Thunder rumbled past the mountains, shaking the sky after brilliant streaks of lightning casting glimpses of blinding light over the trees. Rain poured over the forest in buckets, drenching everything and in an instance, there was a disruption in the middle of the forest, swirling into existence. After a few moments, there was a man tumbling onto the ground, heaving and crying out with effort. One of his eyes was bleeding profusely with the glowing red orb of the Mangekyo Sharingan while the other was shut tightly, having gone blind.

He had fallen in the mud naked, alone, and exhausted from the effort of ripping his way through space and time. It seemed almost impossible that he'd have the energy to make it back home, but when he had reached within himself for the chakra to make the journey, he found an ocean of strength - a reminder of who he had become during the war. Naruto. He must have left a piece of the Juubi inside of him and sealed it when he resurrected him, but then again, how was he alive at all? That kid was just too charitable to guys like him.

The man lay there for a long while, trying to regain the energy to move. He didn't have an entire bijuu trapped inside of him so building back chakra took much longer than a true jinchuuriki. It took over an hour of shivering in the pouring winter rain before he was able to stand, shivering with the cold around him. He'd need to find shelter from the cold and clothing. The man figured he could dip back into his time-space dimension, but he'd be stuck there for a while. Shelter it was then.

The rain battered him back and forth, but he was used to the cold biting into his skin after years of living in a cave, just not necessarily the exposure. This is the most bare and exposed he'd been since the day he was born. He was completely vulnerable and had no idea where he was. Eventually, however, he was able to shelter himself beneath the base of a great tree. There were signs that an animal had been living there, but they were likely scared off. Even the most aggressive animals didn't want to tangle with a jinchuuriki, even a pseudo-jinchuuriki like him. The man decided to settle here for the night until he was able to regain some chakra to grab clothes from the Kamui dimension. His eye began to slip shut as his exhaustion hit him more fully and soon, he had drifted into a difficult, restless sleep.

Two years later, a man no one had ever seen before was sauntering through the streets of a small, traditional village. He had raven-black hair with threads of white peppering it, messy and swept to one side. His right cheek was mildly scarred and he wore a pair of black sunglasses over his dark, wondrous eyes. As for his clothes, he wore a black haori over a navy blue kimono-set. Dark colors blended in better with crowds after all, but he wore no weapon. Only a belt with various adornments, like bells and small keychains that he had collected on his travels. He was only known as 'Tobu' but even he'd agree that he was hopeless when it came to coming up with new names and identities.

Tobu didn't hail from any of the great villages, nor any of the lesser, but he had been a shinobi his entire life. It wasn't necessarily a good life or a decent life, but until the war, it had been the only life he knew and now, in his mid-thirties, he was retired. Instead of going about, following orders from old men that thought they were better than him, he only took orders from himself. Occasionally taking a job here and there to pay for food and shelter, no matter how strange a concept it was.

When he had been under Madara and Black Zetsu's thumb, he didn't require food and didn't have to worry about shelter, but now, all the Akatsuki hideouts have been raided and all the Zetsu were destroyed, as was the Gedo Statue. He still had certain abilities and enhancements from it, but he now felt the effects of starvation and exhaustion. It took much getting used to.

Eventually, while trudging through town, he came across a decent-looking inn he could stay at for the night and decided to go inside. Downstairs was a small restaurant with neatly set up booths and tables. That'd allow him to eat without having to cover his face entirely. He pushed his shades up into his hair and decided to book a room and a table, after all, he had grown tired of sleeping in the hard landscape of Kamui or in the trees, always on the lookout for thugs or shinobi who might recognize him. (Not that the latter was very likely.) Tobu had kept a few ryo in his wallet just for such an occasion, but after that, he'd need to take on another job or hunt for himself and go back to uncomfortable camping. Still, he was a firm believer in the phrase 'Treat yourself,' at least when it was plausible.

