Obito Uchiha (Japanese: うちは オビト, Hepburn: Uchiha Obito), also known by his alias Tobi (トビ), is a character in Masashi Kishimoto's manga Naruto. He is first introduced in a "Kakashi Chronicle" side story as a young ninja who sacrifices himself to save his friends (Kakashi Hatake and Rin Nohara, led by Minato Namikaze) from an adversary group of ninjas. Although he was believed to have died in the 3rd Great Ninja War, Obito is later revealed as the real leader of the terrorist organization known as the Akatsuki, mainly acting behind the scenes for a majority of the group's tenure. He uses the alias of his benefactor, Madara Uchiha, and conceals his true identity with masks as one of the main antagonists of the series' second half. Obito and his varied personas have appeared in Naruto video games and animated adaptations.
Kishimoto created Obito early in the series to explore his relationship with Kakashi and explain how his friend possessed the eye technique of Sharingan (写輪眼, lit. "Copy Wheel Eye", English manga: "Mirror Wheel Eye"), unique to the Uchiha clan. Since Obito kept his identity secret, Kishimoto teased fans to anticipate the true identity of Tobi (most notably when the actual Madara Uchiha was revealed, which shocked fans and his voice actor). Critical reception of Obito's character has been positive for his portrayal as a child soldier in Kakashi's backstory and his fight scenes as an adult. However, his role as an antagonist garnered a polarizing response from fans, particularly due to his perceived lack of motivation for his actions, which he is criticized for.
