Near Amegakure, deep within the bowels of a certain cold, damp Base.
"Obito."
A creature resembling a pitcher plant spiraled up from the earth, addressing the masked man standing before him. "I have finally ascertained his identity."
"Who is he?" Obito asked, his voice rasping like dry sand.
For some time now, he had been straining to absorb the ninjutsu legacy left by Madara, all in preparation to crush Naruto. Regrettably, his progress was agonizingly slow.
In the end, nearly everything he possessed had been bestowed upon him by Madara, his potential was already capped. Unless he became the Ten-Tails Jinchuriki, the Obito of the Fourth Great Ninja War era was effectively his peak.
To ascend any further, he would need to reclaim the other Mangekyo from Kakashi.
After all, a double Kamui Obito would be a force to be reckoned with.
Black Zetsu spoke gravely. "An ancestor of the Uzumaki clan. One of Nagato's forebears."
In truth, even Black Zetsu was baffled by the inexplicable appearance of an ancient Uzumaki. In all his centuries of existence, while he knew the Uzumaki were long-lived, he had never heard of any such man roaming the earth.
Yet, only an ancestor of the Uzumaki clan could explain the current situation. A powerhouse of that caliber didn't just spring from a stone.
'It couldn't be Hagoromo, could it?'
'Eh?' Black Zetsu paused. 'Come to think of it, that might actually be possible.'
'But no, Hagoromo should be dead. But Madara faked his death and I haven't seen Hagoromo's body... No, it wouldn't make sense for Hagoromo to fake his death.' Black Zetsu felt a massive confusion regarding this matter.
Obito merely nodded, offering no further comment. Internally, however, he was cursing violently.
'Yeah like I would believe such bullshit! What the hell kind of Uzumaki ancestor is that? Clearly, it is the true inheritor of Uchiha Madara's will, Kashin Koji.'
'Do you take me for a fool? Zetsu has betrayed me. Or rather, he was never on my side to begin with. They are the true partners here.' The more he thought, the more Obito became convinced of 'Naruto's true identity.
'Rin, wait for me. I will create a world that contains only you. I promise.'
Black Zetsu glanced at Obito, silently cursing his partner in return.
'This Obito is truly useless. To become this despondent after a single defeat... why did Madara choose such a defective successor?'
According to Madara's plan, Obito was meant to utilize Nagato to capture the nine Tailed Beasts, then have Nagato revive Madara. Once resurrected, Madara would become the Ten-Tails Jinchuriki, unleash the Infinite Tsukuyomi, and bring about 'absolute peace'. Obito was nominally the heir, but in reality, he was nothing more than a tool for resurrection.
But now, the tool was malfunctioning.
Not only did he have no intention of reviving Madara, but he was also obsessed with executing the Eye of the Moon Plan himself. That would have been acceptable, after all, it mattered little who cast the jutsu, but the problem remained: this guy was incompetent.
He had inherited almost all of Madara's ninjutsu, Forbidden Techniques, and combat experience, yet he was easily thrashed by some unknown element and immediately wallowed in depression.
Black Zetsu felt incredibly tired. Obito was arguably the worst puppet he had ever managed.
'Madara was better. Easy to manipulate and overwhelmingly strong. His only flaw was his short lifespan.'
Of course, "short-lived" was a relative term for Black Zetsu. If it were Madara here, he likely would have already captured nine Tailed Beasts and ascended to become the Ten-Tails Jinchuriki by now.
'I have to find a way to summon Madara back.'
Two schemers stood in the gloom, each harboring their own sinister agendas. Only the main body, White Zetsu, remained blissfully clueless. Well... there was also the special White Zetsu variant nearby, 'Tobi', who was living in his own world, gotten lost in his thoughts.
"The only good news is that Itachi is dead," Obito said suddenly. "I thought he would be an asset, but he turned out to be a traitor."
