The Power of the Tailed Beast

Deep within the quiet shrine, the air seemed to have solidified. Outside, the air was cool and the moonlight flowed like water, but inside the shrine, only a pair of Sharingan shimmered with a faint light in the gloom.

Uchiha Sakuya stood before Obito. He was nearly as tall as Obito now, yet the paranoia and coldness in his eyes were far greater than before. He had just finished outlining his next plan—a plan that even Obito found chilling.

"I need the power of the Tailed Beasts," Sakuya said, his voice calm yet carrying an unquestionable resolve. "All of them."

Obito watched him in silence, his white mask resting on his knees, the exposed Rinnegan looking infinitely profound. He spoke slowly, his voice devoid of its usual composure, replaced by a heavy, almost compassionate tone.

"Sakuya, do you know what you are saying? The power of the Tailed Beasts... that is a path to destruction, a dead end paved with pain and despair that countless others have already proven."

He raised a hand and pointed to his own heart. Although it had long been empty, the familiar gesture was heavy with symbolic meaning.

"Look at me," Obito's voice was low and raspy, as if peeling back layers of dusty, painful memories. "I once craved that power too, believing that with it, I could create a world with Rin, realize the so-called Eye of the Moon plan, and bring a false yet eternal peace to the world."

"And what did I gain?" he asked himself, his tone filled with endless mockery and regret. "I gained the sin of manipulating the Nine-Tails to attack Konoha, the agony of causing my master and his wife's deaths, the infamy of instigating the Fourth Shinobi World War, and the corpses of countless comrades and enemies... I gained everything, yet I never obtained what I originally sought."

"That power will corrode your mind and amplify the darkness within you. You will gradually lose yourself in the power itself and forget what your original purpose was." Obito's gaze locked onto Sakuya, trying to pierce through his icy shell. "Revenge? What happens after you gather the Tailed Beasts and possess the power to shake the world? Destroy Konoha? And then? After the destruction, what will you have left? A wasteland and the void in your heart?"

He used his own blood-stained past as the most vivid example, attempting to dissuade the junior walking on the edge of a cliff.

However, Sakuya's gaze did not waver in the slightest. In those deep purple eyes, the phantom of the Eighty Gods Mirror flickered, as if it had already reflected the future he desired.

"I am not like you, Obito," Sakuya's voice remained cold. "Your goal was creation, even if it was a false one. But my goal, from the very beginning, has been destruction."

"To destroy the filthy, hypocritical order built upon the bones of the Uchiha." "To destroy the sanctimonious high-ranking officials who tacitly allowed tragedies to occur." "To destroy the rules of this world that caused Lian and me to lose everything."

His tone grew increasingly agitated, suppressed hatred surging like a volcano in his eyes: "The power of the Tailed Beasts is not a tool for peace, but a 'weapon' to execute destruction! It is the most efficient means to make them feel pain and fear!" "I don't care if I lose myself, I don't care what remains. As long as I can make those bastards pay the price, even if in the end only I and the power of the Tailed Beasts remain burning on the ruins, I will not regret it!" "The Eighty Gods Mirror allows me to control them; that is enough."

Obito looked at the young man completely consumed by hatred, as if seeing himself from years ago—the one bewitched by Madara, immersed in the beautiful dream of the Infinite Tsukuyomi. The same paranoia, the same refusal to listen to advice, the same belief that power could solve everything.

He remained silent for a long time.

Inside the shrine, only the rustling of leaves in the wind outside and Sakuya's slightly rapid breathing remained.

Finally, Obito sighed slowly and ever so slightly. That sigh was filled with helplessness, understanding, and a deeper sense of... responsibility.

He knew that some paths, once chosen, could not be turned back from. No amount of persuasion from others could pull back someone determined to die. Just as Kakashi and Rin could not pull him back all those years ago.

Since he could not stop him, then...

"Even if hell lies ahead, you are determined to walk it?" Obito asked one last time, his voice returning to a calm, yet heavily weighted tone.

"Yes." Sakuya's answer was a single word, sharp and decisive.

Obito slowly put on his white mask, hiding the complex expression on his face. When he spoke again, his voice had returned to that slightly muffled yet firm tone from behind the mask.

"I understand."

"Since this is your choice... then, I will continue to help you."

"Not for the sake of destruction, but so that... when you reach the end of hell, perhaps you might still see a glimmer of other 'possibilities'."

"The road to collecting the Tailed Beasts is fraught with danger. You will need more detailed intelligence, more precise timing, and... a final safeguard to pull you back if you lose control completely."

Obito had made his decision. He could not agree with Sakuya's path, but he understood that pain and despair. What he could do was not stand on the shore and shout, but choose to enter the water with him, watching over him as much as possible, guiding him, and perhaps... at the very last moment, prevent the worst outcome.

Just as Naruto had eventually pulled him back from the abyss. Though the hope was slim, he was willing to try and play a similar role for Sakuya.

Sakuya looked at the masked Obito, slightly stunned, as if he had not expected the other to choose to continue helping him. He was silent for a moment, then finally, he gave a slight nod.

"Thank you."

The two words were still cold, yet they seemed to carry a faint, barely perceptible ripple that hadn't been there before.

The quiet shrine returned to silence. But a dangerous and insane plan, one capable of shaking the entire shinobi world once more, had already quietly begun in this stillness. One was an avenger who would stop at nothing for destruction, the other a guide who chose to accompany him for the sake of atonement; their paths were intertwined once again, and a storm of the unknown awaited them ahead.

Not long after, Obito found Sakuya with a Ninja Hawk.

"This is intercepted intelligence. The Seven-Tails Jinchuriki is coming to Konoha soon. Her emotions are easily destabilized, and when that time comes, it will be the moment to take the Seven-Tails."

"Understood." Sakuya stood up and wrapped the bandages around his face. He donned his old-style Uchiha combat gear and solemnly opened the chest in the center of the shrine. Inside lay a brand-new Uchiha Gunbai and black tactical gloves.

Obito looked at the fully equipped Sakuya with slight concern. "Safety first."

Uchiha Sakuya's Mangekyo shimmered as he looked toward the distant lights of the village.

"I will destroy everything."