Obito Entrusts His Child (2)

"I can't be saved. My body has already been crushed from the waist down." Obito spoke weakly. Beside him lay a bag—the very bag containing the Protein Powder. He had protected both the powder and Rin; he was no coward.

Seeing Zhengyi and Kakashi walk in.

"Zhengyi, it hurts so much. I don't want to die, I'm scared..."

Obito dropped all his pretenses, breaking down in tears before Zhengyi.

Seeing Zhengyi, he seemed to recall an afternoon when they were six, kicking cans by the lake.

Watching Obito cry, Zhengyi's own eyes welled up with tears. Damn it! Madara!!

Zhengyi had always been one to protect his own!

He didn't know where the strength came from as he stepped forward, placing his hands on the boulder crushing Obito. He exerted force, his veins bulging instantly, his face turning beet red.

"Ahhh!!!"

Perhaps it was the power of friendship and bonds, but he actually managed to lift the rock just a fraction. However, pulling Obito's body out completely was difficult; it would likely tear him in half, so he had to keep holding it up.

"It's just like doing a heavy set (at the gym)!!!"

Already exhausted, he forced out a burst of raw power.

Deep underground, Madara was truly amused to the point of laughter. Did this kid named Zhengyi have a grudge against him?

Zhengyi, is it?

You are quite something.

I have remembered you.

In my Eye of the Moon Plan, I'm short two gatekeepers for the entrance of Konoha. You and Tobirama can sit at the gate.

"Explode!"

Following Madara's command, the cave where they were staying shook violently, as if it were about to collapse the next second.

"Go, don't worry about me."

Obito was a mess of snot and tears. Only in times of crisis do you realize who your real brothers are; Kakashi, standing nearby, could only stare in sorrowful shock.

"Ahhh!" Zhengyi was still holding on.

"What a useless thing you are. How are you going to protect Rin like this?"

Hearing Obito mutter that, Zhengyi really wanted to drop the rock and crush the other half of his body. Your brother is working his ass off to save you, and that's what you have to say?

But then, he saw Obito gouge a Three-Tomoe Sharingan out of his own eye socket.

Yes, seeing Zhengyi fighting so desperately to save him, Obito had awakened it in his grief. He already had the foundation of a One-Tomoe Sharingan, and now it had jumped straight to three.

But! What was the point if he was going to die anyway?

"With your trashy self, of course you can't take care of Rin. Take this Three-Tomoe of mine... then you'll barely be qualified. Of course, I don't have the strength to gouge out the other one. Leave me one for the Pure Land; I'm afraid of the dark."

"Obito." Zhengyi's lips trembled. Why did such a foolish child have to be manipulated into carrying out the Eye of the Moon Plan?

"I'll leave Rin to you. You have to take good care of her." Obito reached out a hand stained with his own bloody eye.

"If you come to the Pure Land early, Lord Obito won't be happy."

In terms of time, it was already too late to save Obito. Another boulder fell, and Zhengyi couldn't hold on any longer. The rock he was supporting returned to its original position. Obito's lower body was already crushed, so naturally, he couldn't feel the pain.

"Go quickly."

"Rin, be good to Zhengyi."

Obito took one last look at Rin, though he could no longer see her; that eye had already been given to Zhengyi.

"Obito!" X3

Obito went down with a smile. With the Three-Tomoe, Zhengyi would be able to protect Rin well, so he had no regrets.

Konoha was currently tallying the casualties.

Including Obito, a total of 378 ninja had died. Almost everyone was injured; even Hiruzen Sarutobi had bandages wrapped around his forehead.

Zhengyi hadn't suffered any real external wounds; his body was mostly covered in bruises that only hurt when touched.

It was his insides that felt like his muscles were tearing; he was so sore that even urinating was a struggle.

"Pain is good. Pain means the muscles are growing." Orochimaru came to the makeshift hospital tent to visit Zhengyi, shaking his head with a faint smile.

"Teacher, what about Anko, and my two students? Are they still alive?"

"Hmm..." Orochimaru looked somber.

"I see." Zhengyi had anticipated this, though he hadn't expected Anko to be dead.

"I don't know." Orochimaru shook his head.

Zhengyi was speechless. That meant they were likely still alive. Indeed, they were; they had even come to visit him that afternoon.

It wasn't convenient to talk during the day, so at night, Orochimaru had his subordinates carry Zhengyi's hospital bed to Danzo's tent.

"The Third is preparing to negotiate with Iwagakure, and Iwagakure has also expressed an interest in peace talks." Danzo provided the intelligence first.

"Understood." Orochimaru nodded, unsurprised. Since Ōnoki saw no benefit in continuing the fight, that old fox would naturally know when to call it quits.

"Is Minato still the one going to the peace talks?" Zhengyi realized he had asked a foolish question the moment he saw the two of them staring at him as if he were an idiot.

How could they possibly pass up such an easy merit for Minato?

The fact that their Orochimaru faction hadn't been harassed by Hiruzen Sarutobi over Minato being captured yet was likely just because Hiruzen had been too busy to remember.

Zhengyi remained silent after that, listening to Orochimaru and Danzo discuss how to seize the Hokage position.

It made his scalp tingle.

What a pair of geniuses.

They were actually talking about assassinating the Third Hokage—could the two of them even take him on?

The Third Hokage, who was so aged over a decade later, was still capable of taking down Tobirama and Hashirama—though that was partly due to the lack of precision in the Impure World Reincarnation. Still, if he could go one-versus-three against Kage-level opponents then, just how strong must the Third be in this era?

To those with cheats, the Third was nothing special.

But to ordinary people like them, the Third was the absolute ceiling.

No wonder one became the "King of Scapegoats" and the other a defector in the original story.

"What, do you think we shouldn't do this?" Orochimaru licked his lips as he and Danzo looked over at him. He had even briefly felt the urge to destroy Konoha, but it was the place where he had grown up; if he could avoid it, he didn't want to do that.

"Teacher! Uncle Danzo, you two have a major problem with this approach."

Danzo frowned. "Then do you have a better method than this?"

Seizing the Hokage position was like a crown prince securing his throne in a mortal dynasty.

In truth, Orochimaru's current status was still that of the heir apparent. He had simply walked out of the office in a fit of rage and quit, but he hadn't formally resigned, and Hiruzen Sarutobi had no suitable reason to drive him out.

Unless the matter of Minato being captured was exposed as being linked to Orochimaru.

However...

First, Obito was already dead, and since the "banana" had malfunctioned, the trail had ended with him.

Second, the poison had been provided by Tsunade. Following the logic of real-world law, Tsunade would likely not be held criminally liable for intentional homicide, as she had assumed Orochimaru intended to use the poison on enemies. However, privately handing over high-risk toxins to Orochimaru—who had already shown dangerous tendencies—without effective supervision, constituted a serious dereliction of duty.

Tsunade would have to bear responsibility as well.

If this matter were exposed, even Tsunade would be implicated.

Although this was highly unethical, if their Orochimaru faction were dismantled because of this and Orochimaru was ousted from his office, they would be in a truly passive position.

Therefore, they would rather offend Tsunade than fail to drag her into this.