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After the main force of the Akatsuki had departed, Obito did not remain idle.
Whether his objectives aligned perfectly with the Akatsuki or not, and regardless of the fact that his relationship with Nagato and Konan was fundamentally a one-sided manipulation, one fact remained undeniable. The Allied Shinobi Forces were advancing to reinforce the Hidden Mist Village. This was a critical problem that had to be addressed immediately and could not be evaded. A single misstep, and the Akatsuki would be forced to confront the combined might of all Five Great Shinobi Nations without the power of the Ten-Tails at their disposal. Even with Zetsu's army of one hundred thousand White Zetsu clones, crushing the Allied Forces outright would still prove to be an exceedingly formidable challenge.
Therefore, at this current stage, his objective and the Akatsuki's objective remained perfectly aligned—locate the Six-Tails' chakra.
At the same time, he had to meticulously prepare for the worst-case scenario: that until the very final moment, the Six-Tails would still refuse to reveal itself. If matters truly escalated to that point, the situation would become genuinely and deeply problematic. He would have no choice but to devise an alternative strategy.
To Obito's knowledge, in recent years, there had been three shinobi with direct connections to the Six-Tails. The first was the current Six-Tails jinchuriki, Midorima. The second was Igawa Bu, the man who had once sought to become its jinchuriki. And the third was its former host, Utakata.
The sole remaining lead Obito could pursue was Utakata. He needed to locate his remains, resurrect him through the Impure World Reanimation, and ascertain whether there still existed any viable path to breaking the deadlock. The closer he drew to the endgame, the more cautiously he had to proceed. After all, no one could say with certainty who would have the last laugh.
Taking Kabuto with him, Obito descended the mountain. He was just about to make his way towards the Hidden Mist Village when a colossal surge of concussive force erupted from the direction of the coastline. Obito whipped his head around, staring in the direction of the blast. He saw the trees on the mountainside thrashing wildly. Even the massive boulders perched at the summit wobbled precariously before tumbling down the slopes.
"The Almighty Push?!"
Obito's brow furrowed sharply as he tracked the trajectory of the rocks cascading from the peak. Halfway down the mountain, vast swaths of trees were swaying violently, many of them snapping clean in half under the sheer force of the shockwave. This location was still a considerable distance from the shoreline. It was clear that the Deva Path of Pain had unleashed an Almighty Push of immense, wide-scale proportions in a desperate attempt to prevent the entire Allied Shinobi Forces from making landfall.
Given the Akatsuki's current roster of frontline combatants, confronting the Allied Forces head-on would place them under catastrophic pressure. The Deva Path had clearly anticipated this, which was precisely why he had decided to strike first and seize the initiative.
Once Obito had grasped Pain's tactical intent, he immediately shifted his gaze back towards the distant Hidden Mist Village. With the Allied Forces closing in by the moment, the window of time remaining to them was rapidly shrinking. The instant the Allied Forces successfully made landfall, the Akatsuki would be left with only two options: either conduct a temporary tactical withdrawal or engage the Allied Forces in a direct, full-scale confrontation. Neither of these options was optimal.
For Obito personally, the ideal outcome was undeniably a scenario of mutual annihilation between the two forces, leaving him perfectly positioned to secure both the Six-Tails' chakra and Nagato's Rinnegan for himself.
"Follow me. Do not allow the Mizukage or the others to detect us," Obito instructed, glancing back over his shoulder at Kabuto.
Kabuto offered no verbal response, merely nodding in silent compliance.
The two of them advanced swiftly, maneuvering carefully to bypass the raging battles at the front lines. They infiltrated the Hidden Mist Village from the rear and managed to capture a shinobi who was in the midst of organizing a civilian evacuation. After placing the man under a genjutsu, Obito compelled him to lead them directly to Utakata's burial site. The controlled shinobi excavated the grave, and Kabuto's eyes fell upon the coffin within moments. When they forcibly pried the lid open, a nauseating wave of putrid decay assaulted their senses. The corpse inside had decomposed beyond any recognizable semblance of its former self.
"From this point onward, the task is yours," Obito said, turning to Kabuto. The young man nodded, his expression utterly devoid of emotion, and immediately began the preparations for the Impure World Reanimation.