Tobu began to walk up to the counter to book himself a room, but immediately a frightened young woman came up and began to usher him out. "I-I'm sorry, sir! All of our rooms and tables are currently booked! Please come back another day," she squeaked, leading him outside. He looked behind them to the empty restaurant and raised an eyebrow.

"Are you sure? I'm willing to pay for everything in advance," Tobu tried to reason with her. He was a little disappointed and more than a little suspicious now as she shook her head 'no'.

"I'm so sorry, sir! But we have a-," she hesitated for a moment before continuing, "-party coming any moment now!" She pushed him out the door and shut it tightly, pulling down the shutters.

That was rather disappointing.

The shunned traveler pouted and thought for a moment before taking a look about the village. People were wrapping up their things and going inside, hiding from something or someone. Making a quick diagnostic, Tobu determined that he wasn't letting off any bijuu chakra. So what could it be?

Down the street he saw an elderly man quickly hobbling to find his own shelter, so he decided to run over and fell in-step with him.

"Excuse me, sir," the traveler asked as politely as he could, "but could you tell me what the heck is going on around here?" The old man spared him a glance and kept going, ignoring the traveler. Tobu didn't like that, so he threw an arm out in the man's path and stepped in front of him, making him yelp in surprise.

"Hey! What's th' big-"

"I asked you to tell me what the hell's going on around here, old man," Tobu demanded, scowling, his dark eyes freezing the man in place.

The old man sighed and gestured for the traveler to follow him to shelter. "Rogue shinobi and a lot of 'em! They come down 'ere maybe once a month t' ransack the village and pillage our goods and young women," the old man explained, heading to a ramshackle merchant's hut.

"What about the ninja village? Have they sent anyone out here to do anything about them," Tobu asked desperately, imploring the man to tell him what he wanted to hear, but the old geezer let out a mirthless laugh.

"Oh boy! You're not from around here, are ye? The shinobi don't care about us; we're a poor village o' merchants and fishermen. We ain't worth much t' 'em," he was hooting with laughter and opened the door, before looking back at him. "Ya need a place t' stay, boy?"

Tobu considered this. He could do that and leave the villagers to their own devices once the rogues were gone. After all, there was no reason to step into this because it wasn't his problem. Then again, if he didn't help them, who would?

"Boy, ere yer lis'nin'? Ya need a place t' stay?" the man asked again.

Tobu met his eyes, the glisten of a challenge within them lighting them up. "Yeah, but I have some work to do," he said with a grin, his lip curled back to show a predatory glimpse of teeth, and walked the other direction, keen on meeting his challengers.

Tobu waited patiently just outside of the village for the bandits. He could sense them drawing nearer and it made him anxious. It had been months since he had last fought with anyone and he still hadn't been able to utilize most of his abilities. He feared he might get a little rusty if things went on this way, but a handful of missing-nin would help him stretch his legs a bit and who knows? Maybe one had a bounty on his head and he could take a page from Kakuzu by making a bit of money off of it?

The entire business reminded him of his Akatsuki days leading up to the Great War. He didn't get to use his techniques much as Tobi either, but at least he had fun.

He lifted his head as he saw a group of a dozen missing-nin headed his way. His grin broadened as he considered how it may become more than just stretching his metaphorical legs. As they drew closer, he flared out his chakra in an obvious challenge, stopping them in their tracks. He could sense the flicker of unease run through them, followed by a murmur until a leader came forth from the group.

A man with a shock of red hair glared at him with war-hardened eyes. "Who the hell are you?" he snarled, his stance was just as defensive as the others in his group but his face showed the evidence of a more difficult life as a shinobi. Tobu figured he was either somewhat strong or fairly charismatic to speak for the rest of the group so openly. And combined with that red hair, he believed he might be an Uzumaki.

"I'm not anyone really, but I heard you've been attacking this village," he said in vague answer.

"Why do you care?" he barked. "It's not your village. You're a rogue. Get out of our way and let us pass or we'll have to go through you."

