It's been so long since I even wrote something for Naruto or even a fic in general.
Anyway, a part this oneshot takes place Pre-Canon (after Kakashi Gaiden) but has major spoilers from Naruto Manga chapters 594-601. The other part is mostly analysis (direct manga hints that Tobi may be Obito, in fic form) of recent events and little other things - which you'll see later.
If I'm that kind of trash, I'll break the rules! If that's not being a true shinobi... Then I'll crush that idea of a shinobi! (1)
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He gritted his teeth as he flexed his right arm ▬ more flexible than he could recall. He brushed off the dust of his pants and stood up as he held out his arm for continued testing. Feeling satisfied with the new addition. He grabbed and pulled on a black cloak to cover his identity.
"I'm still surprised your body is still stable," another voice stated. Only half of his body held his humanized features such as his mouth, an eye, an ear, and a nose. The other half was basically bulks of white goo attached to make an imperfect body.
He didn't respond and tucked his gloves on.
"I was pretty sure that body of yours was far too gone to even work▬"
"Let's go, Zetsu," he spoke sharply, pulling on the hood over his head and slowly walked out of the cave.
Over the short course of time, he had learned a huge amount of history and the ninja world; many aspects of it disgusted him. There was always war and hate. Even more so since the era of the Rikudou Sennin and the creation of chakra. His body was in the midst of healing when he heard many of those stories ▬ from Madara Uchiha himself.
Obito had spoken up, how he wanted to do something about it and he was going to do it through actions. He very much grew as a person, grew in power, and grew as an Uchiha. To keep his identity hidden, he always wore a mask with a right eyehole opening.
"Ichibi, Nibi, Sanbi...and I shall be...Tobi!(2)" He had said, giving himself a name after determining his plans on reviving the Jyuubi and to become its' complete form.
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If you let your emotions run free and fail your mission, you'll regret it in the future. Because of that, the rule was decided that a shinobi must kill his emotions. You must understand that too.
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Through the hard days to kill his emotions he still had left for the people he previously cared. The last straw soon came and he knew then, he could move forward in the cruel reality(3). He shouldn't care what they would think of him, they would have never guessed. Obito had a plan to carry out and he found it to be functional to fix this wasteland the ninja world was. In truth, he certainly thought one of his ex-comrades to be pathetic(4). Absolutely absurd...!
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The most important thing to a shinobi is to be a tool in order to complete the mission. Emotions are unnecessary things.
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"If you fail in your mission, what will you think about yourself?"(5)
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So often he had watched the village from a distance, especially near a significant place that his ex-companion had frequently visited so much... Such a pitiful excuse to be constantly late for meet-ups and conferences. So pitiful. It merely disgusted him. Obito knew that he must felt regret and sorrow deep inside whom can't even keep a promise.
Reality was always moving forward, never slowing down, stopping nor turning back. Hope always turned into despair, happy moments into sad times, love into hate, peace into war...
Yet, here he was, on the battlefield. He had deceived many who thought he was Madara Uchiha, all to plan. His identity wasn't important to himself but it seemed to be to everyone else. 'Who are you?', those words he heard from his enemies, it was bothersome although he brushed it off.
That moment when Kakashi and Gai came to assist the jinchuurikis and their tactics to defeat the Bijuus and the Mazou. He felt very bitter and annoyed.
"I'd like to do something before it's revived, if possible." He had heard Kakashi say.
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"...Take care...of Rin..."
"Right."
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"I'll look after you for Obito. Because of that, I'll protect you even if I die..."
"Kakashi...!"
"Rin... Obito liked you... Loved you... You were important to him... Because of that, I'll protect you through life and death."
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He glared down at his opponent, past feelings surfacing. He made a remark to the copy ninja, "Kakashi... You always open your mouth so easily. It's no wonder you've lived a life of regret."
Slip(6).
The two jounins looked puzzled and Gai asked him, "Just... Who are you?"
"You don't remember faces, so what is the point in telling you?" Slip. He knew his old classmate, always going forward in his 'springtime of youth' even if it meant forgetting the faces of his past enemies. Gai who had fought Kisame three times and never once remembered him. Pitiful.
They eventually figured out his jutsu.
Kakashi seemed angry with the fact he have this sharingan and seem to think he had stolen it. How funny, since had always had it all along...!
"I told you not to open your mouth so easily! You're just words and no actions, what someone like you says is worth nothing!" Tobi snapped, repeating his remark to Kakashi as if to make a point. He wanted to make a point to the whole world, with his very existence. To change the world into a never-ending dream.
Slip.
"It's too late to regret. Reality is just cruelly moving forward. You've seen reality, you should be able to understand... No wish can become true in this world. That's why I'm pursuing the dream of Infinite Tsukuyomi. I want to build a world where heroes don't have to make pitiful excuses in front of graves." Tobi explained. The last comment obviously directed at the copy ninja.
Even then, they seemed to be surprised by the true identity that mattered nothing to himself. He had a dream from the beginning. That dream to crush the idea of 'Shinobi' and a world of no war nor peace. He proved himself to be worthy to carry out such a dream through not just words but actions. He was Obito Uchiha, now known as Tobi, whom shall be a complete form of its' own with Jyuubi.
Whoo, okay~! I guess a little pointers time to give more understanding here.
(1) - This is a huge hint. Obito once said this to Kakashi how he wanted to "crush the idea of Shinobi". Tobi's Moon's Eye Plan quite mirrors that saying.
(2) - This was a reference to what Tobi had said to Deidara in the Sanbi filler arc!
He said, "Ichibi, Nibi, Sanbi, boku wa Tobi!" while referring to the tailed beasts.
It translates to: "Ichibi, Nibi, Sanbi, and I'm Tobi!"
Tobi's plan for world domination is to revive the Jyuubi, or "Ten-Tailed Beast".
But he also said that he was trying to achieve a complete form of his own.
Here's the neat part:
When counting from one to ten in Japanese, it goes:
Ichi, Ni, San, Yon, Go, Roku, Shichi, Hachi, Kyuu, Jyuu.
When counting objects, it goes differently:
Hitotsu, Futatsu, Mittsu, Yottsu, Itsusu, Muttsu, Nanatsu, Yatsu, Kokonotsu, To.
The tailed beasts get their names by combining the character for the number of tails they have with the character for "bi".
That means that Tobi's statement to Deidara can actually be translated as:
"One-Tailed, Two-Tailed, Three-Tailed, and I'm Ten-Tailed!"
Simply put, I'd guess this is how Tobi got his [code] name since 'Obito Uchiha' no longer existed.
(3) - Referring to Rin's death.
(4) - Referring to Kakashi and how he didn't keep his promise to Obito.
(5) - This was a direct quote by Tobi in chapter 597 although it fit for the next scene right after so I used it.
(6) - 'Slip' is referring to Tobi slipping into his Obito persona. Just imagine what Obito would say even as an enemy to his ex-teammates. Definitely something like this.
My point of this fic was to show a major points on why Tobi = Obito is not a troll and was a thing that Kishimoto, respectively, planned this for a very long time. There was other small hints but they wouldn't fit to be in this fic, so I left them out.
Either way, I enjoyed writing this fic and I hope you fans did too.