Chapter 98 Looking Back at the Past

The cold chakra detector was pressed against his chest, causing him to gasp for air. Seeing this, Ah Fei snorted in dissatisfaction.

"Don't move. Who told you not to listen to Bai Zetsu and to act stubbornly?"

"Whatever you say, Gurgle," Obito retorted.

"Hmph." Ah Fei muttered as he moved the detector back and forth on the left side of his chest, "There is indeed something abnormal here."

"What is it?"

"I don't know either," said Fei, frowning. "It's a non-living form of chakra that's attached to your diaphragm," he explained. "But it doesn't look harmful - I didn't detect any tissue damage or chakra leakage. Should I tell Madara-sama?"

Obito smiled bitterly and shook his head.

"Let's not talk about it for now. Let's wait until it really hurts me. Anyway, it doesn't have any impact now, so let's not bother him."

Although he said so, he concealed this matter not only because he was afraid of Madara's reaction - the weak chakra in his chest gave him an ominous premonition, and he didn't tell anyone, neither Afei nor White Zetsu. Although he respected Madara and knew that he owed him a lot, he was not stupid.

The old man must be hiding something, and it must be something serious. He planned to wait and see until he found out the truth.

"Well, now that you've said that," said Fei, "how do you feel?"

"It's so boring." Obito complained without hesitation, which earned him a hearty laugh from Afei.

"Of course you're bored, is there anything else you want to say?"

"When can I start training?" Obito lamented, "If I keep going like this, I'm going to get moldy."

"In a short while, you will be able to do some simple muscle training," said A Fei.

"Uh……"

"What are you two complaining about?"

Obito raised his head and saw White Zetsu crawling out from the wall on the left. His white body slowly emerged from the mud until it was completely inside the cave. He shook off the mud on his body and walked in front of them.

Unlike Afei, White Zetsu's appearance has changed a lot. The spikes on his body no longer grow in a disorderly manner, but are arranged in a strange shape, extending from his left side, like a curled cage, wrapping him in it. His right arm has also returned to normal, no longer twisted like before, although his fingers are still thick and cannot be used flexibly, but his shoulders have grown more than a dozen long bone spurs, bending upwards and extending to above the shoulder blade.

"The kid wants to run around again." Ah Fei complained.

White Zetsu snorted coldly and glared at Obito in dissatisfaction.

"Didn't you just work out?"

"That was all done this morning. I just want to get up and walk around now."

"Okay." Bai Zetsu agreed, "But we have to follow you."

"You guys are more annoying than that old man." Obito complained again.

******

“I will give you the power to defeat your inner demons.

Those fears and anxieties lurking deep in your heart can all be dispelled.

You have to understand that you are the master of your own thoughts, not your slave.

Please be brave enough to break free from the shackles that bind you and embrace freedom.

Now, reveal your inner strength!"

Although Obito kept complaining, he still worked hard on his rehabilitation training. After nearly a month, he was finally able to stand for long periods of time without feeling tired or pulling on his wounds.

He actively interacted with the outside world and made some friends, mainly those who delivered messages or instructions for Bai. Although the hive consciousness of Zetsu made them lack in-depth communication, Obito still tried to remember everyone's name.

Haku and Afei are still Obito's closest friends and his right-hand men.

They seemed to be more concerned about him lately. Before going to see Madara, Haku would tell Obito about what was happening in the outside world, such as the growing conflicts between countries and the war that ninja and civilians were going through.

Since Xiao Bai was most deeply connected to the hive mind, he became the transmission center of almost all information. However, Ah Fei was almost completely isolated from the hive mind, and even simple information was difficult to convey.

Sometimes, Haku would whisper to Obito about his master's deeds, as if sharing a secret - how Minato destroyed the enemy army, how Kushina dominated the battlefield.

Apparently, Obito and his makeshift parents had gained notoriety, becoming the first ninja in decades to be listed as "avoid if encountered".

Obito missed them very much, missed Minato's earnest teachings and hearty laughter, and even missed the "bakuchi" that Kushina gave him when he was naughty, and the look in her eyes that protected him in front of Minato.

He also missed Lin's gentleness and kindness. Even when he was acting weird or silly, whether intentionally or unintentionally, Lin always trusted him unconditionally.

On a fragile night, he confided to Xiaobai and A Fei his longing for his family.

He knew that Haku would tell this to Madara and his group of black Zetsu, but he no longer cared.

Out of habit and instinctive self-preservation, he still maintained a confrontational attitude towards Kakashi.

As expected, one night, while enjoying lotus root and pork soup, Madara asked him if there was anyone he particularly cherished in Konoha Village, and Obito mentioned Harano Rin's name without hesitation.

It wasn't even a lie. Obito really liked Rin, her charm, her wisdom, her kindness, her strength, but it was different from what Kakashi thought. It was a subtle difference, but it was enough to cover up the weakness deep in his heart.

As a member of the Uchiha clan, even though his ways are out of tune with the rest of the clan, for Uchiha Obito, love is a powerful weakness that must be hidden.

His feelings for Lin were strong and calm, like a light that guided him through darkness and pain, and pulled him back on track when he was lost. But if compared with his feelings for Kakashi, the two were completely different, not even the same kind of emotion.

His feelings for Rin were soft and elusive, while his feelings for Kakashi were like a deadly poison embedded deep in his bones.

The connection between them was rough and dangerous and heavy, stronger than Obito was, and would ever be, ready to face.

If left unchecked, this feeling would undoubtedly destroy him. Back in ninja school, Kakashi had a special ability to see through his deliberately stupid appearance.

Although Kakashi didn't see through him completely, it was enough to touch his sensitive nerves and make him raise his defensive spikes like a vigilant lone wolf.

Obito's only option was to completely shut down this feeling, to cover it up with confrontation and a stupid obsession with a girl who would never return his love.

Kakashi would never accept him, let alone love him, so when the first hint of a bond between them began to form, Obito cut it off decisively and pushed Kakashi as far away as possible.

But this doesn't always work.

Sometimes, despite his best efforts, when they were overcome by anger, feelings of abandonment, or simply the weight of emotion, their connection would break free, bursting through its cage.

Fighting became the only way for them to get along with each other.

Obito always hides the best side of himself, so their battle brings out the darkest parts of each other. They bite at each other, Kakashi's words like claws, tearing at Obito's deepest anger and insecurity, while Obito holds on to the beast of pain in Kakashi's heart and refuses to let go.

The weeks following Minato's death were the worst.

Even now, he could still feel those invisible scars, those lightning-like marks winding across his shoulders and neck, reminding him of that painful past.

Countless nights, he touched those scars over and over again in the darkness, as if they were the spiritual comfort in his storm of pain.

******