CHAPTER 9

That Trash is trying to break through the dimension wall – yet again, Obito sensed his enemy's attempts. The more he thought about him, the angrier he got. The hatred he has for Kakashi for losing Rin has yet to subdue. There were times he wanted to kill the bastard in this dimension. He could if he wanted to, but death would be too easy and kind. Hence why he has created The Dome – a genjutsu dimension designed specifically to dump the White Fang here, where he would be endlessly tormented. The torture for today was to stab Kakashi in the heart with a kunai – an act to constantly remind the White Fang of his failures to protect Rin.

"Where are you, Obito?" Kakashi panted and begged, "Enough already! Come back to Konoha! Rin won't be in peace if you continue to end up like this!"

"You dare to speak of her name so casually after breaking your promise?" he threatened, arching an eyebrow. He decided to change the genjutsu spell. Instead of the thousand stabs, he cast a genjutsu to ensure Kakashi repeatedly stabbed Rin's heart with his lightning jutsu – an illusion that would make his enemy suffer in his guilt.

"I deserve this! Her death was my fault, but not entirely for this is yours too! You should've come home! Rin could've –" Kakashi choked. He wiped his tears away, crying in a mix of sorrow and pain. "Why don't you just kill me if you hate me so much? If my death alone can atone for my sins and ease your pain, then I shall have it! Condemn me if you will so that your hatred heart shall know peace, at last, Obito!"

"Peace? There is none when Rin is still dead," he scoffed and cocked his head to the side. "Your death would be too kind. I want you to live, Kakashi. Live so that each morning when you wake up, your wretched existence is a constant reminder of my hatred for you; live for the rest of your life knowing that you are nothing to me."

"Obito…"

"Reaching out to me is a fruitless attempt for I shall never forgive you, Minato and the rest of the world."

And just like that, Obito disconnected his mind from his enemy and snapped back to reality. The cool breeze of the eastern sea brushed against his rough skin. He stood still, breathing the fresh air as he embraced the morning sun. He has his shoes off, letting his feet grace the morning dew grass. Not from afar, birds were chipping, wildflowers blooming to their season's peak, while the sound of the waves crashing on the shore. He could get used to the tranquility of a place such as this.

Rin would love it here, he assumed as he stared longingly at his gloved hands, remembering the very last moment of her. In ways, he could still feel her presence; hands soaked with her blood as he had held her lifeless body closer to his chest. Tears flowed down his cheeks, begging her soul to return. When there was no answer to his prayers, everything in him died along with her. Losing her has taken him to a world of despair that he refused to acknowledge the fact that she was gone. Subsequently, he was caught spiralling in the vortex of hatred towards Kakashi, Minato, Konohagakure and the shinobi world that he could no longer care about this reality. And so, he invested in creating anew with Tsuki no Me Keikaku – a world where Rin would be alive and safe; where a system of shinobi, hero or villain did not exist; neither hatred nor war could hurt her existence. Hence why he rather abandoned Konoha and its belief in the Will of Fire so that he could revive her. The good news was that he did find a way. This impossible dream would have been achievable had his original plan gone smoothly.

A Founder once said love was the key to peace. Obito called it bullshit because his only love died in the hands of Kakashi's jutsu. Calling it 'peace' was illogical as it was nothing but collateral damage by the sins of the past. A change to this world was much needed, and if Tsuki no Me Keikaku was the only way to achieve that, he would gladly rule the world and play God.

Indeed, he could get used to this place with all its tranquility. However, nothing seemed to be worth it when Rin was still dead.

Obito put his mask and shoes back on. His compelled guide has finally returned from scouting information around a nearby village. The man might be slow, but he was useful on local sources. There was also another reason for his usefulness.

"I've checked with the locals. The place that ye seek… many men danna dare to go. It won't be wise if ye insist, mi Lord," the man said with concern showing all over his wrinkled face.

"Speak up," Obito demanded, sensing that the man was withholding information.

"The land ye seek," he paused, "is across the sea in the direction of the greetin' sun. It's too far from here. Ye must travel by boat in the right weather. But men willna go there. Hirin' someone to help ye across is impossible."

