What's Wrong With the World of the Infinite Tsukuyomi!

"The Fifth Hokage... who is that? Is it Lady Tsunade?"

Minato paused, his fingertips tapping unconsciously against the railing as his brows furrowed slightly.

He pondered for a moment, then looked up to give his answer.

"Hahahahahahahahahaha."

Lin Zi did not answer immediately; instead, he suddenly burst into a thunderous laugh.

He doubled over, one hand clutching his stomach while the other waved wildly in the air, leaning in close to Minato's ear with deliberate, secretive gestures.

"I won't tell you, but after our conversation today, you will definitely find it unbelievable."

Minato stood frozen, his pupils constricting sharply.

He stared at Lin Zi's face, which was illuminated by the moonlight and wore the expression of someone who had successfully pulled off a prank, while an absurd thought flashed through his mind like lightning.

"Could it be that you are talking about..."

Lin Zi watched Minato's pupils with delight, pressing a finger to his lips in a gesture for silence, his eyes sparkling with mischief.

"Yes, yes, don't say it out loud, it is exactly that person."

Minato held his forehead, pressing his knuckles firmly against his brow, his face etched with disbelief.

"It really is him... but it's precisely because of what we discussed tonight that I... I'm actually a bit afraid to use him."

Lin Zi acted out of character, nudging Minato's arm with his elbow, his voice lowered but unable to hide the teasing tone.

"Use him or not, if you want to use him, I can ask him. That guy... is a very 'extreme' Hokage, after all."

He burst into laughter again, his expression clearly that of someone looking forward to a good show.

Minato offered a wry smile, then straightened his expression, taking a deep breath as his gaze turned firm once more.

"Of course I dare to use him."

As he spoke, he suddenly raised his hand and tapped the top of Lin Zi's head, the force light but carrying a unique sense of intimacy.

"Ouch!" Lin Zi shrank back, clutching his head.

Minato ignored his protest, watching him gently, his gaze seemingly piercing through the young skin to look deep into his soul.

"Besides, you are... technically a rogue ninja now, aren't you?"

The night wind suddenly died down.

Minato's voice was as light as a feather, yet every word was clear.

"But I have always trusted you, so it's fine. The people you introduce wouldn't do anything bad. And, the Fifth Hokage, you say?"

He paused, a smile tugging at the corners of his mouth again.

"I would also like to see this extreme Hokage you speak of."

"Alright, it's a deal then." Lin Zi rubbed his head, the playful expression on his face helping to ease Minato's demeanor as well. "I'll discuss it with him when the time comes."

"Hmm..." Minato tilted his head, looking thoughtful as he rubbed his chin with one hand. "By the way, why is your personality so similar to that Orochimaru fellow from before? Both of you love watching the chaos unfold."

Lin Zi was startled, stuttering as he replied.

"Haha, really? Maybe it's just that he and I are both people who enjoy a good show."

Minato stared at him for two seconds, a flicker of doubt in his eyes, but he ultimately didn't press the matter. He turned and pushed the door open, the night wind rushing into the gap and causing the curtains inside to sway gently.

"Let's go back inside; we've talked about just about everything for today."

He stepped over the threshold, turned back with a helpless expression, and shrugged.

"The things I've gained today... no matter how you look at it, are quite astonishing."

"Haha, right?" Lin Zi followed behind him and pulled the door shut.

Kushina was sitting by the bed, knitting a small garment. Seeing the two return together, she immediately set down her needle and thread, a look of relief washing over her face.

"You're back? Is it cold outside?"

"It's alright, not particularly cold."

Lin Zi plopped down onto a nearby chair and grabbed a water glass from the table, taking a gulp.

"We were just chatting about some past matters, you worry too much."

Before his voice had even faded, Minato had already walked into the adjacent bedroom. The sound of a cabinet door opening and closing followed, succeeded by the rustling of bedding being moved.

