Obito's Guardianship

"Little brat! Do your best to entertain me!!!"

White Zetsu had disguised himself as an unremarkable Iwagakure jonin, and Madara, having channeled his consciousness into the body, roared at Zhengyi.

Rin Nohara flinched like a startled fawn.

She had no idea what she could have possibly done to make so many Rock Ninja target her today.

In terms of beauty, she hadn't even fully blossomed yet.

In terms of medical skill, there were plenty of people in Konoha far better than her; why was everyone gunning for her?

It was just so strange.

Seeing Rin frightened by that roar, Zhengyi snapped at Madara, "What are you barking about?!"

Madara froze for a moment. Are you yelling at me?

What else would I be doing?

"Hahahaha!!!" Madara let out a maniacal laugh. Interesting, how interesting.

He then lunged forward to engage Zhengyi in combat.

White Zetsu's physical constitution was weak compared to Zhengyi's, but the one controlling him was Uchiha Madara!

The very man who dared to dance amidst the Allied Shinobi Forces with his bare hands during the Fourth Great Ninja War.

Zhengyi was clearly a cut below Madara in taijutsu; compared to Madara, he had to admit his own physique was nothing but "dead muscle" built in a gym.

He was terrified~~~

Did such a powerful taijutsu expert really exist in Iwagakure?

An expert knows the ropes; anyone who wasn't blind could see just how exquisite Madara's taijutsu was during their exchange.

Madara's fists tore through the air, each strike carrying precisely calculated intent, targeting the minute gaps in Zhengyi's defense. Most terrifying of all was his ability to predict moves, as if he could see the future and knew exactly how Zhengyi would strike.

Unable to parry, Zhengyi took a hit to the stomach and was sent flying.

"To have lasted a few moves against me, you'll have something to brag about if you make it out of here."

Ōnoki, currently locked in combat with Hiruzen Sarutobi, was flying in the sky to dodge a Fire Dragon Jutsu. He glanced over inadvertently, lamenting that he had only just discovered such a taijutsu genius.

This brat had already killed many of his Iwagakure ninja.

It was a pity that he was being held back by Hiruzen Sarutobi and couldn't finish him off with a single Dust Release.

"Pass on my order: kill the next generation of Konoha at all costs!" Finding a gap in the fighting, Ōnoki's voice echoed across the entire battlefield.

"All Konoha personnel with spare hands, execute the mission to kill the next generation of Iwagakure collectively!" Hiruzen Sarutobi shouted in response.

Orochimaru was dealing with the Five-Tails Jinchuriki Han and couldn't pull away to help Zhengyi. He had to grind down the Five-Tails Jinchuriki bit by bit; it was a fight that required extreme finesse, relying on snake-like movements to dodge Han's repeated steam-accelerated attacks.

After all, ten hits from him weren't worth one hit from Han.

This was the tragedy of those without bloodlines or kekkei genkai.

His strength had already reached the ceiling for someone without a bloodline.

It wasn't until Obito joined the battlefield that the situation for Zhengyi against Madara began to improve.

"Come!!"

He would fight two Madaras just the same.

Perfect! He wanted to see if this Uchiha Obito had the talent to be an executor of the Eye of the Moon Plan.

It had to be said, Obito possessed quite a bit of willpower.

Sensing Madara's intent to seize Rin Nohara, Obito was knocked down again and again, yet he climbed back up every single time.

It had been Zhengyi taking the beating, but now, it was primarily Obito.

Kakashi, who had just personally killed a young boy, looked at Obito—bruised, swollen, and bleeding from the nose—and asked, "Is this worth it? Our mission right now should be to kill the next generation of Iwagakure. Zhengyi is already risking his life to hold him off; doesn't what you're doing count as abandoning the mission?"

"Kakashi! In the world of ninjas, missions are indeed important, and those who abandon them are trash. But those who abandon their comrades for the sake of a mission are worse than trash."

These words, spoken by Obito while his eyes were so swollen he could barely open them, had a massive impact on Kakashi.

Is that so?!

How could I be worse than Obito?!

Come on!!

The three of them engaged Madara in a chaotic melee.

One couldn't say Obito's contribution was non-existent, but it wasn't exactly significant either...

Regardless, the main force of this battle still rested on Zhengyi and Kakashi.

"Kakashi, this guy's physical body can't compare to ours. Let's use brute force on him."

"Right."

"Hmph." Madara sneered.

He was speaking to the White Zetsu, and to all the hungry little White Zetsu waiting to be fed in the White Zetsu channel.

There are no useless White Zetsu bodies! Only useless White Zetsu.

Look! Didn't he just hang up and beat an enemy that the dozen of you couldn't handle together?

Then, in the next second, he was slapped in the face; he discovered his body was restrained, with Kakashi clutching his arm and torso tightly, dragging him in place.

"See ya." Zhengyi appeared in a flash.

Game over.

Madara's perspective ended with the blue sky and white clouds.

Underground, the silence was deathly; even the most jumpy and snarky White Zetsu didn't dare to chime in.

"Very well!"

The one who came this time was Madara's Shadow Clone.

His body was in a dire state, and forcing himself to use a Shadow Clone for battle was nothing more than squeezing out what little lifespan he had left.

But...

He had to regain his face.

Without a doubt.

Zhengyi had been beaten miserably, and Kakashi had been beaten just as badly; the two of them lay on the ground like the dead Pakkun.

If it weren't for the fact that these two were Obito's bonds and would be helpful for Obito's future eye-awakening, he would have strangled them to death in an instant!

It wasn't just them; many people from Konoha were beaten up as Madara vented his anger, and among them, quite a few were beaten to death.

Ōnoki and Hiruzen Sarutobi felt a mix of joy and rage—joy that another genius had appeared in Iwagakure after one had died, and rage that this bastard dared to kill their Konoha ninja!

As if it weren't enough, Rin was captured, and Obito, the only one still able to walk, chased after them.

"Obito, I can't save you." Zhengyi lay flat on the ground, feeling as if his body were falling apart. Is this the combat power of Madara in his twilight years? Then how strong must he have been in his prime?

Theoretically, Madara could have one last frenzy, taking all of them with him at the cost of his own life.

So, if he revealed in advance that Madara was still alive and had a conspiracy, causing Konoha and Iwagakure to unite to stop him, none of them would survive.

Perhaps his conscience hadn't completely withered away.

Zhengyi struggled to climb up and took Kakashi to give chase.

By the time the two of them, supporting each other, arrived at the scene.

Obito was already pinned under a giant boulder, speaking his "last words."

When the rocks fell and the landslide occurred, he pushed Rin away, swapping the target of the crushing weight to himself.

Rin... I might not be able to look after you anymore.

What is a real man? Watching the woman he loves be happy.

Feeling that he was about to die, Obito saw everything clearly. With Zhengyi, Rin would surely be very happy, right?

Zhengyi is handsome, Zhengyi knows how to be grateful, Zhengyi is wise, Zhengyi has good stamina...

He was so unwilling.

"Rin, although Zhengyi is a bastard, he's actually quite a good person when he's not being a bastard. He's better than Kakashi. Kakashi... he's too lecherous; he might cheat on you after marriage."

The moment Kakashi and Zhengyi walked in, that was the slander they heard from Obito.

"Stop talking, Obito, I can definitely save you." Rin knelt on the ground, sobbing uncontrollably; Obito had done all this to save her.