bioinnovel Chapter 391 Obito: I was just joking.
Chapter 391 Obito: I was just joking.
Kaminavi Bridge.
These four words drained all of Obito Uchiha's strength in an instant.
It really is here, and it really is the mission!
A fear originating from the depths of his soul surged wildly from the bottom of his heart. Obito felt a tightness in his chest, his breathing suddenly stopped, his legs went weak uncontrollably, and his body swayed slightly involuntarily.
Even though he was standing firmly on solid ground, he felt as if he were suspended on quicksand that was swallowing everything, and that he could fall and sink at any moment.
Kakashi, who had been silently watching Obito from the sidelines, immediately noticed his companion's unusual behavior.
Just as Obito swayed, Kakashi stepped forward and reached out to support Obito's shoulder.
"Obito? What's wrong with you?!"
As soon as Kakashi spoke, Minato and Rin immediately snapped out of their daze, both stopping what they were saying and turning to look in the direction where Obito was.
"Obito! Obito, are you alright?!"
Lin gasped and rushed forward, supporting Obito with one hand.
Minato quickly rolled up the map and rushed to Obito's side, his eyes full of concern: "Obito, are you feeling unwell?"
The three surrounded Obito in the center, anxiously asking him one question after another.
But the sound in Obito's ears was as if it were through a thick layer of glass, blurry and distorted.
He felt like everything was becoming unreal.
Even though his teammates and teachers were right in front of him, at this moment, their figures seemed to be separated by a distant time and space, gradually fading away from him.
Obito's mind went blank, and he opened his mouth in bewilderment, but no sound came out.
The haunting, bloody nightmare images resurfaced before my eyes once more.
"No...no! Please don't!" Obito screamed in his heart, but reality did not stop because of his fear.
The slightly somber voice of Minato reached my ears.
"Obito, if you're really not feeling well and can't handle this mission... you can ask for leave and go back to the village to rest. Don't worry about the mission; Konoha has plenty of manpower right now. I can ask Sakumo-senpai for help and have him temporarily send Yahiko to take your place."
Minato's words jolted Obito awake, and his dazed gaze snapped back to focus.
And this kind of operation?
So you can skip the mission?
A bright ray of light suddenly pierced through the heart that had been shrouded in the shadow of fear.
Obito's previously dim eyes suddenly lit up with a glimmer of light.
still have a chance!
There's another way!
Why is it absolutely necessary to go?!
Since the teachers say that Konoha is now strong and well-equipped, and that a replacement can be found... since we can avoid this inevitable disaster...
[Ding! Emotional fluctuations from Uchiha Obito have been detected! Emotional value +500!]
After a brief moment of stunned silence, a daring idea quickly popped into Obito's mind.
He's going to escape with Lin!
He wanted to leave this damned mission and escape the Kannabi Bridge that haunted his nightmares.
Since the village has enough manpower and there is no need for them to die, he cannot stand by and watch the tragedy repeat itself.
Obito suddenly looked up, as if grasping at a straw, his voice trembling with excitement: "Then...then let's not go! Let's go back to the village together! I...I really have a bad feeling! This mission...this mission is very dangerous! Let's not go, okay?!"
As long as he could convince them not to carry out the mission, Obito didn't mind looking like a coward.
Even if Kakashi laughs at him in the future, he'll accept it!
However, faced with Obito's sincere plea, Kakashi frowned, his face filled with disbelief and disappointment.
He simply couldn't believe that the cowardly guy who was pulling everyone to back down at the last minute was Uchiha Obito, the loser who always shouted that he wanted to surpass himself and aspired to become Hokage.
Kakashi stared coldly at Obito and asked, "Obito, do you know what you're saying?"
"This is my first official mission since becoming a Jonin. As a ninja, once I accept a mission, I must give it my all. How can I run away just because I feel uneasy?!"
Kakashi's words were resounding, carrying the pride and sense of responsibility of a genius Jonin.
His sharp gaze was like a dagger, making Obito feel uneasy.
"Yes, Kakashi is right." Rin nodded gently, her brows still showing worry, but her voice was soft and firm. "Obito, if you're really not feeling well, then listen to Minato-sensei and go back to the village to rest. But Kakashi and I will complete the mission together."
At this moment, Rin chose to stand by Kakashi's side and face the upcoming mission together. Even if Obito did not participate, she would never back down.
As the only medical ninja in the team, she has her own responsibilities, and no matter how uneasy she feels, she will fulfill her promise without hesitation.
Kakashi looked Obito up and down again.
From their inexplicable lateness when they gathered at the training ground earlier to their current loss of composure, everything about the other party seemed extremely abnormal.
This filled Kakashi with doubt, and his sharp gaze softened slightly, but he still kept his eyes fixed on Obito.
"Obito..." Kakashi spoke in a deep voice, his suspicion deepening. "Your reaction today is really strange, from being late until now... What's wrong with you? Do you know something we don't?"
