The moment Obito stepped through the portal, a huge change in scenery occurred and he found himself in a completely different space, but before he could even analyze it, he started falling from the sky at a very fast speed into a seemingly empty whole that nothing seemed to be able to fill it.

That hole was dark and desolate in nature, and felt endless as he couldn't see its end which brought an unknown sense of unease to his heart as he thought 'What kind of place is this?'

Obito kept falling into the empty abyss at a terrifying speed and decided to turn around to stare at the hole he just fell through, he noticed above the location where he previously was that a huge eerie dark sun was floating silently and rotating around itself, and it had a distinctive horizontal slit on it which somehow reminded Obito of a closed eye.

'What's that ominous darkness? Why does it feel familiar?' He couldn't help but put his hand over his chest where his heart should be and he felt that this sensation was quite familiar… It reminded him of the beast that he saw in the previous vision, although this one appeared much purer in its malice nature…

This was of course the dormant dark seed hiding in Bakorio's heart, to him it was something that darkness uses to spy on him, which is why it manifested as an eye in his heart realm… As for Obito, his dark seed was what fueled his hatred and led him down the wrong path and he ended up mobilizing it to try to gain strength which is why it manifested in the form of a beast…

Obito didn't know about the existence of the dark seeds, but if he did, he would have instantly recognized how much they resembled Madara's seal that he cast on him to control him…

But for now, he simply buried down his doubts and turned his attention to the bottom of the abyss where he finally noticed a difference…

There were light spots flying around in this abyss and they seemed completely out of place and the abyss seemed about to extinguish their light at any time.

'What are these?' Thought Obito before he narrowed his eyes and tried to analyze the light spots and found out that they appeared to be humanoids, although he couldn't see their faces but some of them, he was still able to recognize them from certain characteristics such as their hair like Kushina and Minato, although most of the rest appeared like complete strangers to him…

He noticed that all of these lights were trying to push a slightly bigger light spot out of the abyss, and after staring at it closely, his eyes widened in surprise when he found that it appeared to be Bakorio…

The light spots would take turns trying to drag him out of the abyss, but they seemed to be exhausting their light every time they try so they have to rest and recover. However, their efforts seemed meaningless and they were barely able to keep Bakorio floating and not fall further into the abyss…

"What's going on? If previously that was my own heart, is this supposed to be Bakorio's? what kind of situation is this?" muttered Obito, feeling his heart shaking at the thought of being trapped in such a place with no ability to struggle or leave at all…

Suddenly, a voice echoed from beside him startling him as Bakorio appeared and said "Do you understand?"

Obito turned quickly to Bakorio and asked "What's going on here? Where am I? is this the effect of your Mangekyo Sharingan?"

"That's correct, this place is called the heart realm and it shows you your true self when used" Replied Bakorio calmly... After his high Jikininki reached level 30, he gained this new ability that allowed him to see his own heart and it helped him greatly in understanding himself...

Obito frowned at him and asked "Why are you showing me all of this?" He couldn't help but shoot the trapped Bakorio a look and gulped slightly at the eeriness of this place… Meanwhile, Bakorio simply shook his head and replied with a distant look in his eyes "I just wanted to show you what despair looks like… For me, I can barely struggle to maintain my sanity thanks to my loved ones and strong will and I can do nothing to face this endless abyss, but for you… you could have always turned around and faced that monster…"

Obito's eyes widened slightly as he felt the desolate aura coming from Bakorio before he asked hesitantly "Haven't you seen how big that monster is?"

Hearing this, Bakorio smiled at Obito and said "Indeed, facing it alone is a huge burden, but you are not alone… You have Minato, Kushina, Kakashi, and … Rin"

Obito lowered his head when heard this and he didn't know what to say but Bakorio calmly put his hand over his shoulder and said "You can also rely on me, I would love to add another firefly to illuminate my life"

Obito stared at Bakorio's smiling face with a dazed look and he understood… after all he saw in this place, the man in front of him was in no position to help others, in fact, he couldn't even help himself… but he was trying, just in the hope to add another light spot to this endless abyss that no one even knew he was probably trapped in…

A tear found itself falling from his eyes and he instinctively raised his hand to touch his cheek only to realize that he was back in the real world and Bakorio's eyes were already back to normal…

"Bakorio-kun, did you do something to Obito-kun?" Asked Rin while standing protectively in front of Obito and Bakorio simply smiled at her and said "Oh, the moment your old friend arrives you forget your new friend huh?"

Rin shot him an embarrassed look and complained "It's not like that!"

"I'm just teasing you" Replied Bakorio with a grin which made Rin pout and brought a smile to everyone's faces except for Obito who kept staring at Bakorio silently while thinking 'Why? Why can he act like that despite everything he's going through?'

But then Obito suddenly noticed the look on everyone's eyes when they stared at Bakorio when as interacted with him… They clearly adored him each in their own way, which is surprising considering his true nature... Seeing this, Minato suddenly took him to the side and said to him once they were alone "Are you surprised?"

Obito nodded absentmindedly and he couldn't help but instinctively ask "Teacher, how could he act like that? I've seen his heart, that abyss was unforgiving and he could barely hold on inside of It, not to mention the huge black sun lying in wait for him at the exit…"

Minato's deep blue eyes flickered slightly while he watched Rin questioning Kisame and Black Zetsu about their weird appearances while Kushina and Bakorio were talking to Nagato and he felt delighted that Obito called him teacher although he didn't seem to realize it…

"How could he act like this huh… This is actually one of the reasons I decided to put my trust in him… I could see it, that empty look in his eyes since the moment I met him, but he never stopped struggling which earned my respect… His will is beyond your imagination and mine"

Obito nodded calmly before he said "I guess I failed you" But Minato stared deeply at Obito before he shook his head and said "No, it's not completely your fault… Some things are beyond our control"

Obito Noticed a terrible coldness in Minato's eyes that sent a chill down his spine… It was a look he only saw on his teacher's face when the latter saw Kushina's miserable state while he was extracting Kurama from her. But this time, it wasn't directed at him… but he noticed Minato glancing for just an instant at his heart and he was reminded of that huge beast that fed on his darkness…

'Does teacher know something I don't…' Wondered Obito while feeling that the world was suddenly starting to become much more complicated than it already is...