"Third Mizukage? Are you serious?"
Hearing Obito Uchiha say such a thing, even Rei Kaguya, who had been wary of this man in every possible way—a man far more deranged than the Obito Uchiha he knew—was still startled by the other party's words.
"Yes. Third Mizukage…"
Obito Uchiha wore that tiger-striped mask, which was meaningless to him, and stared with his Mangekyo Sharingan into Rei Kaguya's now-white eyes.
Beneath the mask, the corners of his mouth stiffly pulled into a mocking arc.
"Was that not what you said yourself, Rei Kaguya?"
"In front of so many Kirigakure ninja, you publicly declared that the Third Mizukage had been controlled by a Sharingan genjutsu. Even during the meeting between the Mizukage and the Hokage, you showed no intention whatsoever of covering for the Third Mizukage who had traveled with you."
"A Sharingan genjutsu capable of controlling a village's Kage—and not just any Kage, but the Mizukage of a village like Kirigakure, which believes strength reigns supreme—could not possibly be something just any stray cat or dog could use."
"Then, considering how White Zetsu's clone so conveniently discovered the intelligence that Kakashi and Rin had been attacked by Kirigakure ninja, along with Madara Uchiha's later attitude toward me…"
"What is wrong with saying that he was Kirigakure's true Third Mizukage, Lord Fourth Mizukage?"
Obito Uchiha so openly admitting that he knew Madara Uchiha was the mastermind behind the plot against him made Rei Kaguya furrow his brows deeply.
He activated his Byakugan and stared at the meridians and chakra flow inside Obito's body, which were completely visible within his Byakugan's field of view.
Slowly, he asked, "When did you realize that Madara Uchiha was the true mastermind behind Rin Nohara's death?"
"Quite early. Probably not long after you became the Fourth Mizukage?"
Obito Uchiha tilted his head, wearing the relaxed posture of someone chatting with an old friend.
"Does Lord Mizukage have some idea after asking this?"
"From that moment on, did you intend to betray Madara Uchiha?" Rei Kaguya asked with a frown.
"No. I did not."
Obito Uchiha sounded as if he were answering the question, yet also as if he were using this opportunity—one where no one could possibly approach or overhear them—to release emotions that had been suppressed in his heart for a very long time.
"At that time, I sincerely believed in Madara and his plan to save the world. Even now, I have no intention of abandoning the plan he prepared for so many years to start over and work alone."
"I merely felt that there was no need to let an old man who could only barely cling to life execute and control something as important as putting the entire world into a dream."
"Putting the entire world into a dream? Then the two of you really are… very Uchiha in style."
Rei Kaguya looked into the distance, where Kakashi Hatake, showing no intention of resistance, had been knocked down by White Zetsu, who had transformed into Obito, before his left eye was taken away.
Raising his brows, Rei said, "However, since you intended to inherit Madara Uchiha's mantle and hide in the dark to silently scheme something, why did you jump out under Root's identity to launch attacks against Konoha and Kirigakure and draw our attention?"
"If you wanted to take back the eye you gave Kakashi Hatake, opportunities should have been everywhere."
"Because I did not want you to discover me, I suppose."
Obito Uchiha let out a snort of laughter.
It sounded as if he were mocking the inexplicable entanglement and operation he had once carried out. It also sounded as if he were making one final cut from the last trace of conscience and hesitation he had once possessed.
"At the time, I always felt that if you realized who I was, the entire plan would run into enormous trouble…"
"But thinking about it now, that was completely just my own wishful thinking."
"True. Even if you had directly gone into Konoha and taken Kakashi Hatake's eye back, at most, I would have placed you on a list of targets that required vigilance. If you had not jumped out yourself, I would not have wasted the effort to actively search for your traces."
Rei Kaguya openly admitted this.
"After all, I still had so many reform policies to formulate and so many economic and diplomatic affairs to handle. Being able to send Shisui and Nagato, two restless and warm-hearted fellows, to trouble you was already the limit of what I could do."
"So I made the wrong decision and caused myself, who should have acted from the shadows, to be completely exposed before you and Konoha."
Obito Uchiha sighed regretfully and shook his head.
"Although that was a mistake, it was also precisely because of this mistake that I realized I should not continue hiding in the darkness."
"Continuing to hide in the dark would indeed allow me to develop in secret. But that advantage is not enough to offset the changes caused by the wave of reform you are pushing across the entire shinobi world."
"Good eye."
Rei Kaguya glanced sideways at the Nine-Tails, which had climbed back up and begun baring its teeth at him. His eyes narrowed slightly.
"If you continue hiding in the shadows, then by the time you accumulate what you believe to be enough capital to launch your plan, I will already have begun taking steps toward unifying the shinobi world."
"Yes. If I accumulate strength, you will also become stronger. And given all those wildly imaginative ideas of yours, the speed at which you become stronger should be much faster than the speed at which I can accumulate power in secret."
Obito Uchiha's body began to distort and disappear into the vortex. His voice also became ethereal and distant.
"If I were against a world without you, I would have enough confidence. But you seem to intend to twist the entire world into the shape you desire. I do not have that much confidence in fighting against such an awful and unified world."
"So I will not leave the entire world to you. Aside from Kirigakure and the Land of Water, which you already treat as your nest, I do not want to leave you even the slightest bit of land or population."
"Konoha is only the beginning. From now on, I will use the power of the Tailed Beasts to annihilate any country that stands on your side. Any force that dares to ally with you, I will spare no effort in uprooting it…"
"If you can do it, then go ahead and try."
Rei Kaguya looked at Obito Uchiha, who was gradually disappearing, his tone calm as still water.
"If you think that possessing an independent alternate space means that no one beneath heaven can stop you anymore, then you are gravely mistaken, Obito Uchiha."
"But I still want to try."
"With these Mangekyo Sharingan that twist space-time, with the Nine-Tails that obeys my orders, and with Wood Release that even Madara Uchiha never possessed!"
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