Modern AU Obito has a special interest in philosophy and got a little too invested in Rousseau. He'll idly comment that "man is born free, but everywhere is in chains," over breakfast.
He faked his death when he was twelve and hasn't stopped lying since. He stalks his old group-project member, up to and including watching him sleep. He looked at him a little too long once, had a bi crisis, and tried to light himself on fire.
He started the tide pod challenge. Every comment he leaves on social media starts with "erm actually...." He seasons his food with silica gel. There is a warrant out for his arrest in 7 countries, and he's working on the eighth. He lived like Diogenes for a month and saw a marked improvement in quality of life.
He almost gets arrested for shoplifting but he gets away fine after killing all the cops. He borrows money and gaslights the person he borrowed it from while using it all at a gumball machine. He was arrested for the cop-murder and refused when offered a lawyer. He represented himself in court and got off with a clean record and a head pat.
The world will end the day he reads Leviathan. He has no sense of boundaries and will grab others at any given time and just start talking. All his friends hate him.
Have I already mentioned I love the Japanese fandom for all the wonderful comic strips and doujinshi? Oh, do I love it! They inspire me so much to create mine.
I haven't rec'd anything in a while because tumblr shadowbanned me for posting too many links last time xD But this one! Oh!
It's common knowledge in the fandom that the word KAKASHI means 'scarecrow', but what about OBITO? Ooooh, it has a meaning too ;)
But it's such a rare, outdated word that even (some) Japanese are shocked at the revelation--judging by the comments on Pixiv to this bittersweet and touching comic:
✏ "The name he threw away" by さあり.
Obito's parents discuss their soon-to-be-born son's name.
I was not surprised by the meaning only bc it had been the first thing I looked up in the dictionary when I'd learned about the development of this character after 12 years of being out of the fandom :D
Author's comment: "The man who spent most of his life under the aliases Tobi and Madara."
Translation:
Obito's Dad: Have you decided on a name?
Obito's Mom: Yes. I've searched books and thought about this a lot.
Dad: We're expecting a boy, so his name must be intimidating to his enemies and very powerful.
Mom: Powerful, yes. But I would like his name to be endowed with more than that… The name is very important. It is a gift given by parents to their child, the gift that stays with the child for life. If we disappear from his life someday, he will never forget our love because his name will still contain the intentions and thoughts we put into it.
(Book: Character Meanings)
Mom: Bringing people together and guiding them, leading the way for them… I want him to be such a leader.
Dad: Leader? You mean you want him to become Hokage?
Mom: He-he! He's your son after all. I wouldn't be surprised if he declares that one day!
Dad: Actually, I haven't given up on the idea myself yet!
Mom: My lovely child… Carry this name proudly, never forget it! And if you ever get lost on your way, reach out to it. In it is your essence.
(Book -- 首 SHU/kubi; kashira, osa; obito "a person who leads" (tousotsu suru mono)).
Mom: Obito.
_____
In the manga Obito's name is written with a syllabic alphabet, but the word may be written with a character too.
首 'obito' - a hereditary title (kabane) in Yamato-period Japan (250–710 CE). Obito means 'leader, commander', also something like 'the man in charge' (e.g. an obito could be the head of a 'bemin' family (a small clan subservient to a more noble clan in Yamato), or the man in charge of some duty, or a professional).
The word seems to have originated from the word combination "oo hito" (lit. 'big [authoritative] person'), but it was never written with these two charactes. In fact obito is one of the readings of the character 首 SHU/kashira/kubi 'head, neck', which hints to the meaning (just like in English the word head also means 'chief').
And the author of this comic saw great irony here. 'Leader' who renounced his own name along with the feelings his parents put into it 💔
I loved it.
I've seen several people believing that Obito is fodder (some go as far as to say Chunin level) without Kamui, his infamously broken technique. Through that Quora answer, allow me to free them from such delusions :
Idris "E.N.K.O.O.M." Amadi's answer: He's still a monster, though it depends on the version.
Each version of the Uchiha has variable depend
This answer isn't here to convince you to like Obito if you aren't fond of him, but rather to remind people of how truly versatile he is as a fighter and how he easily remains in the Kage-level bracket even without Kamui.
Keep in mind, I'm not denying that Kamui is a vital part of Obito's moveset, but he's still an utter monster in combat even without it.
Rin is a key element of Obito's motives for becoming evil, but isn't the only element
Months ago, I wrote a Quora answer dealing with the infamous debate in the Naruto fandom : Did Obito Uchiha start the war over his late best friend and crush Rin Nohara or not?
That question helped me realize how both some Obito fans and detractors had either a lack of understanding about Obito's character or only a partial one.
