The environment was cold, damp, and dark.
The air was thick with a strong, metallic stench of blood.
Water dripped steadily from the ceiling, following a network of rusty pipes, eventually landing with a splash.
The drops hit Obito's skin, jolting him awake from his unconscious state.
He had been out for a while, so his brain felt foggy. Blinking in confusion, he looked around, puzzled. "Where am I?" he wondered, still disoriented. "Am I here for the Chunin Exam?"
His last memory was entering a tower with Rin, but everything after that was a blank. As his senses slowly returned, a sharp pain struck him.
He winced, his left eye hurting. But when he glanced down, his expression changed from confusion to shock, his voice erupting in a horrified scream. "What is this?!"
The first thing he noticed was that his limbs were bound to a heavy metal chair by iron rings. The chair was bolted to the ground, keeping it from moving despite his struggles.
The most terrifying part, however, was the massive metal contraption locked around his neck. It resembled the gaping jaws of a beast, with jagged spikes inside, stained with dark, dried blood.
In front of him, there was a table with a sharp scalpel and a ticking alarm clock.
Obito's initial struggles exhausted him quickly. He was breathing heavily, frustrated and scared, when a sudden creaking noise shattered the silence.
The eerie sound put him on edge. He tensed up and looked toward the source of the noise.
In the dim light, he saw a small figure slowly approaching.
The sound grew louder, accompanied by a rhythmic squeak. With his Sharingan, Obito could finally make out the details.
It was a small doll, its movements stiff and unnatural, riding a bicycle with rusty gears. Its eyes were blood-red, its cheeks painted with red spirals, and its lips painted with a bright red smile. It wore a black suit with a red bowtie, giving it a sinister look in the darkness.
The doll stopped in front of Obito and looked up at him, its jaw moving awkwardly as it spoke in a low, raspy voice. "Hello, Uchiha Obito. I am Jigsaw, and I want to play a game with you."
"Jigsaw? Who are you?" Obito snapped, his eyes turned red. "Stop hiding behind that puppet! Show yourself!"
"I'm not playing any game with you! Let me go now, or I'll show you what real cruelty is!" he shouted, gritting his teeth in rage.
"You've got a talent that others would give anything for, but you never appreciated it," the Jigsaw said, circling Obito on his bicycle.
"Everyone knows the gifts and privileges you've wasted would take a lifetime of hard work for most to achieve. But all you seem to care about is love. Compared to those who grind day in and day out, do you even realize how lucky you are?"
"Love? What? Where's Rin? Is she okay?" Obito's mind was spinning in chaos, ignoring the doll's words. His only focus was on Rin's safety.
"Most people live their whole lives in a haze, never really understanding gratitude," Jigsaw replied, stopping his bike.
Despite being just a puppet, its eyes gave Obito chills. "Consider yourself fortunate to be tested like this. It's only through facing death that one can truly be reborn."
A wave of dread washed over Obito, his throat tightening as he swallowed. "What are you planning to do?" he asked, his voice strained with anxiety.
"I told you," Jigsaw replied in a casual tone, "I want to play a game with you." He paused, his voice eerily steady.
"The device around your neck will snap shut in one minute. All you have to do, before that happens, is use the scalpel on the table in front of you to remove one of your eyes. Inside, you'll find the key to unlock the device. If you don't do it in a minute, well, you know what happens."
The puppet's voice was calm, almost as if it were discussing the weather. But for Uchiha Obito, it was like a clap of thunder.
His face went pale, and his lips turned a shade of purple. "What did you just say?" he stammered, disbelief coloring his voice.
"If you don't value your talents, then let's make them worth something," Jigsaw replied, his blood-red eyes locking onto Obito's.
"I'm curious—can you see anything besides Rin with those eyes of yours?"
"Wait, who are you?" Obito demanded, struggling against the restraints. He felt the clamp holding his right hand loosen slightly, offering a glimmer of hope.
But before he could act on it, the puppet's cold voice echoed again: "The game is about to begin."
Jigsaw slowly pedaled away on his small bicycle, disappearing into the encroaching darkness.
"Damn it, come back!" Obito yelled, his voice a mixture of shock and rage. "Where's Rin? What did you do to Rin? Tell me!"
But his cries were met with only silence.
Suddenly, a sharp click rang out, followed by the mechanical sound of an alarm clock starting. A large display in front of Obito revealed a countdown, and his heart raced as the seconds ticked away.
The countdown, blaring in bright red numbers, showed 59, 58, 57... every passing second like a death knell tolling in his mind. Panic, fear, anxiety—all these emotions collided and exploded, overwhelming Obito's senses.
For a moment, his brain went blank, his body paralyzed with dread.
When he snapped back to reality, Obito's face had turned pale as a ghost. He shouted, voice trembling, "There's only forty seconds left!"
Each drop in the countdown hit his heart like a sledgehammer, thudding and echoing in his chest.
But could he really do it? Could he use a scalpel to gouge out his own eye while still alive? The thought alone made Obito falter. He was just a kid—how could he have the courage to go through with something so brutal?
Staring at the scalpel, his single good eye focusing on its glinting edge, Obito's mind flashed with images of Rin's smile. He knew what he had to do, and it terrified him. But he was running out of time.
"Wait for me, Rin!" he screamed, summoning every ounce of courage he had. His hands shook as he picked up the scalpel and pointed it at his own eye.
Deep breaths.
Deep breaths.
The countdown ticked to twenty seconds, and Obito's forehead beaded with sweat. He tightened his grip on the scalpel, his resolve firming with each second that passed.
Finally, with a burst of determination, he drove the scalpel into his eye.
A sickening pop, then a piercing scream echoed through the room as Obito collapsed, the pain unbearable.
The intense pain made Obito scream, barely able to hold onto the scalpel.
It really hurt. He thought about quitting several times, but every time he did, Rin's smile grew clearer in his mind.
"Ahhhhh!" Obito yelled in agony as the scalpel moved in his eye socket.
Blood gushed uncontrollably, completely destroying his left eye. The excruciating pain assaulted his nerves, almost numbing his mind.
Bang!
Obito threw the scalpel away, gasping for air. His bloodshot right eye locked onto the countdown timer: "Twenty seconds left."
He knew there was no time to waste.
He forced his trembling fingers into the bloody eye socket, searching for the key.
Finally, he found it, but the countdown showed less than ten seconds remaining.
Uchiha Obito took a deep breath. Despite the searing pain, he still managed to insert the key into the slot with precision.
Click~
The key turned with a crisp sound.
In the next moment, the heavy metal device around his neck dropped to the ground with a loud clang.
********
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