Daily Life

Today was Obito's first day on the job as Konoha's candidate village leader. The Third Hokage had specially prepared an office for him in the Hokage Building. The outward show of respect was certainly thorough. Early that morning, Tsunade had dragged him out of bed and given him a thorough makeover.

He wore a white robe over a black underlayer, with a long sword with a purple hilt at his waist, adding to his heroic air and giving him the bearing of a young noble from the Sengoku era. As he walked down the street, young women and married ladies alike kept stopping to look back at him...

After entering the Hokage Building, Obito followed a staff member to his office. It was... rather simple: a desk and chair, a small tea table, a bookshelf, photographs of the successive Hokage on the wall, and a map of the Naruto World.

Obito walked up to the map and studied it. The Land of Rivers, the Land of Rain, the Land of Grass, the Land of Hot Water... These were all small countries wedged between the Five Great Nations. Whenever war broke out, it spelled disaster for them: their lands became battlefields, and they had no rights to speak of. In the original story, Nagato's parents were killed when Konoha shinobi broke into their home. No wonder Nagato had left the other villages alone and flattened Konoha in particular!

Thinking of the Land of Rain, and calculating how much time had passed, Obito wondered how far those three had gotten by now. In his plans, Nagato's Rinnegan was crucial!

According to the original story, the two things necessary to revive Kaguya were the Ten-Tails and the Rinnegan. Aside from the one Sasuke awakened with the Sage of Six Paths' help later on, there was only one pair of Rinnegan in the entire Naruto World: the pair Nagato used...

As long as he had those two things, Obito could control Kaguya's revival! As for Madara, who would be brought back with Impure World Reincarnation, Obito was confident he could defeat him. Besides, Impure World Reincarnation required a corpse. If they simply cremated Madara... wouldn't that make him a nonissue?

Once he had taken care of things in Konoha, he would have to make a trip to the Land of Rain. It would be best if he could bring the Akatsuki under his control. Otherwise, he could only let those three poor souls find peace early. Life was like an endless hell; death might be a release.

Besides, Obito had another idea he wanted to test...

While Obito was staring at the map, lost in thought, Kakashi had already arrived at the door.

The door was open. Seeing Obito gazing at the map, Kakashi felt conflicted beyond words...

He had always been known as a genius, yet the former dead last had left him far behind. Even the father he had always admired admitted that he was no longer a match for Obito!

And he had heard that a couple of days ago, Obito had fought Orochimaru, one of the Sannin, and badly injured him without even using his full strength. Even Orochimaru's powerful summoning beast had been killed...

Kakashi stood in the doorway, unsure how to address Obito. Should he call him Obito... or Lord Obito...

"Oh, Kakashi, you're here. Come in..." Obito finished his train of thought and snapped back to reality. Turning around, he saw Kakashi standing in the doorway.

White Fang was still alive, so Kakashi naturally wasn't wearing the mask that covered his face. He was a handsome young man, not unlike Obito. PS: Obito had insisted on this description!

But he was much shorter than Obito, and looked more like an ordinary kid who hadn't quite grown up.

"What? Don't recognize me?" Obito asked with a laugh.

"You've changed a lot. I really didn't recognize you at first. Anyway, I'll be your assistant from now on, so I hope we get along!" Kakashi said, sounding deeply moved.

"Of course, of course. If I get a bite of meat, you'll definitely get a sip of soup!"

"Keep the soup for yourself!" Kakashi said, furrowing his brow.

"Joking aside, I have work to do! Make yourself at home. I don't have anything for you to do yet, so you can stay here, go out, or train—whatever you like," Obito said.

"I'll be right outside. Just call if you need anything." With that, Kakashi went out and closed the door.

Heh, it really was satisfying to get under Kakashi's skin...

Obito took out some paper and a pen. He already had a rough idea of how to use Orochimaru to advance his plans: he would connect Orochimaru's research with Tsunade's! Orochimaru's work might all seem focused on combat or downright sinister, but everything had two sides. For instance, Orochimaru was unquestionably one of the foremost experts on cells in the Naruto World.

If they combined his research into cell proliferation and regeneration with Tsunade's Medical Ninjutsu, they could perform operations such as organ transplants! And with something as miraculous as chakra, they might even solve medical problems that were impossible to address in the modern world!

Looking at the people of the Naruto World, their lifespans were generally short. War was one factor, living standards another, and injuries and illness played a part too!

The small number of medical ninja couldn't solve all these problems. That was why Konoha's ninja hospital only accepted injured shinobi. Ordinary people needn't even dream of getting in.

This was a situation Obito had to change. Resources couldn't remain in the hands of shinobi alone.

Before he had crossed over, countless facts had proven the importance of one saying: those who won the people's hearts won the realm! Shinobi came from among the people, too!

Obito wrote down all the ideas in his head. He would find an opportunity to call Tsunade and Orochimaru together for a small meeting, settle on a project, then test it out step by step!

Most importantly, he could fund all this with Konoha's public money, completely aboveboard... Only an idiot would turn down a good deal.

The day passed in a flash. Obito gathered up what he had written and put it away in the Kamui Dimension. Then he stretched, ready to call it a day!

When he opened the door, he saw Kakashi still standing outside, fiddling with a Kunai in his hand.

"I'm done for the day. Want to come over to my place for dinner? We haven't eaten together in ages," Obito asked.

"I won't impose. I still have to go back and train." With that, Kakashi vanished in a few leaps.

Obito shook his head helplessly. It seemed he had really dealt Kakashi a blow. Well, let's see how far you can go without the Sharingan!

Kakashi had been incredibly popular in Obito's previous life. From the beginning to the end, the four members of Team 7 were the ones who appeared throughout the whole story, though Sakura was mostly just along for the ride.

A lot of people had wondered how strong Kakashi could have become without the Sharingan. Could he have reached Minato's level? Obito intended to find out in this life.

The great red sun was half hidden behind orange-red clouds, its setting rays tinting half the sky. People who had finished a day's work walked along the streets in small groups, chatting about what had happened. Their laughter rang out, sometimes hearty, sometimes delicate. Here and there, groups of three or five friends gathered together and headed to an izakaya for a drink.

Obito was on his way to meet Tsunade after work. He couldn't help being swept up in the mood. It was certain people who were at fault, not this beautiful world.