I believe that Obito isn't the hero some of his most hardcore defenders believe he is, nor the incel his detractors reduce him to, but a more complex character that deserves more nuanced analyses.
While you could draw parallels between almost every major Uchiha (Obito & Sasuke, Madara & Sasuke, Obito & Madara, Sasuke & Itachi, Madara & Itachi), the ideas of Itachi and Obito's characters having similarities tends to be rather foreign in the fandom.
Allow me to bring this up to the table through that Quora answer :
Idris "E.N.K.O.O.M." Amadi's answer: Itachi's path in Itachi Shinden and the parallels with Obito's.
Remember when Itachi said the followin
Easy. He's got all of the goodness and messy charm of baby Obito but enough horrific trauma to give him one hell of a dark reality check. Not enough to set him off on a destructive path of insanity though. At least not yet...
The thing with Jounin Obito is that he's still a pretty blank slate. It's a big rewind and this AU timeline starts when he's still a teen, essentially building a completely new Obito.
Depending on the AU, Rin may or may not be alive and whatever happened to her will have a huge impact, even though it doesn't become a literal world ending scenario. There are so many things to consider when shaping a Jounin Obito AU. Like...
How did the village react to his return and how did Obito react to that reaction? Was he influenced or marked by Madara in a way that will taint his life forever or did he manage to get away clean? Does he still want to become Hokage and what kind of leader would he become if he succeeded? What's important to him now?
How does he cope with the aftermath of getting crushed by a giant boulder? Does he live with chronic pain or with other disabilities that he needs to deal with? Does he mourn the loss of his old self or has it given him some sort of new motivation? Is he frustrated? Does he live with flashbacks? With fear? Does he feel powerless or perhaps horrifyingly powerful? Is he angry? Is he really, really angry? How does this manifest outwardly? Does he pick up obvious destructive habits or does he attempt to deflect it all by playing silly happy clown Tobito? Or is he fine? Just fine and good and well adjusted Konoha shinobi Uchiha Obito.
Things have changed since Obito "died" and he changed too. Do people around him expect him to be the same loud and happy kid as he used to be and does that expectation weigh on him at all? Does he pretend in order to make others happy or does he demand to be accepted as a new Obito, whoever that Obito may be? Does the new Obito do the super serious monologuing thing at inappropriate moments around the village without even realizing?
What would it take for him to fall into darkness? The kind that would make him capable of the kind of monstrous violence that canon Obito was capable of? Because he's the same Obito at the core. He's built from the same parts and could always end up in the exact same place again. Jounin Obito is a lot like his loving and lovable, idealistic and essentially good and pure childhood self, but he isn't immune against being hurt and lashing out again. He isn't a villain but he isn't safe.
Most importantly though: Does Jounin Obito get to do awesome combination attacks with Kakashi and finally enjoy the true awakening of their combined sharingan powers??
Yes he does! Finally! And that's all that matters really <3
(if it seems like this is all a bunch of questions for you to fill in yourself as you start writing your own jounin obito AU fic then that's because it is. please, everyone, create more jounin obito works for me to enjoy ^_^)
idea that has been gnawing at me: on October 10th, Obito showed up in front of his old sensei, wearing a mask with a single right eyehole, and introduced himself as a presumed KIA Uchiha ("Madara"). Do you think that he expected on some level for Minato to figure his true identity out?
Do you think he was disappointed on some level when Minato didn't?
WELL... This has been gnawing on me too. The whole kyuubi attack and all of its components really. It's one of those major story events I'm super conflicted about, because it feels like so much of it is written to uphold the Madara mystery for the readers, rather than to reflect what the characters would realistically do, say or think in that situation. What I'm saying is that I think Kishimoto wrote his own characters out-of-character on purpose and I really wish he hadn't because it makes character analysis nearly impossible without trying to ignore chunks of important dialogue or wrangle it into a shape that maybe sort of makes sense if you squint really hard.
Not all of the writing is like that though and this confrontation is super interesting to speculate about regardless of the author's original intentions.
Obito was still in his early/mid teens (I'll say 15) when he attacked Konoha. This was very early in his career as Madara junior. Exactly why Madara would want to extract kyuubi and destroy Konoha at this point in time isn't very clear and Obito's personal reasons and thoughts about it are barely represented at all. The one thing that stands out is the anger and resentment he seems to have against Minato for not being there when he was needed to help save Rin (he talks about this later as an adult but we'll get there)
There is a sort of comedic, over-the-top evil to holding a newborn baby at knifepoint, putting bombs on it and then flinging it into the air like a beach ball. I don't know if Madara would have chosen this method. He's evil enough but it almost seems sort of childishly evil? It's a method to separate Minato from Kushina but to me it almost seems like a very personal test as well. 'You were too late to save the other children who depended on you. Will you be in time for this one?'
