Although Obito was pitiful in some ways, that didn't stop Uchiha Natsuki from hating him.
At such a young age, brainwashed by Madara, he completely abandoned the partner he once cherished, the kindhearted and optimistic self he used to be.
Rin died, and so he wanted the entire shinobi world to be buried with her.
In order to obtain the power of the Rinnegan, he blocked Jiraiya from rescuing Yahiko, forcing Nagato into darkness.
To weaken Konoha and capture the Nine-Tails, he attacked when Kushina was in labor, when the seal was at its weakest.
He cared nothing for his teacher and his teacher's wife, and as for the innocent Konoha villagers—how many of them were dragged into it?
For funding and manpower, he used the Sharingan to control the Fourth Mizukage, Yagura, turning Kirigakure into a reign of terror.
While filling his coffers, he eradicated anyone who threatened his plans or Yagura's rule. Countless bloodline clans in the Land of Water were annihilated.
And the Fourth Great Ninja War… how many died in that? Families torn apart beyond counting.
Obito's sins were beyond measure.
Yes, he was Madara's pawn. Even if it weren't him, there would have been another pawn. But that didn't absolve him of guilt.
Kakashi showing mercy in the Kamui dimension had disgusted Natsuki—such an ungrateful wretch, forgetting even the death of their teacher and teacher's wife.
How many Mangekyō Sharingan had Madara accumulated over the years, and how many had he left to Obito?
If Natsuki could kill Obito just once more, strip him of his Sharingan, it would be a great delight.
Every time he could make Obito suffer, Natsuki felt satisfied. Once he had the strength, he would crush that disgusting insect for good!
Under the blazing sun, Natsuki continued walking. In the desert, there were few landmarks to guide the way.
It was easy to stray off course, so he had to keep pulling out a compass to make sure he was still on track.
But soon, he realized awkwardly that he had wandered into an area of strong magnetic interference—his compass had stopped working.
Scratching his head, he walked a bit further and prepared to plant a stick in the sand, using the sun's shadow to orient himself.
Just then, a violent surge of chakra erupted in the distance, shaking the ground beneath his feet.
Natsuki's eyes lit up, and he quickly made his way toward the source.
Cresting a sand dune, the sight that greeted him made the inexperienced Natsuki let out a genuine gasp.
What was the most abundant thing in the desert? Sand, of course.
There were many spectacular natural phenomena in the world, but tornadoes were among the most awe-inspiring.
And when a tornado appeared in the desert, the scene was breathtaking—yellow sand filled the skies, the heavens turned as dark as if ink had been spilled across them.
A massive sandstorm-tornado towered ahead, blotting out the sun. And this tornado was not natural—it was man-made.
A figure floated in the sky, arms spread wide. Though the sky was cloudless, a massive funnel of sand whirled violently around him.
Sand from the ground was sucked up, then hurled outward again.
The tornado moved according to his hand movements, rolling forward and sweeping across the desert.
On closer inspection, one could see glittering flecks occasionally flying out of the sandstorm, landing in the distance.
Natsuki activated his Mangekyō Sharingan, zooming in until the view was clear—those glittering flecks were gold dust.
Piles of it had already formed into a small hill.
Wow… what easy money.
Natsuki muttered to himself, already recognizing the man—none other than the Fourth Kazekage, Rasa.
Also known as the Desert Gold Miner.
Natsuki watched for a while, but soon Rasa noticed him.
After all, with sand flying everywhere, a lone figure standing still was quite obvious.
"Who are you?" Rasa withdrew his hands, the tornado collapsing like a waterfall, sand cascading down and filling the sky with dust.
His first action was to take out a sealing scroll and store away the gold dust—not because he feared theft, but because if a fight broke out and the gold was scattered, he'd have to go through the trouble of mining it all over again.
Rasa was extremely confident in his own strength. Even though he had consumed a lot of chakra just now, this was the desert—his home ground. Even Shukaku could be suppressed with ease here.
That was why he came alone to mine gold. Anyone else would just stand around uselessly.
