Young Obito shot a questioning glance at his older self.
"What else is there? Before you say anything, think about the harm you've caused to Minato-sensei's family, to Sasuke's family, to Konoha, and to Kakashi. Touch that conscience of yours, bound by a cursed seal, before you speak. Thank you."
"Tsk..."
If Adult Obito hadn't needed something from his younger self, he honestly would have...
...seen that right hand moving at two hundred Mach? It might have struck his younger self right in the skull.
But when asking for a favor, one has to lower their stance appropriately.
"It's because I've thought about the harm to them that I wanted to ask for your help..."
"Hmm. Speak."
"This mission." Adult Obito unrolled the mission scroll.
This was the first time Young Obito saw the full details of his older self's mission.
The first mission was SSS-rank: Prevent the Fourth Shinobi World War.
The second mission was to rescue him, rated B-rank. The reward information was completely useless—Obito Uchiha's Eight Ninja Principles.
The third was the A-rank mission they'd been hoping for...
-- Impersonate Madara Uchiha, converse with Hashirama Senju.
This mission instantly reminded Young Obito of his own past A-rank and B-rank missions.
Both were about impersonating the Fourth Mizukage—one to converse with Zabuza Momochi, the other with Kisame Hoshigaki. Or rather, since both were Obito Uchiha, it seemed almost fated that they'd receive such cosplay-like assignments?
Adult Obito was cosplaying Madara Uchiha, while he himself was essentially cosplaying himself. He couldn't just do it as Kagura Yagura—no, he had to use the Masked Man version for a true-to-life performance!
"So? What exactly do you need help with?"
After Young Obito asked, Adult Obito hesitated, his eyes darting away.
"Well, it's just..." Adult Obito stammered. "I haven't figured out how to face Minato-sensei and Kakashi yet."
"..." Young Obito's face screamed exasperation. "You want me to distract them so you can meet with Hashirama-sama as Madara?"
Adult Obito gave his younger self a knowing, approving look.
After all, they were one and the same. Putting himself in the man's shoes, Young Obito truly understood his feelings.
The request wasn't unreasonable. After thinking it over, Young Obito agreed.
"When do we carry out the plan?"
"I've been impersonating Madara Uchiha for so long that I could do it in my sleep. No prep needed. You just need to distract Minato-sensei and Kakashi. Don't overthink it—just..."
Adult Obito trailed off, hesitating. "Just get them out of the way for a while."
"Got it." Young Obito glanced at him. "We'll act tonight. I'll distract both Minato-sensei and adult Kakashi, then you can go ahead and do your thing."
"Okay..."
Adult Obito suddenly remembered. "By the way, where did the mission reward from that previous A-rank mission take you?"
If it was a time travel mission to the world where he had taken Kakashi, then the younger version of himself standing before him would surely find a way to free him, letting Kakashi's body return to that era.
"Time traveling to the parallel world's Chūnin Exams," Young Obito pondered before explaining, "According to Minato-sensei, it's likely a world without mission scrolls. He called it the 'mainline world'—meaning that without mission scrolls or other external interference, everyone's fate would follow its original course. You'd probably become the big boss of the Fourth Shinobi World War or something like that."
Adult Obito nodded. "What happened during those Chūnin Exams? Did the Third Hokage die?"
"No, because we arrived in time to stop that world's Orochimaru. But it seems Sasuke's cursed seal had already been implanted by Orochimaru during the second Chūnin Exams. Oh, right—we also got a B-rank mission back then."
"Any intel?" Adult Obito asked, wary of hearing about another one of those Eight Ninja Principles.
Looking at his younger self from the other world, Adult Obito could tell his expression was more serious than usual, which suggested the intel wasn't useless.
"What is it?" he asked again.
Young Obito explained, "The mission was to delay Sasuke and Naruto's showdown at the Valley of the End in that world, until their sensei, Kakashi, arrived. The intel we got…"
Considering the harm the "Old Ancestor" had done to his current self, Young Obito paused for a moment.
Adult Obito furrowed his brows. "Is there something you can't say?"
"Not really," Young Obito replied. "The intel said that both the Old Ancestor and Sasuke are reincarnations of Indra."
"The Old Ancestor?" Adult Obito didn't immediately understand who the "Old Ancestor" was. Then it clicked—when he and this younger version of himself had first met, he had appeared as Madara Uchiha, and back then, he had called him the "Old Ancestor."
So Madara Uchiha and Sasuke Uchiha were both reincarnations of Indra...
Sasuke Uchiha is Madara Uchiha's reincarnation?!!
