Obito stood atop the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path, looking down at the Five Kage.
His scar-ravaged face was exposed, rain trickling down the scars until it was impossible to tell rain from tears.
His gaze swept over the Allied Shinobi Forces gathering amid the smoke of battle, and his lips curved.
There was a weariness and resentment that ran bone-deep.
"Have you said enough?"
His voice was low and hoarse.
"You call this running away? You call this madness? You say this isn't peace?"
"Then tell me what peace is!"
"I watched the person who mattered most to me die before my eyes, and this world told me that was war, that was a shinobi's fate."
"I buried her with my own hands, and this world told me everyone had to die, that I had to learn to accept it."
Obito's voice trembled.
"I spent over a decade trying to find a way to keep anyone else from suffering my pain. Infinite Tsukuyomi isn't running away. It's salvation! In that world, everyone will be saved, everyone will be happy. There will be no more war, no more farewells!"
Raikage A snorted. "Twisted logic."
Obito ignored him and continued, his voice growing faster and more frantic.
"What right do you people, living in peace, have to judge me? What have you lost? What do you understand? Hashirama! You lost your brother. Do you understand that pain? Tsunade! You lost your lover and your brother. Do you understand? Genya! You..."
His voice suddenly caught.
Obito could not go on, because a thought suddenly struck him: what had Genya lost?
He did not know. He swallowed the rest of his words.
"Forget it. There's no point telling you any of this."
His gaze turned cold.
"You won't understand. You never will."