This White Zetsu clone was a genuinely enthusiastic goofball.
The moment it heard that Itachi Uchiha spared Sasuke to obtain his younger brother's Mangekyo Sharingan, it became incredibly eager to help. It had some practical experience, after all.
Kisame Hoshigaki frowned, looking at the White Zetsu clone that had transformed into Naruto Uzumaki. "Neither of them seems particularly reliable..."
"How is that possible? We have plenty of practical experience..." the White Zetsu clone insisted. It glanced at Kisame and Itachi, only to see doubt on both their faces. It had to lower its voice. "Alright, there was one time."
The clone briefly explained its understanding of the Mangekyo Sharingan, which was simply to make an Uchiha fall from the light into darkness.
The theory wasn't half bad.
Itachi Uchiha glanced at it in surprise. This White Zetsu clone's understanding of the Mangekyo Sharingan was on par with the Uchiha clan's own knowledge. Even if it had only manipulated one Uchiha into awakening the Mangekyo, that proved its method worked.
There was something to this White Zetsu clone... The one it had manipulated must have been Obito Uchiha, the man who had taken Madara's name.
Itachi brushed the hair from his brow and said in a deep voice, "If, according to your method, we can really obtain a pair of Mangekyo Sharingan..."
"As long as we plan it properly," the White Zetsu clone replied. Realizing that even a powerful ninja like Itachi agreed with its plan, it felt its own intelligence swell significantly.
Of course, after speaking with Itachi, the White Zetsu clone didn't act on its own. It quickly rushed to another location to report the news to Black Zetsu and the mysterious masked man—the true masters behind the Akatsuki.
The distance wasn't far. Using the Mayfly Technique, the clone quickly arrived and reported the intelligence it had gathered, along with the "actor" plan it was preparing to execute.
The mysterious masked man pondered for a moment, tapping his head. "That Itachi fellow... the reason he spared Sasuke's life... was it really to obtain the light of the Mangekyo Sharingan?"
"No one can resist the temptation of power," Black Zetsu added sinisterly. "If that's the case, perhaps we really need to arrange things properly..."
If sacrificing a single White Zetsu clone could help Itachi regain even greater combat strength, Black Zetsu was all for the cost-effective plan. Moreover, he knew that if Itachi obtained Sasuke's Sharingan, his visual prowess would rise to another level... he might even be able to awaken the Rinnegan.
If that happened, it would create a backup for their grand plan. If one day their plan went wrong—say, the Rinnegan were destroyed—it would be a fatal blow. Of course, this was not something he could mention to the masked man.
Coincidentally, the man beside him seemed distracted. He slowly took off his mask, revealing a face that was half intact and half scarred.
It was the supposedly dead Obito Uchiha.
He toyed with the mask in his hand and suddenly said in a low voice, "You said just now that you had operational experience in making an Uchiha awaken the Mangekyo Sharingan?"
A drop of cold sweat trickled down the White Zetsu clone's forehead. "..."
Black Zetsu, however, let out a grim laugh and slowly turned to Obito. "We once killed a friend of Shisui Uchiha... and witnessed him awaken the Mangekyo Sharingan with our own eyes."
Whether it was true or not, Obito wouldn't know. The only flaw in the story was that the Uchiha clan had so few Mangekyo users, making the claim easy to question.
Obito toyed with his mask, looking bored. "I remember you were supposed to be with me at that time. How come I don't know about this?"
"It was just a small matter," Black Zetsu said, shaking its head with an indifferent look. This topic had to end here. The more they talked, the more likely he was to slip up. After all, that idiot Shisui hadn't hidden his Mangekyo from anyone—not from Konoha, and not from the Uchiha. It was why he became known as the clan's greatest master.
"Alright, there are more important things now," Black Zetsu said, changing the subject. "Back when you released the Nine-Tails to attack the Fourth Hokage and his wife, you left behind a big problem..."
At the time, they believed the Fourth Hokage and Kushina Uzumaki were major obstacles to their plan, so they eliminated them, which also conveniently heightened tensions in Konoha. The plan to eliminate them was a success. The Fourth Hokage, Minato Namikaze, and the only jinchuriki who could control the Nine-Tails, Kushina Uzumaki, died in the attack, leaving behind only a newborn baby.
Who would have thought that thirteen years later, that baby would become a Nine-Tails jinchuriki who surpassed all his predecessors?
It was a perfect example of how the tables can turn. They had eliminated the Fourth Hokage and his wife, only to welcome a Fifth Hokage who, in both name and strength, could be called the strongest.
"Minato Namikaze and Kushina Uzumaki's son..." Obito Uchiha's hand clenched, veins popping on the back of it. "I really didn't expect that a baby who was almost blown up by exploding tags would get this far!"
He had even defeated Pain.
According to intelligence, Naruto Uzumaki, who possessed both the Nine-Tails' chakra and the Wood Style kekkei genkai, had combat power approaching that of Madara Uchiha and Hashirama Senju—and might even be a cut above them. If he had a pair of Mangekyo Sharingan on top of that, it would be like facing the two legends in their prime.
Of course, they didn't know that Naruto didn't have a Mangekyo Sharingan, but a pair of Tenseigan that were comparable to the Rinnegan.
"Obito, that brat is only thirteen this year..." Black Zetsu had to remind him. Konoha's new Hokage was still very young, which meant he had a lot of room for growth.
After a moment of silence, Obito put his mask back on. A vortex swirled around him as his body warped into another dimension.
"Then let's take this opportunity... and kill him!" The scarlet Sharingan gleaming through the mask was horrifying. "It hasn't been long since the Three-Tails jinchuriki, Yagura, died. If we kill the Nine-Tails now, the two Tailed Beasts can be revived at the same time in the future..."
"Wait!" Black Zetsu stopped him and proposed another idea. "We've learned from the Sand ninja about what Naruto Uzumaki did in their village. His ideology is somewhat similar to Lord Madara's. If we could cooperate with him..."
"The Akatsuki and a jinchuriki are destined to be enemies, aren't they?"
"No, the Akatsuki and weak ninjas are enemies," Black Zetsu corrected with a light laugh. "According to his ideology, he will definitely agree to our Project Tsuki no Me... What do you think?"
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Bonus:
Black Zetsu: Naruto Uzumaki, would you like to join our organization? Our organization...
Naruto: Sure, sure!
Black Zetsu: Wait, you're the Hokage!
Naruto: It's fine!
Black Zetsu: You don't even know what our organization is about, do you?
Naruto: It's fine!
Black Zetsu: Do you even know which organization I'm from?
Naruto: ...I... don't know, but more friends mean more paths.
Black Zetsu: Then let me introduce our organization, and then you can decide... okay?
Naruto: ...Was I too enthusiastic?
Black Zetsu: Yes. I suspect you already know about our organization and just want to round us all up.