"The right weather? The sea is calm right now."

"Aye! Only by the coast! Swim there if ye so desperate! The rough sea will take ye life and soon be dead. Itsa curse place, I tell ya."

The man has no idea who Obito was, nor knowing that he had trembled the shinobi world with power and fear. Tall tales of curses were nothing but mere children's stories, and he feared no such.

"I want to get across," he ordered, pulling a small bag of gold, and handing it over to the man. He then activated his Sharingan to compel, "go fetch me a suitable boat to sail across the sea and get the necessary items for this journey too."

After hours' worth of waiting, the man finally managed to get a boat and inventory for the journey. Obito sat alone on the wooden deck as the man took the bridge and maintained its course. There was nothing to admire, just endless cloudless sky and the breeze of the salted sea for the journey to the distant east was farther than he had expected. This, eventually, gave him time to reflect on his accomplishment.

He was so close to achieving the plan during that fourth war. Unfortunately, the blond brat and his shinobi alliance managed to extract the bijū out of him. It was his idiocy and a moment of weakness that cost him a chance at Rin's revival – a mistake he dearly regretted. What he should have done back then was to shut the hell up and focused on the project instead. The moment the bijū were extracted, his whole body felt numb, and he lay on the ground in a feeble state, waiting for a shinobi to take his life. Death was about to consume him when suddenly, black Zetsu, which possessed half of his body, cast Gedō: Rinne Tensei no Jutsu and revived his ancestor back to life. The second Madara made his appearance in the war, it was obvious that he needed to adjust his plans. The bastard had used him. Indeed, a backstabbing ally who also had saved his life – twice.

Obito pinched the bridge of his nose, laughing to himself at the terms he used on his mortal ancestor. His facial expression drained to a sudden seriousness as he thought of Sakura. The Fourth Shinobi World War was not ceased by powerful Kages, but by a very young pink-headed kunoichi. As soon as Madara was revived, he quickly recaptured and resealed the bijū into Gedō Mazō. While extracting the two remaining beasts, the alliance shinobi made a daring attempt to attack him from behind. Sakura was one of those shinobi. Somehow, the girl caught his interest that he stopped everything, including the collection of the remaining tailed beasts. Something must have transpired between them because she suddenly pledged herself to Madara. To include her in the plan did not make any sense. There was nothing special about her. She was just a normal kunoichi of Konohagakure who has only the brute strength and skills of the Fifth Hokage. She was not even part of Kekkei Genkai at all. Yet, Madara kept insisting that she was unique and precious. And so, she has been placed under the Uchiha's guidance, training and expanding her knowledge and skills – all necessary jutsu that she needed to master. They conducted many experiments on her, testing her skills, abilities, and areas to improve on. Surprisingly, she has managed to pass all of them. Perhaps she was truly a precious being after all; the only problem was why. Of all the people in the world, why her? The old man did not explain well, just that she was as important to the plan.

It has been uncounted days since he parted from Sakura. He did not like the idea of leaving her with his ancestor, considering it a misfortune of her to reside in an alliance with the devil. Yet, there was not much he could do for this was her choice.

The weather changed drastically as the boat sailed further to the east. What seemed to be calm at first has now slowly turned into a swirling storm. The strong wind howled, generating huge waves as high as ninety feet. Multiple surging waves crashed into the boat like battering rams against the hull. The aggressive storm continued to violently trash them around the bridge. Obito rushed to grip the leather loop by the captain's seat, practically holding on for his dear life.

"Mi lord, please! We must turn around!" the man begged in fear, holding onto the helm of the boat tightly, practically unsure which direction to turn.

Too many times the man begged to return to the dry lands, and too many times Obito compelled him to focus and insist on moving onwards. He needed to do more than a simple compulsion. If this continued, they would lose sight of the horizon and risk getting thrown out of course or worse, swallowed by the brutal sea. He cursed Madara for not mentioning mother nature as part of the test when crossing this hellish sea.

