Their minds were filled with terms like "Fourth Great Ninja War," "Obito Uchiha releasing the Nine-Tailed and destroying Konoha," and "Ten-Tails Jinchuriki."
From these words, they drew one conclusion: the Nine-Tails' Attack that brought disaster to Konoha and caused the untimely death of Minato Namikaze, the yellow flash and Fourth Hokage, was orchestrated by Obito Uchiha.
"That name sounds familiar."
"Ten-Tails Jinchuriki, Lin Mo mentioned it before; Ōtsutsuki Kaguya and the Six Paths Sage were both Ten-Tails Jinchuriki."
"Obito Uchiha later also became the Ten-Tails Jinchuriki, so could the Fourth Great Ninja War, and Naruto and Sasuke becoming saviors, all be related to him?"
In the Land of Lightning, Samui quickly used a Secret Technique to contact Kumogakure (Cloud Village), requesting information on Obito Uchiha.
In the Land of Earth, Kurotsuchi had the same idea.
In the Land of Water, Mei Terumī's eyes flashed with a hint of ruthlessness: "Uchiha… Obito!"
"He can release the Nine-Tailed to destroy Konoha, control the Three-Tails, and even the Three-Tails Jinchuriki is no match for him."
"Could it be that the Uchiha who controlled the Fourth Mizukage was him?"
Mei Terumī felt this was very likely.
After thinking for a while, she immediately ordered her Ninja subordinates to return to the village and bring all intelligence concerning Obito Uchiha.
No one knew when Lin Mo would elaborate on Obito Uchiha, so she had to investigate herself and prepare in advance.
"Whoosh!"
On the border between the Land of Fire and the Land of Rain, Konan, dressed in a red cloud and black robe, stood atop a large tree and suddenly opened her eyes.
"Obito Uchiha, is that his real name?"
Within the Akatsuki Organization, besides Itachi Uchiha, there was another Uchiha.
That person claimed to be Madara Uchiha, who was severely injured after a battle with Senju Hashirama, and his strength was greatly diminished.
She and Uzumaki Nagato had always been suspicious of him, but they didn't stop him from joining.
Speaking of which, who in the Akatsuki Organization didn't have some issues?
Nagato, who possessed the Rinnegan, believed he could keep everyone in check. He didn't care if anyone tried to stop him, as long as they all worked together to capture the Nine Tailed Beasts, achieve the "making the world suffer" goal, and then embark on a "nuclear peace" grand endeavor; a little ulterior motive was fine.
Konan's thoughts were similar to Nagato's, except she was more cautious.
But now, her heart was in turmoil.
She and Nagato only knew that the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path could devour the Nine Tailed Beasts and eventually transform into a weapon that would terrify the entire Ninja World; they had no idea this weapon was actually the Ten-Tails, and that a person could also become its Jinchuriki.
The diary clearly stated that Obito Uchiha would become the Ten-Tails Jinchuriki.
Why not Nagato? The only possibility was that he was already dead.
"God" was gone!
"Ōtsutsuki Kaguya, Ten-Tails Jinchuriki, Six Paths Sage Hagoromo, Indra's descendant Uchiha, Black Zetsu's plan to save his mother…"
Konan's heart was in turmoil, feeling that with all this information coming together, she was like falling into a vast, bottomless whirlpool, making it hard to even breathe.
"I can't let Nagato be alone." She thought.
"He's brimming with confidence now, but his vulnerabilities are obvious. He could easily be ambushed if he's not careful."
"I need to warn him quickly and make him more vigilant."
"…"
Konan took a deep breath, formed a hand seal, and created a paper clone, sending it to Konoha Village on her behalf.
As long as Lin Mo mentioned her more than ten times in the diary, or accidentally revealed a secret related to her, this clone showing its face would be enough.
"Nagato's safety needs to be addressed soon; I still have to go to Konoha myself."
Watching her clone's retreating back, Konan's eyes became exceptionally firm.
The more she knew, the clearer it became that Nagato and Yahiko's approach could not bring true peace to the Ninja World.
But she trusted Lin Mo, the transmigrator, believing he definitely had a solution.
For her ideal, she had to go find him herself.
"Whoosh!"
She stared in the direction of Konoha for a long while, then flapped her paper wings and turned to fly back to the Land of Rain.
Not long after she flew away, a spatial vortex appeared atop a large tree, and from it emerged a figure wearing a single-eyed mask and a red cloud and black robe.
At his feet, Zetsu emerged from the tree branches, asking with a puzzled expression: "Did she discover something?"
