Hiruzen persuaded me to die

Soon after the announcement, the news reached the Uchiha Police Force headquarters.

"The masked man... is Uchiha Obito?"

Uchiha Fugaku held the decree issued by Nara Shikaku in his hand, eyes narrowed.

"Uchiha Obito…" he repeated quietly.

To be honest, he had almost forgotten such a person existed.

Back then, Obito hadn't been particularly outstanding among the Uchiha.

He wasn't even on the same level as Shisui, who was years younger than him.

"The hero of the Kannabi Bridge mission?" Shisui muttered instinctively.

But soon, he shook his head.

Impossible.

How could a war hero who had supposedly died become the mastermind behind the Nine Tails attack?

"It's definitely Uchiha Obito," Uchiha Itachi said after reading the entire announcement carefully.

"The evidence matches perfectly."

"Obito supposedly died during the mission at Kannabi Bridge, where he gave his left eye to Kakashi-senpai."

"The masked man has always hidden his face and only shown his right eye."

"And just recently, someone attacked Kakashi and stole the Sharingan in his left eye."

Itachi's gaze was sharp.

The Uchiha clan had paid close attention when Kakashi's Sharingan was taken.

After all, that eye had belonged to one of their own.

And it was a fully matured three-tomoe Sharingan.

At the time, Itachi hadn't understood why someone would go through the trouble to take it.

Now he knew.

It wasn't just any thief—it was Obito himself, reclaiming the eye he had once given Kakashi.

"But Obito…" Shisui began, then hesitated.

He almost called him "senpai," but caught himself.

"…Uchiha Obito was a genuinely kind person in my memory."

He remembered the older boy—average in talent, often clumsy, and always late—but never arrogant like most other Uchihas.

He used to help the elderly and smile more than most did in the clan.

Fugaku slowly nodded. "I remember the same."

He clenched the decree.

"No matter how I look at it, I can't believe that Obito—the one we knew—would ever do this."

"Could it be a mistake? Maybe someone else took his eyes and awakened the Mangekyō Sharingan?" Shisui suggested, frowning.

Unlike Kakashi, he wasn't deceiving himself.

It was simply hard to accept that someone like Obito—a loyal student of the Fourth Hokage and a supposed war hero—would orchestrate something so vile.

"He may have been the least likely person to do it."

Fugaku shook his head and flipped through the document again.

"It's not a mistake."

"Hokage-sama saw him personally and confirmed it."

Itachi's expression was thoughtful.

"Hyuga Naraku and Kakashi were classmates of Obito in the Academy."

"They would know him better than anyone else."

"They wouldn't get it wrong."

A chill settled in the room.

"…Which means…" Itachi's tone darkened as his Sharingan spun to life.

A dangerous aura surged from him.

"That bastard… really was the one behind the Nine Tails attack!"

"Because of him, the Uchiha were suspected of releasing the Nine Tails!"

Itachi's fists clenched at the thought.

If not for Hyuga Naraku, who had repeatedly stepped in to protect them from Sarutobi Hiruzen's suppression—

The Uchiha could have already been exterminated in secret!

Shisui's face also darkened.

"It was him—he created the rift between the Uchiha and the rest of the village."

His life's goal had always been to heal that rift, to bring reconciliation.

And now he knew the truth:

The man who tore them apart… was one of their own.

"Distribute the announcement," Fugaku ordered, his voice cold and furious.

"That traitor deserves to be disgraced publicly!"

"To think… for all these years… the man who caused all this was honored as a hero!"

It was beyond outrageous.

Soon, the news swept across the entire village.

From the Uchiha clan to the civilians in the market, the word spread like wildfire.

At first, most people were stunned.

"Uchiha… Obito?"

Some had long forgotten the name.

Fortunately, the announcement explained clearly:

Obito was once a student of the Fourth Hokage.

The so-called "hero" of the Kannabi Bridge operation.

The one who sacrificed himself to end the war between Konoha and Iwagakure.

But in truth—

The people remembered that war mostly for Minato Namikaze's legendary feats, and the rise of the Sharingan prodigy Kakashi.

Seven years had passed.

The war was a fading memory.

But the Nine Tails attack five years ago?

That wound remained open and bleeding in the hearts of the villagers.

It was the night of October 10th, Year 48 of the Konoha calendar.

At the time, Minato had only served as Hokage for a year.

It should've been a peaceful night.

Instead—

Without warning, the Nine Tails appeared in the center of the village.

Those living near the epicenter never had a chance to escape.

They were annihilated in moments.

The enormous beast needed only a single tail swipe to wipe out dozens of homes.

Then came the chaos.

As panic spread, the shinobi of Konoha rushed to battle, sacrificing their lives in desperation.

Countless families were shattered that night.

To many, the trauma of the Nine Tails' rampage was worse than the entire Third Great War.

And worst of all—

The Fourth Hokage and his wife perished that very night.

When morning came, all that was left was rubble and ash.

Konoha was a city of corpses and broken dreams.

Back then, no one understood what had happened.

They believed it was a natural disaster. A cruel twist of fate.

But now?

Now they knew the truth.

The scar that had scabbed over was violently ripped open, and fresh salt was rubbed into the wound.

"Uchiha Obito… Minato's own student… was the one behind it all?!"

"He waited until Kushina was giving birth… attacked, and then released the Nine Tails!"

"He prevented Lord Fourth from sealing the beast until it was too late!"

Tears welled in the eyes of many.

The pain they'd buried for years came crashing back.

How many nights had they dreamt of their lost family members?

Dreams where the Nine Tails never appeared?

Only to be awakened in horror as the beast tore it all away again.

To relive the nightmare.

Alone in the night. Grieving beneath the cold light of the moon.

"Uchiha Obito… that bastard!" someone spat, voice trembling with rage.

"That traitor was worshipped as a hero all this time?!"

"Not only did he attack the village with Mist shinobi and Sarutobi Hiruzen…"

"He also tried to kidnap Naruto, the Fourth Hokage's son!"

"If not for Lord Jiraiya, he might've succeeded!"

"And even then—he provoked the boy and nearly unleashed the Nine Tails again!"

The villagers were seething.

"This monster!"

"Is he even human?!"

"Attacking his master's wife while she was giving birth—what kind of demon does that?!"

"Then trying to harm the child who lost his parents—how cruel can one be?!"

"Even calling him a beast is an insult to animals!"

"Why does the Uchiha clan have such a disgrace?"

Someone pointed accusingly at a nearby Uchiha officer.

"What's that got to do with us?!" the man snapped back.

The Uchiha were furious too.

They had lost face.

But they also carried their own years of frustration and blame.

The whole village boiled with fury and resentment.

Obito's identity wasn't just a revelation.

It was a spark.

And Konoha was now a powder keg.

End of Chapter 157