"Well, you see," the lone man crossed his arms and frowned, "that's exactly why I can't. Like you, I'm actually not a shinobi anymore either, so I don't have to follow their rules. Personally, I was enjoying myself here until you spooked all of the villagers, so let me set my terms." Tobu's body straightened and he let his arms fall, putting the missing-nin on edge. "Leave and never come back, or... I'll kill you all," his voice was a deep growl, much like the one he used when he had masqueraded as Madara, both threatening and cruel. It felt strange to use it now but to see the looks on each of their faces was priceless. To add to the effect, he let loose another flare of chakra, releasing an invisible miasma of killing intent and a thirst for blood. But the thrill of the soon-to-be violence and bloodshed made the Juubi's chakra locked away in his chest stir with morbid intent.

Of all the times to awaken.

The leader twitched with anticipation and in a moment two of the group came charging at him, kunai drawn in their hands, but Obito held his ground. With his single Mangekyo Sharingan active beneath the cover of his contact lenses, both of them passed right through him, tumbling to the ground. The motion didn't even startle the bells adorning his garments.

"What the hell is this guy?" one of the other bandits squeaked fearfully.

"Exactly who we're looking for," the leader replied ominously.

Tobu raised his brow and looked amused. Looking for him? It was almost preposterous, but then again, how many people could allow others to phase through them? A small mistake on his part, but then again, he didn't really intend upon letting these guys live.

"You mean this guy is…" the first bandit trailed off and looked him straight in the eye, swallowing back fear. He seemed to only just realize what kind of danger he was in. It was unbelievably naive for someone who had attacked him first.

"Yeah. Yeah, he is," there was a ruffle of nerves through the group and then, the fight began.

A whirl of kunai and shuriken headed his way. Tobu wasn't particularly worried about it and let them slide easily through him while the two missing-nin behind him came at him from angles to attack him, waiting for him to solidify once more. He grabbed one of the last few kunai mixed into the cloud of steel and turned with lightning speed to the one on his left, stabbing them through the chest, coating his gloved hand with blood. He knew it was a bad idea to wear light colors, but that wouldn't stop the missing-nin on his right from closing in.

Tobu leaped away and reared back to throw the tremorous, dying man at his comrades. He watched as the body sailed through the air like a rag doll towards the others and quickly flew through the seals to launch a katon jutsu at them to follow it.

"Fire Release: Grand Fireball Jutsu!"

A great ball of flames launched towards the mass of missing-nin, but he didn't get a chance to see if it hit as he began dodging the man who had come up from behind him. The man was one of the two who had charged at him in the beginning.

He slashed at him with a sword and Tobu wriggled away, just like in his 'Tobi' days. Another smile began to grace his lips and he quickly slid into the ground like water before coming up behind the man once more. He raised his leg in a powerful kick and caught the man in the side, thrusting him away, tumbling across the small clearing. That had to have broken something, but now he was down to ten opponents. Not bad!

However, the other missing-nin were still attempting to close in on him and Tobu had no idea what they could do just yet. They seemed to be a jumble of different clans and different village affiliations, so it was nearly impossible to pick out what their abilities might be. Just the kind of ragtag group he'd expect for mercenaries.

Then he came up with an idea to find out just what they could do; he'd have them chase him through the forest. They'd have to split up to take him on since the trees weren't overly tall or thick like those that towered over men and touched the sky in the Land of Fire.

He took off in a tactical retreat towards the forest, the rogues hot on his trail.

"After him," Tobu heard the leader cry, "follow him but don't let him get away! It could be a trap."

Well, he wasn't exactly wrong. He was planning on getting them to regroup. They'd probably use a standard maneuver and split into two groups of three and one group of four to tail him. The odds would be much better for Tobu that way.

Sure enough, there was a team of three missing-nin on his tail, leaping across branches in pursuit of him. Tobu stopped in his tracks, catching them off-guard and attacking one of the men with a Mokuton spike extending from his palm. The twisted growth burst through the man's chest and his body fell to the forest floor with a muted 'thud.' Nine left.