"Asking me is useless." The single-eyed masked man said coldly, "Instead, you can tell me now, why must we eliminate Konan?"
If Konan were gone, controlling Uzumaki Nagato would become difficult.
"She might already know about the Infinite Tsukuyomi." Zetsu stammered.
He hadn't even told Madara Uchiha the name "Ōtsutsuki Kaguya," let alone Tobi, Madara's puppet.
"So what if she knows?" Tobi said impatiently, "Nagato might even support it more frantically."
"No!" Zetsu's attitude was firm, "Lord Madara said that the Eye of the Moon Plan must be initiated by him. I must carry out his will, Tobi, don't forget that!"
"Hmph!" Tobi snorted coldly, "This matter isn't urgent. I'm currently in a critical period of recovery."
He had been using his Mangekyo Sharingan to control the Fourth Mizukage, Yagura, causing trouble, and his Chakra was almost depleted. Even with a body half-implanted with hashirama cells, he still felt strained.
Now he was recovering, and control of his body had been handed over to White Zetsu, named "Tobi."
Because Zetsu said this mission was very important, he had retaken control of his body, but it turned out to be all for nothing!
"Why isn't it urgent? This matter concerns Mother!"
Black Zetsu was furious inside, wanting to grab Tobi by the neck and yell, but he had to maintain an apologetic expression, saying: "Understood. When the time is right, I'll find you again."
Tobi didn't respond and directly entered the Kamui Dimension.
Black Zetsu's face darkened, "Once I rescue Mother, I'll definitely have a heart-to-heart talk with you!"
In that wondrous Kamui Dimension, Obito Uchiha never pondered the twists and turns in Zetsu's mind.
He strolled into an elaborately crafted ice cave, walking step by step until he stood before an ice coffin.
Inside the ice coffin lay a young girl with short brown hair, wearing a light pink dress, paired with dark red thigh-high socks, and a red bracelet on her wrist. Purple markings were drawn on both sides of her face.
There was a bloody hole in her chest, and blood stained the corner of her mouth, but her face held a smile of relief.
Back then, he was a failure, looked down upon by his clan, bullied by his classmates. Only this young girl would comfort him and cheer him on.
Even if she also liked the handsome and talented Kakashi, like other children, she was kind to everyone, without bias.
In his heart, this girl was an angel, a saint descended from heaven, sacred and incomparable to any self-proclaimed Konan.
This girl was Rin Nohara, whom he had secretly taken from Konoha's cemetery and kept frozen here. She was also the motivation for him to persist in completing his plan.
"White Zetsu, I'm handing over my body to you. I need to rest."
Tobi didn't know how long he had been lost in thought in the ice cave. He then walked out and sat cross-legged on the ground.
In the blink of an eye, his entire demeanor changed, becoming more lackadaisical: "How should I ponder the feeling of going to the bathroom today?"
Meanwhile, there was a place, neither truly ethereal nor truly substantial, precisely at the boundary of light and shadow.
Rin Nohara quietly watched the masked man, her gaze unchanging for a long time, but with a newfound hope within it.
She didn't know where this was, nor did she understand why she was here.
She only knew that after her death, her soul didn't go to heaven but remained near that place.
It wasn't until Obito Uchiha secretly took her out and placed her in the ice cellar that she, following Tobi's gaze, saw the human world again.
She had been quietly watching Tobi all this time, aware of everything he did.
He controlled the Fourth Mizukage, turning the Hidden Mist Village into an even more terrifying Village of the Bloody Mist, frantically massacring those with Bloodline Limits.
On the day of Kushina-sensei's childbirth, he released the Nine-Tailed, letting it rampage through Konoha Village, ultimately causing the demise of her master and mistress.
He also secretly manipulated Itachi Uchiha, bringing Itachi closer to Konoha's higher-ups, intending to act against the Uchiha Clan. However, he failed to fulfill his promise to help, instead secretly assisting Root against the Uchiha's elderly, weak, women, and children, and also targeting those with Three-Tomoe Sharingan to steal their eyes.
Tobi did all these things to become stronger and ultimately realize his Infinite Tsukuyomi plan.
Along this journey, she had cried, been angry, cursed, and despaired.
But in the end, everything calmed down as days passed.
She felt Tobi was right about one thing: everything was the world's fault!
She felt that the Uchiha Clan, her master and mistress, and Kakashi could all blame Tobi, but she alone could not.
Because Tobi became this way entirely because of her.
She hadn't expected that her kind and sincere concern could evoke such deep feelings in Tobi.