Natsuki removed his straw hat, then took out his Konoha forehead protector and tied it on.
"I'm a ninja from Konoha!" Natsuki shouted loudly. With no landmarks for scale, the two of them were actually separated by an entire sand dune.
Rasa stared blankly. You just pulled that forehead protector out of nowhere—could you be any more halfhearted?
Still, he conjured a platform of sand and rode it over.
Natsuki looked on enviously. Another one who could fly.
Rasa soon landed in front of him, dismissing the sand platform.
"Who exactly are you?"
Natsuki checked his forehead protector. Nope, not the wrong one.
"I told you already, I'm from Konoha."
Rasa frowned, saying nothing.
Natsuki suddenly clapped his hands as if realizing something.
"Oh, I'm an Uchiha. Don't believe me? Look—I have the Sharingan."
His eyes turned scarlet, three tomoe spinning. Rasa instinctively looked into them—
And in the very next instant, the tomoe twisted into a whirling Mangekyō.
At last, Natsuki put Itachi's genjutsu to use.
Using a one-time ninjutsu from the system had no cost. But since it was a Mangekyō technique, Natsuki could pour in his own ocular power to further strengthen it.
In just a moment, Rasa's consciousness plunged into darkness.
"How are the experimental results?"
Danzō, as always, had his right eye covered. But now his right arm and shoulder were no longer wrapped in bandages.
The exposed arm looked no different from any ordinary man's.
Nor did he carry a cane at his side.
"Reporting to you, sir: after testing, the vitality of your arm without using Wood Release has increased sixfold. It has already far surpassed your left arm."
Danzō clenched his fist.
At once, the skin of his right arm paled, stretching and sprouting into enormous wooden branches.
With a thunderous crash, the branches smashed a massive boulder to rubble.
Danzō gave a pull, and his arm retracted, returning to normal flesh.
He clutched it tightly—the chakra expenditure had not been small.
From the wall beside him, a figure split from a mass of plant matter emerged—it was Zetsu.
"Why is the chakra drain so great?" Danzō asked coldly, as though accustomed to the creature's sudden appearances.
"Hashirama's cells are moving past simple grafting. They've begun integrating into your body. To fully master Wood Release will take time."
"It had better be as you say," Danzō snorted.
"Relax. We wouldn't have sought you out if there wasn't mutual benefit." Zetsu's tone was flippant.
"We provide funding. You provide intelligence."
Danzō narrowed his eyes. "I already gave you the information on Uchiha Natsuki leaving the village. Why haven't you captured him yet?"
Zetsu replied, "There were complications. Someone else interfered."
"That's your problem. I've provided the intel. The sooner you capture Natsuki, the better it will be for us both."
"Uchiha Natsuki isn't so easily caught. But if I get more news, I'll come again."
"The Uchiha clan is not what it used to be. Perhaps you should discuss with the Third Hokage how to rein in their growth."
With that, Zetsu sank back into the wall as though he had never been there.
Danzō signaled with his eyes to a Root operative nearby.
The operative raised two fingers, sending out a pulse of sensing chakra.
"Sir, he's gone."
Danzō's face darkened. That kind of phantomlike coming and going made him feel as if stripped bare and thrown under the blazing sun.
The disbandment of Root had cost him not just bases and equipment.
The worst blow was the severing of his funding chain. In the past, Root had a dedicated budget from Konoha.
Sometimes they even took on shady jobs from the clans to secure extra income.
But since the Third announced Root's dissolution, few clans dared risk his wrath by continuing cooperation.
Though his personnel remained, Root was penniless.
When Danzō had been fretting over this, Zetsu appeared, bringing funds and furthering his Hashirama cell experiments. His right arm, though no longer embedded with Sharingan, was integrating with the First Hokage's cells—making him even stronger.
Who would have thought he, Danzō, would one day work with the Akatsuki? And that the Akatsuki itself now had factions within it.
Exhaling slowly, he glanced at his "normal" right hand and strode out.
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