[Hiking_Bear]

Originally Posted by itachi-san314

then you must have a problem with old madara telling obito that he was in-between worlds when in fact he wasn't. and you must also have a problem with old madara describing his current life and surroundings as hell, when it isn't. you can't accept a metaphor from a character and then completely renounce another one from that same character, especially when both pertain to the same thing: a lack of life. do you see the similarity?

Your point only works against you, because when that chapter came out, I did indeed question whether Obito was between two worlds (Limbo for example). When the next chapter came out and Madara was depicted with a scythe (similar to the Grim Reaper) and Obito joked about it, it was clear that Kishi was being figurative. I don't have any problem with the existence of figurative language. But that doesn't mean that everything said in the manga (particularly important plot points) can be passed off as a metaphor.

In Chapter 560 Madara says that he "awakened these eyes shortly before [his] death". In what way is this clearly a metaphor? The context (unlike in the above example) does not support this interpretation.

also, you are very quick to sweep certain things under the rug as red herrings without a second thought, but in some cases it just isn't acceptable to you for some reason.

If I thought that the Tobi=two people theory were a viable theory, then hairstyle would matter. But, since Kisame recognized both long and short-haired Tobi as the same person, the theory was effectively dead in the water. So, that means Tobi was just a singular person who changed his hairstyle over time. But that's a non-issue. He changes his clothes and his mask as well. Other characters change their clothes and their hair. The question is not 'why don't I consider Tobi's hair to be a problem?'. The question is, 'why should I?'

madara's one line about the time of his death will most likely end up being a red herring to throw readers off in relation to the timeline

Throw readers off in relation to the timeline?? I'm not familiar with that. Is that a thing that writers do?