Leaving and Staying

Kushina...

What had happened to her to make her reveal that kind of look? Though it had only flashed by, it felt as if, regarding whatever might happen, Kushina was extremely unwilling to do it, yet had no choice but to do so.

Damn! At a time like this?

There was no helping it. All I could do now was change Obito and the others' fate first, then come back and deal with whatever might have happened to Kushina.

In the original plot, nothing should have happened to Kushina here.

But butterfly effects might have occurred now, causing something to happen to Kushina...

Still, the overall course of history was moving toward the original plot, so Kushina should not face any danger. That was almost certain.

And after I change Obito's fate, what comes next might no longer follow the original plot. When that time comes, I would need to be extra careful.

Now that I thought about it, after saving Obito, I also needed to actively work my way into the village's upper ranks!

Then, I needed to investigate Madara Uchiha's whereabouts. I had to kill him before he found a successor other than Obito or manipulated Obito again.

The elderly Madara should not pose much of a threat. The current me could probably kill him easily.

After watching Kushina leave, Chiba's thoughts spread out as he ran through another series of plans in his mind.

He had corresponding plans for every possible turn Obito's fate might take after being saved. Over the past few years, these possibilities and plans were what he had thought about most before going to sleep each night.

He had thought them through even more deeply than all kinds of training and research.

Sometimes, he even dreamed of certain possibilities.

"What happened to Teacher