Traveling through Naruto, I am Uchiha Obito?

Only then could he walk single-mindedly through mountains of corpses and seas of blood, and only then could he steadfastly push forward the "Eye of the Moon" plan that would destroy reality and reshape the world!

Only then can he create that perfect dream world he has always longed for—a world without death, betrayal, or pain!

In that world, there are them, there is peace, there is... Lin.

This thought, like the most intense flame, instantly poured into Obito's body, which had been almost hollowed out by confusion! That brief breakdown and cowardice seemed to be forcibly suppressed by this extremely fanatical belief!

His back seemed to straighten again, and his crimson Mangekyou Sharingan became deep and cold once more, like an abyss that controlled everything. Numbness and pain were replaced by a kind of obsessive light, almost like that of a martyr.

That's right! All of this... the anger of this boy before me, those unbearable past events, this sudden, suffocating blood bond... it doesn't matter! It doesn't matter at all!

Once the Infinite Tsukuyomi is completed... everything will be corrected! All suffering will be erased!

That cowardly, incompetent, and emotionally driven "Uchiha Obito"... is dead!

The one who is alive is "Uchiha Madara"! A fanatical savior who denies everything in the old world in order to create a new world!

The man seemed to have donned that indestructible armor once more, regaining the aura of the domineering "Uchiha Madara."

He tried to use this cold and powerful disguise to face the boy in front of him who had thrown him into a state of confusion, and tried to use his grand "savior" blueprint to crush this insignificant personal emotion and ethical dilemma.

however--

Just as he forced himself to lift his chin, attempting to look at the Rubik's Cube across the table again with the all-knowing, fate-controlling gaze of "Uchiha Madara"...

His gaze inevitably met those eyes directly!

Those eyes... burned with anger and confusion, yet deep within them lay a trace of sorrow that even its owner hadn't noticed...

Those eyes were set in a young, vibrant face, brimming with indomitable vitality...

That face... the contours of those eyebrows and eyes, that stubborn corner of that mouth, that unruly black hair...

Boom—!

The fortress of belief that Obito had just built in his mind, named "Uchiha Madara," crumbled instantly the moment their eyes met, as if struck by a thunderbolt! It vanished into thin air!

He couldn't keep up the act any longer!

He can't escape it anymore!

This boy before him—was he some obstacle that needed to be examined and dealt with by "Ban"? This was clearly the cruelest, most biting joke fate had played on him! An unbreakable mirror cast upon him by the world!

The reflection in the mirror...

He's that hot-blooded idiot who kept yelling about wanting to become Hokage at the Ninja Academy!

He was that fool who buried himself under rocks to save his companion!

He was the one who would cheer with joy for passing the genin exams, fly into a rage at Kakashi's taunts, and give Rin his purest, most innocent, silly smile... Uchiha Obito!

This boy, with a face almost identical to his own in his youth, forcefully dug out the "self" he had desperately buried, denied, and killed from his inner grave! It was laid bare before him, bloody and undeniable!

Force him to admit it!

Force him to confront it!

It forced him to confront the identity he thought was long dead.

He is Uchiha Obito!

That person who once... dreamed of becoming the Hokage of Konoha...

Uchiha Obito!

Under the moonlight, the spine that had just straightened seemed to have all its strength drained away in an instant, hunching slightly. The oppressive aura of the "spot" that had been trying to coalesce vanished without a trace.

Only one man, utterly defeated by his past and bloodline, sat there blankly and absentmindedly, looking at his reflection in the mirror, utterly exposed.

Chapter 54 Thank you, Obito Uchiha

Chapter 54 Thank you, Obito Uchiha

As the man before him stared blankly into space, the raging anger in Rubik's Cube's chest subsided like the receding tide, leaving only a bone-deep weariness and understanding.

I got too involved...

A hint of self-mockery rose in his heart.

I knew from the beginning that this guy in front of me was a madman whose face was twisted beyond recognition by paranoia and obsession, and who was indulging in a self-destructive fantasy...

But deep down... there was still a ridiculous fantasy about him... how utterly foolish.

Seeing Obito's dejected and abandoned state, as if he had been abandoned by the whole world, Rubik's Cube even felt a sense of absurd powerlessness.

This man, who possessed immense power and stirred up the ninja world, once you peeled away the hard shell known as "Uchiha Madara," his inner spiritual world was perhaps... not as mature and resilient as his "son."

In the end, he was just a pathetic wretch trapped in the tragedy of more than a decade ago, never truly emerging from it...

A strong sense of boredom welled up inside him, dispelling the last bit of resentment. He sat back down in his chair, his movements relaxed afterward. He picked up the glass of wine on the table, which had long since gone cold, but didn't drink it. Instead, he unconsciously ran his fingers over the cold glass.

His voice regained its calmness, even carrying a hint of listless indifference:

"I've finished asking my questions."

He looked up at Obito, who was still immersed in the aftershocks of the immense shock and pain, his tone as calm as if he were stating something unrelated to himself:

"What do you want to ask... you can ask now."

