While Uchiha Kei was holding a private meeting with his most trusted allies, over on the bustling streets of the Hidden Leaf Village, the clan's number one good Samaritan—affectionately called Little Obito by the elderly—was once again helping old grannies cross the road and carrying heavy luggage for old grandpas. In return, he received a small bounty of fresh fruits and handmade snacks.
Life in the prosperous Hidden Leaf meant that the elderly lived quite comfortably compared to those in other lands, so even gifts of fruit and sweets—considered luxuries elsewhere—were commonplace tokens of gratitude.
Naturally, Uchiha Obito happily accepted these and was already planning to share them with his two close companions.
Well, mostly with Nohara Rin. The idiot Kakashi was just incidental. Obito was only planning to share with Kakashi out of pity—he'd tell himself that, anyway.
Just as Obito was trotting along cheerfully with arms full of gifts, he suddenly froze in place.
He had spotted something strange.
A white, strange-looking figure wrapped in another layer of white matter that formed a twisted spiral, culminating in a spiraling mask.
Most importantly, the figure was clutching several unopened genjutsu game scrolls, and was about to seal them all into another empty sealing scroll.
The location? Behind one of the Uchiha clan's workshops—a spot usually deserted, only occasionally patrolled.
And right now? No patrols.
Obito hadn't taken part in the production of genjutsu game scrolls, but being a Uchiha, he was familiar with their existence. More importantly, he knew they made for excellent bragging material—and he could never resist that.
Genjutsu game scrolls, once created, would normally be catalogued by dedicated personnel, transferred through secure transport routes, monitored at every step, stored in designated warehouses, and supervised by professional staff.
In theory, such procedures should have guaranteed their safety.
Yet, ever since the workshops opened, thefts had begun occurring intermittently.
Each time, only a few scrolls went missing—but every instance was a major slap in the face for the Uchiha and all the other clans involved in the security detail.
The last incident had caused quite a stir, and every major clan had launched internal investigations. But they found nothing. Multiple personnel were harshly criticized.
If not for Uchiha Kei—respected by all—stepping in and explaining that some people in the shinobi world simply had bizarre abilities, and that failing to catch them wasn't entirely surprising, those people would've faced real punishment.
Of course, Kei knew the thefts were likely the work of Black Zetsu and White Zetsu, dispatched by Madara Uchiha. No wonder the security team had failed—those two could outmaneuver even the best of the Hidden Leaf.
But others didn't know that. They simply saw Kei as a compassionate leader. His defense of the scapegoats inspired gratitude—and renewed resolve to catch the thief.
Because of this whole backstory, even a Genin like Obito was aware of the thefts.
So, when he saw a weirdo holding a bunch of unopened scrolls, preparing to seal them away, Obito was momentarily stunned—then quickly understood.
A thief!
Without hesitation, Obito activated his asymmetrical Sharingan—Three tomoe eye with two tomoe in the other—driving any perfectionist mad—and charged forward, kunai in hand, shouting at the top of his lungs:
"Thief! Someone's stealing genjutsu game scrolls over here!"
His loud cry shocked every patrolling shinobi nearby. Regardless of their clan, they rushed toward the commotion—this might be their one chance to capture the culprit and restore their honor!
As for the strange white figure—none other than Tobi wrapped around White Zetsu—he jolted with surprise, nearly dropping the scrolls.
Seeing a Uchiha brat rushing at him, Tobi muttered:
"Scared me, scared me! Tobi's really scared! What's a little Uchiha doing here? So weird, so weird! And he's got a three-tomoe and two-tomoe Sharingan?!
"Eh? Why three and two? That's weird, so weird! Asymmetry feels wrong!"
As he twisted oddly, the White Zetsu inside let out a dopey-sounding whimper:
"Discovered, discovered! We're in trouble! We're gonna get scolded!"
Two voices—one manic, one slow—made for an utterly bizarre scene.
Obito heard it all and was confused, but didn't stop. What shocked him more was what he saw with his Sharingan.
Under its gaze, the non-human nature of White Zetsu was clearly visible. Its inner structure was nothing like a person's. Obito's scalp tingled. What was this thing?
But he didn't have time to dwell on it—he had already charged up with kunai in hand and slashed at the creature without hesitation.
