Hiruzen persuaded me to die

Inside the Kamui dimension.

"Damn it…"

Cold sweat beaded down Uchiha Obito's face beneath the swirled mask.

Moments ago, he had returned to Konoha—only to discover Hyuga Naraku was not only alive… but back.

Even worse, judging from the battlefield's state, Sarutobi Hiruzen's scheme had already crumbled.

But Obito didn't intend to waste the old man just yet. Hiruzen still had his uses.

So, Obito silently phased into the battlefield, aiming to pull Hiruzen into the Kamui space.

But—

Just as his body re-materialized...

Naraku was already there.

Sword in hand.

Cloaked in Lightning Chakra.

Obito barely had time to react.

He burned his left Sharingan, activating Izanagi—the forbidden Uchiha technique that rewrites reality—but not before the pain of being cleaved clean in half struck him like thunder.

It wasn't just the blade—it was the lightning laced within it.

Obito gritted his teeth.

It wasn't just strength.

It was anticipation.

"He moved the moment I emerged…"

Obito's thoughts churned.

"How…? Did he sense spatial fluctuations?"

That could only mean one thing.

"...Does Hyuga Naraku also know space-time ninjutsu?"

That... would make him even more dangerous.

"Before that," muttered Sarutobi Hiruzen, glancing around the sterile white void, "Naraku emerged from some sort of strange passage."

"Passage…?" Obito's pupil contracted behind the mask.

More proof.Naraku likely could manipulate space-time, just like him.

Obito clenched his fists, suppressing the rising frustration.

He shifted focus back to Hiruzen.

"You were supposed to rally the Four Ninja Insurgents, then help our Mist shinobi from outside the village. Why the hell did you go straight to Hyuga?"

His tone was sharp, accusing.

Sarutobi Hiruzen's expression darkened.

He hadn't anticipated the Mist's rapid defeat. The original plan was simple:

Take control of Konoha internally.

Let the Mist slowly chip away from outside.

Eliminate Naraku to cow the rest of the village.

But Naraku had returned.

Alive. Unscathed. And worse—stronger.

"They told me Naraku was dead," Hiruzen snarled. "We were baited into a trap!"

"A trap," Obito echoed coldly, "or just incompetence?"

Hiruzen narrowed his eyes.

"Where were you? What happened to Nine Tails' Jinchūriki? Why didn't you bring him?"

Obito's glare intensified.

That question stung.

"…Your prized student, Jiraiya, happened."

"Jiraiya?"

Hiruzen was stunned.

That meant Jiraiya was still siding with Naraku. And not even his son Asuma had stood with him—Asuma had just tried to kill him to survive.

Everything was crumbling.

His hopes of restoring the Sarutobi name—gone.Homura and Koharu—slain.Konoha—lost.His own son—turned on him.

All of it... Naraku's fault.

"Hyuga Naraku… that bastard ruined everything!" Hiruzen growled.

"Heh…" Obito sneered. "Don't worry. Before I came here, I left them a little… parting gift."

Outside Kamui, back in Konoha.

Uchiha Fugaku stood over the blood-stained dirt, eyes narrowing at the now-vanished half-corpse.

"That technique just now… it looked like…"

"…Izanagi," Hyuga Naraku confirmed, calmly sheathing his blade.

Obito hadn't just escaped—he rewrote his death entirely.

Even the blood he'd spilled was gone. The body? Vanished. As if none of it happened.

A twisted form of immortality.

"He used the same Forbidden Technique Danzo once activated," Uchiha Itachi said quietly.

He glanced toward the battlefield, piecing the threads together.

"The masked man… he's Uchiha."

"The same man who orchestrated the Nine Tails' attack that killed Lord Fourth," Itachi continued, voice emotionless.

Gasps echoed among the shinobi.

"That means—" Nara Shikaku's eyes widened, "—the Nine Tails' chaos… it wasn't just a disaster."

"It was a conspiracy."

Their minds raced.

A masked Uchiha. Sharingan. Knowledge of Konoha's systems. Mastery of space-time ninjutsu.

He had to be the one behind it all.

Kakashi stood frozen.

His father, Sakumo, had died due to Hiruzen's manipulation.

His teacher, Minato—the Fourth Hokage—and his wife Kushina had died in the Nine Tails' rampage.

And now?

This masked man was working with Sarutobi Hiruzen?

"Was it all a lie…?" Kakashi's thoughts burned.

If Hiruzen had cooperated with the masked Uchiha…

Then maybe the Fourth's death hadn't been a tragedy.

Maybe…

…it was a setup.

Suddenly—

A ripple in space. A spiraling distortion.

Uchiha Obito's shadow emerged from the twist.

He didn't dare manifest his real body—only projecting from within the Kamui.

"Well, well… looks like you survived Cloud after all, Hyuga Naraku," he said, voice emotionless.

Naraku stood silent.

"I didn't come empty-handed," Obito continued.

"Consider this... a gift."

BOOOOM!

A monstrous wave of evil chakra erupted from the outskirts of Konoha.

Every shinobi froze.

That sinister, oppressive energy…

Nine Tails.

They had felt it before. That same hatred. That same nightmarish pressure that once turned Konoha into rubble.

The Nine Tails had been released.

"That chakra…!" Uchiha Fugaku stepped back.

"Nine Tails… is loose!"

Gasps and shouts rose among the shinobi.

Panic flashed in their eyes.

And now, with the masked man appearing again, there could be no doubt.

He was the one behind the Nine Tails attack all those years ago.

And Sarutobi Hiruzen?

He was complicit.

A shadow of disbelief settled over Konoha.

For many, the truth had become undeniable:

The Nine Tails' rampage… was never a tragedy of fate.It was a power play.And Hiruzen Sarutobi was at the center of it all.