The other two had chains in their hands, wrapped with tags and lashed out at him, trying to catch him, but the lone ex-shinobi let them slide through him easily. Seals weren't a challenge if they didn't touch his person. They could slip right through his Kamui ineffectually. The twin chains flew through him, grasping at nothing and smashing against the tree trunk. He reared up to attack again, his elbow falling into one of the men's bellies and earning a choked out groan. The sound was music to his ears until something orange pierced through his right arm as he hit the man. It didn't hurt, but he could immediately feel the chakra produced by his Hashirama cells flowing strangely in such a way he could barely feel it.

Tobu looked closer and saw something he hadn't seen in over twenty years: a chakra chain. It wasn't just a bijuu-sealing chain like the ones he could produce with the Rinnegan implanted into his left eye socket, but a standard, Uzumaki-bloodline sealing chain like Kushina's jutsu. He looked to his left in a faraway tree, following the chain back to its master. Sure enough, it was the redheaded leader of the missing-nin, smirking at him.

The captured man snarled and tried to yank his arm back, pulling on the Uzumaki, but the man didn't budge. He was anchored, the chain had gone through his arm into the tree, so try as he could, Tobu couldn't yank himself free.

More chains surrounded him, one wrapping around his throat, another his human arm, and three around his waist, bringing him down to his knees. These were all steel chains, however, aside from the one on his throat, which was the one wrapped in seals. He was caught.

The Uzumaki let a smirk grace his lips and some of the other missing-nin hooted and hollered with joy. "We caught him! Just imagine how much we'll make when we sell an Uchiha to one of the great nations. We'll be rich!" the leader announced to the other rogues.

Shit. He knew who he was. Probably. There was only one thing to do now, distract the men and act dumb. It hadn't failed him as Tobi. Why not as Tobu?

"I'm sorry," Tobu interrupted, sounded baffled, "but did you say Uchiha? Sorry to say, but the Uchiha are pretty much extinct. I'm not an Uchiha."

The Uzumaki looked him in the eyes, seemingly unafraid of any Sharingan tricks. The chains were definitely chakra-sealing then. "Obviously, I did say that," he grunted from his perch. "You're Obito Uchiha, aren't you? Clearly, there's only two left and we just caught one of them!"

Tobu grit his teeth, trying to reveal nothing. So the guy figured it out, but that wouldn't mean anything if he managed to get out of this trap. He'd kill him before anyone else found out. "What'll you do if I am?" he queried, watching the man carefully trying to pinpoint a weakness.

"First," the man answered, leaping onto a closer branch so the Uchiha could hear him more clearly, "we'll pluck out that lovely eye of yours. You won't need it once we sell you to the highest bidding nation so they can have their own line of Uchihas. Might even keep a few samples for ourselves to have a few among our ranks as well or even to sell later on."

Samples? Ew. That didn't sound very appealing. Being a breeder for whatever sadistic prick bid the most on him wasn't his idea of a good time. Especially since without his Sharingan, that'd probably be how he'd end up spending the rest of his life. It was about time to leave this party.

"Any idea who you're going to sell me to yet? Or how about this, how are you going to convince the buyer I'm the real deal if you take the Sharingan? That might put a damper on your plans," the Uchiha pointed out, earning him a maddened laugh from the Uzumaki. It wasn't too reassuring.

"Stone, Cloud, Mist, hell, even the Leaf would be interested in you, not to mention the smaller villages or rich daimyos who would like to keep an Uchiha for a pet, but don't worry about your eye. I'll take good care of it. That should be proof enough for our buyers, don't you think, traitor?" Tobu scowled at him. Like hell he'd let this guy do that to him!

The Juubi's voice began pounding in his skull, making his head throb, but he couldn't make out a single word. It only spurred him on more. This guy was going to pay for entangling Obito Uchiha in this trap and thinking he could use him for financial gain.