"Naruto, you'll stay here tonight." Minato's voice drifted out from the bedroom, muffled but carrying an unquestionable gentleness. "I'm getting the bedding ready for you."

"Oh, got it."

Lin Zi sat in the living room, keeping Kushina company, and replied without turning his head, his tone as casual as if he were in his own home.

Kushina was stunned for a moment by how readily Lin Zi agreed, then her eyes curved into crescents as she smiled happily.

She picked up her needle and thread again, moving them through the fabric under the lamplight while softly humming an ancient ballad.

Until late into the night, when all of Konoha became incredibly quiet, Lin Zi collapsed onto the bed Minato had prepared, the mattress so soft that he sank halfway into it.

He stared at the pitch-black ceiling and shouted in his mind.

"System, open character selection."

[Ding! Host detected holding a selected character card. Please choose a character.]

Lin Zi rolled over and sat cross-legged, unable to suppress the smile tugging at the corners of his mouth, looking like a fox that had just stolen a chicken.

He rubbed his hands together, his voice brimming with irrepressible excitement.

"Draw—Fifth Hokage, Uchiha Obito."

[Ding! Host confirmed character. Starting draw—]

[Congratulations to the host for drawing the character "Infinite Tsukuyomi World Fifth Hokage: Uchiha Obito"!]

The next second, a sudden transformation occurred.

Cold, sinister chakra crawled up from the soles of his feet like a viper. Wherever it passed, Naruto's golden hair receded like a retreating tide, his blue eyes faded, and the six whisker marks on his cheeks vanished without a trace.

In their place emerged an aura of gloom, madness, and the oppressive weight of someone in a position of absolute power.

Chakra surged wildly into his eyes. Lin Zi felt his eye sockets burning, as if someone had shoved a lump of red-hot coal into his pupils.

He raised a hand to press against his eyes, a demonic red light leaking through his fingers.

Mangekyou Sharingan, activate!

Within his pupils, three tomoe spun frantically, coalescing into a pattern resembling a shuriken, glowing eerily in the darkness.

"What is so wrong with the world of the Infinite Tsukuyomi!"

Lin Zi flipped off the bed and stood up, clenching his fist. His voice was kept extremely low, yet it carried a certain pathological fanaticism.

At the same time, a Hokage Cloak draped over his shoulders out of thin air, and a Hokage hat appeared behind him. Half of his face was obscured by a black mask, revealing only the other half, which was covered in hideous scars.

He looked down at his palm and then suddenly clenched his fist.

"Kamui!"

Vortex-like spatial ripples erupted around his body, like a reflection disturbed on the surface of water. With a "whoosh," his entire person was sucked in and vanished from the room.

Inside the Kamui dimension.

It was a realm of gray-white void with no sense of up, down, or direction. Only countless massive stone pillars floated in the emptiness, like a tomb forgotten by time.

Lin Zi looked up, his Mangekyou Sharingan rotating slowly as he surveyed this dead, silent space.

"Wow," he whistled, "this place is pretty big, and it looks quite hellish."

He asked in his mind: "System, is this space connected to the Kamui dimension of the Obito in this world?"

[Ding! They are not shared. However, the host can use higher-level authority to forcibly break through the other party's spatial barrier and invade it.]

"That's pretty good."

Lin Zi grinned, the half of his face beneath the scars twisting into a dangerous arc.

With a thought, the spatial vortex appeared once more, spitting him back into Minato's bedroom.

Upon landing, he had already stowed away all of Obito's attire, reverting to the appearance of Naruto with golden hair and blue eyes, as if nothing had ever happened.

Lin Zi lay back down on the bed, pulled the quilt up to his chin, and stared at the ceiling, the red afterglow of the Mangekyou still lingering in his eyes.

"Now... things are going to get interesting."

He rolled over, buried his face in the pillow, and quickly drifted into a deep sleep, with only that meaningful smile at the corner of his mouth flickering in and out of sight under the moonlight.