Success

Madara Uchiha struck first, swinging his blade down. The terrifying force split mountains and shattered stone in an instant. Karot flashed away, landed on the spine of the blade, and charged toward Madara. Madara raised his other blade, determined to finish Karot off.

Karot planted his foot and kicked upward, sending Madara straight into the air. As Madara flew upward, he saw Karot waiting above him. Karot kicked him downward again, as if he were a ball.

"Down you go."

Madara's Susanoo shattered.

Madara could no longer maintain his flight. He landed steadily on the ground, his clone covered in cracks and wounds like porcelain about to break.

The clone was simply too weak. It could only wield a tenth or two of the original's power.

"How about now, senior? Can I take him with me?"

Karot asked.

Madara knew that with his current strength, he couldn't stop Karot.

"Karot, let's join hands and bring peace to the Ninja World!"

Madara invited Karot to join his plan. The strength Karot had shown was even greater than Obito's.

"Senior, is the peace you're asking for really peace? Pulling everyone into an illusion..."

"What's wrong with that? Everyone would be in the illusion, and there would be no more war. Wouldn't that be peace?"

Madara tried to keep persuading Karot.

"You could have unified the Ninja World and brought it peace back then, but you gave up. Now you want to pursue your ideal. I don't want to stop you. But if you hurt my friends, don't blame me for turning the whole table over."

Karot made his position clear.

"I also want to fight the strongest version of you."

"Fine. If your friends don't get in my way, I won't harm them."

Madara promised.

"Thanks, senior. Then I'll take my leave."

Madara was weaker than Karot now, but he was still one of the strongest in the Ninja World. If he went after Karot's friends and family, there would inevitably be times when Karot couldn't protect them all. As the saying went, a man could be a thief for a thousand days, but no one could guard against thieves for a thousand days.

Madara wouldn't go back on a promise once he'd made it. After all, the word of a strong man was as good as his deed. If someone else had made the promise, Karot would have simply made him regret ever being born—by killing him.

"By the way, senior, you should be careful of Black Zetsu. He might not actually be your will."

With that, Karot used Instantaneous Movement and appeared in the cave. He nodded to Madara's real body, picked up the unconscious Obito, and returned to Konoha.

Madara's clone gradually faded away until it disappeared.

In the cave, Madara received all the clone's memories. He gave Black Zetsu a long, searching look. He trusted that Karot wouldn't make baseless claims.

Black Zetsu, who had been plotting and scheming for Madara, never imagined that Karot would stab him in the back like this. He had no idea whether it would be as easy to take over Madara's body in the future.

"Black Zetsu, find another Uchiha. And from now on, be careful around Karot. Don't touch his friends."

Madara instructed Black Zetsu. Whatever Black Zetsu's motives were, he was still loyal to him for now. Betrayals usually happened at the very end, when someone tried to claim the spoils. When that time came, they would each have to rely on their own abilities. Now that he was on guard, Madara believed he would be the one laughing in the end.

Karot carried Obito back to the Hatake Clan's home in Konoha.

There were a few more people in the living room than before: Jiraiya, Rin, and Kushina, who had come looking for her husband.

"Hi, everyone."

Seeing Karot appear out of nowhere, nobody was the least bit prepared. Karot dropped Obito onto the floor, picked up a teacup, and drained it.

"Ah, that hits the spot."

After fighting Madara, he was parched.

"Ow! Which bastard hit me?"

Obito shouted as he came to from the impact.

"Obito."

Rin's call promptly silenced him.

"Rin."

Obito looked at the girl he loved, tears streaming down his face. When the rocks had crushed him, he'd thought he would never see the girl he'd longed for again. Then Madara had rescued him, and he'd been unable to escape. Now, at last, he'd seen her again. Naturally, he couldn't hold back his feelings.

"Obito. Welcome back."

"Teacher Minato."

"Obito, welcome back."

"Kakashi."

The two were overflowing with emotion. After everything they'd been through, their bond had grown stronger in an instant.

Everyone gathered around Obito, fussing over him and asking after him, completely forgetting Karot.

"Alas, people's hearts have grown cold. There's a whole person standing right here, and not one of you has come to check on me."

Karot pretended to be jealous.

"Hey, Karot, you did great. Let's go grab a couple of drinks later."

Jiraiya, always quick to make friends, tried to cozy up to Karot. He wanted to support Minato and win Karot over. Jiraiya really did go to a lot of trouble for Minato.

"Lord Jiraiya, drinking with you would only get me into trouble. Every time you drink, you sneak out of the bathhouse—and it's the women's bathhouse."

"Hahaha."

Jiraiya rubbed the back of his head and laughed sheepishly.

"Thank you, Karot, for bringing my student back safely. I don't even know how I could thank you."

After catching up with Obito, Minato came over to thank Karot. Without him, Minato wouldn't even have known whether Obito was alive or dead.

"It was just a small thing I did for my younger brother. If you really want to thank me, treat me to a meal!"

Karot revealed his little scheme. He was making it clear that he'd helped for Kakashi's sake, so Minato had better treat his younger brother well from now on. And, of course, he was also making a small request.

"That's easy."

Minato was delighted. Kakashi couldn't stop him. His older brother's appetite only grew with age.

Kushina, who'd been quiet until then, spoke up.

"I've just finished cooking at home. Why don't we all go eat together?"

Karot had heard plenty about Kushina's cooking. He didn't want to try it.

"I'm a little tired today. I'll definitely come by another time."

Karot rejected Kushina's invitation without hesitation. He couldn't bear to look at Minato's pleading expression. He had no idea what Minato's stomach was made of; how could he possibly eat her cooking? Jiraiya, Obito, and Kakashi were then all dragged off to Minato's house for dinner. Kakashi desperately hoped Karot would call after him, but he didn't hear a word from him before they left.

"You weren't hurt, were you?"

Once only father and son remained at home, Hatake Sakumo asked.

"Father, what could've hurt me? It was nothing. Easy."

"That's good. Think things through for yourself before you go next time."

Hatake Sakumo knew that Karot had chosen Orochimaru, which was why he'd turned down Jiraiya's invitation.

"I know, Father."

When Kakashi came back that night, he stood outside Karot's room without knocking. He knew Karot wasn't asleep.

"Big brother, thank you."