Obito's "Last Request"

"Brat! Entertain me to your heart's content!!!"

White Zetsu had disguised himself as an utterly ordinary Hidden Rock Village Jonin, while Madara sent his consciousness into the body and roared at Masaichi.

Rin flinched like a startled fawn.

She had no idea what she had done to make so many Rock ninjas target her today.

In terms of looks, she had not even fully grown into them yet.

In terms of medical skills, there were plenty of people in Konoha better than her. Why were they all targeting her?

It was pretty strange.

Seeing Rin frightened by the roar, Masaichi snapped at Madara, "Why are you barking like a dog?!"

Madara froze for a moment. Was that brat yelling at him?

What else would he be doing?

"HAHAHAHA!!!" Madara laughed maniacally. Interesting. Very interesting.

Then he sprang forward and began fighting Masaichi.

White Zetsu's physical abilities were weaker than Masaichi's, but the one controlling him was Uchiha Madara!!

He was the man who had dared to charge barehanded into the Allied Shinobi Forces and dance through them during the Fourth Ninja World War.

Masaichi was clearly a notch below Madara in taijutsu. Compared to Madara, he had to admit that his whole body was nothing but useless muscles built in the gym.

He was scared~~~

Did the Hidden Rock Village have someone this strong in taijutsu too?

Experts saw the skill in it. As long as they were not blind, anyone watching Masaichi exchange blows with Madara could see just how exquisite Madara's taijutsu was.

Madara's fists tore through the air. Every strike targeted tiny gaps in Masaichi's defense with calculated precision. Most terrifying of all, he could predict Masaichi's movements, as though he could see the future and knew exactly how Masaichi would attack.

Masaichi failed to block one blow and was sent flying from a strike to the stomach.

"You managed to exchange a few moves with me. Once you leave here, you'll have something to brag about."

Ōnoki, who was fighting Hiruzen Sarutobi, flew through the air to evade a blast of dragon fire. He glanced over casually, marveling that he had only just discovered such a taijutsu prodigy.

That brat had already killed many ninjas from the Hidden Rock Village.

Unfortunately, Hiruzen Sarutobi had tied him down, so he could not finish the brat with a single Dust Release.

"Pass on my orders! Kill Konoha's next generation at all costs!" Ōnoki found an opening and shouted, his voice echoing across the entire battlefield.

"All Konoha personnel with free hands, collectively carry out the mission of killing the Hidden Rock Village's next generation!" Hiruzen Sarutobi shouted as well.

Orochimaru was dealing with the Five-Tails Jinchūriki, Han, and simply could not spare the effort to help Masaichi. Fighting a Five-Tails Jinchūriki required slowly wearing him down, demanding extremely precise maneuvering as Orochimaru relied on serpentine footwork to evade Han's repeated steam-boosted charges.

After all, hitting Han ten times was not as effective as Han hitting him once.

That was the sorrow of people without bloodlines or kekkei genkai.

His strength had already reached the limit for someone without a bloodline.

Only when Obito joined the battlefield did Masaichi's fight against Madara improve.

"Come on!!"

Even two Madaras would not stop him from fighting.

Perfect! He wanted to see whether this Uchiha Obito had the talent to become an executor of the Moon's Eye Plan.

It had to be said, Obito had quite a bit of willpower too.

Once he noticed Madara's intention to capture Nohara Rin, he was knocked down again and again, only to keep getting back up.

Masaichi had been the one taking the beating before, but now Obito was the main one getting beaten up.

Kakashi, who had just personally killed a young boy, looked at Obito—his bruised and swollen face, his bleeding nose—and asked, "Is this worth it? Our mission now should be to kill the Hidden Rock Village's next generation. Masaichi is already risking his life to hold him off. Does what you're doing count as abandoning the mission?"

"Kakashi! Missions may be important in a ninja's world. A ninja who abandons a mission is trash, but someone who abandons comrades for a mission is worse than trash."

Obito's words, spoken with eyes swollen so badly he could barely open them, struck Kakashi deeply.

Was that so?!

How could he possibly be worse than Obito?!

Come on!!

The three of them tangled with Madara in battle.

It could not exactly be said that Obito was useful, but it could not exactly be said that he was useless either...

Either way, the main force in this battle still had to be Masaichi and Kakashi.

"Kakashi, this guy's body isn't as tough as ours. Let's beat him with brute force."

"Okay."

"Hmph." Madara sneered.

He was speaking to White Zetsu—and to all the little White Zetsus in the White Zetsu network that were crying out for support.

There were no useless White Zetsu bodies! Only useless White Zetsus.

See? Had he not single-handedly beaten up an enemy that more than a dozen of them together could not handle?

Then, the next second, he was proven wrong. He discovered that his body had been restrained. Kakashi had tightly wrapped himself around one of his arms and his body, pinning him in place.

"Gana." Masaichi appeared in a Body Flicker.

Game over.

Madara's view ended on blue skies and white clouds.

Underground, there was deathly silence. Not even the most hyperactive and cheeky White Zetsu dared to make a sound.

"Very good!"

This time, it was Madara's Shadow Clone.

His body was in no condition for this. Forcing himself to use a Shadow Clone to fight was nothing less than squeezing what little lifespan he had left.

But...

He had to regain his dignity.

There was no question about it.

Masaichi had been beaten terribly, and Kakashi had been beaten terribly too. The two lay sprawled on the ground like dead Pakkuns.

If those two were not Obito's bonds, and if they were not useful for Obito awakening his eyes in the future, he would have crushed them to death in an instant!

Not only them—Madara vented his anger on many Konoha ninjas, and quite a few were beaten to death alive.

Ōnoki and Hiruzen Sarutobi were delighted and furious respectively. Ōnoki was delighted because one genius from the Hidden Rock Village had died, only for another to appear! Hiruzen Sarutobi was furious because that bastard dared to kill Konoha's ninjas!

As if things were not bad enough, Rin had also been taken away. Obito, the only one still able to walk, chased after her.

"Obito, I can't save you." Masaichi lay flat on the ground, feeling as if his body had fallen apart. Was this Madara's combat strength in his old age? How strong had he been in his prime?

Theoretically, Madara could make one final desperate push and take all of them down with him at the cost of his own life.

So if they revealed in advance that Madara was still alive and had a scheme, then got Konoha and the Hidden Rock Village to unite and stop him, none of them would survive.

Maybe his conscience had not completely died.

Masaichi struggled to his feet and chased after them with Kakashi.

By the time the two arrived, supporting each other,

Obito had already been pinned beneath a huge boulder, giving his "final words."

When the rocks fell and the cave-in came, he shoved Rin away, replacing her as the one crushed beneath them.

Rin... I might not be able to take care of you anymore.

What was a real man? It was watching the woman he loved be happy.

Feeling that he was about to die, Obito let go of everything. With Masaichi by her side, Rin would definitely be happy, right?

Masaichi was handsome. Masaichi knew gratitude. Masaichi was wise. Masaichi had great stamina...

He was unwilling to accept it.

"Little Rin, although Masaichi is a bastard, he's actually pretty good when he isn't being a bastard. Better than Kakashi. Kakashi... he's too lustful. He might make you wear a green hat after you marry him."

The first thing Kakashi and Masaichi heard upon entering was Obito slandering him.

"Stop talking, Obito. I'll definitely save you." Rin knelt on the ground, crying so hard she could barely speak. Obito had done all this to save her.