The Madness and Struggle of Self

The staff shattered.

The Amenonuhoko—a Six Paths weapon condensed from the body of the Ten-Tails Jinchuriki, rooted in Obito's will, growing sturdier the stronger his conviction—snapped at its crack beneath the third blow from the Susanoo Nine-Tails. The break was jagged. Violet-black fragments sprayed in every direction, spinning and burning through the air before turning to ash. The sound of the staff breaking was not the sharp snap of metal, but a dull crack like a tree trunk splitting down the middle. It crossed the battlefield, the rubble, and the smoke, and by the time it reached Naruto and Sasuke's ears, it had become a long, fading sigh.

Only half a shaft remained in Obito's hand. Its broken edge was uneven, violet-black Chakra leaking from it like blood spurting from a severed artery.

He lowered his head and looked at the broken staff in his hand, its fading light reflected in his pupils. His expression did not change. His lips parted slightly, then closed, then parted again. As though words had reached his mouth only to be swallowed back down, again and again.

The Amenonuhoko had been formed from the firmest conviction he had possessed after becoming the Ten-Tails Jinchuriki—that indestructible conviction, honed over more than a decade, powerful enough to change the world. On the battlefield, that staff had shattered Minato's Flying Thunder God kunai, Hiruzen's Five-Style Grand Barrage, and every Rasengan Naruto had hurled at him from every angle. It had been the extension of the wall within Obito's heart, the final barrier between himself and the world he wanted to destroy.

It had shattered.

Obito's gaze left the broken staff and settled on the Susanoo Nine-Tails. The golden-violet giant stood before him, its nine tails swaying slowly behind it. The Susanoo blades at the end of each