Obito's body seemed startled by those words, trembling slightly. He slowly raised his head, his intact left eye filled with disbelief and a hint of... vulnerability, gazing at the Rubik's Cube.

"you……"

His voice was terribly hoarse, like a broken bellows being pulled.

"...You don't resent me?"

This question carried within it a faint hope that even he himself was unaware of.

Rubik's Cube twitched the corners of its mouth, revealing an extremely complex smile that mixed bitterness, relief, and ultimate estrangement.

"Do not misunderstand."

He put down his wine glass and looked directly at Obito with a calm expression.

“From the very beginning… I never expected you to take on any 'fatherly' responsibilities.”

"I came to find you, but..."

His voice lowered, carrying a calm that came after everything had settled, yet also a hint of barely perceptible melancholy:

"...I just wanted to seek justice for my deceased mother."

"Although it seems now..."

He paused, then shook his head slightly, as if mocking himself.

"...It was just wishful thinking on my part."

"Wishful thinking..."

These four words, like cold needles, gently pierced Obito's heart. His crimson Mangekyou Sharingan shifted slightly, his gaze seemingly piercing through the Rubik's Cube before him, landing on some distant and blurry corner.

The figure of a girl with warm red hair, a smile that was both timid and incredibly pure, flashed by in the fragments of memory.

Uzumaki Chino.

That name, that figure, had become blurred and indistinct over the long years that Obito deliberately forgot, and was now just a symbol.

He never felt love for her, never experienced the same profound and unforgettable love as he did for Lin. She was merely a chance intersection on his mad and dark path, a tool he used to validate the world and escape reality.

however……

When the Rubik's Cube's self-deprecating "wishful thinking" echoed in my ears, and when that face, so similar to mine in my youth, appeared clearly in my eyes...

A sense of guilt that came more than a decade late, so heavy it almost suffocated him, overwhelmed him instantly like an icy tide.

That was Obito Uchiha's emotion.

He spoke hoarsely and with great difficulty, his voice broken and fragmented:

"……I…"

He lowered his head, as if he could not bear the weight that had come too late.

"I'm sorry to her."

These words come from the bottom of my heart.

Honestly, he had never felt even a shred of romantic love for Chino. That red-haired girl, in his world utterly consumed by hatred and despair, never held the same place as "Rin."

but……

That night...

That brief entanglement stemmed from his inner breakdown and his soul's escape...

It had long since pierced deep into the numb depths of his conscience, like a needle! For more than a decade, he had deliberately ignored it, using "instrumentalism" to cover it up, and using a grander "salvation" goal to dilute it... but it had never disappeared!

Now, this thorn has been brutally pulled out by the Rubik's Cube, the living "evidence" left behind by that mistake and evasion!

The pain was sharp and real!

This "I'm sorry" is a confession to Chino's life that he changed, and an admission of his cowardice that night that dragged others into the abyss!

Before the heavy sense of guilt had subsided, another name, even more unforgettable and deeply ingrained in his soul like a brand, brought with it an unbearable sense of sin, instantly ripped apart his defenses that had just begun to recover!

琳！

Lin…!

The guilt I feel towards Chino is perhaps heavy.

But his betrayal of Lin... that feeling of using another girl as a tool to escape reality, that desecration of his pure and innocent feelings for Lin... that was the real torture that tore his soul apart!

Lin......

"…sorry……"

This "I'm sorry" is no longer directed at the Rubik's Cube.

It wasn't even said to Chino.

This is Rin Nohara's confession—the only light, the only salvation, in his heart.

It is also a confession to the past self who once deeply loved that girl.

The Rubik's Cube silently watched Obito's face contorted with pain and remorse, and the last vestige of sharp resentment in its heart gradually melted away like ice and snow. It gently shook its head, its voice calm and clear, carrying a sense of relief that came after everything had settled:

"okay."

"You don't need to... say sorry again."

Obito's body trembled slightly, and he looked around blankly.

The Rubik's Cube's gaze seemed to pierce through the man before it, landing on the distant past, on that gentle, red-haired mother.

"Although your final actions...were really awful."

His tone was calm, without accusation, simply stating a fact.

"But no matter what, it's all thanks to you... that my mother's life was saved."

"My mother... is very grateful to you."

These words, like a pebble thrown into stagnant water, stirred faint ripples in the hollow lake of Otoko's heart. He looked at the Rubik's Cube in disbelief.

"She...never hated you."

The Rubik's Cube made a soft sound, yet it carried an undeniable certainty.

“In her heart, you are just that joking, travel-loving… ‘Brother Fei’.”

The Rubik's Cube withdrew its gaze and returned it to Obito, a sincere and warm smile involuntarily curving its lips.

"It is also thanks to you that I was born into this world."

His gaze softened, as if countless warm images were flowing within it:

"I met a wonderful mother."

"I met a mentor who is usually unreliable, but sometimes more reliable than anyone else... an excellent mentor."

"I have experienced many things, some happy, some difficult, but all incredibly precious."