Adult Obito sighed in regret. "I shouldn't have gone after Itachi back then. I should've gone straight for his brother!"
Young Obito Uchiha blinked, unimpressed. "...."
Well, that wasn't as dramatic as I expected.
But still...
Young Obito thought to himself, if you'd attacked Sasuke directly, you'd have had to be prepared for Itachi to relentlessly come after you.
"Alright, I'm leaving. Get ready to become Madara Uchiha and face the First Hokage-sama."
With that, Young Obito Uchiha vanished into his Space-Time Ninjutsu.
Meanwhile, Adult Obito had already transformed using the Transformation Technique into the youthful form of Madara Uchiha that he remembered from the Sharingan vision, waiting for Young Obito to remove him from Kamui's Dimension.
Elsewhere, Young Obito had come up with a brilliant plan to distract both Minato-sensei and Kakashi.
The inspiration came from the time when Young Obito had entered Kamui's dimension and was kicked out along with Kakashi, just in time to witness Danzō Shimura's death.
The next day, after practicing several times to seamlessly place a plate of red bean cakes into Kamui's dimension and simultaneously retrieve an identical item from it, he finally located the three figures: the Hokage, the Kannabi Bridge Hokage, and Adult Kakashi.
"You said something's off with your Kamui's Dimension?" Adult Kakashi asked immediately. "What's going on? When did this happen?"
"Just now," Young Obito replied. "I entered another version of my Kamui's Dimension…"
It was dark, eerie, and completely empty.
Rectangular platforms rose and fell, scattered throughout the void.
Beneath them lay an abyss so deep it could swallow a person whole, its bottom invisible.
He described to his two teachers and the Kakashi from another world what he had seen in the Kamui Dimension of the "Masked Man."
After hearing his account, the three of them fell into a brief silence.
"Obito, are you saying... your Kamui's Dimension is different from his?" Minato from the Kannabi Bridge Timeline asked.
"Yeah," Obito nodded. "I can't even describe my Kamui's Dimension properly."
He looked troubled. "The conditions inside are too strange. I'll take you in to see for yourselves."
As he spoke, his eyes shifted into crimson Mangekyō Sharingan, drawing the three of them into a swirling vortex within the void.
At the same time, he transferred Adult Obito out of his own Kamui's Dimension.
Upon seeing his younger self, Adult Obito instantly figured out the method used to distract Minato-sensei and Kakashi.
This plan was indeed foolproof. Adult Obito nodded and proceeded to meet Hashirama Senju, disguised as Madara Uchiha.
His story was already prepared: he would claim that 'he' had left the Rinnegan with Nagato all those years ago, waiting for the day when Nagato would resurrect 'him.'
Before meeting Hashirama Senju, 'Madara Uchiha' first encountered the Edo Tensei Tobirama.
"....."
This world's Obito was indeed a seasoned impersonator of Madara Uchiha. Upon seeing Tobirama Senju, he said nothing, simply meeting him with a calm gaze, waiting for Tobirama to speak first.
"Madara Uchiha?!"
True to Obito's expectations, the Second Hokage reacted with extreme alarm upon hearing Madara Uchiha's name.
As the name left his lips, he immediately pushed backward, adopting a defensive yet aggressive stance.
The sudden presence of another person's chakra outside the door, coupled with his younger brother Tobirama's chakra suddenly becoming tense and alert, meant that the Edo Tensei First Hokage couldn't possibly remain calm inside.
As he stepped out, he caught the moment when Obito, impersonating Madara Uchiha, greeted the Edo Tensei Tobirama with Madara's voice:
"Long time no see, Tobirama."
The greeting, combined with 'Madara Uchiha's' expression, carried a palpable sense of disdain, as though looking down on his opponent.
Especially the way he said 'Tobirama'—it carried a distinctly different tone, one full of contempt.
"You're still the same, afraid of the Uchiha Clan's power."
Watching Tobirama's defensive stance, 'Madara Uchiha' sneered coldly.
The Second Hokage, revived through Edo Tensei, ignored him. The sudden appearance of his elder brother behind him instantly eased his nerves.
"Brother! Madara Uchiha has been revived. With so many people here, we should lure him to a deserted place."
As Tobirama finished speaking, 'Madara Uchiha' prepared to relocate.
But then, one sentence from Hashirama Senju shattered his plans.
"Who... are you?"
That awkward, questioning gaze mirrored exactly the one he had given when he had asked who the Edo Tensei Fourth Hokage was.
Uchiha · Masked Man · Fake Madara · Obito: "....."
Can't you just follow the script?!