Chapter 397: Never Quite Like Youthful Wandering
Obito left. He hadn't come here to find Naruto or capture the Nine-Tails—not yet.
He was simply here to take a look and wait for Haneda to appear.
He knew that as long as he stayed in Konoha, Haneda would eventually discover him.
But what he hadn't expected was that Naruto still carried Minato's chakra within him, and in substantial amounts.
At this moment, Obito didn't want to face Minato. Perhaps it was due to guilt, or maybe for other reasons.
The vortex of Kamui disappeared, and the black-robed masked man seemed as if he had never been there.
In Naruto's mental space, there was only a long sigh.
It wasn't clear whether it was out of guilt for failing to protect his student or shame for seeing his student fall into darkness, reflecting on his own teaching.
Naruto, as the host of the mental space, clearly heard Minato's words and sighs.
He asked curiously:
"Dad, do you know him? Isn't he Uchiha Madara? The ninja from the same era as the First Hokage."
Minato saw no need to hide the truth from his son. He had been watching, and Naruto wouldn't share such information.
He replied, "That person isn't Uchiha Madara. He's a former student of mine named Uchiha Obito."
"I never imagined it would be like this… He didn't die and is living under the name of Uchiha Madara."
Naruto said, "Obito? Isn't he Uncle Haneda and Uncle Kakashi's friend? I remember Uncle Kakashi used to bring flowers to the memorial stone every morning."
When Obito attacked Minato, Naruto had just been born and had no memories from that time.
Naruto didn't recall what Obito had done to Minato.
Hearing that Obito was one of Minato's students, Naruto thought he must have been a good person.
After all, Kakashi treated him well and often treated him to his favorite tonkotsu ramen.
Naturally, this gave him a favorable impression of his father's other student.
Minato didn't mention Obito further and fell silent.
He had no intention of burdening his child with the grudges, love, and hate of the previous generation.
He just wanted Naruto to live carefree.
Perhaps Kushina shared the same thought, as she remained silent when Obito had no intention of harming Naruto.
Seeing his parents' silence, Naruto grew curious about the name Uchiha Obito.
He remembered that Uncle Haneda often mentioned this name in a book he wrote years ago and decided to look it up later.
...
Meanwhile, after using Kamui to disappear, Obito didn't leave Konoha but instead went to the top of the Hokage Rock.
He was here to confirm news about Haneda and wouldn't leave until he had achieved his goal.
Standing atop the Hokage Rock, he could overlook nearly all of Konoha.
Obito stood precisely on the head of the Fifth Hokage's statue.
Nearly a decade had passed, and Konoha had changed greatly.
The ninja academy in front had been renamed Konoha's First Ninja Academy. Ahead of that was the Hokage Tower, which hadn't changed much.
But in the central area of Konoha around the Hokage Tower, people's attire had shifted from traditional clothing to modernized outfits, and the buildings had grown from one or two stories to towering structures of over ten floors, reaching several dozen meters in height.
Looking down, Obito noted that the Uchiha and Hyuga compounds were among the few places that hadn't changed much. These were clans with long histories.
He withdrew his gaze, suddenly feeling bored.
But then he noticed a familiar figure near the ninja academy.
Naruto was hurriedly running toward his old school, a scene that felt very familiar to Obito, who thought Naruto might be running late.
What was even more familiar was the sight of a child running ahead of Naruto, seemingly someone Naruto knew well.
This feeling—too familiar.
Wasn't this just like himself and Haneda back in the day?
"To buy osmanthus wine and carry it home, it will never be quite like youthful wandering."
Obito recited a line from Haneda's poem, suddenly understanding its essence.
"There's no going back."
"No going back?"
Haneda walked up from a small path behind the Hokage Rock, casually arriving at Obito's right side.
Unfortunately, Obito didn't answer and instead brought up something else:
"I heard you're dying. I came to see you."
Haneda replied, "Then you should be cautious. The message I asked Shikaku to spread was sent three days ago. It takes at least three days for news to travel from Konoha to Amegakure."
"What do you mean?" Obito frowned, quickly grasping Haneda's implication.
Haneda smiled. As long as the seed of doubt was planted, it would eventually sprout, especially since Obito never fully trusted Black Zetsu from the start.
"That was a message I deliberately spread. Do you think there's any illness that could bring down a Sage Body?"
"You must have stolen Konoha's classified files, right? The First Hokage supposedly died of heart disease, shortly after Uchiha Madara's death."
Haneda emphasized the word "death."
Feeling deceived, Obito snorted, slightly irritated as he said:
"Such petty tricks might fool those hidden villages that hate you, but someone like me, who also has the Sage Body, knows how resilient it is."
Still so proud... Haneda couldn't help but smile.
Realizing something, Obito quickly changed the subject to business:
"You plan to bait those hidden villages and the daimyo who despise you into attacking Konoha after your funeral, then wipe them all out, right?"
Haneda didn't deny it and simply nodded.
If everything went as expected, the next to arrive in Konoha would be Nagato and Konan.
That would be the time to lay all the cards on the table.
"Then let it all end with the Fourth Great Ninja War, Haneda."
Having gotten the answer he wanted, Obito left.
In the next moment, he arrived at the place where Uchiha Madara was buried.
It was located about ten miles outside Konoha, near the Naka River, the former territory of the Uchiha clan.
A nameless tombstone stood near the Naka River, the place where Madara and Hashirama first met and where they parted ways.
When choosing the burial site, perhaps out of obsession with Hashirama, Madara instructed Obito and Black Zetsu to bury him there after his death.
As for the nameless tombstone...
One reason was that Madara's name itself was taboo. Another was that Madara believed he would be resurrected, so he left no name behind.
Obito wasn't here to mourn the old man.
He pulled out a shovel and unearthed Madara's coffin from behind the tombstone.
Opening the coffin, Madara's body was revealed, surprisingly well-preserved with no signs of decay.
Obito used Kamui to absorb Madara's body into the Kamui space, then closed the coffin and buried it again.
To avoid Black Zetsu noticing that the coffin had been disturbed, he carefully refilled the grave as he remembered it.