Obito murmured, his throat bobbing.
Should we confess everything?
Tell them he knows Rin will die from Kakashi's Raikiri.
Tell them that Kakashi will soon lose his left eye, and that his Sharingan will be transplanted to him.
Tell them he will be buried alive by the boulder...
Who would believe such absurd and crazy talk?!
……
in the audience.
"Huh?" Naruto scratched his head, looking at Kakashi beside him with a puzzled expression. "Kakashi-sensei, why is Obito on the screen suddenly so timid? This is completely unlike him! In the dream before, although he was a bit reckless, he didn't seem like a timid person at all!"
Sasuke narrowed his eyes slightly, and asked thoughtfully, "Kannabi Bridge... is that the mission from back then?"
Upon hearing this, Kakashi's gaze remained fixed on the screen, and he remained silent for a long time.
After a long pause, he sighed softly and said in a deep voice, "Yes, this mission is of extraordinary significance to us."
"The sacrifices of both of them were directly related to a mission they carried out near the Kannabi Bridge in the Land of Grass years ago."
Upon hearing this, the audience erupted in uproar.
Apart from a few who already knew, everyone else showed expressions of shock and realization.
Karin, sitting to the side, widened her red eyes and exclaimed softly, "I see... No wonder he was so nervous when he heard this place name. He's probably afraid the tragedy will repeat itself, isn't he?"
As a sensory ninja, Karin is always incredibly perceptive of the emotional fluctuations of others.
Sasuke lowered his gaze and remained silent, only giving Kakashi a meaningful look.
Feeling the scrutinizing gaze of the boy, Kakashi stared at the panicked Obito in the video and muttered to himself, "Obito is probably worrying too much. Minato-sensei also said that Konoha is not short of manpower right now, and can even temporarily dispatch other people... Maybe this is not the mission we were supposed to carry out at all, it's just that the time and place happened to match."
His analysis sounded like he was explaining things to Naruto and the others, but it also sounded more like he was making excuses for himself.
Kakashi tried to dispel the gloom in his heart with this rational speculation, but he could not take his eyes off the screen, and his eyes revealed an undisguised worry.
His thoughts involuntarily drifted back to that real past.
At that time, Konoha was deeply mired in the Third Shinobi World War, with a severe shortage of manpower and a tense battle line.
Looking back now, having experienced countless life-and-death situations, Kakashi realizes that the difficulty of that mission back then was simply outrageous.
Deeply venturing into the enemy's core territory and striking at a crucial logistical hub, the task not only involves breaking through tight defenses but also carries the constant risk of being surrounded and annihilated by large numbers of Iwa ninja.
Under normal circumstances, such a mission would be worthy of being classified as S-rank. It would require at least four well-coordinated elite teams to infiltrate and sabotage separately to have even a slight chance of success.
But at that time, Konoha had no soldiers left to send.
Just because they had been promoted to Jonin, the village took a chance and entrusted such an important task to the four of them.
Although Minato was undoubtedly one of the top Jonin at the time, taking on such a dangerous mission with a newly promoted Jonin, a Chunin, and a medical Chunin was a gamble he had no choice but to take.
Kakashi knew all too well how that mission had ended.
Tragedy was almost inevitable.
Thinking of this, Kakashi felt a chill and couldn't help but clench his fists slightly.
However, the Hidden Leaf Village in the current dream world is far more powerful than in reality.
Inside the village, Orochimaru's human experiments yielded results, successfully cultivating new Wood Release ninjas; the Senju clan did not decline and fall as it did in reality, but instead preserved many clan members, including several Jonin who mastered Wood Release.
This undoubtedly greatly enhanced Konoha's high-end combat power.
Outside Konoha, his father, Sakumo Hatake, led the Akatsuki organization, which took in a large number of ninjas displaced by the war, forming a force to be reckoned with, even capable of overpowering the Root organization. With these two forces, both internal and external, the Konoha in the dream world was militarily strong and no longer in dire straits as it had been in the past.
That's why Minato-sensei could say so casually that he would let Yahiko do it for you.
It's impossible to achieve in reality, but it's become a normal suggestion in this world.
Since Konoha has sufficient manpower, it is natural that it would not risk entrusting a high-risk mission that should have required a large-scale operation to a mere four people.
Kakashi speculated that the Kannabi Bridge mission that Minato's team had received was likely just a routine assignment that happened by chance, perhaps only an A-rank reconnaissance or small-scale sabotage operation.
For the Watergate team at present, this kind of task is not worth mentioning at all.
Yes, that must be it.
Kakashi kept reassuring himself.
It's just that the time and place happen to be the same; the actual mission content is definitely completely different from the one that caused all the tragedy.
Obito, Rin, and even the version of myself in the dream will all be safe.
……
on the screen.
When Obito met Kakashi and Rin's unwavering gazes, a deep sense of powerlessness rose from the bottom of his heart, instantly extinguishing his unrealistic fantasies.
