A stone room under the Mizukage Building in the Hidden Mist Village was where Uchiha Obito usually resided. At this time, Uchiha Obito was r
A stone room under the Mizukage Building in the Hidden Mist Village was where Uchiha Obito usually resided.
At this time, Uchiha Obito was resting inside.
Bang, bang, bang.
After knocking in a coded pattern, a Hidden Mist ninja pushed open the door and entered. Once inside, the ninja shut the stone door behind him.
The appearance of the Hidden Mist ninja began to shift and quickly transformed into a pale creature—it was a White Zetsu clone.
"What's the matter?" Obito asked in a flat tone, glancing at the clone with his exposed right eye.
"The Hidden Mist sent the Five-Tails Jinchūriki to lead a team into the Land of Fire. They were discovered by Konoha. Uchiha Fugaku personally arrived and wiped out the entire Mist team, including the Five-Tails Jinchūriki."
"The Five-Tails Jinchūriki was killed by Uchiha Fugaku?"
Obito frowned.
He wasn't surprised that Fugaku could defeat the Five-Tails Jinchūriki—after all, Fugaku had defeated him too—but this was still unwelcome news.
When a Jinchūriki dies, the tailed beast dies with them. Though they can be reborn, it takes years, and their location becomes unknown.
If it respawned somewhere remote, it would be difficult to locate.
Fugaku killing the Five-Tails Jinchūriki had completely disrupted his plans.
If he didn't know for certain that Fugaku was unaware of the Akatsuki's plans, he might have believed it was a deliberate sabotage.
"Yes. And after that, Uchiha Fugaku launched a solo attack on the Iwagakure border station, causing over a thousand casualties," White Zetsu added.
"He attacked the Iwagakure border station... and caused over a thousand casualties?"
Obito's pupils narrowed. His fear of Fugaku deepened.
Even if it was a thousand Genin, killing them all would be difficult—let alone considering many weren't Genin.
For Fugaku to wipe out so many... that level of strength was terrifying.
After a moment of silence, he asked, "Iwagakure won't let this go, will they?"
"They've issued the highest bounty in history—500 million ryō—offering it to the Akatsuki in hopes that we'll assassinate Fugaku. Nagato seems inclined to accept."
"Good," Obito said. "Fugaku may become a serious obstacle. If we eliminate him, we not only earn the reward but also gain startup capital for our future plans. That's a win for Akatsuki."
He had already considered asking Nagato to handle Fugaku after his previous defeat. But despite posing as Madara, Obito had difficulty controlling Nagato—who remained suspicious of him.
Now, if Nagato accepted the bounty of his own will, it was ideal.
As for whether Nagato could win?
Obito wasn't worried.
The Rinnegan was superior to the Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan. Although Nagato couldn't use its full power since the eyes weren't originally his, his strength was definitely above Fugaku's.
"Has Fugaku returned to Konoha yet?"
"No. He seems to be guarding against retaliation and hasn't returned immediately."
"Good. Since he's not in Konoha... then I will go to Konoha."
Obito's voice grew cold. "It's time to take back that eye."
After his defeat, he realized his strength wasn't enough. Now, he wanted to retrieve his other Mangekyō Sharingan.
"The original body said that if you're heading to Konoha, there's something to investigate," White Zetsu suddenly said.
"What is it?"
"The clone saw Uchiha Shisui die, but recently I discovered that Shisui is alive."
"An imposter?"
"Likely. But whoever it is, they're using the Mangekyō Sharingan."
"So they have Shisui's eyes?"
"No. Shisui used Izanami—his eyes were destroyed. Whoever this is, they awakened their own Mangekyō Sharingan."
"A new Mangekyō user?"
Obito frowned. The Mangekyō was rare—having one user in a generation was already impressive.
Including the late Shisui, there had now been four users within the same period.
"I'll investigate them when I infiltrate Konoha."
A Kage-level Uchiha with Mangekyō Sharingan wasn't someone to ignore.
...
Buzz—
Obito activated Kamui and began teleporting toward Konoha.
With Fugaku gone, this was the perfect opportunity to sneak in and retrieve his eye.
As much as he hated to admit it, he knew Fugaku was stronger than him—and he couldn't win in a head-on fight.
A few hours later, Obito arrived in Konoha.
He first tried gathering intel on the new Uchiha Mangekyō user but found nothing.
By nightfall, he arrived at the Hatake residence.
He had been here before and knew exactly where Kakashi lived.
He phased into Kakashi's bedroom via Kamui. Kakashi was sleeping on the tatami.
Obito silently approached, raised two fingers, and reached for Kakashi's left eye.
"Who's there?!"
Kakashi suddenly opened his eyes.
Reacting on instinct, he kicked at Obito and disrupted the Kamui phase.
Over the years, Obito had grown stronger.
But so had Kakashi. Known as a genius and record-breaker, he had reached Kage level—though he kept a low profile.
His high alertness saved him. The sneak attack had failed.
Bang!
Obito raised his arm and blocked Kakashi's kick.
Kakashi flipped back and got into a defensive stance.
"Wood Style user!"
He had already uncovered his Sharingan and identified Obito. His voice trembled with shock.
"So it failed..."
Obito was surprised. He had thought Kakashi's strength had plateaued.
Swish—
He lunged at Kakashi again.
"Raikiri!"
Kakashi, understanding his opponent's level, charged his hand with lightning and slashed forward.
Buzz—
Obito phased with Kamui, letting Kakashi's Raikiri pass harmlessly through him.
In return, Obito thrust a sharp wooden spike at Kakashi's exposed side.
Swish—
Kakashi dodged, but still suffered a long gash.
As expected of a famed Wood Release ninja, even the first clash left Kakashi injured.
The opponent's spatial jutsu made him nearly untouchable.
Swish, swish, swish—
Their movements blurred. After several rounds, Kakashi had more cuts and bruises.
"Kakashi!"
"It's the Wood Style user—Kakashi is fighting the Wood Style ninja!"
Hatake family members rushed in after hearing the commotion.
"Stay back!" Kakashi warned them.
A group ambush wouldn't work on someone with phase-through jutsu. They would just become liabilities.
Swish—
Obito rushed in again.
"Mangekyō Sharingan!"
Kakashi's left eye evolved into the Mangekyō form.
To counter Obito's space-time jutsu, he needed to use his own.
Buzz—
He activated Kamui, generating a vortex beside Obito to warp him into the other dimension.
But to Kakashi's shock, nothing happened.
Swish—
Obito was still phasing—he was already inside the Kamui space, making Kakashi's attack useless.
"Not good!"
Kakashi tried to retreat, but the Kamui strain made him sluggish.
"I want your eye," Obito said coldly, reaching for it.
He already knew that as a non-Uchiha without Hashirama cells, Kakashi couldn't handle Mangekyō strain well.
He reached forward
(End of this chapter)