The Obito Who Was Covered in Jinxes

Awkward.

Unbelievably awkward.

Since the two of them had met, Uchiha Obito had never felt this awkward.

And right after the awkwardness came panic.

Uchiha Obito knew perfectly well that Uchiha Aoba had always been the kind of person who loved watching the drama unfold.

To keep Aoba from telling anyone what he'd just seen—

especially Kakashi and Nohara Rin—Obito jumped up from his chair in a panic and hurried to explain. "Wait, Aoba, listen to me. It's not what you think."

"Obito, don't say another word. Your brother's disappointed in you."

Uchiha Aoba shook his head with a sigh.

"Honestly, what kind of things are you doing? How many times have I told you? If you like her, just say it out loud. Once you've won the girl of your dreams, you can kiss her while holding her in your arms. Isn't that a lot more satisfying than kissing a photograph?"

"And now I have to wonder..."

"Besides kissing Rin's photo in private, have you also been taking care of things yourself?"

At that, Uchiha Obito's eyes widened. He panicked.

"Don't make things up!"

"How can you slander an innocent man out of nowhere?"

Uchiha Aoba gave a cold laugh. "Innocent? You're standing here talking to me about innocence?"

"After what I just saw, hearing you say that word is hilarious."

"Forget it. Why am I even talking about this with a coward like you?"

"Now! Hurry up and pack your gear. We're heading to the Iwagakure front with Minato-sensei, so I don't have time to go on about this. We have to meet at Konoha Gate at one this afternoon."

"The battlefield!?"

Uchiha Obito froze.

Seeing his reaction, Uchiha Aoba raised an eyebrow. "What's that look for? Are you scared?"

"Who's scared!"

Uchiha Obito protested. "I just didn't have time to process the news because it came out of nowhere."

Still muttering something under his breath, he turned and went to pack his gear.

Uchiha Aoba didn't have to wait long.

Once he'd finished packing, Uchiha Obito left the house, locked the door, and came downstairs.

"By the way, don't we still have more than an hour before we have to meet?"

"Aren't you hungry?"

The two walked out of the clan compound side by side. Uchiha Aoba said, "There's no time to cook at this hour."

"So I thought we could grab something to eat, then head straight to the village entrance."

"What should we get?" Uchiha Obito asked.

"How about Ichiraku Ramen?"

"Sure."

That was how simple and straightforward men's conversations about food could be.

One made a suggestion, the other agreed.

No hesitation at all.

At Ichiraku Ramen, a young Teuchi was busy at work.

Uchiha Aoba and Uchiha Obito each ordered a large bowl of ramen and sat down to wait.

Soon, the ramen arrived. Uchiha Aoba dug in without a word.

Uchiha Obito, on the other hand, looked so worried he had no appetite. Every now and then, he picked at his ramen, giving the impression that he wasn't eating so much as chewing wax.

"Look, we're just going to the battlefield. They're not sending you on a suicide mission. Is there really any need to look like that?"

Uchiha Aoba swallowed a mouthful of ramen and complained helplessly.

"Ah, I'm not afraid of going to the battlefield."

Uchiha Obito defended himself, then asked anxiously, "Aoba, promise me you absolutely won't tell Kakashi and Rin about what happened earlier. It's the most sincere request I'll ever make."

"..."

Uchiha Aoba was speechless, though he understood how Obito felt.

If it were him, he wouldn't want to humiliate himself in front of his friends, either—especially with the girl he liked among them. That would be worse than being killed.

"Don't worry. I won't tell them."

"Really?"

Uchiha Obito perked up.

"Why would I lie to you?"

Uchiha Aoba shook his head with a chuckle. "Put your mind at ease. This war is no ordinary one."

"I don't want you distracted by something like this and getting into an accident."

"That's what a great friend is for!"

Uchiha Obito was overjoyed. His appetite returned, and he started wolfing down his food.

But he hadn't eaten more than a couple of bites when Uchiha Aoba asked, "Speaking of which, when are you finally going to confess to Rin? Dragging this out forever isn't a good idea."

"Aoba, you..."

Uchiha Obito nearly choked. It took him a moment to swallow the ramen in his mouth.

After a pause, worry returned to his face. He listlessly picked at the ramen in his bowl and said, "Maybe you're right. When it comes to this, I really am a coward."

"I'm worried she'll turn me down. I'm afraid we won't even be able to stay friends afterward."

Uchiha Aoba was surprised.

He'd thought that when he brought it up again, Uchiha Obito would brush it off with jokes, just as he had before.

He hadn't expected Obito to voice his true feelings so directly this time.

So Uchiha Aoba encouraged him. "You won't know unless you try. Maybe she's waiting for you to make the first move. You can't expect a girl to confess to you first."

"That makes sense!"

Uchiha Obito nodded in agreement, then took a deep breath. "So I've made up my mind!"

"When this war is over, I'll confess!"

"..."

Uchiha Aoba was speechless again.

Buddy, you can't say stuff like that right before heading to the battlefield.

He was just about to stop him when Obito continued, his voice brimming with hope. "Just like you said, Rin must be waiting for me to make the first move. So of course she'll say yes, and then we'll be together."

"Then, once Rin's an adult, I'll propose. After we get married, we'll have an adorable child..."

"All right, enough!"

Uchiha Aoba pressed a hand to his forehead.

Looking at Uchiha Obito, who was covered in jinxes from head to toe, he felt a weight settle over him.

After all, according to the story...

It was during this very war with Iwagakure that Obito was manipulated by the elderly Madara and turned into a pawn. He fell completely into darkness, setting off all the tragedies that followed.

Uchiha Aoba wanted to save the characters whose fates he'd regretted most, and the first person he had to save was Uchiha Obito.

With Obito jinxing himself like this, he couldn't begin to guess how much harder it would make things.

As for the fact that saving Uchiha Obito would mean he could no longer rely on his knowledge of the story, and that everything would change dramatically...

Uchiha Aoba could only say this:

In the face of absolute power, all schemes and plots were jokes.

Once he pushed his Uchiha Madara template's fusion rate to 100%, he could set everything else aside. If the other shinobi villages still tried to cause trouble, he'd get angry and wipe out four nations by himself with his Susanoo-clad Buddha.

Even if the Ōtsutsuki Clan came to the Shinobi World in the future to stir up trouble, if he didn't beat the shit out of them, then he'd gone too easy on them.

That was the confidence the Madara template gave Uchiha Aoba.