Chapter 551: History Has Changed Drastically

"What's so special about Uchiha Shisui?"

Ao gave his subordinate a calm sideways glance.

"Uchiha Shisui is one of Konoha's elites among elites, and the squad he's leading should be made up of Uchiha shinobi. We…"

"Elite? Good. Elites are exactly who I want to fight!"

Ao barked an order.

"Everyone, pair up! Two to a group, backs against each other! Don't give Shisui of the Body Flicker a chance to attack your blind spots!"

With that, the Ao on the screen charged straight toward Shisui.

"That's strange."

Chōjūrō stared at the scene.

"Not only is Senior Ao using a sword, he made a completely different decision from what he did back then."

By now, Chōjūrō could be certain this was not some hidden piece of history being revealed.

It was an alternate possibility.

After all, one of the things the real Ao was most famous for was leading his unit into an encounter with Shisui of the Body Flicker during the Third Shinobi World War…

And making the very sensible decision to retreat.

That incident had gradually lowered the prestige of the old "if you encounter this person, abandoning the mission is permitted" reputation.

Not because Shisui himself had gotten weaker.

The title had simply suffered from inflation.

Once too many people started receiving the same treatment, naturally it stopped sounding quite as impressive.

"Stop talking and keep watching. I think I'm starting to understand what happened."

Pakura gestured for Chōjūrō to be quiet.

Embarrassed, Chōjūrō covered his mouth and returned his attention to the screen.

"Senior Ao! You're moving too fast! There's nobody beside you to cover your back!"

"I don't need anyone covering me!"

Ao exposed the Byakugan implanted in his eye.

And not just any Byakugan—it came from the Hyūga main family.

With nearly three-hundred-and-sixty-degree vision and almost no blind spots, Ao naturally had no need for someone standing back-to-back with him.

Once again, this Ao made the exact opposite choice from his real-world counterpart.

Obito, however, paid no attention to any of that.

The moment he realized the Konoha and Kirigakure forces had begun fighting, he started wandering around nearby.

Originally, he had intended to rely on his memories to locate Uchiha Madara's hidden base somewhere near the battlefield between Konoha and Kirigakure.

Unfortunately, he failed.

Obito's memory simply was not that good.

When he had escaped from Madara's hideout all those years ago, he had been far too desperate to save Kakashi and Rin to pay any attention to the surrounding terrain.

Fortunately, Obito had another method.

He found a place close enough to the battlefield to be useful, but far enough away that nobody would easily detect him.

Then, using the Earth Release techniques this Kakashi body excelled at, he caused the nearby ground to tremble.

After that, he shouted:

"White Zetsu! Get out here! I need to talk to Uchiha Madara!"

It was practically Sun Wukong summoning a local earth god.

"Who are you?"

Not long afterward, a white head emerged directly from beneath Obito.

Yes.

It actually worked.

Obito had never paid any attention to Ao, so he had no idea that the Engraved Tsukuyomi version of Ao differed from the real one.

He had simply made the judgment based on what he knew about White Zetsu and Madara.

In the real shinobi world, White Zetsu frequently acted as battlefield reporters and human surveillance cameras, collecting intelligence from all over.

So with Konoha and Kirigakure currently fighting a major battle here, Madara would almost certainly have White Zetsu spying on the area.

As for how White Zetsu could hide in front of Ao's Byakugan?

Maybe one of them had simply transformed into an ordinary shinobi and blended into the larger force.

Whatever the method, Obito had successfully found one.

"I want to cooperate with him."

Obito went straight to the point.

"I can help him collect the Tailed Beasts, monitor Nagato, and bring him back to life."

He immediately listed the things Uchiha Madara wanted most.

In his previous life—

No.

In the real world, Madara had been the one to find him.

This time, Obito would be the one to find Madara.

Would saying all of that cause problems?

Obito did not think so.

This was only the Engraved Tsukuyomi world.

A genjutsu.

Something fake.

"What?!"

White Zetsu was stunned that this stranger knew so much.

Even more astonishing was the fact that someone who knew all of that was voluntarily asking to meet Madara.

