"Don't pin such baseless charges on me. I am not Danzō, and I don't buy your line," Utatane Koharu shot back without hesitation, speaking in a cold voice.
"If Root truly meant to kill Mitarashi Anko, do you think she'd still be alive now? Every one of my subordinates has held back; not one of them harbors killing intent."
"As for why we moved on her, it's entirely because Mitarashi Anko, a Special Jōnin of Konoha, has utterly failed to shoulder the responsibility and duty of a Special Jōnin."
"She clearly knows information concerning the rogue ninja Orochimaru, yet does not disclose it to the village. If I don't take her down, how am I to know whether she still harbors loyalty to Orochimaru?"
Utatane Koharu paused, then continued: "What if she is a contingency Orochimaru left in Konoha? If, by then, she becomes a rogue of Konoha and brings grave harm to the village, who will answer for it?"
Just as Utatane Koharu thought she had bluffed the brat before her—
She didn't expect the other side to answer without hesitation.
"I'll take responsibility!"
Izumi's face was taut; at some point the three-tomoe Sharingan in her eyes had opened, and she stared straight into Utatane Koharu's eyes.
"Mitarashi Anko is absolutely not a plant left in Konoha by Orochimaru. This is something already confirmed by Keizumi-senpai!"
"And another thing…"
Izumi's scarlet eyes narrowed slightly. "All of this is just your one-sided story. I believe you're hiding something."
"Huff…" The lightly panting Mitarashi Anko suddenly offered a brief explanation: "She tried to have Root shinobi take me down and use genjutsu to interrogate me. But since Keizumi is unwilling to disclose the intel to the village, there is no way I'll let Root have its way—so we fought."
The palm Izumi had resting on her ninja blade's hilt involuntarily tightened a fraction.
It seemed the village side was also paying great attention to Orochimaru.
But they might not be aiming to kill Orochimaru! After all, if they wanted him dead, they could just stand by and watch, because Keizumi-senpai would definitely make a move on Orochimaru.
Perhaps they believed Orochimaru had other uses; after all, so long as something was deemed beneficial to the village in their eyes, any dangerous person could be used.
No matter what evil deeds those dangerous people had done, they could still be forgiven.
'Perhaps… this is also one of the reasons Keizumi-senpai has never been fond of the village leadership.'
Such a thought flashed through Izumi's mind.
Just then.
A figure suddenly flickered into view. The other party likewise wore shinobi garb and likewise a mask.
But he was not a Root shinobi—he was an Anbu of the Hokage's direct forces!
The Anbu spoke softly to Utatane Koharu: "Advisor Koharu, the Hokage asks that you not let this conflict get too big."
Utatane Koharu's brows knit tight.
What did that mean?
…
Land of Rain.
At this moment, Obito truly was a bit drenched in sweat. The palms hidden inside his sleeves were beaded with cold sweat, and he, without leaving any trace, rubbed the sweat slightly within the sleeve.
The single eye exposed by the mask was filled with a calm, rippleless look, but beneath the mask his face had already changed in fright, to the point that the muscles were twitching out of his control.
—Uchiha Obito! This woman actually said that name! How did she know that name? What was her purpose in speaking that name to my face?
—Does she already know the secret I'm hiding? Does she already know that "Uchiha Madara" is not Uchiha Madara?
—Is she warning me? Is she threatening me?
One unbelievable thought after another flashed through Obito's mind.
In his heart, one baffled roar after another rose up.
The reason Obito had run all the way to the Land of Fire to try to kill Biwa Jūzō was precisely to stop Konan from learning the secret he was hiding.
And although he had failed to kill Biwa Jūzō this time, it should have been enough to make the other party not dare to return to the Akatsuki, right?
In that case…
How did the woman before him know the name Uchiha Obito?
"Uchiha Obito…" Obito forced his tone to be especially calm. From beginning to end, he pinched out a hoarse voice, his single eye looking straight at Konan, and said, "He does indeed leave the old me with some impression—a junior of the Uchiha with comparatively notable talent; the old me paid attention to him for a time."
"Unfortunately, he was a youngster toyed with by fate. During the Third Shinobi World War, he already died. Yet you speak that Uchiha junior's name to my face."
