"What are you talking about, Rin?"
Obito Uchiha's voice trembled with disbelief.
Was this really the same Nohara Rin who had always been gentle with him?
The reason Obito had fallen for Rin in the first place was simple. Back then, everyone in class thought he was dead last, the hopeless one, the idiot who would never amount to anything. But Rin had never looked at him that way. She had always believed in him. She had always encouraged him.
And for an Uchiha, whose heart could cling to love with terrifying intensity, that kindness had become something far greater.
Rin had become the light in Obito's world.
The meaning of his life.
Even after realizing that Rin liked Kakashi, Obito had never truly given up. Somewhere deep down, he had always believed that one day, Rin would notice him. That one day, she would see him for who he really was.
But now…
The Rin standing here, with her eyes and heart seemingly filled with Namikaze Kirito—
Could that really be her?
As if noticing the disbelief written all over Obito's face, Namikaze Kirito slowly stepped forward.
"Yes," he said calmly, his voice quiet and cruelly certain. "The Rin you're looking at is real. I only made a slight adjustment to her memories."
His gaze stayed on Obito.
"You already know I can bring the dead back. I have no reason to lie to you about that anymore."
"Namikaze Kirito…!"
Obito's expression twisted in fury.
"Damn you!"
"Wood Style: Cutting Technique!"
Vines burst from Obito's right arm, lashing toward Kirito in an instant.
Kirito didn't even move.
He simply stood there, as if he had expected this from the beginning.
And then—
A slender figure stepped in front of him.
Obito's eyes widened.
The wooden spikes stopped dead just short of Rin, frozen inches from her body.
Yet Rin didn't flinch.
Not even a little.
There was no fear in her eyes at all. Only resolve.
"Obito," she said, her voice firm, "I don't know why you've become like this. I may not be able to change your mind… but if you want to hurt my king, then you'll have to kill me first."
"Rin…"
Obito stared at her, his hand tightening over his chest.
Even if this was only a White Zetsu body, his consciousness was inside it. For all intents and purposes, this was still him. And right now, that pain tearing through him felt no less real.
Looking at Rin's cold, determined face, Obito felt as if something was crushing him from the inside.
Why?
Why had Rin come back… only to become like this?
Why had things turned out this way?
And in the end, every answer in his heart led back to one person.
Namikaze Kirito.
Blood began to trickle from Obito's eye.
"Rin, listen to me!" he shouted hoarsely. "He changed your memories! This isn't who you are! You were never like this! Come with me—I'll save you!"
Rin only shook her head.
"Obito… what I feel for the king is real."
Her voice didn't waver.
"Maybe memories can be altered. But feelings in the heart aren't that simple. And even if he did change something… then that only means this is still the path I would have chosen myself."
"Rin," Kirito said softly, "you really are a good girl."
As he spoke, he reached up and gently brushed her pale cheek with his fingers.
"Don't touch her, Kirito!"
Obito completely lost control.
His voice came out like a roar.
He had never even gotten that close to Rin himself. Never. Forget touching her like that—he had never even been allowed that kind of closeness.
The only time he had ever truly held her…
…was when she died in his arms.
And it was in that moment that he had sworn to create a world where Rin could exist.
A world with her in it.
"Obito," Kirito said, almost casually, "come back to Konoha. Rin is here waiting for you."
Those words were like blades.
Obito's hand shot out as he pointed at Kirito, but he was so enraged he could barely speak.
"Rin…! Rin, come with me! Don't believe this bastard! He's the one who twisted your memories!"
Kirito watched him in silence for a moment, and deep inside, he felt something cold and satisfying.
He didn't pity Obito.
Not even a little.
From the day his parents died, Kirito had already made up his mind.
When it came to Obito, he would show no mercy.
Obito had chosen this path. Obito had plunged others into hell.
So if Obito believed he understood despair—
Then Kirito would make sure he felt the real thing.
On the night of the Nine-Tails' attack, Kirito had tasted helplessness.
Now he was simply returning that pain to the one who caused it.
Tit for tat.
That was all.
There was nothing here worth softening for.
Rin's expression turned even colder as she looked at Obito.
"Obito, the king is willing to let bygones be bygones and give you a chance to return. Why do you keep insulting him like this?"
"Rin, you—"
"Enough!"
Her voice rang out sharply.
"If you keep talking like that… I really will never forgive you."
Obito froze.
He just stood there, staring at her.
After a long silence, he covered his face—and then he started laughing.
But that laughter sounded more broken than mad.
It was the kind of laugh that came after something inside a person had already fallen apart.
"I get it now…" he muttered. "You're not Rin."
His shoulders trembled.
"You're not Rin… The real Rin is dead."
His voice grew more ragged with every word.
"So this really is hell. Fine. Then wait for me, Rin. I'll create a world where you can exist… A world with the real you."
He lowered his hand, and his expression twisted into something desperate and hollow.
"But this version of you… this isn't the Rin I know."
Minato Namikaze and Kakashi Hatake watched in silence.
Neither of them could bear to look at Obito like this.
But neither of them spoke.
Obito had brought too much destruction. And now, Konoha belonged to the Kingdom of Gensokyo. As retainers of that nation, neither of them would openly oppose the sovereign's judgment.
For Minato, the reason was simple.
Kirito was his son.
Whatever choice Kirito made, Minato would stand behind him as a father.
And Kakashi…
Kakashi remained Kakashi.
He stood there in silence, carrying that same familiar burden of guilt and helplessness. Just as he had failed to protect Rin, just as he had never been able to truly step in for Minato's children, he could only watch now.
Kirito had specifically ordered Orochimaru to bring Kakashi here.
This was punishment for Obito.
But in a different way—
It was punishment for Kakashi too.
Kirito looked at Obito, who still refused to accept what was in front of him, and gave a cold, dismissive laugh.
"Obito… is this really what your love amounts to?"
Obito's eye burned with hatred.
"Shut up, Kirito!"
"Rin is standing right in front of you," Kirito continued, ignoring him completely. "And instead of facing that, you run away and tell yourself she isn't real."
His voice remained calm, but every word hit harder than any jutsu.
"You keep saying you love her. You keep saying you want to create a world for her. But the moment she appears before you in a form you can't accept… you reject her."
Kirito reached up once more and touched Rin's cheek.
This time, his thumb gently brushed across her skin.
"And yet you call that love?"
Rin leaned into his hand ever so slightly, her eyes softening with absolute trust.
In the memories Kirito had given her, he was everything.
The center of her heart.
The one person she would never betray.
No matter what he asked of her, she would accept it without hesitation. If he told her to die, she would probably take her own life without even blinking.
That was how completely her heart had been shaped around him.
And that sight—
That devotion—
That unbearable closeness—
Finally shattered what little Obito had left.
He looked ready to tear the world apart.
But he couldn't.
Because standing before him was Kirito.
And Obito knew it.
Knew it better than anyone.
He didn't even dare show up in his real body.
So what right did he have to speak of destroying everything?
Hashirama Senju. Tobirama Senju.
Even those two now obeyed his command completely.
But Obito never once thought of easily winning on them here.
Because no matter how much he screamed, no matter how much he denied it, some part of him already understood the truth.
The girl in front of him—
The one he had longed for, grieved for, and built his entire madness around—
Was the real Rin.
And that was exactly why he couldn't bear it.
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