Tobi didn't dodge.
Just as the kunai was about to hit, a segment of Tobi's body opened up, revealing White Zetsu underneath.
Seeing this, Obito immediately felt something was wrong and tried to pull back—but it was too late.
His kunai—and his hand—sank into the strange substance of White Zetsu's body.
He was trapped.
Panic swept across Obito's face.
He'd sacrificed two teammates in-game to awaken these Sharingan—and now, his proud tools for flexing were utterly useless. He had instinctively used genjutsu, and his three-tomoe genjutsu *should* have worked against White Zetsu—but Tobi didn't respond at all.
Tobi, still enveloping White Zetsu, rendered Obito's Sharingan entirely ineffective.
Now holding Obito captive, Tobi stared curiously.
Interesting. This kid seemed amusing. Tobi didn't know why he felt that way—just that he did.
Also…
"My, my! A little Uchiha child, and his Sharingan is already this developed? How fun, how fun! Madara-sama has been looking for a successor, hasn't he? Then it's settled—you're the one! Come on, let's go!"
With that, Tobi opened up and engulfed Obito completely.
To an Uchiha and Hyūga who had just arrived at the scene, it looked like Obito had been swallowed by a monster. Their expressions twisted in horror.
"What the hell is that thing?!" one of them shouted.
Tobi didn't hesitate. Seeing others approach, he used Mayfly Technique and vanished underground—taking the genjutsu scrolls with him.
He had originally planned to seal the scrolls before escaping, but time was short. He'd do it later.
Tobi didn't care. He felt no fear, no urgency. After all, White Zetsu was hardly a creature capable of normal emotions.
The technique was bizarre—nothing like any known Earth Style jutsu. The Uchiha and Hyūga were stunned.
One Uchiha activated his Sharingan but saw nothing. A Hyūga branch family member spotted something moving underground at high speed and cried out, launching into pursuit.
Other patrols soon arrived. The Uchiha ninja quickly explained the situation, and a pursuit team was formed. Someone was also dispatched to report the abduction of Uchiha Obito—and the possible exposure of the genjutsu scroll thief.
And the news went straight to the Hokage.
If it were just theft, that would've been one thing. But the strange white creature didn't look human—and it had kidnapped the rising Uchiha star, Obito.
The combination of factors made this an extremely serious attack. The Hokage had to know.
Moments later, in his office, Hiruzen Sarutobi was happily reviewing last month's financial report. That ended instantly.
He shot to his feet and immediately ordered a full-scale pursuit and investigation. He also had the matter reported to Minato Namikaze.
After all, the kidnapped boy was Minato's student and subordinate. As their team leader, Minato had to be informed.
As a result, just as Uchiha Kei and his group were deep in a strategy session about Black Zetsu and White Zetsu, they received the news.
Obito had been kidnapped.
And because there were Uchiha and Hyūga witnesses, the abductor's features—a spiral body and spiral mask—were now known.
\[Minato: Kei-kun, was the one who kidnapped Obito that "White Zetsu" you mentioned?]
\[Kei: …Yes. Most likely it was White Zetsu—a special one named Tobi.]
Uchiha Kei was stunned. Then came silence, then a headache.
He hadn't expected Obito to encounter Tobi this early—much less be kidnapped outright.
The Third Great Ninja War hadn't even started yet! Kei's interventions had already caused so many butterfly effects, he thought Obito's fate might change completely.
But no—apparently their twisted bond was inevitable. And now, everything was happening years too soon. The whole plot had been rewritten.
Could it be that Madara Uchiha had already set his eyes on Obito? And when he learned Obito had awakened his Sharingan, he decided to act early?
Seriously?!
Was the Nine-Tails Incident truly destined to happen no matter what?
Was it Kei's butterfly effect, or was the world itself correcting the timeline?
Damn it! He transmigrated and still couldn't change the plot without a cheat. And even with one, the story still wouldn't budge?
Screw it!
Time to flip the table—he'd leak the fact that Madara Uchiha was still alive and gather a huge team to raid his lair.
Even if the old man could still "dance," Kei was going to make damn sure he'd never dance again—especially not after facing Kei's upgraded Great Intestinal Flavor Resonance Jutsu!