Obito's eye narrowed. He paused, then added, "Heh, someone must be borrowing his identity to deceive you. To dare fool even the Akatsuki—it seems the other party has a bit of nerve."
Uchiha Keizumi didn't feed me false intel? — This was the doubt that suddenly emerged in Konan's mind.
Because she found that the "Uchiha Madara" before her was actually so confident, so unafraid.
Or was it…
That the other side really was Uchiha Obito, only pretending to be ignorant, unwilling to admit the truth that had been pulled open!
Just then…
Nagato, who had not spoken all along, opened his mouth. His voice lacked some strength—clearly his physical condition was not good: "Perhaps we need to speed up recruiting qualified newcomers and the pace of making money, because Uchiha Keizumi's existence makes the future full of uncertainty. If we keep dragging this out, accidents may happen."
Nagato shifted the topic, not letting Konan get tangled up on this point, and certainly not letting her keep pressing relentlessly.
Konan's brows knit slightly as she looked at the expressionless Nagato.
As for Obito, he immediately let out a breath. He felt that his calm performance just now should have fooled the other side again.
Whether or not this woman who resembled Konan believed it, at least Nagato should have believed his line.
"It does need to be moved up," Obito said, arms folded and face blank. "But not because of that Uchiha Keizumi junior. The uncertainties in the shinobi world are not just him alone."
This was a lie!
Obito's thinking was naturally the same as Nagato's, but he couldn't say it out loud, because he felt the "Uchiha Madara" persona wasn't like that.
After a few more brief exchanges, Obito kept his face taut, adopted a look of utter composure, and turned to leave.
A few minutes later...
Only then did Konan ask Nagato, "Why did you stop me from exposing his identity on the spot? Obviously, if I just pressed him a few more times, he would have slipped up. I can tell—he can't hide it. I've already found the holes in his words."
Nagato did not look at her; instead, he set his gaze on a stalactite and said slowly, "If he wants so badly to be Uchiha Madara, then we'll pretend he really is Uchiha Madara."
He paused, then continued: "Before our plan is completed, don't create extra branches inside the Akatsuki. All we need to know is that he can help us complete the plan."
"Konan, you need to set your sights further ahead. We shouldn't let this kind of small matter drain too much of our energy."
Konan drew a deep breath.
"…Understood."
…
Leaving the Akatsuki's secret base, Uchiha Obito immediately entered the Kamui space.
He yanked the mask off his face in one go and tossed it aside.
His whole face was already covered in sweat.
Even his eyelids were twitching out of his control.
At this moment, the Kamui space was still faintly ringing with and echoing Black Zetsu's screams.
Which only made Obito—already in a foul mood from being rattled by Konan—even more irritable.
"Obito, did you come in here to take a dump?" The spiral-faced White Zetsu was also in the Kamui space, tending to Black Zetsu. Seeing Obito appear, it immediately sidled over and squatted behind him.
It lifted its head, as if trying to stare at Obito's rear.
Obito, feeling extremely unnatural, turned around. Jaw tight and face ugly, he said through clenched teeth, "That woman has learned the name Uchiha Obito. She's even suspecting whether I am Uchiha Obito! She said a newcomer called Uchiha Obito recently joined the Akatsuki—what she's really doing is hinting at me!"
"I feel it's very likely Biwa Jūzō wasn't cowed by us, but recklessly ran back and passed the intel on to her!"
Obito's 'smarts' might be lousy, but that didn't mean he was an idiot.
Konan had already been this blatantly sarcastic.
How could he possibly not hear it? He was just pretending not to!
"Eh?"
The spiral-faced White Zetsu stood up, scratched its head, and asked in a slightly odd tone, "Then what should we do?"
"Hmph. Fortunately I was quick-witted and played a part in front of them. They'll probably mistake it for false intel."
Obito let out a cold snort.
Then he and the spiral-faced White Zetsu just stared wide-eyed at each other. The two sides were silent for a full few minutes, unable to come up with anything, as if neither had a correct way to handle this unexpected situation.
And the smartest one among them was still screaming his head off!
Obito couldn't help suspecting that once the dōjutsu on Black Zetsu wore off, once it could no longer feel that hair-raising pain even bystanders found terrifying—
Would Black Zetsu still be normal?
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