Episode 4 — Obito and Amaterasu

First discrepancy — Itachi’s plan endangers Sasuke

Our first discrepancy is, we are told that Itachi wanted to kill Obito in order to protect Sasuke. The problem is, killing Obito at this juncture would actually endanger Sasuke.

Obito is dangerous as a long-term antagonist, but for the moment, he wants to take Sasuke as his apprentice. In other words, Obito is the only Akatsuki leader who wants Sasuke alive. If you remove Obito from the picture, then Sasuke will be left wounded and exhausted in an Akatsuki hideout, and as far as Itachi knows, neither Nagato nor Zetsu need Sasuke alive. If Obito dies in this scene, then Sasuke is likely to get killed shortly after. If your goal is to protect Sasuke, then killing Obito is a terrible move.

A much better move for Itachi would be to let Obito take Sasuke under his wing, protect him, train him, teach him how to use the Mangekyō Sharingan, and then trust Naruto to bring Sasuke back to Konoha. In fact, this is exactly what Itachi did: anticipating that Obito would want Sasuke to get the Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan, he gave Naruto his Kotoamatsukami crow in order to bring Sasuke back. Killing Obito too early doesn’t fit into this plan.

Itachi is supposed to be a smart character. Therefore, the surface story, which asks us to believe Itachi is trying to protect Sasuke by removing Sasuke’s immediate guardian, is a discrepancy.

Obito healed Sasuke. (Chapter 396.)

Obito will keep protecting Sasuke long after the Amaterasu scene. (Here in chapter 466, against Ōnoki’s Jinton.)

Second discrepancy — Obito’s face reveal makes no sense

In order to get Sasuke to join him, Obito wants him to believe that he is the legendary Uchiha Madara. For that purpose, Obito starts taking off his mask, in order to show Sasuke his face, before getting interrupted by Amaterasu.

The obvious discrepancy is, Obito doesn’t look like Madara at all. By showing his non-Madara face, he would only prove that he is an impostor. Sasuke may not have met Madara personally, but he did see his statue at the “Valley of the End”. He would be able to tell that Obito doesn’t resemble the statue.

So Obito’s move, on the surface, doesn’t make sense… Unless we correlate our discrepancies to a goal. Can you see the hidden plot?

Obito about to show his non-Madara face, chapter 396.

The perfect interruption

Our discrepancies align with Obito’s goal in this scene: getting Sasuke to join him. First, let us have a look at Amaterasu’s timing.

Obito wants Sasuke to believe he is Madara. Now, the problem for Obito is, if he keeps the mask on, Sasuke has no reason to believe the claim. But if Obito removes the mask, the outcome is even worse, as Sasuke will see a face that is definitely not Madara’s.

So, how can Obito convince Sasuke?

Amaterasu solves Obito’s dilemma. Obito can begin to remove his mask, as if he genuinely intended to show his face, knowing that the reveal will be interrupted by Amaterasu. He gets credibility without paying the cost of actually showing his face.

After Amaterasu, from Sasuke’s perspective, there is little reason to doubt that the face he was about to see truly was Madara’s.

Amaterasu conveniently interrupting the reveal, chapter 397.

Praising Itachi and Obito himself

Obito wants Sasuke to join him and turn against Konoha in order to avenge Itachi. To that end, Obito needs Itachi to appear as heroic as possible. Once again, Amaterasu accomplishes exactly that: even from beyond the grave, Itachi is still protecting Sasuke. Isn’t he a formidable big brother?

At the same time, Obito gets to prove his own strength. Sasuke wouldn’t join a nobody’s cause: Obito must prove that he truly is powerful, as the immortal Madara he claims to be. Amaterasu gives him the perfect opportunity: he is hit point-blank, but escapes unscathed.

So, Itachi is a formidable brother, but “Madara” is even stronger. That’s exactly the conclusion Obito wants Sasuke to reach.

Hyping Obito’s own abilities, chapter 697.

Praising Itachi. (Chapter 397.)

Conclusion

With that, we have unlocked our hidden plot. Itachi never set up this Amaterasu: the one who set it up was Obito himself, as part of his plan to recruit Sasuke.

Amaterasu made no sense in Itachi’s plan, but it fits Obito’s perfectly. It allowed him to protect his false Madara identity, praise Itachi, and look powerful enough to survive Itachi’s final trap. After this staged incident, Sasuke is ready to listen. The failed assassination works perfectly as a recruitment device.

How Obito did it exactly is not known, as it is a hidden plot. But considering that he had access to the unconscious Sasuke, to Itachi’s body and eyes, and is an expert Mangekyō Sharingan user himself, him being able to do it is believable enough.

Please also note Obito’s thoughts in chapter 397, as he seems to think Itachi almost killed him. As we saw in the tutorial, within a hidden plot, characters lie in their thoughts too.

Our first quest is complete: Obito set up this Amaterasu. Our next quest will focus on Nagato.

Chapter 397: Obito lying in his thoughts.