If she had known this would happen, even if it would hurt Tobi, she would have made things clear.
Now, she could only uphold the promise she made as a child, watching him constantly.
It wasn't until the appearance of Lin Mo's diary replica that a new color was added to her world. From it, she learned many things she had never witnessed before.
She had always hoped that Lin Mo would mention Obito Uchiha, preferably revealing everything, so she could intervene and stop him sooner.
"Tobi, you must be suffering greatly inside."
"Lin Mo-kun, please, you must help him."
Rin Nohara's smile remained as gentle as ever.
Meanwhile, on the road leading from the Land of Fire border to Konoha Village.
Tsunade sat in the carriage, sneering repeatedly: "The Ninja World has finally ushered in the Fourth Great Ninja War, and it was the Uchiha who started it. If Great-Grandfather knew, I wonder what he would think."
"Speaking of which, did the Uchiha do such a thing because of the lingering effects of the Old Monkey eradicating the Uchiha Clan?"
Shizune listened to Tsunade's unrestrained words. Although she somewhat agreed in her heart, she didn't respond.
Criticizing the Hokage was one thing, but mainly, she felt the name "Obito Uchiha" sounded somewhat familiar.
"Ah, I remember!" Shizune suddenly exclaimed, grabbing Tonton in front of her chest, "Obito Uchiha was my former classmate, and later became a teammate of the Fourth Hokage, in the same team as Rin and Kakashi."
It wasn't that she couldn't recall him immediately; she, Tobi, Kakashi, Rin Nohara, Kurenai Yuhi, Asuma Sarutobi, and Might Guy were all classmates.
Back then, the girls in class all flocked around Kakashi. Besides the gentle Rin, who would pay attention to the failure, Tobi?
After graduation, she was taken in as a disciple by Tsunade, who suffered from hemophobia at the end of the Second Great Ninja War, and had been working at the Ninja Academy, practicing Medical Ninjutsu.
By the middle of the Third Great Ninja War, Minato Namikaze's reputation soared in the Ninja World, and Konoha had the upper hand. She then left Konoha with Tsunade and began traveling around.
During that period, they were unable to attend either Rin's funeral or the funeral of the Fourth Hokage and his wife.
Therefore, she genuinely hadn't thought of Obito Uchiha for a moment.
"What did you say?"
This time, it was Tsunade's turn to be stunned. She said with an incredulous expression: "Are you saying this Obito Uchiha was your classmate, and Minato Namikaze's…?"
Doesn't that mean Obito Uchiha was only fourteen when he instigated the Nine-Tails' Attack?
The Uchiha Clan actually produced such a monster!
And… how could he be so ruthless towards her master and mistress? What deep-seated hatred existed between them?
"Unless it's a coincidentally similar name, then it should be correct." Shizune nodded affirmatively, relaying all the information she knew.
Tsunade fell silent immediately.
After a long while, she finally spoke: "The angriest person right now must be Kushina, right?"
Tsunade was right. In the Sealing Space, after a long period of daze, Kushina's emotions completely spiraled out of control, her rage soaring.
"Tobi!"
"The masked man was Tobi!"
"I treated you like my own child. When you left, I cried heartbrokenly, and for the first time, I angrily blamed Minato for not arriving in time to save you."
"But you mercilessly attacked me (released the Nine-Tailed), and even tried to harm my son, Naruto. (A series of curses)"
"Good, this is truly excellent!"
Kushina was consumed by fury, her reason almost burned away.
This betrayal made her feel like her sincerity had been wasted on a dog.
"Huh?"
At the very end of the sewer, the Nine-Tailed, confined in its cage, suddenly felt something amiss and abruptly opened its eyes.
"This emotion, this feeling, is Kushina?!"
"Could it be that the Fourth Hokage's Eight Trigrams Sealing Style has a problem?"
The Nine-Tailed pondered in its cage, a look of excited anticipation gradually appearing on its face.
The boy, Uzumaki Naruto, for some unknown reason, despite suffering many hardships since childhood, had his negative emotions vanish as soon as they surfaced.
It had always wanted to drag him into his mental world and mislead him, but it had never succeeded.
Fortunately, the Eight Trigrams Sealing Style had recently begun to loosen, and it could now actively release some Chakra to tempt him.
It estimated that it wouldn't be long before Uzumaki Naruto would be persuaded by it to undo the Eight Trigrams Sealing Style. (The fox wore a confident expression)
Unexpectedly, before that, it actually first sensed Kushina's Chakra, filled with negative emotions.