Buzz—
A vortex opened within the White Zetsu base, and Uchiha Obito, who had fled from Konoha, appeared within it.
Seeing Obito's return, Zetsu—with his characteristic black and white face—stepped forward.
"So it seems you caused quite a commotion in Konoha."
With many White Zetsu clones stationed around the outskirts of the village, they had already picked up on the chaos within Konoha.
"I underestimated Uchiha Fugaku,"
Obito said darkly, his voice cold beneath the mask.
Ever since he had awakened the Mangekyō Sharingan, there were few people who could truly threaten him. The last time he had been on the losing end was during his battle with the Fourth Hokage.
"So you lost the upper hand?"
Zetsu's voice held a trace of surprise.
Fugaku was certainly strong—he had killed Uchiha Shisui, after all.
But Obito's dōjutsu was a near-invincible space-time ability. Zetsu hadn't expected him to actually suffer a loss.
Yet reality proved otherwise. Obito had indeed been bested by Fugaku.
"The opponent possesses an extremely powerful eye-based genjutsu,"
Obito said gravely.
"It allows any damage inflicted within the illusion to be transferred directly to the victim's real body."
"A genjutsu that transfers illusionary damage to the real body? That's extremely dangerous,"
Zetsu remarked.
If one died inside the illusion, they would die in real life as well. A genjutsu of that caliber was unquestionably lethal.
"And the illusion itself is so powerful that even I, with the Mangekyō Sharingan, couldn't escape it,"
Obito added with a serious tone.
"You couldn't break free even with the Mangekyō Sharingan?"
Zetsu was visibly shocked.
The Mangekyō was known for both casting and dispelling genjutsu. For Obito, a Mangekyō user, to be unable to escape suggested an overwhelming level of power.
"How did you escape then? Did you use Izanagi?"
"Yes. To be exact, I died within the illusion—and my left eye automatically activated Izanagi."
Obito removed his spiral mask, revealing his left eye, now completely white—blinded after using the forbidden technique.
"That's impossible. How could someone kill you—with your intangibility?"
Zetsu asked in disbelief.
"Inside that genjutsu, the opponent could unleash forbidden techniques without restraint.
I was hit continuously for five minutes. Eventually, my intangibility ended, and I was killed."
Obito's voice was cold as still water.
"After that, he cast the illusion on me again. But with Izanagi's power of resurrection, I was able to break free and escape."
"For even your Mangekyō to fail against his illusion… something's not right,"
Zetsu frowned, suddenly suspicious.
"Could his eyes be the Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan?"
"No, his eyes showed only a single-layer pattern—not the Eternal Mangekyō,"
Obito shook his head.
"However, it's very likely he possesses the Wood Release Kekkei Genkai, and like me, he may also be immune to blindness."
"Never losing sight, and possessing a genjutsu that even you can't escape… this Uchiha Fugaku is extremely dangerous,"
Zetsu said solemnly.
"He's dangerously strong. Once caught in his genjutsu, even a Kage-level shinobi would find it hard to break free,"
Obito added with a deep frown.
"Within the Akatsuki, the only one who might stand a chance at resisting it is Nagato—with the Rinnegan."
Nagato's eyes, the Rinnegan, were even more powerful than the Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan in essence.
While not originally his, and thus not fully mastered, even using a fraction of their power might allow him to escape that genjutsu.
"Warn the other Akatsuki members: if they encounter Uchiha Fugaku, abandon the mission and retreat immediately."
"I'll spread the word… though I doubt anyone will listen,"
Zetsu said with a helpless shrug.
If Obito couldn't defeat him, other Akatsuki members would be at serious risk.
Retreating on sight was the smartest choice.
But Akatsuki members were all proud, rogue shinobi—overconfident in their own strength. Not all would obey.
"If they don't listen and die, they have no one to blame but themselves,"
Obito said coldly.
To him, every Akatsuki member was just a pawn to fulfill his goals. He cared little for their lives.
"That would be troublesome for me. I spent a long time finding those people,"
Zetsu muttered.
"With Akatsuki's current manpower, collecting the Tailed Beasts will be difficult. We need more recruits. Any targets in mind?"
Obito asked.
"There are two candidates. One is a shinobi named Shinno. The other is a Konoha rogue ninja named Hiruko,"
Zetsu's white half replied.
"How strong are they?"
Obito asked.
"Shinno's strength is hard to gauge, but he's at least near-Kage level—at the very least, a pseudo-Kage.
As for Hiruko, he's definitely at Kage level. In fact, he may be even stronger than most standard Kage,"
Zetsu reported.
"Impressive. If we can recruit both, Akatsuki's overall power will grow significantly,"
Obito nodded, then added:
"I'll need to stay stationed in Kirigakure. I'll leave supervision of the Akatsuki to you."
Buzz—
A pitch-black vortex appeared, and Obito disappeared into it without a trace.
After he left, Zetsu's black half murmured to himself:
"So Uchiha Fugaku really turned out to be such a threat…
But no one—no matter who they are—will stop the final plan."
---
Meanwhile, all of Konoha was abuzz with the news that Uchiha Fugaku had defeated the Wood Release Kekkei Genkai shinobi.
At that moment, a team of three ANBU returned to the village.
Leading them was a short figure wearing a cat-faced mask—his small frame resembling that of a young boy.
And indeed, it was so.
The boy was just over ten years old—Uchiha Itachi, returning from a completed mission.
"My father… has the Mangekyō Sharingan…
And he drove off the Wood Release shinobi…"
On his way to the Hokage's office, Uchiha Itachi overheard this news more than once.
Shock overwhelmed his heart.
His father was that powerful?
Not only did he possess the Mangekyō Sharingan, but he also managed to repel the very enemy that had been such a massive threat to Konoha?