"First, let me correct something. Think about how you appeared that night, wearing a black robe that covered your entire body, with a mask that exposed only one eye. Your voice changed completely, becoming hoarse and deep, and you even grew taller. Even if you were to stand in front of your past self, do you think your former self would recognize you?" Nagasawa skillfully retorted.
He had confronted him during the simulation of the Fourth Great Shinobi World War, so he was quite adept at it.
"In Minato's memory, his disciple Obito Uchiha died as a hero for Konoha. When a mysterious masked man tried to break the seal and releasing the Nine-Tails approached him, do you think he would consider associating this person with his heroic disciple? No, he wouldn't. He would only speculate that this is some ambitious individual," Nagasawa answered before Obito could respond.
Obito didn't argue, either because he found Nagasawa's reasoning too convincing or because Nagasawa's recent beating left him speechless.
"And things aren't as simple as you think. I'm not as strong as I am now back then." Nagasawa sighed.
If he was this strong back then, the Third Great Shinobi World War wouldn't have happened. He could have just eliminated all villages that defied him, then held a Five Kage Summit to announce a new order."
Even a Kage could die in a war, let alone Nagasawa back then.
During the war, he wasn't even on the same battlefield as Obito and the others.
All Nagasawa could do was pretend to look for Minato and subtly give hints to Obito and the others.
However, it obviously didn't work since Obito had already been targeted by Madara. Even without the Kannabi Bridge mission this time, the trio would be in danger regardless.
Unless there was an absolute force that could break the deadlock, it was all useless.
If Nagasawa could ensure the safety of Obito and Rin, he would definitely do it.
Because, when they met Nagasawa, they would respectfully address him as "Nagasawa-senpai," even though they were fellow Chunin.
Nagasawa had a good memory, and he still remembered Rin smiling and greeting him.
"Haha." Obito obviously didn't believe it. Nagasawa's current strength was on par with Madara Uchiha and Hashirama Senju, how could he have had only Chunin-level power a few years ago? At least, he should have been at the level of the Five Kage.
"A guy that pretends as a Chunin, and a Shinobi that's always late when rescuing his disciples even though he's hailed as the fastest Shinobi. No wonder you two became friends." Obito continued his sarcastic remarks.
Although Nagasawa could somewhat understand Obito's resentment, it didn't mean he would tolerate him. He directly punched Obito in the head, causing him to spurt blood.
Fortunately, Nagasawa had prepared Medical Ninjutsu in advance, and coupled with Hashirama cells on Obito as an ordinary person might not have survived the beating.
Nagasawa calmly wiped the blood off his fist, intending to use his iron fist of love to knock some sense into Obito, who had already been fooled.
"You really have some nerve. The last punch was for Minato." Nagasawa remarked.
Obito felt his head buzzing, and he could barely retain his consciousness. He vaguely saw Rin welcoming him, and the time spent on missions with Kakashi and Rin flashed like a carousel in his mind.
It wasn't until Nagasawa raised his voice that Obito regained some clarity.
"To be honest, I once considered killing you once I captured you. That way, Minato wouldn't feel guilty, Kakashi wouldn't regret the past, and Obito Uchiha would remain a hero." Nagasawa said calmly.
"Then why didn't you kill me? Only one of your subordinates knows about this," Obito asked.
He wasn't afraid of death, whether as Obito Uchiha or Madara Uchiha made no difference to him.
Rather than death, he was more afraid of Minato and Kakashi seeing him in this pathetic state.
If the plan succeeded, he could proudly stand before Minato and Kakashi and talk about his great plan.
"Because a death would be too easy for you. Spend the rest of your life atoning for your crimes, kid."
"I'm not wrong; it's this cursed world. In this cursed world, no one can truly be happy," Obito insisted.
"Is that so? I think I'm happy now." Nagasawa pondered his life, handling affairs at the Hokage Building and Training Team. When he was tired, he could lie on Nono's lap. With a bunch of little fans in the village, he could retire and enjoy life once his subordinates grew up.
Such days could be considered happy, at least Nagasawa thought he was quite happy. It would be even better if retirement came a bit earlier.
Not only him, but Minato was also happy.
With a wise and beautiful wife, a healthy son growing up, and the village in a stable and peaceful state during his tenure, his strength increased rapidly.
Kakashi was basically a winner in life, too, admired by many. Strong, highly valued by the higher-ups, with a beautiful wife and adorable children.
"No, those are just false happiness. Once a war breaks out, all of it will disappear, transforming into deeper pain," Obito rejected this kind of happiness.
"And what do you think is true happiness?" Nagasawa didn't rush to refute Obito but instead asked.
"Initiate a Genjutsu that can envelop the entire world so that everyone can live in their desired world, where everyone is the protagonist and can achieve eternal happiness. That's true happiness!"
At this point, a longing expression appeared on Obito's face. With such a Genjutsu, even the deceased Rin could be resurrected in his world, and they could be happy together forever.
"Do you think the happiness gained through a Genjutsu is real happiness?" Nagasawa asked.
"If the Genjutsu is realistic enough and identical to the real world, why can't it be considered reality?" Obito replied.
Nagasawa shook his head. This silly child, Obito, had been completely fooled. Only after a true failure would he reflect.
"Obito, you've been too wrapped up in a grand illusion of a 'happy world' created by someone. You can't see anything else now. Genjutsu is still Genjutsu, even if you get everything in it, even if all your wishes come true, it's still an illusion."
While you may not achieve everything you wish for in reality, happiness can still be attained through hard work to obtain what you desire.
