Is Spiral Zetsu Tobi?


This is something that's been bothering me for some time. Back when we get
into the flashbacks for Tobi's backstory and how he ended up becoming the
masked man, a special Zetsu with a spiral face is introduced, and his face
looks pretty much identical to the mask Tobi wears. Additionally, his voice
and mannerisms are very similar to what Tobi uses when he's being goofy and
doing obfuscating stupidity stuff. Spiral Zetsu (not sure if that's an actual
name people use for him, but that's what I'm going to call him) actually ends
up attaching himself to Tobi, further blurring the line between the two
characters.

This leads me to the question: is the introduction of this character supposed
to be an explanation for why Tobi was acting so goofy when he was first
introduced? Was it, in fact, Spiral Zetsu talking? I really hate this
implication, because as a ninja, obfuscating stupidity should be no problem
for Tobi to pull off, and this seems to be trying to take his acting skills
away from him, just because, "There's no way such a serious character could
act that way, and it lessens his character, so we need an explanation that
puts the blame elsewhere." Or something like that. But that seems to indeed be
where it's going, because evidently Spiral Zetsu is named Tobi in the
databook, according to the Fandom Wiki:
<https://naruto.fandom.com/wiki/Tobi_(Zetsu)>

Am I wrong here? Or is Spiral Zetsu really supposed to be Tobi? Is this the
intention of the author?




Yes. But he was Tobi way before meeting Obito. Zetsu's story is quite complex,
but trying to keep it simple, Tobi is a body retrieved from the demonic
statue, that was previously absorbed into it when Kaguya first used the
Infinite Tsukuyomi. Madara put Hashirama's cells into the statue, and he
believed he was cloning Black Zetsu with it, but they're just the victims of
Kaguya. One of these bodies was Tobi.

PS: Technically, Tobi is a White Zetsu, because that's the origin of every
White Zetsu. He is the only one with a "special" name (Guruguru, or Spiral)
because he is noticed by Obito, who gives him this name.

