The Sky Screen shifted to a new scene.
After the Nine-Tails' Attack and the catastrophe that had engulfed Konoha, the chaos in the Shinobi World finally subsided for the time being.
Obito, hiding in the shadows to recover, had only just stabilized his injuries when Black Zetsu came strolling over.
The underground chamber was dark, damp, and deathly silent. Only their voices slowly broke the stillness.
Obito still wore that cold spiral mask. His entire presence was distant and icy, his voice betraying not the slightest emotion.
All he cared about was the final result, not how many died along the way.
When Black Zetsu approached, he asked coldly without even raising his head.
"How is Konoha now?"
"Did they suffer heavy casualties?"
What he wanted was chaos in Konoha, its fighting strength crippled and its foundations shaken.
The worse Konoha suffered, the more this false reality deserved to be overturned.
Black Zetsu slowly nodded, an unexpected hint of a smile on his face and a mocking edge to his voice.
"Heavy casualties hardly begins to cover it."
"The consequences of this upheaval went well beyond my expectations."
Obito raised his eyes slightly. His scarlet Sharingan flickered through the opening in his mask, but his tone remained cold.
"What do you mean? A lot of people died?"
Black Zetsu chuckled softly, speaking with perfect clarity. Every word struck straight at Obito's nerves.
"Heh. No matter how many ordinary villagers and low-ranking shinobi died, they hardly matter."
"The real surprise was this-the Fourth Hokage, Minato Namikaze, died."
Boom!
That simple sentence left Obito utterly frozen.
Even though he had long since fallen into darkness, turned cold-blooded, and severed his old bonds, the news still shook him to his core. He stood stunned, disbelief written across his face.
He had imagined countless