Deep inside the quiet shrine, the air seemed frozen. Outside, the air was cool and the moonlight flowed like water. Inside the shrine, only a pair of Sharingan glimmered in the dim light.
Uchiha Sakuya stood before Obito. He was now almost as tall as Obito, but the fixation and coldness in his eyes had only grown stronger. He had just finished explaining his next plan—a plan that even Obito found alarming.
"I need the power of the Tailed Beasts," Sakuya said, his voice calm but resolute. "All of them."
Obito watched him in silence, his white mask resting on his knee. The exposed Rinnegan in his eye socket was unfathomably deep. At last, he spoke. The gentleness of his voice was gone, replaced by a heavy, almost compassionate tone.
"Sakuya, do you know what you're saying? The power of the Tailed Beasts... It's a path to destruction, a dead end filled with pain and despair—a path countless people have already proven so."
He raised a hand and pointed to his heart. Though... there was nothing left there, the familiar gesture was laden with meaning.
"Look at me." Obito's voice was low and hoarse, as if he were unearthing memories of pain buried long ago. "I once craved that power too. I thought it could help me create a world with Rin, carry out the so-called 'Eye of the Moon' plan, and bring a false but eternal peace to the world."
"What did I get?" he asked himself, then answered, his words thick with endless mockery and regret. "I got the sin of manipulating the Nine-Tails into attacking Konoha. I got the pain of causing my master and his wife's deaths. I got the infamy of starting the Fourth Shinobi World War. I got the corpses of countless comrades and enemies... I got everything, except the one thing I'd wanted from the beginning."
"That power will corrode your mind and magnify the darkness inside you. You'll gradually lose yourself in the power and forget what your original purpose was." Obito fixed his gaze on Sakuya, trying to pierce through his cold exterior. "Revenge? Once you've gathered the Tailed Beasts and gained the power to shake the world, then what? Destroy Konoha? And then? What will you have left after the destruction? A wasteland and emptiness inside you?"
He used his own bloodstained past as the most compelling example he could offer, trying to dissuade this younger man who was walking along the edge of a precipice.
Yet Sakuya's gaze did not waver in the slightest. In his deep purple eyes, the phantom image of the Eighty Gods Mirror shimmered faintly, as if it already reflected the future he wanted.
"I'm not like you, Obito," Sakuya said, his voice still cold. "Your goal was to create, even if what you created was false. My goal has always been destruction."
"Destruction of the filthy, hypocritical order built atop the bones of the Uchiha." "Destruction of the self-righteous higher-ups who let tragedy happen." "Destruction of the world's rules that took everything from Lian and me."
His voice grew more agitated, suppressed hatred surging in his eyes like a volcano. "The power of the Tailed Beasts isn't a tool for peace. It's a 'weapon' for carrying out destruction! The most efficient way to make them feel pain and fear!" "I don't care if I lose myself, and I don't care what's left. As long as those people pay, I'll gladly burn alongside the power of the Tailed Beasts in the ruins, even if that's all that remains of me!" "The Eighty Gods Mirror will let me control them. That's enough."
Obito looked at the young man before him, utterly consumed by hatred, and seemed to see himself from years ago: the boy Madara had beguiled, lost in the beautiful dream of the Infinite Tsukuyomi. The same obsession. The same refusal to listen. The same belief that power could solve everything.
He remained silent for a long time.
The only sounds inside the shrine were the rustling leaves outside the window and Sakuya's slightly hurried breathing.
At last, Obito let out a very faint, slow sigh. It was filled with helplessness, understanding, and something deeper... a sense of responsibility.
He knew that some paths, once chosen, had no way back. No amount of pleading from others could turn back someone determined to walk to his death. Just as Kakashi and Rin hadn't been able to turn him back.
If he couldn't stop him, then...
"Even if the road ahead leads to hell, you've decided to keep going?" Obito asked one last time. His voice was calm again, but it carried a heavy weight.
"Yes." Sakuya's answer was a single, unwavering word.
Obito slowly put on his white mask, concealing the complicated expression on his face. When he spoke again, his voice had returned to its slightly muffled but resolute tone.
"I understand."
"If this is your choice... then I'll keep helping you."
"Not to bring about destruction, but to make sure that... when you reach the end of hell, you might still catch sight of some other 'possibility.'"
"The road to gathering the Tailed Beasts is fraught with danger. You'll need more detailed intelligence, better timing, and... a final safeguard that can pull you back if you completely lose control."
Obito had made his decision. He couldn't agree with Sakuya's path, but he understood his pain and despair. He couldn't stand on the shore and call out to him. Instead, he chose to step into the water with him, so he could watch over him and guide him as best he could—and perhaps... prevent the worst from happening at the final moment.
Just as Naruto had ultimately pulled him back from the abyss. The hope was slim, but Obito was willing to try to play a similar role for Sakuya.
Sakuya looked at Obito, now wearing his mask, and paused. He seemed not to have expected Obito to choose to keep helping him. After a moment of silence, he gave a slight nod.
"Thank you."
The two words were still cold, but there seemed to be the faintest, almost imperceptible ripple in them.
The quiet shrine fell silent once more. Yet a dangerous and reckless plan, one powerful enough to shake the entire Shinobi World again, had quietly begun to unfold. One was a revenger willing to do anything for destruction; the other, a guide who had chosen to accompany him in the hope of atoning. Their paths had intertwined once more, and an unknown storm awaited them.
Before long, Obito found Sakuya with a Ninja Hawk.
"This is the intelligence I managed to intercept. The Seven-Tails Jinchuriki will be coming to Konoha soon. She's prone to emotional instability, and when the time comes, that'll be our chance to take the Seven-Tails."
"Understood." Sakuya stood and wrapped the bandages around his face. He put on an old-style Uchiha battle uniform, then solemnly opened the box at the center of the shrine. Inside lay a brand-new Uchiha Gunbai and a pair of black tactical gloves.
Obito watched Sakuya, now fully equipped, with some concern. "Your safety comes first."
Uchiha Sakuya's gleaming Mangekyo looked toward the distant sea of lights.
"I'll destroy everything."
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