It is comically evil but doesn't that feel perfectly in line with a traumatized teenager who must have felt so fucking abandoned and who's got a flair for the dramatic and tries to cope with at least twenty different volatile personality disorders by reaffirming to himself that reality is a cruel and unfair place where some get saved and some don't?
He's not surprised when Minato manages to save his baby in time. I don't think Obito had a single doubt that he would and I think this was just one of many instances where he sets up scenarios that serve to prove to himself that his path is justified. In a totally insane way obviously but like, he is insane here. This is what we're working with.
I'll skip trying to analyze the Kushina part because I honestly can't make it make sense unless he's completely shut himself off and got replaced by the actual spirit of Madara. For no clearly defined tactical reason, this 15-y/o is cruelly killing a woman who according to heartbreaking extra material loved him so, so much and he's screaming: "The nine-tails seal has weakened due to childbirth! Do you know how long I've been waiting for this?!" Like... I don't know Obito. nine months? At most? I guess that's a long time for a 15-y/o. Is he just roleplaying here where no one is around? Or is the writing just that bad?
Moving on! We're getting to your actual question now, sorry for the long intro.
So: Obito shows up in front of his old sensei, wearing a mask with a single right eyehole and introduces himself as Uchiha Madara.
Except that he never introduces himself at all! Minato just assumes.
And as soon as Minato mentions the name Madara, Obito pulls his hood down.
Now this is where I get super excited about character design used as storytelling because HIS HAIR IS CUT SHORT!
I don't care if Kishimoto did it intentionally or not but if you look at Obito's haircut timeline you'll notice that he has long hair both before and after this, and that he doesn't seem to cut it short again until he takes on his Tobi persona. If he really wanted to impersonate Madara here it would have been smarter to keep his hair long. It wasn't that long ago since Madara was walking around, being a super infamous founder of Konoha. There must have been pictures of him and even first hand accounts from currently living people, of what Madara looked like, and if his enormous hair wasn't mentioned in any of those descriptions then there is no hope for this stupid, stupid world.
Anyway, Obito is also being very ambiguous regarding Madara being alive, even though he's previously introduced himself by that name with no hesitation. So Obito shows up before his sensei with a fresh haircut, same one as when he was a kid and he never actually says who he is.
So, did Obito want Minato to recognize him?
I think this is one of those clear Obito contradictions where the answer is yes and no and maybe both at the same time but also that it didn't matter to him at all. I think settling for just one of those options as the true one would be to reduce the huge, hurting mess of Obito's mind into something too simple.
I think he wanted to be recognized because no matter what he tells himself, he's still Obito. Being seen and acknowledged by someone who mattered that much to him would mean more than he probably realizes himself. Being recognized would hurt though, because it would break down some crucial walls he's put up. Even though there was probably a small part of his childhood self left he wouldn't have allowed that child to breathe in this situation. Minato wouldn't be able to talk him to that point either. Obito would probably have used a scenario where he was recognized, to hurt Minato even more. He does exactly that when they meet during the war. He does the same thing to Minato as he does against Kakashi: predicting exactly where the guilt is and then driving that pain in further.
And of course he means every word of what he's saying, it's just that I think that the hurt he manages to inflict is the justification he needs for saying it. He's not expecting or hoping to make himself feel better by telling his truth. It's not a therapy session to him. It's deliberate emotional torture to bring people down with him.
But. The thing is. He doesn't realize that talking about things is good actually so he accidentally opens himself up to remember and feel things he's been trying to shut out all his life. Accidental emotional progress!
This is a tangent. I'M OFF TRACK! Where was I?
Did Obito want to be discovered and was he disappointed:
I think that a big part of him didn't want to be discovered and the obvious reason would be that it could ruin his plans and cause all kinds of problems for him. A more subconscious reason might be that he wanted to confirm to himself that Minato was as useless and uncaring as expected. The pain in the statement "You were my teacher and you didn't even recognize me" is so deep and horrible but I think getting that pain affirmed is likely to have given teenage Obito the same kind of sickening sense of satisfaction and control as self harm can provide. He knew he was putting himself up to be hurt like that and it turned out exactly as he thought. He left a tiny opening where Minato could maybe have recognized him but he was never meant to actually do that. Obito controls the situation in a way that lets him hold on to and trust his own painful world view. 'I'm nobody, I'm forgotten, he doesn't care about me and he never did and I was right. What I'm doing is right.'
We see time and time again that Obito finds literal superpowers and physical strength in this pain. He's stuck in a powerful and insanely destructive reward system that would be pretty much impossible for him to break himself out of. Why would he even want to? So he'll re-traumatize himself again and again until he's so "in control" of everything that he won't have to feel anything anymore.
