Chapter 355: Kakashi: Come Home With Me, Tobi!
Tobi's antics left everyone speechless.
Normal people didn't bother engaging with his over-the-top personality. Pain and Konan instinctively covered their faces, unable to bear the embarrassment.
Haneda looked like he was ready to slap someone, while Kakashi barely managed to suppress his laughter but couldn't stop a sly smile from escaping.
Tobi, on the other hand, was absolutely thrilled. He struck a victorious pose and declared loudly:
"Yay! Mission accomplished—I'm a certified fan now!"
Haneda, utterly at a loss for words, muttered a few sentences to Pain before vanishing in a flash of Flying Raijin.
Kakashi took a long look at Tobi's left eye before following suit, disappearing right after Haneda.
This left Pain and Konan standing in silence, their patience wearing thin.
"Tobi!"
Pain's voice rumbled with frustration.
Konan, however, had had enough. Without a word, she grabbed Tobi by the back of his collar and flew into the sky, leaving the scene.
As she ascended, she crafted a sealing tag and slapped it onto Tobi's mask, sealing his mouth along with the mask itself.
"You've rested and made enough of a scene. Now stay quiet for a while."
"Mmm! Mmmph!"
X﹏X
...
On the rooftop of the Hokage building, Haneda appeared in a flash of light. Moments later, Kakashi arrived in his office and, sensing Haneda's presence above, made his way to the rooftop.
"You're sure that's Obito? Looking at the photos, he seemed like him, but after meeting him in person… he feels like a completely different person."
Kakashi leaned against the railing, gazing down at Tobi, who was flailing like a trapped bird in Konan's grasp.
"You already know the answer in your heart," Haneda replied, his hands resting on the railing as he watched Tobi struggle to break free.
Truthfully, if Haneda hadn't known about Obito's alias as Tobi, he might have dismissed the similarities upon a second glance.
Tobi was lively and goofy, while Obito had become somber and brooding over the years.
But if he thought about how Tobi's absurdity mirrored Obito's pre-tragedy self, it made sense—Tobi was like a more exaggerated, carefree version of the old Obito.
Kakashi seemed lost in thought for a moment. When he finally spoke, his tone was reflective:
"Now that I think about it, he was a lot like this as a kid. During the Chunin Exams, Obito was always loud, always fooling around in crowds."
"He seems… happier now, like he's found himself again."
As Konan and Tobi drew closer, both Haneda and Kakashi fell silent, letting the conversation about Obito trail off.
No sooner had Konan landed on the roof than she unceremoniously flung Tobi toward the ground.
"Yamerooo! Ahhhh!"
Tobi's high-pitched scream echoed across the rooftop until he landed with an exaggerated thud.
He lay there dramatically, clutching his chest and groaning like he was on the brink of death.
"Ow… the pain… I'm dying…"
Alarmed, Konan quickly descended and crouched beside him, reaching out to check for injuries.
But just as her hand neared him, Tobi sprang to his feet with the agility of a fish leaping from water.
"Gotcha! I'm perfectly fine!"
Konan's face darkened with irritation. Without another word, she ignored Tobi entirely and walked toward Haneda.
"Sorry you had to see that," Konan said with a sigh. "He's not one of my subordinates."
The remark wasn't just an apology; it was a deliberate message. Konan was subtly clarifying that Tobi belonged to Madara, not her or Pain.
Haneda caught the implication and smiled. "I find him rather amusing, actually. He reminds me of an old friend of mine."
"That friend of mine also once joked that he was my biggest fan—a high school girl madly in love with me."
Tobi, ever the clown, chimed in: "Heh, heh! Just give me a year, and I'll evolve into a college girl!"
Haneda's smile faltered for a brief moment. He hadn't expected Obito to pick up on the joke and roll with it.
Deciding it wasn't worth engaging further, Haneda turned to Konan and said:
"Follow me. Pain's already entered the building."
"And me?" Tobi piped up.
"You?" Haneda glanced at Tobi, then at Kakashi. Suddenly, an idea came to him.
"I have an important mission for you."
Haneda's expression turned serious, as if weighing a difficult decision.
Tobi immediately perked up, eager to prove himself. "What mission, Lord Hokage? As a full-fledged member of Akatsuki, Tobi will get it done, no problem!"
Haneda smirked subtly. That was exactly what he'd been waiting to hear.
"Your mission… is to help my friend, Kakashi, Captain of the Konoha Anbu, track down the culprit who keeps throwing flowers at the memorial stone!"
Tobi froze mid-motion, like a photograph suddenly paused.
Kakashi was equally stunned, his face slack with disbelief.
After a few moments, he recovered and shot Tobi a long, meaningful look. The culprit was standing right in front of him, but Kakashi chose not to say a word.
He was curious to see how far Tobi would go with this charade.
Haneda, meanwhile, kept a straight face as he added gravitas to his words:
"In recent years, we've had repeated incidents of someone deliberately throwing flowers at the memorial stone. It's disgraceful and disrespectful to our fallen heroes!"
"Tobi, this important task is now in your hands!"
Haneda placed a reassuring hand on Tobi's shoulder, suppressing the grin threatening to break across his face. "What do you think?"
Tobi: "…"
Obito: "…"
After a brief silence, Tobi raised his hand dramatically. "Any behavior that disrespects the memorial stone will be brought to justice! Lord Hokage, I won't let you down!"
Ah, the irony.
Kakashi's lips twitched as he struggled to contain his reaction. Turning to Tobi, he simply said, "Let's go," before heading off to the memorial stone.
Tobi trailed after him, still brimming with enthusiasm for his self-imposed mission.
Once the two had left, Konan exhaled a quiet sigh of relief.
Having Tobi around had made certain conversations impossible.
Yet, now that the familiar chaos had disappeared, she found herself missing the noise.
Her feelings toward Tobi were… complicated.
He was Madara's subordinate, someone she instinctively distrusted.
But his lively, playful behavior reminded her of Yahiko, making it hard to dislike him entirely.
Pain felt similarly conflicted, which was why they both let Tobi's antics slide most of the time.
"He's left the building now," Pain said as he approached Haneda and Konan. "No signs of White Zetsu nearby. Let's talk downstairs."
"Alright," Haneda replied, intrigued by what Pain had to say.
The three of them descended into the Hokage's office together.
...
Meanwhile, Kakashi and Tobi wandered leisurely through Konoha's streets.
Despite Kakashi's reputation, few villagers paid much attention to him. Those who recognized him didn't approach, respecting his quiet demeanor.
Kakashi was known to prefer solitude or Haneda's company, a fact well-documented in Haneda's memoir, My Struggle.
"Wow, once you leave Lord Hokage's side, nobody cares about you, huh, Kakashi-san?" Tobi quipped, his voice teasing.
"So, where to next? The memorial stone to investigate the flower-throwing culprit, or the flower shop to buy flowers?"
Kakashi turned to him and said simply:
"Come home with me, Tobi."
???
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