[Sarada Uchiha]: "No matter what, Infinite Tsukuyomi is fake! I'll always believe in the Seventh Hokage's ideals!"
[Boruto Uzumaki]: "Heh, my idiot dad's too soft-hearted…"
[Sarada]: "Watch your tone, Boruto! That's the Hokage you're talking about!"
[Iwabe Yuino]: "You two argue every single time we watch a video…"
The new generation sighed in unison.
They were used to it.
Sarada worshipped the Hokage;
Boruto idolized Sasuke.
Honestly, some suspected the two families might've swapped babies back in the hospital.
[Kakashi Hatake]: "Obito… please. Come back."
[Obito Uchiha]: "Hmph. The people in that video are nothing but corpses beneath my blade."
[Itachi Uchiha]: "You who can't trust your comrades… will always fail."
[Sasuke Uchiha]: "My brother's right!"
Words couldn't reach him anymore.
Kakashi's heart sank.
But Naruto stepped forward, eyes burning bright.
"Enough of your nonsense! I told you—I'll never abandon my dream of becoming Hokage!"
"Too many people have entrusted their hopes to me… and I won't let them down!"
Obito's cold voice cut through the wind.
"Entrusted, huh? Tell me, if Jiraiya and the Fourth Hokage saw how carelessly you treat what they gave you—
what would they think?"
At that, Naruto froze.
His mind flashed to his father… and his pervy old teacher.
[Jiraiya]: "Wait—am I… already dead in the future?!"
[Nagato Uzumaki]: "WHO DID IT?! Who killed Master Jiraiya?! COME OUT RIGHT NOW!"
[Konan]: "Yeah! Who was it?!"
The entire screen trembled with Nagato's rage.
To him, Jiraiya was more than a sensei—he was family.
A teacher for a day, a father for life.
And someone had dared to kill him?!
[Naruto (adult)]: "Ahem…"
Naruto's awkward cough echoed across the chat.
[Nagato]: "Naruto, why are you coughing?"
[Naruto]: "…Take a wild guess."
[Nagato]: "???"
[Jiraiya]: "Why do I suddenly feel a sharp pain in my chest…?"
"Tell me, Naruto," Obito continued, voice colder than iron.
"If you betray the hopes they left you, what will remain of you?"
Naruto clenched his fists.
He didn't have an answer.
Obito raised the Gunbai, his eye flashing.
"You push your problems into the future, wrap them in words like 'hope'—but what awaits you is emptiness.
Both the entrusted… and the entruster. All that's left is nothing."
The words hung heavy.
And then—Kurama's growl rumbled from deep within Naruto.
"Fourth Hokage sealed me inside him for a reason,"
the fox snarled.
"To destroy you!"
Gold chakra exploded around Naruto like a sunrise.
"Let's go, Naruto!"
Kurama grinned wide.
"You won't lose—not to him!"
Naruto nodded once, and in a flash of golden light, vanished.
[Itachi]: "He's entered that mode again!"
[Sasuke]: "So that's perfect Jinchūriki form…"
[Killer B]: "Oh yeah, how come my perfect form don't look as cool as his, yo?"
[Raikage A]: "BEE! Stop rapping or I'll fold you myself!"
[Kurotsuchi]: "Honestly, Kakashi's deduction skills are insane—he figured out their dimensions overlap."
[Darui]: "Yeah, but he still can't bring himself to hurt Obito…"
[Mei Terumi]: "If Obito had been colder, he could've ripped Kakashi's other eye out right there."
[Gaara]: "Dual Kamui Obito… just the thought gives me chills."
Obito's teeth ground together as he glared at the screen.
That useless Kakashi…
He'd entrusted his Sharingan to him—to protect Rin.
And what happened?
Rin died in his arms.
That was the moment the world had lost all color.
That was when Obito's dream turned to Obito's nightmare.
[Itachi]: "You'll fail, Obito. You already have."
[Obito]: "You? The clan-killer? Spare me your lectures."
[Indra Ōtsutsuki]: "Calm down, my descendant. Don't you think all this… feels orchestrated?"
[Obito]: "What do you mean?"
[Indra]: "Isn't it strange? You arrived just in time to see Rin die in Kakashi's arms… too perfect a coincidence."
[Madara]: "Ahem. Perhaps we should… keep watching the video."
The chat went silent.
All eyes turned to the high screen again—
the moment of truth was near.
Obito's mask cracked, and everyone leaned forward.
What did he really look like now?
Naruto lunged in golden fury, Kurama's aura blazing like a comet.
Obito stood unfazed, stepping through the beast's massive claws as though made of smoke.
Watching the battle, Guy's fists trembled.
His student was still fighting…
and as a teacher, how could he stand by any longer?
He clapped a hand on Kakashi's shoulder.
"Hey, Kakashi! You hear that? We hit him head-on this time! Let's move!"
Kakashi took a deep breath.
He couldn't keep running—not from this, not from him.
Obito formed hand seals, summoning a storm of shuriken from Kamui space.
They sliced the air with impossible speed.
Bee's tentacles tried to block them—
and were sliced clean through.
Naruto darted forward, and Kurama's massive fox-head clamped down on the last blade, jaws sparking against the metal.
"I'm not alone," Naruto shouted.
"I've got Kurama, Uncle Bee, Eighty-Bro, Bushy-Brow Sensei, and Kakashi-Sensei!"
The sincerity in his voice froze Obito in place.
For a brief moment,
he saw his younger self standing in that golden light—
the boy who once wanted to be Hokage.
[Kushina Uzumaki]: "Obito, do you see it now? He's just like you were."
[Minato Namikaze]: "You can still turn back."
[Obito]: "I told you already… Infinite Tsukuyomi will happen. My will won't waver."
[Hagoromo Ōtsutsuki]: "His resolve is strong indeed…"
[Sarada]: "So… how did someone this strong even lose later?"
The young shinobi stared at the screen,
eyes wide in awe.
For now, the answer remained hidden—
beneath that cracked mask and a heart buried in regret.
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