The pain was a physical entity, a white-hot sword driven through the right side of his body. Obito couldn't scream. He couldn't move. He could only see the small, horrifying gap between the massive slab of rock and the wall of the collapsing cave. In the gap, there was light, and the memory of Rin and Kakashi.
He felt himself sinking, letting go. It was easier to just cease the terrible, gut-wrenching ache.
"...NO. You cannot yield. This is not the end."
The voice was cold, mechanical, and painfully clear—it didn't sound like a memory or a hallucination. It sounded like an intrusive thought delivered directly into the control center of his brain, overriding the scream of his nerves.
"Who said that?" Obito tried to croak, but only a wet rattle escaped his lips.
[HOST: DO NOT EXPEND ENERGY ON VOCALIZATION. PRIORITY: LISTEN AND COMPLY.]
A shape materialized in the shadow. It wasn't the white, viscous thing slinking closer (Zetsu), but the source of the authoritative voice. It felt ancient, heavy, and immensely powerful, like the entire mountain was speaking.
"You are still consumed by the superficial noise of this world," the voice said. It wasn't the System. It was the other one. Madara.
Madara Uchiha, his silhouette vast and terrible, stood in the light of the cave entrance. "The noise of failure. The noise of betrayal. Your teammate, the prodigious Hatake, let you die for a trinket."
[SYSTEM ALERT: HIGH-LEVEL MENTAL MANIPULATION DETECTED. CHAKRA OVERWRITE ATTEMPT.]
[COUNTERMEASURE: INITIATE FRACTAL SHIELDING (Stage 1). DIVERSE MANIPULATOR'S ATTENTION.]
"He is a liar. His words are poison. Focus on the core directive: Rin. She needs you to survive this." The System's voice was sharper this time, a precise, intellectual counterpoint to the emotional devastation Madara was seeding.
"Betrayal?" Obito thought, the concept stabbing him deeper than the rock. But then he remembered Rin's face, pale and terrified. No. Kakashi wouldn't... Rin is still out there. I have to go back.
Madara paused, his single eye narrowing slightly. He sensed the internal friction. "What do you seek now, boy? Vengeance for the wound that crippled you?"
"No," Obito thought fiercely, directing the thought at the mechanical voice, not the ancient man. "Tell me how to get out of here! I don't want your revenge!"
[PROTOCOL 002: CHAKRA INTEGRATION (Stage 1). SYSTEM INITIATING MICRO-REPAIRS ON CHAKRA PATHWAYS.]
[HOST: The man before you, Madara, is your fate. He means to reshape you into his puppet. Your only path forward is through me. Trust my directives.]
"You will not leave this place unless I allow it," Madara continued, oblivious to the war raging inside Obito's mind. "But you have the will. I will give you the means to reclaim what was lost. The world of dreams awaits."
"Lost? Nothing is lost yet! This 'world of dreams' is a prison!" The System injected a rush of detailed, almost photographic knowledge of the Infinite Tsukuyomi—not as emotional data, but as pure, terrifying analytical fact.
Obito flinched, a tiny movement of his undamaged hand. The images flooded his consciousness: a world where his individuality was smothered, where he was merely a tool for an ancient, dead goddess. The horror of the fate was worse than the horror of the wound.
"Who are you?" Obito finally managed to whisper, eyes fixed on Madara but speaking to the System.
"I am the key to your redemption," Madara answered, misinterpreting the query.
"I am the System. I exist to keep you alive and give you choice. Madara is wrong. He is trying to take the pain away so he can use your soul. If you fight him, I can stabilize the damage. But you must resist his pity."
Madara began to use the Hashirama cells—the white, synthetic matter of Zetsu—to knit Obito's crushed body. Obito felt the invasive, repulsive tendrils beginning to wrap around his damaged side.
[HOST: ALERT. PHYSICAL INTEGRATION OF WHITE ZETSU BIOMATTER. CRITICAL.]
"It will hurt, but you will live," Madara promised.
Obito bit down on the inside of his cheek, tasting blood. The System's voice, though cold, offered a singular path: choice.
"Listen, Obito. They think your destiny is set. But I can see the seams. Work with me. Let the hatred take the rock, but not your heart. I need you to mentally agree. Say 'System, I accept.'"
With the crushing weight of the stone, the overwhelming presence of Madara, and the disgusting, invasive biomatter, Obito had nowhere else to turn. He had always wanted to be a hero, and now a strange, digital entity offered him a final chance at control.
He gasped out the words, a silent promise, his eyes now blazing with a desperate, two-tomed resolve.
"System... I accept."
[SYSTEM PROTOCOL 003: PARTNERSHIP ESTABLISHED. CORE DIRECTIVE: HOST SURVIVAL AND REDEMPTION. STARTING REPAIRS.]
[MADARA UCHIHA'S MANIPULATION RATING: 15% COMPLETE. TARGETING HATRED. NEXT OBJECTIVE: PREVENT HOST FROM FALLING INTO CANON DESPAIR.]
The real battle for Obito Uchiha had begun, not against a rival shinobi, but against destiny itself.
: Madara begins the intense phase of manipulation, but the System utilizes its new partnership status to grant Obito the first, subtle skill that completely throws Madara's script. We need to see Zetsu react to this immediate anomaly.