharingan, Minato could easily imagine what the situation was like at that moment.
He knew how the elders would try to get their hands on those eyes. After Mikoto left the clan to become his wife and they had effectively lost the power of a Mangekyō Sharingan, they had never completely abandoned that line of thinking.
"There's something else I wanted to ask," Obito said a little more cautiously.
He hadn't intended to ask that question so directly. But he also wanted to hear Kushina's opinion.
"Go ahead," Minato replied, raising an eyebrow once again.
His student seemed far more troubled than usual. Even when they had implanted the Mokuton cells and awakened his Mangekyō Sharingan, Obito hadn't seemed as lost as he did now.
That made Minato wonder what exactly had happened during his single day off.
"Tell me, Sensei... Do you think it's fair for the Bijū to be imprisoned inside jinchūriki and used by the villages as weapons of war?"
His question immediately brought every movement in the kitchen to a halt.
Only the babies, oblivious to the conversation and unable to understand the meaning of those words, continued making their little noises. All of the adults, however, stopped what they were doing.
They looked at Obito with expressions of surprise, curiosity, and above all, confusion.
Why that question?
"Why do you ask that, Obito?" Minato asked.
"Because I met a Bijū... and we talked. I ended up feeling that it was really wrong for it to be hunted down just to end up sealed inside a jinchūriki, like it's been happening for decades, ever since the First Hokage captured them. He told me that Hashirama appeared out of nowhere and started hunting them. After that, they all ended up sealed inside jinchūriki and were used as weapons of war."
As Obito continued speaking, everyone immediately stopped what they were doing and looked at him, trying to understand how he had encountered a Bijū.
Minato looked genuinely surprised. He had never imagined a conversation like this would take place over breakfast after his students' day off.
"Wait... There aren't supposed to be any Bijū roaming free right now. At least, that's what our intelligence reports indicate," Minato said, frowning.
"The One-Tail, Shukaku. It was him. I found him on the other continent while I was wandering around at night, right in the middle of the continent by pure chance. After everything that happened with the clan, I wanted some time to think, and I couldn't think of a better place for it. I ended up finding him asleep in a small desert that shouldn't have existed in the middle of the forest. At first, he tried to attack me because he thought I was a Suna ninja." Obito smiled as he remembered the scene.
"But afterward, we stopped and talked. I ended up getting to know Shukaku much better than I expected... and I found his perspective on certain things to be fair, especially after hearing his story."
Minato showed no sign of panic at the revelation. He simply rested one hand on his chin, deep in thought.
"It seems the information we received from Sunagakure was incorrect. Well... it's not as if they would admit to the other villages that they still haven't managed to recover the One-Tail."
It was a perfectly logical conclusion. Minato would never go to Sunagakure just to verify that information.
Naturally, he relied on reports gathered by Konoha's intelligence division. And reports were always subject to errors.
In any case, he turned his attention back to Obito. He was still curious to know more about how he had found Shukaku.
Even so, the boy's question remained the most important part of that conversation. Minato sighed before answering in a serious tone.
"No, Obito. It wasn't fair. No living being should be imprisoned and used as a weapon of war."
Obito knew everyone was still watching him, but he was already satisfied with the answer.
"I told Shukaku the same thing. Maybe that's why he stopped trying to kill me in the end. Even though he threatened me the whole time, after I said that, he seemed to relax a little. He even said I was different from other humans."
Minato smiled upon hearing that. "Very good, my student. That's exactly what I expected from you. You have a pure heart and can see even something like that. If it were anyone else, they might think all of this was perfectly normal. But you, Obito... you think in a way that ninety-nine percent of ninja will never be able to throughout their entire lives."
Minato's words surprised Obito.
Kushina displayed a wide smile, while the other women also looked pleased.
"You really think so?" Obito murmured in surprise.
"Obito, you're a special boy. All of us can see that," Kushina said, satisfied.
Obito remained silent for a few moments before turning his eyes back to Minato.
"Sensei... why did you choose me? Out of so many Uchiha, why me? I mean... was it really just to balance the team by putting the best student together with the worst one?" he asked.
He couldn't explain why, but he needed that answer. If Minato had wanted to, he could have chosen any other Uchiha. Even so, the Hokage's smile never faded.
"Obito... I didn't choose you to balance any team. I chose you personally for the very reason you just demonstrated, and also because of what I said earlier."
Minato continued looking directly at him. "You're not like the other ninja, Obito. You're rare in this world. Even among the Uchiha. Not even my beautiful and beloved wife, Mikoto, can be as genuine as you are. You're very different from most people."
Minato ignored Mikoto's small snort, although she didn't deny his words either.
"I didn't choose you just because of your potential, even though it had been obvious from the very beginning and only needed someone willing to recognize it. I chose you because I knew you were a pure-hearted boy. A little foolish at times... but pure. And I can see that you're already leaving that naivety behind without losing what truly matters."
Obito didn't reply. At that moment, he simply understood.
Minato would never allow him to fall into darkness. He would never let Obito become the man who would one day plunge the world into despair.
No. This Obito would never be corrupted in this reality.
He had gained his power not through the hands of Madara Uchiha, but through Minato and everyone who had helped him move forward.
Because of that, he would never be manipulated by Madara. This Obito was prepared to face every challenge that stood in his way.
After all, it's not every day that someone meets a Bijū... and ends up becoming friends with it.
"Well, let's continue eating. We'll talk about the clan and everything that happened later," Minato said.
Obito simply nodded. He was more than willing to listen to the advice of the man he admired most in the entire world.
Even so, he couldn't hide the goofy smile that appeared on his face after hearing his teacher's words. They filled his heart with pride.
While many would have called him a fool for asking those questions or been more interested in finding out where the Bijū was, his sensei was different.
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