Initially, Obito had allowed Itachi to join the Akatsuki hoping to gain a powerful ally. Instead, it backfired. Itachi never subscribed to the Eye of the Moon Plan and had effectively become its greatest obstacle.
In the anime, Obito didn't make his move until after Itachi had perished.
"Nagato has recruited a batch of new members," Black Zetsu noted. "There is a gathering tomorrow. Will you attend?"
"I won't go."
"Nagato has his own ideas. You should be careful."
"I just hope there are pawns we can utilize."
Even though he was certain Black Zetsu was conspiring against him, Obito had to pretend ignorance and play his part. It was suffocating.
It wasn't that Obito hadn't considered dropping his own petty schemes to summon Madara and jumpstart the Eye of the Moon Plan, but he couldn't bring himself to do it. A world consisting only of Rin had to be crafted by his own hands, he could not entrust it to anyone else.
--**--**
Akatsuki Organization Gathering Point.
In a pitch-black void, several multicolored silhouettes flickered into existence. The hollow echo of footsteps reverberated through the empty cavern.
"Hehehe... truly a rare sight."
One of the shadowy figures was hanging upside down from the cavern ceiling, laughing strangely while trying to sound profound. "The last time we were all together like this was seven years ago, back when Orochimaru defected, right? Hmm?"
He was striking the perfect pose of a minor villain boss.
"..."
The other figures took their respective places on the fingers of the Gedo Statue. Not a single one acknowledged him.
Except for one.
"Hey! You come down, let me go up!" A figure with slicked-back hair, a triple-bladed Scythe slung over his shoulder, pointed excitedly at the inverted silhouette. "That looks really cool!"
"Was the last gathering really when Orochimaru left?" the man with the scythe asked, scratching his head. "Why do I remember there being one before that..."
"That time the attendance wasn't full," the hanging figure interrupted quickly. "You weren't there when Orochimaru fled, so you don't know how grand the scene was. The lineup was legendary."
The inverted figure began to recount the "history" with spittle flying, spinning tales of fighting ten thousand of Orochimaru's troops for three days, and describing how Orochimaru unleashed the 'Justice from Heaven Jutsu', tearing the very sky asunder.
Thanks to his decent eloquence, the man with slicked-back hair listened with excitement, his expression one of pure fascination.
He licked the corner of his mouth, looking genuinely regretful. "Is that so? Damn, what a pity. If I'd been there, I definitely would have killed Orochimaru and offered him to Jashin-sama."
"Deidara, stop playing and get down."
The gravelly voice of a hunched figure cut through the nonsense. "You weren't there when Orochimaru left the organization either."
The puppet master continued dryly, "And Orochimaru doesn't know any strange ninjutsu called 'Justice from Heaven'."
"Deidara, you liar! You weren't there either?!" Realizing he had been played, Hidan pointed at Deidara and cursed loudly.
"Sasori-danna, don't expose me! Let me tease him a bit more." Deidara spat, then dropped from the ceiling to the floor. "Tsk... boring."
"I'm going to kill you!"
Hidan hefted his Scythe and charged at Deidara, only to have his collar snagged by a heavy hand, hauling him back.
"Only an idiot kid like you would believe him," Kakuzu grunted, holding the flailing Hidan in place.
Ever since returning from Konoha, after the Leader discovered Kakuzu had exchanged a bountied head for three million ryo, he had been saddled with this brat Hidan. The kid's strength was mediocre, but his mouth was huge. Relying on his immortality, Hidan caused trouble everywhere, and in the end, it was always Kakuzu who had to save his ass.
If not for the fact that he'd successfully cashed in Hidan's head a few times for money, Kakuzu would have long since tossed him into a animal den to rot.
"Hahaha, can't hit me, can't hit me!" Seeing Hidan restrained by Kakuzu, Deidara wiggled his hips happily. "Mad? Are you mad?"
"Deidara, you be quiet too." Finally, Sasori couldn't stand it anymore.
"If Konan sees you acting like this, be careful she doesn't tie you both up and hang you outside."
===============
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