In the Rain Tower, after recreating the horrific future, Naruto worked backward through events to explain the whole story to the four Hokage.
On the Lakeside Pier, Obito watched the ripples spreading across the lake and mused, "If things had followed their original course, I'd be dead by now, carrying sins I could never wash away, crumbling into fragments and returning to Rin's side..."
Tobi teased, "You're dead right now, too, you know~"
Obito smiled. "That's true, but at least I can still see for myself where this world I once rejected will go."
Tobi crouched down, poking a wooden stick into the gaps between the pier's planks, and murmured, "Well, that's not so bad..."
After the great battle at the River of the Undying ended, the White Zetsu scattered elsewhere began gathering near Amegakure, watching and waiting.
As long as the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path wasn't controlled by Madara, the original owner of the Rinnegan, the White Zetsu were willing to follow Obito.
Tobi aside, most of the other White Zetsu felt hostility or fear toward Naruto.
After all, the grudges between Naruto and the White Zetsu hadn't sprung up overnight.
But their wait-and-see attitude wouldn't last long.
The source of the White Zetsu's vitality was the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path.
As long as the Demonic Statue remained in Amegakure, in Naruto's hands, they would submit, however reluctantly.
Ribbit~! Ribbit~!
A toad leaped out of the lake and landed in front of Tobi, puffing out its cheeks.
Tobi casually grabbed the toad and held it up before his eyes, examining its rear at close range as he asked Obito, "Are you planning to keep living in that body from Impure World Reincarnation?"
Obito raised his hand and looked at his cracked, fractured skin, recalling Tsuchima's