"You're going to regret saying that," the Uchiha stated, giving off a deadly air, his glare determined filled with visions of the man's death. Without missing a beat, he tilted his head and bit into his right arm, his teeth sinking through his haori and kimono beneath down to the synthetic flesh of his arm, tearing it off.

"What the hell?" one of the men said, their chain around his left upper arm going limp for a moment. The Uchiha managed to wriggle backward as he attempted to free himself from the rest of the chains.

"Don't drop your guard! He'll escape," the Uzumaki yelled, shooting another chain at the Uchiha, missing and sticking it fast into the branch where Obito had just been.

The Uchiha had managed to move, but he still couldn't use his chakra. Right now, he was relying on his brute strength alone. He eventually managed to stand and two of the stand-by rogues raced towards him, throwing more chains around him to keep him down. This was it. He couldn't fight them off and the seal tag covered chain around his throat was now squeezing him with unbearable tightness, choking him.

"Obito," the effeminate voice inside him cajoled, "free me and you won't have to suffer any longer."

To hell with that! He wasn't letting the Juubi free, even if it was only a piece of the beast. All it needed was a piece to survive and bring back Kaguya anyhow. Come to think of it, that voice sounded exactly like her.

Obito fought and yanked at the chains, gagging and thrashing as he endured the pain. His eyes were watering and his head was pounding with the Juubi's angry chakra. If he passed out, he wouldn't be able to control it, since it was never properly sealed. The Uchiha could only rely on his Mokuton and Sharingan to keep it in check.

Deadly, hot crimson chakra began to leak out of him, startling the rogue shinobi surrounding him. It burned Obito's skin and scalded it painfully, peeling flakes of flesh from bones like paper. The leader of the group shot another chakra chain into him, piercing Obito's chakra point and making him spit up blood in an attempt to control the creature inside him, but it was too late. The Juubi was free.

A bloody red cloak of angry, boiling chakra engulfed Obito and wrapped around the chains, burning the hands that held them. The links wrapped around him began to sizzle and hiss as they melted against his skin, the same with the makeup on his face, concealing his now compromised identity. The silicone flesh and the plastic of his contacts became puddles leaking down his eyes and face into a soggy mess on the branch he was poised on. Everything began to catch fire as the chains were set free and he fell to his hands and knees, a horrifying, deafening scream pulled from his throat, causing shockwaves through the trees. The rogues surrounding him were petrified with fear, unsure of how to handle the pseudo-jinchuurki.

The Uzumaki began shooting more chakra chains into Obito's bloody flesh to keep him from fleeing or attacking, but it did nothing to keep the Juubi from rearing its head. Beastly chakra began to sculpt itself around the Uchiha, forming a set of horns on his forehead, the one on his right long and curved and the left short and stumpy. Three writhing tails formed, each ended in a fat, heavy hand as they swished angrily around their vessel, protecting him from any further attack.

Some of the rogues began to flee, but Obito was beginning to get his bearings in this form. The Uzumaki's chakra chains wouldn't hold him much longer.

One of his bijuu tails came up to wrap its hand around the mass of chains and yanked hard, making the Uzumaki lose his balance and recall the chains as he fell before catching himself on a lower branch. The Uchiha would deal with him shortly, but for now, he had to get the others who were escaping.

He crouched and took a tremendous leap down in the middle of three of the fleeing missing-nin, slashing at them with his claws, ripping them apart and spilling their blood among the trees. Two went down immediately, but the other still attempted to run while panting with tremendous effort. He was determined, but Obito caught him with his scorching tail. The man cried out as his flesh seared and the tail squeezed the life out of him, twisting around him like a coiling serpent. It was mesmerizing to watch it take hold as the Juubi's voice egged him on to destroy - to kill - all of them.