I can't persuade them... I simply can't persuade them... These two idiots!
Not to mention Minato Namikaze.
As a teacher, he naturally cares about his students, but as one of Konoha's best Jonin, he values missions even more.
Without any substantial evidence, and based solely on Obito's inexplicable unease, you want the entire team to abandon the mission?
That's utterly delusional!
Obito hated Kakashi.
But at this moment, what he loathed even more was the man in front of him known as the Yellow Flash—Minato Namikaze, hailed as the fastest ninja in the world.
"The Yellow Flash? The fastest ninja in the world?"
Obito let out a cold laugh filled with resentment in his heart.
"Hmph, yet you, the teacher who runs the fastest, are always a step too late! You couldn't save Lin back then, and I almost died in that mission. In the face of cruel reality and fate, what's the point of your arrogant speed?!"
This deep-seated distrust is now surging forth with unprecedented intensity.
Obito gritted his teeth and vowed never to entrust Rin's safety to this teacher who was always late again.
No... I can't give up like this!
Obito clenched his fists in his sleeves and involuntarily looked at Rin beside him.
The girl's beautiful face was filled with worry for him, and his panicked figure was reflected in her clear purple eyes.
These are the eyes, the eyes of the girl he would do anything to protect!
He absolutely cannot allow that bloody tragedy to happen to her again!
Since we can't change the mission, nor can we stop everyone from heading to Kannabi Bridge...
Therefore, the heavy responsibility of protecting Rin cannot be entrusted to anyone else; it can only be shouldered by Uchiha Obito himself.
A resolute glint ignited in Obito's eyes, a flash of determination passing through them.
"Only I can protect Lin...it has to be me!"
Since there's no way to escape, let's face it head-on!
Since we can't change the itinerary, let's change the process and rewrite the outcome!
He vowed to keep a close eye on her and protect her with his own hands, and never let any accident harm Lin in the slightest.
Thinking about this, Obito's mood suddenly calmed down.
He took a deep breath, suppressing the surging emotions in his heart.
The next second, everyone saw Obito, whose face had been pale, suddenly burst out laughing.
"Hahaha……"
He chuckled dryly twice, raised his hand and rubbed his still somewhat stiff cheeks, trying to regain his usual carefree expression.
"I was just joking, look how nervous you all are!"
Obito deliberately adopted a relaxed and exaggerated tone, waving his hand casually.
"I'm fine! I probably just didn't eat enough this morning, so my blood sugar was a little low, and I felt a bit dizzy for a moment! I'm completely fine now!"
Upon hearing this, Kakashi rolled his eyes in his signature way without any politeness: "Hmph, I'd be a fool to believe you. You're definitely unreliable, being the worst student."
Although Kakashi was speechless at Obito's outrageous behavior, seeing that he no longer insisted on that ridiculous suggestion, he didn't bother to investigate further. He figured that this guy was probably just acting crazy again, so he simply didn't comment.
Seeing this, Rin and Minato Namikaze exchanged glances, their expressions a mixture of helplessness and amusement.
Lin breathed a slight sigh of relief, a smile appearing on her lips.
It seems that Obito is still the Obito she knows, and he is not really cowardly enough to abandon his comrades.
Minato shook his head gently, a look of mixed amusement and relief on his face.
For a teacher, as long as the student's condition is normal, such a minor incident is completely harmless.
"Haha, it's good that you're alright!" Minato laughed heartily, stepped forward and patted Obito on the shoulder. "Obito, don't worry, your teacher is here."
He glanced at the three students and solemnly promised, "I, Minato Namikaze, will definitely bring all three of you back to Konoha safe and sound. I guarantee it."
If it were the Obito who idolized his teacher in the past, he would probably be filled with excitement upon hearing Minato's resounding promise.
However, Obito now only feels cold mockery and disdain in his heart.
"Bring it back intact? Hmph, wasn't that what you wanted to do in the first place? And what happened?"
"I won't even mention Rin... If Madara Uchiha hadn't pulled me out of the ruins, I would have died under that boulder long ago. If I hadn't risked my life to save Kakashi, he probably would have perished in that mission too. If we had waited for Minato Namikaze to come and rescue us, the grass on our graves would probably be several meters high by now!"
Thinking about this, he didn't believe a single punctuation mark of Minato Namikaze's assurances.
Despite inwardly scoffing, when Obito looked up, his face had transformed into one of greatly encouraged expression, and he even nodded emphatically: "Yes! I believe in Minato-sensei!"
As soon as he finished speaking, he took a deep breath and straightened his back, which had been slightly hunched.
Obito's face was still somewhat pale, but his eyes had regained their former brilliance, even becoming sharper and more focused than before.
Come on, whatever awaits ahead.
Rin, this time, I, Obito Uchiha, will never let anyone hurt you again.
Absolutely not!