The illusionary world was peaceful.
Green grass swayed gently in the wind. Small white flowers dotted the field like fallen stars. No blood. No fire. No war.
Only two Uchiha stood facing one another.
Their eyes locked.
Jin spoke first.
"Ohisashiburi daze… Uchiha… Runtu."
A vein throbbed visibly on Obito's forehead, forming a sharp "#".
"You're still just as irritating as ever."
Jin pressed a hand to his chest as if wounded. "Ah, rebellious teenagers really have no manners. With my relationship to Minato, you should at least call me 'sensei.'"
He didn't mean master—just the respectful title used for a jonin squad leader. Among friendly teams, it wasn't unusual to address another squad's captain that way.
Obito let out a cold laugh.
"I don't even want to acknowledge Minato-sensei anymore. Why would I call you that?"
The moment Minato's name left Jin's lips—
Something inside Obito snapped.
From the day Team Seven was formed, Minato had carried the responsibility to teach and protect the three of them.
And in Obito's eyes—
Every tragedy they suffered could have been prevented by the Yellow Flash.
Minato always arrived—
Just a little too late.
Obito knew the reality of war. Orders came from above. Even Minato couldn't act freely. He couldn't be everywhere at once.
It wasn't fair to blame him.
But Obito couldn't stop himself from thinking—
If Minato had arrived earlier when he and Kakashi went to rescue Rin…
Would he have avoided being crushed under that boulder?
Would he have never met Madara?
If Minato had been beside Kakashi and Rin on the Mist battlefield…
Would Rin have avoided capture?
Would she have been spared from choosing death?
He knew these thoughts were unreasonable.
But he couldn't stop them.
If things had gone differently—
Maybe he'd still be the old Uchiha Obito.
"Cold-hearted, aren't you?" Jin's expression turned serious. "So you blame Minato for everything?"
"Shouldn't I?!" Obito shot back. "He was the fastest ninja in the world! The Yellow Flash! He had the power to change everything!"
Jin said nothing.
He simply watched him.
Obito calmed slightly.
"…I know he was overloaded because he was strong. Konoha assigned him the most critical missions."
"So if anyone's responsible—"
"It's the useless elders sitting comfortably in Konoha!"
"It was them who put me and Rin in Team Minato! Who forced us to follow him into high-risk missions behind enemy lines!"
"They're the ones who placed us in danger!"
His resentment wasn't baseless.
During the Third Great Ninja War, students who performed better than him—like Might Guy and Genma Shiranui—were assigned relatively safer logistics missions.
But Obito, the academy dead-last—
Was placed under Minato and sent into operations that could shift the course of the war.
The difference was glaring.
Realistically, Minato's optimal squad composition would've been something like his later unit—mostly jonin-level operatives.
Only Kakashi could keep up with him.
Obito and Rin had been liabilities.
But Kakashi's mindset at the time had deteriorated badly. Hiruzen Sarutobi had feared losing such a gifted blade.
So Minato was assigned to guide Kakashi.
And Obito and Rin—two bright, emotionally grounding personalities—were placed beside him to soften him.
That was how Team Minato came to exist.
Hiruzen had solved one problem—
Without caring about the cost to the others.
Or perhaps he had considered it.
And simply deemed the sacrifice acceptable.
If Kakashi could be forged into a perfect weapon, what did a few "dead-last" students matter?
Under such circumstances, Obito's bitterness toward Konoha wasn't unreasonable.
He continued, voice tightening.
"Minato was wrong. Konoha was wrong."
"But ultimately—"
"The real culprit is this broken world of endless war!"
"If there had been no war—none of this would have happened!"
"So I will correct it."
His voice steadied.
The cracks Yahiko had opened earlier seemed sealed once more.
But Jin suddenly laughed.
Not lightly.
Openly.
"Ahahaha…"
He shook his head.
"What an arrogant little brat. I used to wonder how you earned that 'Wisdom: 2' score. Now I think even that might've been generous."
Obito's face went dark.
He desperately wanted to stomp that annoyingly handsome face into the grass.
Being good-looking wasn't everything.
Being good-looking didn't give someone the right to insult people.
The worst part?
He couldn't refute it.
The score was official.
Recorded.
Archived.
No one else had mocked him for it—
Except Jin.
So clearly—
This was Jin's fault.
"Damn it!" Obito growled. "Laugh again and I'll attack."
"Sorry, sorry." Jin raised a hand.
Seeing Obito on the verge of exploding, he finally grew serious.
"My mistake. But what you just said was absurd."
"What's absurd about it?!" Obito demanded.
Jin's voice lowered.
"First, let's ignore whether your 'world correction plan' is even feasible."
"Yes. War has caused countless tragedies."
"But here's the problem."
"What you experienced…"
"Has very little to do with war."
Obito froze.
Jin continued calmly.
"Even if the Third Great Ninja War had never occurred…"
"What happened to you would likely still have happened."
"And the reason?"
He met Obito's eyes steadily.
"You still don't know the truth behind it."
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