He recognized the blond kid as Naruto at a glance... the little whisker marks on both sides of his cheeks were way too iconic to mistake.
Although Obito had t Kushina several tis, that didn't an he kept tabs on their daily lives.
He had his own curiosity about how things would turn out this ti, since Kushina was still alive.
He'd heard so rumors drifting around the village, so instead of heading straight back, he ca to see how mother and son were doing.
But he didn't expect the situation to be this bad.
Naruto's fate in this world had already changed. Obito had saved his mother, Kushina Uzumaki, so Naruto wasn't an orphan anymore.
With Kushina alive, Naruto's identity couldn't exactly stay hidden either.
By all logic, Kushina, widow of the Fourth Hokage and Naruto the hero's son should've been treated with respect, not cold shoulders.
So why was reality so different? Was there sothing he didn't know? Should he have just asked Kushina directly?
But every ti they t, his lower body tended to take control of the conversation, so deep questions were… difficult.
Obito frowned, then called out casually:
"Zetsu, get your ass over here."
Imdiately, a pale head poked out from the trunk of a nearby tree.
"What's up, Captain?" White Zetsu asked, glancing around nervously.
"What's going on?" Obito shot him a look.
"Huh? What's going on?" Zetsu blinked, confused.
"I'm not asking about you, I'm asking about them. Why are Kushina and Naruto being isolated?" Obito pressed, a hint of exasperation in his voice.
"Ohhh, that. Seems to be connected to so rumors floating around Konoha," White Zetsu muttered after thinking a bit.
"Rumors?" Obito's brow twitched. Don't tell him it was the sa old bullshit trick again.
"Yeah, stuff like—'the mother and son are the embodint of the Nine-Tails, they killed the Fourth and the villagers,' that kind of nonsense," Zetsu explained.
Obito raised an eyebrow. "Hah. Sa formula, huh?"
But he knew Kushina well. With her temper, would she really let that slide? She would've beaten the crap out of anyone who dared say it to her face.
"Hmm… Kushina, why are you so damn passive this ti?" he muttered, a twinge of guilt creeping in.
Maybe his years of "hard pounding" had actually made her more docile and introverted or sothing…
With that thought, he quietly trailed behind the mother and son.
Kushina and Naruto went out to buy daily necessities, picked up what they needed, and headed straight back ho without lingering.
After that, Obito used his Sharingan to casually hypnotize a few passersby and shop owners, piecing the situation together in no ti.
Not long after the Nine-Tails incident, rumors had begun spreading like wildfire:
"That mother and son are the demon fox incarnate! The Nine-Tails went berserk because of them!"
"All the deaths... the villagers, the shinobi, even the Fourth Hokage are on their heads!"
It was a far cry from Minato's vision of Naruto growing up as the "hero who carried the village's hopes."
But Obito understood. The Nine-Tails had just rampaged through Konoha, slaughtering countless people.
Families of the dead were still drowning in grief and hatred.
They needed soone to bla... Kushina and Naruto beca the perfect outlet.
And while no one dared openly attack the Hokage's widow and her child, that didn't stop whispers, curses behind their backs, and constant rumor-mongering.
If they couldn't insult them to their faces, they could isolate them instead.
Cold violence. The kind that gnaws away at the soul.
Learning this, Obito wasn't even surprised.
In his previous life, the internet was crawling with trolls and monsters. Even if you were a martyr, a scientist, or a great leader, there were always keyboard warriors ready to spit on your na.
Your family? Even worse.
Human ugliness was nothing new to him.
Besides, Minato had only worn the Hokage's hat for a year, he didn't have Sarutobi's decades of prestige to shield his family.
And in the villagers eyes, "the Hokage's family" was just another word for "the leader's family."
Maybe Minato was a good Hokage. But his family was another matter.
"My family died in the Nine-Tails attack, and your family is to bla. Sure, I can respect you as Hokage, but how the hell am I supposed to forgive the ones who killed my loved ones just because they share your blood?"
That was the general mood in Konoha toward Kushina and Naruto.
They weren't starving, Konoha still issued the pensions of bereaved families but the invisible wounds cut deeper than any insult.
Kushina, with her fiery temper, didn't bother playing nice. If they ignored her, she ignored them right back.
It was almost like she had gone back to her childhood, when she'd first co to Konoha and was treated as an outsider.
Only this ti… Minato wasn't around to stand by her side.
As for those who should have been close—Kakashi was buried in Anbu missions, busier than a stray dog.
And Jiraiya? That idiot had left the battlefield after the war with Cloud and decided to run around the world chasing skirts, acting like so washed-up street dancer.
Uchiha Mikoto, being from the Uchiha clan, couldn't really approach Kushina and Naruto in this situation either.
Most of Minato's forr subordinates were shinobi, and they were also busy running around like dogs on endless missions.
"In this way, their situation is really similar to Gaara's," Obito muttered, staring at the lonely backs of the mother and son. His expression grew complicated.
This world is rciless...even to a hero's family.
People just vent their frustration by blaming others for things they never did.
One was a Jinchūriki, the other the wife of the village's Fourth Hokage, yet instead of respect, they received only fear and hatred.
"Besides… if I rember correctly, the one who started the rumor was that bastard Danzo."
The corner of Obito's mouth curled in disdain. And the Third Hokage, always so 'gentle,' preaching his Will of Fire… burning everyone else to protect his own old bones.
Then, a bold thought struck him.
What if… what happens if I turn the protagonist around?
Until now, he had only been amusing himself with Kushina, barely paying attention to Naruto.
But seeing their miserable state gave him an idea he had never considered before.
Naruto wasn't even three years old yet. His worldview hadn't ford. If Obito intervened directly, he could shape him, instill new beliefs, raise him under his own hand.
And when the ti ca, he could pull Sasuke in too.
The thought of the two future "heroes" standing side by side against the entire shinobi world made Obito smirk.
Now that… would be subarashii.
But there was a problem.
The Asura reincarnation. Would it interfere with Naruto?
Back in his previous life, there were endless debates, theories, and s about why Naruto remained so unbearably kind. People always pointed fingers at Asura's influence.
After all, despite his tragic childhood, Naruto never turned villain. Instead, he grew into a loud, hot-blooded sunshine idiot.
Anyone else in his shoes? They'd have gone full Holander from The Boys a long ti ago.
Most fans believed Asura's will was behind Naruto's personality, every reincarnation of Asura ended up being naïve, stupid, self-sacrificing, a little too saint-like for their own good.
Obito rembered thinking those people were just overanalyzing. Kishimoto didn't say shit, so what do these armchair conspiracy theorists know?
It was like when an author writes a random line, and then dozens of literature nerds show up dissecting it like it's so hidden masterpiece.
Then the author himself gets asked, and he has no idea what the hell they're even talking about.
But now, having reincarnated here, Obito couldn't just laugh it off. This world was real.
These people were real.
He had to make sure Asura's influence didn't ruin his plans.
The last thing he wanted was to pour years into turning Naruto into an enemy of the world, only for the kid to grow up into so righteous fool with "Talk no Jutsu" powers, capable of infecting even his own pawns.
Sure, it was unlikely… but what if?
In the ani, Naruto's power to "convert" enemies was legendary. He even talked down literal gods.
Obito clenched his fist. No way I'm letting my future weapon beco a virgin saint spouting friendship speeches.
With that thought, his figure blurred. A flash of Flying Thunder God, Obito was gone.
He was heading back to the Land of Snow to retrieve sothing important.
And on the way… he'd be taking Hinata with him.
--
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