Obito watched Kabuto work with intense, unwavering focus and drew a long, slow breath. For the first time since Nohara Rin's death, he felt his heart clench with such acute, almost unbearable tension. He was now merely a single step away from complete success. As long as he could obtain even a trace of the Six-Tails' chakra, combined with the Seven-Tails and Nine-Tails jinchuriki already in his possession, he could fuse the Ten-Tails. From there, it would evolve into the Divine Tree, and the Infinite Tsukuyomi would finally be within his grasp. The quantity and quality of intelligence he could extract from Utakata were therefore of the most paramount, critical importance.
Moments later, Kabuto straightened up and turned to face Obito. Obito's gaze, however, was fixed on the captured Mist shinobi from earlier. By now, the man's physical appearance had completely, seamlessly transformed into that of Utakata. Even for Obito, who had witnessed this miracle-like jutsu performed multiple times before, seeing Utakata standing before him now sent a surge of exhilaration through his veins that eclipsed anything he had felt in the past.
"You are Utakata, correct?" Obito demanded.
"Who are you?" Utakata countered.
"You only need to answer a single question for me. Do you possess the Six-Tails' chakra within you?" Obito pressed.
"The Six-Tails?!" Upon hearing that name, Utakata's eyes flew wide open. He stared down at his own two hands, his voice thick with astonishment. "I... I think I died... In my final moments, Igawa forcibly extracted the Six-Tails from my body. I fought with every fiber of my being, trying to hold onto it, but... but..."
Utakata's breathing grew rapid and ragged. He clutched desperately at the fabric over his chest.
Obito glanced at Kabuto. "Calm him down."
Kabuto did not hesitate for an instant. He immediately asserted full control over Utakata's will.
"Tell me plainly. Is there any trace of the Six-Tails' chakra remaining within you?" Obito demanded once more.
"I... Am I dead, or am I alive?" Utakata asked in return.
Kabuto had not suppressed Utakata's consciousness entirely. He had merely seized absolute control over his physical body.
"You are dead. I had him use the Impure World Reanimation to bring you back," Obito stated.
"So, in that case, the Six-Tails is no longer sealed within me?" A cold, mirthless smile spread across Utakata's face. "If the Six-Tails is gone, how could I possibly still possess any of its chakra?"
"That is not necessarily true. Is it not possible that you had some form of contact with the Six-Tails, perhaps absorbing a measure of its chakra in the process? For instance, you mentioned just now that you attempted to seize hold of it, but... what exactly transpired?" Obito suddenly leaned in close to Utakata's face. "Something must have happened in that moment, didn't it?"
Utakata's expression stiffened. Then, his brow furrowed deeply, and a fiery flash of rage ignited within his eyes. "I didn't want the Six-Tails to leave me... I wanted to live! But he was torn away from me regardless... Do you have any idea what my final, desperate struggle was like?!"
"So, what did you do?!" Obito demanded urgently.
"Even still... I managed to grab hold of the Six-Tails. But Igawa Bu... he severed my hand." The corner of Utakata's lip curled upwards. "And then, I clenched my fist around the Six-Tails' tail, and I did not let go. Even though I have been resurrected, I carry no trace of the Six-Tails' chakra. You're disappointed, aren't you?"
The fist Obito had been clenching began to tremble with barely contained fury. Damn it all... he had been so agonizingly close to acquiring that chakra.
"Where is your severed hand?!" Obito seized Utakata by the collar, roaring into his face.
"How would I know?" The smile on Utakata's face only grew more pronounced. "I despise the Hidden Mist Village, but I loathe greedy bastards like you just as much."
"What could you possibly understand?!" Obito glared at Utakata with murderous rage, then abruptly released him. He rushed over to the open coffin. The corpse within had decomposed beyond salvage. There was not a single viable piece of flesh to be found, to say nothing of an intact hand. "You don't understand me at all. Everything I have done, I have not done for myself!" Obito gritted his teeth and turned his head away.
"Who, then, did you do it for?"
"For..." Obito's voice cut off abruptly. "I won't tell you. Kabuto, the tissue sample you used earlier to perform the reanimation—what was it precisely?"
"Mine?"
"Yes."
"The severed hand."
Obito whirled around in stunned disbelief, his eyes fixed intently on Kabuto. In that single instant, he felt his heart cease to beat entirely. "Are you telling me that the severed hand you used as the basis for the technique... contained the Six-Tails' chakra within it? Am I understanding you correctly?"
After Kabuto nodded in affirmation, the sheer, unbridled euphoria blazing within Obito's eyes could no longer be concealed. The fury that had been consuming him mere seconds before was swept away completely.
The Six-Tails' chakra... he had finally obtained it.