After recovering from his surprise, White Zetsu sent a signal to another of his kind, then led Obito toward Madara.

As for whether Obito might have some hidden agenda or secret strength that could threaten Uchiha Madara?

There was no need to worry about that.

Because…

Obito had overlooked one critical detail.

He was not Obito anymore.

He was Uchiha Madara!

Kakashi was the one occupying Obito's identity—the helpful young Uchiha who caught Madara's attention because he liked assisting elderly people.

And that distinction mattered.

If Kakashi and Obito had simply swapped identities in the real world, it would not necessarily have caused anything particularly dramatic.

Obito living under Kakashi's identity would probably have been fine.

But this was the Engraved Tsukuyomi world.

Here, Kakashi had been drugged by Obito and forced into an extremely unfortunate Soldier Boy-style encounter with an elderly woman.

Combined with everything else that had happened, Kakashi's mental state had already collapsed.

He no longer felt he could face Nohara Rin, the woman who had once been the pure ideal in his heart.

Meanwhile, because Obito needed to complete his third quest and convince everyone that he was righteous, he had continued showing concern toward Kakashi.

And Kakashi, already psychologically unstable, had gradually begun developing unusual feelings toward Obito.

Obito himself never noticed.

His concern for Kakashi was mostly for appearances.

Most of his genuine attention remained focused on Rin.

White Zetsu, however, had been assigned by Madara to monitor Kakashi.

And during that surveillance, he noticed the change in Kakashi's feelings.

Madara had already planned out Obito's fate in order to push Kakashi into darkness, and White Zetsu knew the whole arrangement.

So when "Obito" suddenly delivered himself right to their doorstep…

Things became complicated.

"Uchiha Madara, I—"

"Be quiet for now."

Obito had been led into the familiar underground hideout, where he finally saw the elderly Madara with tubes running from his back.

He had barely started speaking when Madara raised a hand and stopped him.

"Wait a little longer. Someone else is coming."

Obito frowned.

Someone else?

Who?

Was Madara waiting for the White Zetsu who had not returned earlier?

Or had Madara secretly sent another White Zetsu out to investigate Obito, checking whether he might be a Konoha spy?

Obito obediently waited.

There was no point talking if Madara refused to listen.

But after some time passed, the person who returned was completely unexpected.

It was Ao.

The same Ao who had just been fighting on the Konoha-Kirigakure battlefield.

"What?! That's impossible!"

Chōjūrō shouted before he could stop himself.

"Senior Ao can't be working for Uchiha Madara! He—he's completely loyal to Kirigakure!"

This time, nobody criticized Chōjūrō for interrupting.

The information on the screen was simply too important.

"Don't panic."

Pakura stared thoughtfully at the display.

"This is exactly what I was starting to suspect earlier. The history inside this Engraved Tsukuyomi world has probably changed drastically.

"And the main reason is what Konohamaru told us about the things that test subject Obito has already done.

"No matter what happens, the Uchiha descendant Madara is looking for is still the same kind of person.

"So the person Madara should have chosen is Kakashi.

"Obito simply overlooked that point.

"And because Obito has interfered with so many things, Madara's entire plan has changed along with him.

"For example, here.

"Madara apparently recruited Ao, and may even have had White Zetsu recover the lost Nuibari and give it to him to increase his strength.

"Most likely, the purpose was to make Kakashi experience his first true despair…"

Pakura paused.

"Oh, sorry.

"In this world, I suppose that would be his second despair.

"The first was what happened with that old woman."

She sighed and shook her head.

"Really, what a waste. If this were the Kakashi from our world, he probably would've started enjoying himself ages ago instead of breaking down over it."

"Pakura!"

Granny Chiyo immediately protested.

"You're a Sunagakure shinobi too. Rasa was the one who betrayed and sold you out back then, not this old woman.

"Don't start throwing dirt on my name for no reason.

"Kakashi and I are completely innocent!"

Chiyo looked genuinely offended.

She had only come over to enjoy the gossip.

She had not even said anything for a while.

How the hell had the conversation somehow dragged her into it again?