Obito: Holy Shit! A Box?!

Hearing Minato's serious words, Kotomi's expression, which had just been a mix of helplessness and relief, instantly vanished.

Minato composed himself with complex emotions and said in a low, heavy voice:

"When Kakashi and the others returned from Mist Village, they told me in detail about seeing you Mist Village."

This naturally includes the masked man who was with you at the time.

When Minato mentioned Obito, Kō was not surprised at all.

From the moment he saw Minato, he had already figured out why Kakashi had suddenly become suspicious of Obito, who was disguised as Tobi, back in Mist Village.

He told me himself, how could that useless spy, Treasure Pika, possibly provide Konoha with any valuable intelligence?

In the original timeline, he would rather drag Kakashi into his private Tsukuyomi room and have a three-day, three-night feast of skewers than discuss even a minute of serious information!

What can you expect from someone who's already exhausted? He can only fool Kenji, that guy who has a soft spot for him!

Kakashi noticed Obito's unusual behavior at this point in time; there must have been other reasons behind it!

However, the reason stemming from Minato and his group was truly beyond their expectations.

"But regarding that guy's true identity, just how far has Minato figured it out?"

Knock silently observed Minato's expression, pondering in his heart:

"Did you only guess at the surface-level ' Uchiha Madara ' costume, or...?"

Minato looked at Koko, who had a calm expression and seemed to be waiting for him to continue, and remained silent for a long time.

His lips moved several times before he finally managed to ask with great difficulty:

Regarding the true identity of that Masked Man.

Knock... How much do you know?

"All."

Meeting Minato's complex gaze, Koko answered without hesitation and with composure:

"Anything you want to know, anything about that guy, I know it all."

Minato's pupils contracted extremely slightly, but returned to calm almost instantly.

He had been mentally prepared for such an answer from Kouhui long before he even opened his mouth.

However, she hadn't expected that Kou would answer the question about "him" so frankly and without any hesitation.

Minato thought to himself, then continued asking:

"Does everything you've said include his infiltration of Konoha under the name of Uchiha Madara, and his role in instigating the Nine-Tails Incident?"

"... Um."

He looked calmly at the Minato before him and slowly nodded.

"So that's how it is."

Unlike Kushina, whose eyes widened in shock and whose face was completely filled with astonishment, Minato seemed unsurprised by the answer.

He murmured softly, then said to Kou in a firm tone:

"If I'm not mistaken, the reason you joined Akatsuki in the first place was because of Uchiha Madara, wasn't it!"

"Really."

Kou nodded and began to recount that past event without any hesitation:

"When I left Konoha back then, I never really thought about joining the Akatsuki."

At that time, I was thinking of finding a quiet town or somewhere else to live in seclusion, to stop being a ninja, and to live out my life in a peaceful and ordinary way.

The reason he later joined the Akatsuki was indeed because he encountered that guy shortly after leaving Konoha.

Then, in order to save his life, he was forced to get involved with the Akatsuki.

He paused for a moment, then said with a constipated expression:

"But looking back now, in a sense, it was a 'good thing' that changed my life."

"After all, if it weren't Obito that bastard Obito, I wouldn't have been able to cultivate to this level in just five short years..."

Thinking back on those five years of living in constant fear, always on edge, wary of some Masked Man who might suddenly appear from the Kamui Dimension at any moment...

Kou wished he could gouge out Obito's eyes and then hang him upside down under the waterfall in the Valley of the End to whip him like a human spinning top!

That Obito, I treated him really well back then, even his own father might not have cared for him as much as I did.

Instead of properly fulfilling his filial duties, he dragged me, who was already preparing for retirement, to his side to become a terrorist?!

Compared to him, even that lunatic weasel is practically benevolent...

Well, never mind, these two are equally bad, neither of them is any good either!!

Seeing Koko's face darken visibly, Minato was momentarily unsure whether he should continue asking questions.

After all, the question he was about to address was one that was extremely difficult to broach, even for someone who had already prepared himself mentally.

Seemingly sensing the hesitation behind Minato's silence, Koko suppressed her resentment and sighed softly at him.

"Brother Minato, just ask whatever you want to ask."

I know everything I just said about him.

Minato looked at Kokoro in front of him with a complicated expression, and remained silent for a long, long time.

After a long while, as if he had finally made up his mind, he slowly placed the question—the one he both hoped for an answer to and genuinely didn't want to hear—in front of Kou:

"If I'm not mistaken, that Masked Man isn't actually Uchiha Madara, right?"

"That person who roamed the Ninja World under the name of Uchiha Madara, who single-handedly instigated the Nine-Tails Incident, and who coerced you into joining the Akatsuki..."

Minato paused, then subconsciously looked at Koko's eyes, which remained calm and unreadable, as if trying to find even the slightest hint of denial in his expression.

Even the slightest sign that would allow him to avoid hearing the answer he least wanted to hear with his own ears.

But he ultimately found nothing.

So Minato could only continue asking, even though it was heartbreaking:

"He's actually that kid Obito... right?"

Koko remained silent, only nodding heavily under Minato's sorrowful gaze and Kushina's shocked stare.

"Ah, that's right."

Looking at the two people before him, he spoke in a calm tone:

"He killed you all, caused the Nine-Tails Incident, dragged me into the Akatsuki, and not long ago, he and Uchiha Itachi slaughtered the Uchiha Clan... He's the guy you're talking about."

Minato, your former disciple, Kakashi and I'm still friends. You were supposed to die in the Kannabi Bridge Battle, the Sharingan hero, and now, Uchiha Madara's representative in the Ninja World.

Uchiha... Obito!

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There's one more chapter today, expected around midnight. I suggest everyone go to bed early.