The Hokage Wasn't Important

Danzo was in a very bad mood. He had been stripped of his position. That alone would have been nothing; Root had sunk its roots deep under his control. Even if Root no longer belonged to him in name, he still held it firmly in his grasp.

But that bastard Orochimaru wanted a clear accounting of Root's funds, ordering Root to coordinate with the Special Audit Team responsible for it and audit Root's financial flows.

Then he wanted to plant his own people inside Root. He was clearly eroding Danzo's control over it!

Of course, that was only one of the things making Danzo unhappy. There was another matter: the Uchiha!

Orochimaru actually wanted to placate the Uchiha! He even wanted to take the Uchiha clan head's son as his disciple! Was he trying to rebel? Bastard!

Those two idiots, Homura and Koharu, had lost their minds too! They actually supported this, all because Orochimaru had loosened his control over the Wood Release Ninja? All because of the Wood Release Ninja Orochimaru had taken from his hands!

Orochimaru!!!

And he had even, even slandered him! Rumors had already begun spreading through the village, saying that the reason the Nine-Tails' Rampage had happened was all because of Root, because Root had secretly abducted Uchiha ninja to conduct Wood Release experiments.

Bastard! The experiment hadn't even succeeded, all right?

If it had succeeded, if there really had been a Mangekyo Uchiha with Wood Release, he would have accepted the blame.

But it hadn't succeeded, so why should it be blamed on him?!!!

Danzo was indignant, feeling deeply wronged.

He had always been taking the blame for the village, but this time, the burden was far too humiliating!

"Do we need to make contact with him?"

Somewhere atop a tree branch, beneath the cover of leaves, a figure wearing a one-eyed spiral mask heard the question from beside him.

He shook his head.

"Konoha's situation is no longer what it once was. Danzo was useful because Sandaime supported him, but now Sandaime no longer supports him. Orochimaru is also meddling with Root, so we shouldn't act rashly."

"Then do you think Konoha has noticed you?"

"...Probably not."

Of course, he understood what Tobi meant. Had they discovered his true identity?

He had investigated earlier. Konoha had not specifically looked into "Obito," which meant his true identity had not been exposed.

"A Mangekyo with Wood Release... it seems Konoha stumbled upon the right answer by accident."

Hearing Tobi's remark,

Obito's expression beneath his mask became somewhat strange as well.

It was precisely because he had heard the rumors spreading in secret through Konoha that he had come to see whether his identity had been exposed.

After all, in his view, Konoha could at most have believed that a group of Wood Release Ninja and Uchiha ninja had brought about the Nine-Tails' Rampage.

Yet he had not expected rumors to emerge in Konoha that the enemy behind the Nine-Tails' Rampage was a Mangekyo Uchiha with Wood Release.

To be honest, when he heard that rumor, it had given him quite a fright. He had not even bothered to continue causing trouble in Kirigakure.

But now that he had come to take a look, he found that it was probably just the result of Konoha's higher-ups letting their imaginations run wild.

"Rotten Konoha. Power struggles..." he sighed, shaking his head.

"But they chose to placate the Uchiha. It doesn't seem quite so rotten after all," Tobi contradicted him.

Obito let out a cold laugh.

"It can only be said that Orochimaru, the Fifth Hokage, has more courage than Konoha's rotten old fossils. But this is only temporary placation. Favoring the Uchiha so heavily will inevitably make another part of Konoha dissatisfied. The contradictions are still deeply rooted in Konoha; they won't be easy to resolve. We'll keep watching. Struggles for profit will inevitably continue to spread."

After saying all that, Tobi looked at him.

Although Tobi was not particularly smart, he could still tell that Obito had gotten a little worked up after saying so much.

Obito continued sighing. "What a rotten, nauseating world. A world like this will only allow tragedies to continue. Conflicts between people cannot be resolved, because that is reality. Only when everyone falls into a dream can true peace descend!"

Watching Obito speak like that, reaffirming his convictions,

Tobi knew that the matter of causing the Nine-Tails' Rampage not long ago and getting his teacher killed still made Obito's heart waver somewhat.

That was why he had vented his inner bitterness in Kirigakure earlier, killing several of Kirigakure's outstanding talents in the process.

Yet all that wavering would become conviction.

Because Obito had no road left to turn back onto.

The path arranged for Obito, the future in which everyone would be immersed in an illusory world, was Obito's only salvation.

No matter how shaken or uneasy he was, Obito could only stubbornly plunge headfirst in that direction.

Besides, this world had always been this cruel.

This cruel world was such convincing proof for Obito to persist on this path.

After rambling for a while, Obito finally fell silent.

He stood there somewhat bored.

Not long afterward, he vanished from there and headed for Konoha's Memorial Stone.

Since he had come to Konoha, he naturally would not miss the place he needed to visit.

Rin.

As he made his way there, he thought to himself that he hoped he would not see that annoying guy.

Then he arrived, and he did not see that annoying guy.

Taking advantage of the fact that no one was around, he silently walked up to the Memorial Stone, reminiscing, reminiscing... and then that annoying guy's face surfaced in his mind again!

A thought could not help but arise in his heart.

That guy hadn't come. Had he forgotten Rin? What a bastard!

Fine, when that bastard came, he was unhappy. When he did not come, he was unhappy too.

Either way, he was unhappy.

Or perhaps that was simply how he felt now.

Living in this cruel world, he had to become cruel and ruthlessly shape another, dreamlike world. Before that dream world arrived, how could he possibly be happy?

Every moment spent living in this world, even breathing felt so agonizing that it was hard to swallow.

That was why he hated this world.

This world without Rin.

He turned and left.

Not long afterward, another figure arrived before the Memorial Stone, standing quietly as though waiting.

A Sharingan and an ordinary eye watched on. Gradually, their focus faded as he sank into memories he could not forget.

At last, he set down flowers again and turned away.

Meanwhile, Obito had left Konoha.

Tobi knew that Obito did not really want to come to Konoha. After all, his beloved teacher, the Fourth Hokage Minato Namikaze, had died here in the conspiracy and chaos Obito had unleashed.

Now that he had investigated everything he needed to investigate, with nothing urgent left to do, Obito would instinctively flee.

As for Orochimaru formally taking the position of Fifth Hokage?

To Obito, that was not important.

As long as this world remained so sorrowful, it did not matter who became Hokage.

Pain would descend.