"Keep this boat straight ahead!" he commanded before activating his Sharingan and whispered, "Kamui."

It only took a few seconds to activate his jutsu, but he managed to make the boat impenetrable against the obstacles of the rough sea. The boat went straight through the violent waves as though it was nothing – stabilizing and sailing smoothly towards its course. Not long after, the storm finally quieted down. He deactivated his Sharingan once the sea was calmed enough. When the sun appeared again, he knew that he was in the right location.

"Cut the power, lower the anchor and follow me," he instructed.

The man abided. He turned the engine off and released the anchor before moving to the wooden deck. Obito glanced at the surroundings and tried to see if anyone was in the open sea. There was nothing except for a genjutsu wall weaving around the boat. He tried to penetrate through it, but it was too strong; it would not allow him to sense any further. According to Madara, no genjutsu users – not even the Sharingan – could break this illusion wall. He needed something of value if he wanted to pass through.

"Go stand by the bow," Obito firmly instructed before activating his Sharingan. He observed the man's chakra flow, which was about to serve his full purpose. He then slid a kunai out from his sleeve and followed from behind. Once the man stood by the bow, he grabbed him by the hair and pulled his head back, exposing the neck to the world.

"I pay with blood and chakra! Release me from my debt to pass!" Obito chanted before slitting the man's throat. Heavy blood immediately gushed out into the sea. The man struggled to breathe, but he held tight. When there was no sign of life left, he threw the dead body into the ocean and waited.

The genjutsu wall slowly faded. He expected someone to welcome him, but there was no one. He immediately thought he had made a mistake by following Madara's instructions when suddenly, a figure in black braced him from behind with the tip of a kunai pointed at his neck.

"You sacrificed a human with useless chakra instead of a true shinobi. Your payment is cheap," the figure whispered to him with a sweet innocent voice, yet poisonous words.

"I was told that blood and chakra were only needed to pass through; there was no instruction mentioned about sacrificing a shinobi," he countered.

The figure moved her kunai nearer to his eye.

"Raven hair and a Sharingan. Are you," she paused and slightly tilted her head, "an Uchiha?"

"It seems that this isn't the first time you've seen an Uchiha."

"No, this would be the first." The short answer was followed by silence, as though she was waiting for him to make another conversation.

Obito took this opportunity to study this child-like figure. Black suit, short almost half of his height, and purple bob haircut with a mix of violet. Her face was covered with a cat-like mask. She could have been Rin's age.

"Dare I say that you can't be more than a tender age of thirteen. I much prefer to speak to an adult now, child, for I have an important matter that requires absolute attention."

"Your eyes are weird, Uchiha." Her voice was threatening low and her grip on the kunai tightened – a sign that she was seriously going to kill him if he continued to treat her like a child. He could already feel the kunai scratching his neck.

"If you think that you can threaten me with that short blade of yours, think again. I can easily counter you and end your life when it pleases me. I have no problem with killing children," he challenged. "I'm here to bid my ancestor's deeds. He sends me here to recruit some men under his terms and orders. I need to speak to someone of authority. Pretty sure that you are clueless about my purpose here."

"As much as I want to slit your throat, chop your body into pieces and feed it to the sharks, I simply won't. You're an Uchiha," she bluntly spoke, standing down while withdrawing her kunai into her pouch. "The law says that an Uchiha is a guest; and as a guest, I must take you to him."

"Him? Him who?"

The child jumped off the boat and ran across the sea. Obito followed, keeping up with her speed. When he pressured for more answers, she kept staring ahead, almost refusing to answer.

"Are you sure that you're an Uchiha? If you are one, then you ought to know who you'll be dealing with later… since you did admit that you have an important matter that requires his absolute attention," she quoted.

"I'm afraid my ancestor did not provide more information about our ally; only that men are dwelling on an unknown island in the distant east. If your clan is my ally, I need to know."

"Spoken like a true shinobi," she chuckled. "The term you would use in your world is a 'Kage', is it not? That is someone of the highest rank?"

"That is correct."

"Then it's none other than the Kage of the Hagoromo clan."