Everything in Genjutsu relies on the knowledge of the user to construct, and it may seem flawless, but it lacks the crucial element of real-world unpredictability. Before attending Academy, could you have predicted meeting a girl like Rin? Moreover, can your so-called 'truly happy world' really materialize as you imagine instead of someone's scheme?"
"I know more than you think. The one who made you this twisted is the real Madara Uchiha."
"How could you..." Obito looked at Nagasawa in astonishment, unsure where Nagasawa obtained this information.
Obito was genuinely puzzled. How had he been exposed? Why did Nagasawa know he wasn't dead, that the masked man was him, while even Minato didn't recognize him?
Now Nagasawa even knew he was trained by Madara.
"You keep yelling that you're Madara Uchiha, so I guessed it was Madara who taught you, right?" Nagasawa glanced at Obito indifferently.
After being a boss for several years, how could he still be so easily surprised?
"In truth, I really didn't deceive you. I was indeed weak during the Third Great Shinobi World War. The reason for my current strength involves some rather bizarre experiences. I also obtained information about you from those strange experiences."
"Do you know about parallel worlds?" Nagasawa earnestly asked.
Of course, things like system binding to increase Konoha's Prosperity were impossible to reveal, so Nagasawa simply went with parallel worlds.
Obito looked somewhat confused, clearly not understanding the meaning of Nagasawa's words.
"A parallel world refers to another world that separates from a certain world, existing alongside the original world, both similar and different. In these worlds, there are worlds born under the same conditions as ours. In these different worlds, the development of things will have different outcomes."
"For some reason, I suddenly became able to travel back and forth between those worlds, twice, and I arrived in a world equivalent to the future of our world."
Obito looked at Nagasawa suspiciously, feeling that Nagasawa was fooling him. Parallel worlds, future worlds – how could such absurd things exist?
"In both of those future worlds, the Fourth Great Shinobi World War broke out, and you were the mastermind in both."
Obito silently listened. It did sound like something he would do.
"You went to great lengths to resurrect the Ten Tails. Finally, during the battle with the Allied Shinobi Alliance, you used Kakashi to eliminate the backup plan left by Madara in your body and ultimately became the Ten Tails Jinchuriki."
Sweat appeared on Obito's forehead, and he was shaken to the core. How did Nagasawa know so much? Even details about the Ten Tails!
But Madara did leave a backup plan in his body. He knew this guy wasn't that benevolent.
At this moment, Obito couldn't help but somewhat believe Nagasawa because what Nagasawa said was so detailed, it felt like Nagasawa had experienced it firsthand.
"But you still failed in the end. Even as the Ten Tails Jinchuriki, you were still no match against me and were eventually defeated by me," Nagasawa said indifferently.
Obito remained silent. This part was rather hard to believe. How could he, as the Ten Tails Jinchuriki, fail?
"Originally, due to being the Ten Tails Jinchuriki, even if I was stronger than you, I wouldn't have defeated you so easily. It's the problem with your inner conviction. You still harbor the desire to become Hokage, a spark of hope for the fire in your heart."
"It's impossible, absolutely impossible!" Obito retorted. He couldn't believe that, at the final step, he would fail due to such a ridiculous reason.
"Since you don't believe, see it for yourself." Nagasawa's hands emitted a glow of chakra, pressing it onto Obito's body, transferring his simulated experiences to Obito.
Chakra was a miraculous energy that could connect people's minds. For Nagasawa, using this to transmit memories wasn't difficult.
Obito suddenly cheered. Instead of the post-battle wasteland in the aftermath of fighting, he saw an underground hideout.
Obito quickly recognized it; it was the Uchiha's underground hideout. However, looking at the person standing in the hideout left him a bit confused. There were the First to Fourth Hokage, but there were two Second Hokages, and then there was Orochimaru and other people he didn't recognize.
Then Obito suddenly felt a blur, the scene becoming unclear. He could only vaguely hear something about Madara Uchiha's sister-in-law.
"Ahem, let's skip this part. Fast forward a bit. You only need to know that the other Tobirama Senju is me. It's just to be safe." Nagasawa cleared his throat and fast forwarded the memory.
This segment had too much complexity, and young Obito couldn't grasp it. It was better to just see how he would be beaten up later.
The scene then quickly shifted into when Obito lied on the ground on the verge of death, absorbing the Ten Tails to become the Ten Tails Jinchuriki.
Obito looked at the gradually expanding silhouette due to the Ten Tails, feeling it looked too much like him, as if seeing his grown-up self.
Obito looked around, and every face of the Allied Shinobi Forces was very clear, but he didn't see familiar faces; many of the younger figures in the front were unfamiliar to him.
Finally, Obito saw Madara sitting on the ground in the distance. However, it wasn't the old Madara that he had seen before; it was Madara in his prime.
'Did I resurrect him? That shouldn't be...' Obito was puzzled; he had no reason to resurrect Madara.
Obito soon stopped thinking about this question because, as the Ten Tails Jinchuriki, he began to fight.
Although it wasn't his own memory, Obito could feel how powerful his future self was when becoming the Ten Tails Jinchuriki.
The following actions of the Ten Tails Jinchuriki Obito also fully proved this point. Those Hokages were no match against him at all; even the Four Crimson Ray Formation was destroyed by him.
That was only until Nagasawa intervened, and a golden fire illuminated the battlefield, changing the situation.
However, the battle was not as easy as Nagasawa had described. They fought for a while, and Nagasawa only defeated the Ten Tails Jinchuriki Obito after a fierce battle.
'To think that I really failed...' Obito fell into a daze.