A water jutsu splashed against Obito, knocking the burned up husk of a man out of his grasp and causing him to look behind him at the Uzumaki and the rest of his team trying to capture him once more. The Uchiha huffed, showing teeth as he snarled, but said nothing as his mind was still tainted by the Juubi's influence. His chakra still hadn't begun flowing properly again even with the use of his Sharingan once more at his disposal. If he didn't wrestle back full control soon, things might not turn out very well for either him or anyone in the area rather than just the despairing missing-nin.

They began throwing kunai, strapped with hissing explosive tags to knock him off his feet. Obito expertly jumped away, his tails swishing fiercely with his set-in rage. He wanted to rip them apart and tear them limb from limb with his bare hands. The Uzumaki ordered his remaining men to run around him to try and keep him in a single area, but the jinchuuriki couldn't hear a single word of it, only watching as the rogues began surrounding him and attacking once again with more kunais and jutsus. It fueled his wrath that much further.

Another tail made its way out and the Juubi's voice became louder and more jarring. Obito wanted it to stop; both the woman's voice and the attack, but it didn't. It felt like his head would split apart and he threw his hands up to it to stop it from falling apart like it threatened to do. He screamed again, his tails thrashing and deflecting the attacks on him, burning away the weapons and incoming jutsu before slashing through the thick branch, making him tumble all the way to the ground.

He didn't remember much after he came to, other than that he was no longer under attack from rogue shinobi, who seemed nowhere to be found. His chakra felt normal again, but he was still missing an arm. He'd have to replace that if he wanted to avoid suspicion until it grew back.

Obito stood up with a strained grunt as his body ached vividly as his Hashirama cell continued to piece his skin back together. A moment after, he found himself in the middle of a patch of dead earth, shrubbery and greens were scorched away to ash around him. He couldn't remember doing that until he recalled the Juubi. It had broken free when his chakra had been sealed and began wreaking havoc, killing the missing-nin. He supposed he should be grateful for the creature inside him for rescuing him from the miserable fate that awaited him in captivity, but he'd rather not. As far as things went, he made the final decision to kill them and could have eventually gotten away from the hunters himself. But for now, he figured that should probably get a move on before anyone came to investigate.

The Uchiha inwardly sighed. There goes his prize or any chance of a bounty. He'd also have to sleep on an empty stomach inside Kamui again, which also wasn't favorable while healing. His wounds would take even longer to close like this, but it could hardly be helped. However, he had some business to attend to.

Obito let his Sharingan spin back to life and began following a chakra trail to the nearest body, coming across the Uzumaki, the man's chest rattling as his lifeforce was drained from his being. The man's right arm lay at his side, while the left held a dripping wound in his gut where a hole blossomed from his middle. His oaken eyes fell on him as he approached, the Uchiha's belt of ornaments jingling from his movements for the first time since entering these woods, but the man said nothing as though waiting for Obito to end him. He'd die regardless, but he needed something from the man.

The Uchiha squatted down over him, glaring him in the eyes with his mismatched ones and unblinkingly removed a kunai from beside the man's head. Then without hesitation, Obito pressed it to his throat, pushing up his chin with the blunt side of the blade, forcing the man to look up further to see him.

"Now, you see, I told you that you'd regret what you said to me," Obito stated menacingly, his eyes unblinking as he gave him a stony glare.

"Are you going to kill me?"

"Yes, but not before I bring you unimaginable pain," the Uchiha replied and put the kunai in his mouth before using his chin to let the tattered remains of his left sleeve fall as he raised it, revealing his arm. He took a moment to compare his skin to the rogue's, pressing it against the arm lain on the man's belly and making him hiss. "Well, would you look at that? It's a match!"

"What are you going to do?" the man asked, his body trembling although his gaze remained hard and steely.

Obito smirked - it was an awful, spiteful thing on him - and made an amused hum vibrating in his throat like the purr of a cat. He took the kunai back in his hand and lifted it up, ready to stab into the man. "You'll see," he hummed playfully and brought it down, driving into flesh almost gleefully earning him a blood-curdling scream from his victim. He wouldn't need it anyways.