The Lost Obito

Northwest of the Land of Fire.

The Konoha ninja on the defensive line were cleaning up the aftermath.

The battles of the past few days had left only four Konoha ninja, indicating the brutality of the conflict.

Thus, the subsequent work would take a few more days.

The bodies of Konoha ninja were transported back to Konoha one by one.

Minato and Shintaro stood together, watching the scene. Minato sighed and said, "No matter the battlefield, it always ends up like this."

"That's war..." Shintaro said, shaking his head.

At this moment, Kakashi and Rin returned from a distance.

Minato and Shintaro walked closer.

"Did you search for Obito's body? Did you find it?"

Minato looked behind the two of them but did not see Obito's body.

Kakashi shook his head and said, "We didn't find it..."

Shintaro looked at him strangely because according to what was previously said, Obito should have been buried in the cave, and there was no chance he couldn't be found.

Kakashi explained, "I used Earth Release to open the cave, but I still couldn't find Obito's body."

Rin nodded and said, "We searched for a long time but couldn't find it. It seems to have disappeared."

Minato touched his chin, thinking for a moment, and speculated, "Maybe Iwagakure stole Obito's body..."

He then raised his head and said, "If that's the case, I'll go to Iwagakure to negotiate."

Kakashi and Rin nodded, seemingly thinking this was the only possibility.

Shintaro on the side felt very strange. After all, if Iwagakure had stolen it, it would be for the Uchiha's Sharingan.

However, Obito's body only had the second Magatama Sharingan.

Iwagakure didn't need to take the risk for two Magatama Sharingan.

After all, Konoha defeated Iwagakure in the Land of Grass.

Iwagakure ninja coming to the Land of Grass at this time and causing trouble seemed unlikely.

Shintaro then said, "Let me go and have a look. After all, I'm Obito's classmate and a fellow Uchiha clan member."

Minato might have thought Shintaro would take Obito's Sharingan, so he nodded and said, "Alright, you can go and confirm again."

Kakashi told Shintaro the specific location of the cave, and Shintaro set off.

When he arrived at the cave, Shintaro saw the rocky shore.

The original cave had long since collapsed, and the remaining ruins had been overturned by Kakashi's earth release, turning it into this state.

It appeared he had indeed paid careful attention.

After all, Obito was one of his few close friends.

Shintaro looked around and came to a large rock.

This rock was covered in dried blood, and it was undoubtedly the rock that had crushed Obito.

Kakashi apparently found this rock too and completely gave up after finding no body beneath it.

Shintaro observed the area with his Six Eyes and found nothing but rocks.

In other words, Obito was indeed missing.

"Did Iwagakure really take Obito? If so, I'm afraid this matter will take a lot of energy to negotiate..."

Seeing this situation, Shintaro thought it was like Minato's speculation.

To secretly take Obito's body from the collapsed cave would require high-level earth release.

From this perspective, it was indeed only the earth release experts from Iwagakure who could take action.

Shintaro then set aside his doubts for the time being and returned to the Konoha defensive line.

Kakashi stepped forward with hope on his face but was disappointed to see Shintaro return empty-handed.

"You didn't find it either..."

Shintaro nodded and said, "It has indeed disappeared."

Minato saw that Shintaro had returned with no results, so he consoled him, "I will report this to Lord Hokage. If it was done by Iwagakure, we will do our best to bring Obito back to his roots."

Kakashi could only nod.

The matter ended for now.

Obito's deeds spread back to Konoha, making everyone in Konoha associate the name Uchiha Obito with a hero for the first time.

Previously, Obito's name was associated with weakness.

No one expected that this kind-hearted Uchiha boy would die heroically on the battlefield.

The grandparents whom Obito had helped were particularly sad, as if the one who had been sacrificed was their own child and grandchild.

Maybe because Obito was raised by his grandmother, he was very aware of the inconveniences of the elderly.

After his grandmother passed away, Obito passed on his filial piety to the elders in Konoha.

Almost all the elders in Konoha knew about Obito, and even if they hadn't received help, they had at least heard of him.

So when the news of Obito's sacrifice returned to Konoha, the first to offer condolences were various elderly care homes and hospitals in Konoha.

The influence of these elderly people was still significant, so Konoha officials specifically issued an obituary.

Passersby would stop and express their silence. After all, the war had been going on for a long time, and not many people could receive official Konoha obituaries.

Kurenai passed by with Shiro in her arms. When she saw Obito's name in the obituary, she was stunned for a long time, her mouth open in disbelief.

She immediately thought of Rin, who had a good relationship with Obito, and returned home with Shiro, intending to write a letter to Rin to express condolences and comfort.

Guy passing by the obituary, had tears in his eyes.

Not only in mourning for Obito but also because the last obituary posted here for a ninja was his father, Duy.

"Obito, you and my father both burned your youth for Konoha..."

"You are a hero who will always be remembered by Konoha..."

Guy who was somewhat face-blind and sometimes couldn't recognize Obito's face, would definitely remember him forever this time.

Asuma also passed by the obituary posted in the village.

He originally wanted to continue contributing to Konoha on the battlefield but was forced to stay by his father.

"Obito, you are no longer the weakest in my heart; you are a hero of Konoha."

He bowed to the obituary.

Asuma then glanced at the Hokage Building.

"The infantry are fighting, but the generals sit in their positions with calm minds... Or... you are not worthy of being a general at all..."

"Then...who is the general of the Land of Fire..."

Asuma sank into his own thoughts.

Everything that happened during the war made him suspicious.

❀❀❀

Everyone in Konoha thought Obito had died.

But Obito woke up from a strange bed, which seemed to be an unknown cave.

He opened his eyes, and what appeared before him was a strange old man with a Sharingan.

He opened his remaining eye and said, "Grandfather, did you save me? Thank you."

However, the old man said in a low voice, "It's too early to thank me now. I will let you repay this kindness properly."

Obito said, "Sorry, I can't stay here forever. I have to go back to the village."

The figures of Kakashi and Rin appeared in his mind.

At this moment, Obito belatedly realized that the old man in front of him also had a Sharingan, so he must be a member of the Uchiha Clan.

The old man staggered to sit on a stone chair beside him, with strange white tubes inserted into his back, looking like he was in his twilight years.

As a member of the Uchiha Clan and an old man, it made sense that Obito would surely know him. After all, he had essentially seen all the elderly in the village.

Obito's body trembled, and he thought of the only possible explanation.

"Could you be the village's rogue ninja?"

The old man seemed to understand Obito's thoughts, lowered his hand, and spoke slowly, "I am Uchiha Madara."