In a certain part of the Land of Grass. Uchiha Obito emerged from underground, scavenging for resources in the forest.
"Senior, speaking of which, how did you do that?"
"Do what?"
"Chakra. I don't have this much chakra, and my Earth Style ninjutsu is very poor. I can't even produce Earth Style chakra right now," Obito replied.
Black Zetsu smiled. "This is a very simple technique. As for the chakra, have you forgotten? I am a special combination of the ancestor's power and Madara's chakra. Just leaking a little to you is more than enough."
"Oh, right." As Obito spoke, he took large bites of wild fruit. After barely filling his stomach with wild fruits and water, he let out a breath and sighed, "If I had known, I would have brought some soldier pills. At least I wouldn't be starving."
"This is already very good." Black Zetsu chuckled.
"Back in our time, wars were frequent. A single misstep in the wild could lead to an encounter with the enemy, and people didn't need a reason to fight…" He sighed.
"So, in a sense, Senju Hashirama's and my strategies did achieve a certain degree of peace in the shinobi world, but such peace was very brief."
Black Zetsu was getting addicted to role-playing. He had completely immersed himself in the role of Madara—to deceive others, one must first deceive oneself. By completely believing he was Madara, speaking and thinking from Madara's perspective in every word and deed, only then could he not reveal any flaws. Besides, in front of Madara, he was also playing the part of Madara's other spiritual entity, so the two did not conflict, and there was no need to worry about exposing himself.
During this time, Obito had heard many stories from Black Zetsu about the old days. Therefore… he had developed a considerable sense of immersion in the chaos and cruelty of that era. Hearing this, he couldn't help but once again admire the greatness of "Madara" and Senju Hashirama.
"Senior is right. To explore the path of eternal peace, this little bit of hardship is nothing!" Obito encouraged himself. Then, he looked around, a look of confusion on his face.
"But, Senpai, where is this place?"
"I don't know."
"Huh?" Obito was stunned for a moment.
"You don't know where this is? Then why did you bring me here!" He had originally thought that "Madara" had a very clear direction and knew where to go, which was why he had been guiding him all this way. As it turned out, the other party didn't know either.
Black Zetsu glanced at him. "Back in our time, although there were many countries and ninja villages, the borders and terrain still had subtle differences with the changing times." After a pause, he finally answered. "But we should be out of the Land of Fire's range. Besides, the real Madara and I have a peculiar connection. I can feel he is in this direction. As long as we search in this direction, it shouldn't be wrong."
"Is that so?" Obito believed him again. He mustered his strength. "Alright, then let's continue to walk firmly in the right direction! Even if we fail, it will be a life without regrets!" As he spoke, Obito let out a howl.
Black Zetsu chuckled secretly. Then, he made a suggestion. "Obito, before that, we must first find a suitable person and get clothes and money from them. The clothes you're wearing are too eye-catching. And when it's not too dangerous, we don't need to travel by Earth Style all the time."
"We can't take other people's things!" Obito refused.
Black Zetsu was slightly stunned, truly dumbfounded for a second. "We can borrow some from the nobles. They have a lot of unused clothes and money. Taking them is just letting them circulate, instead of letting them rot in the storeroom."
"This… alright." Obito was quickly convinced. Black Zetsu quietly breathed a sigh of relief. Obito had many strengths and weaknesses; his greatest strength was that he was easy to deceive. As long as what he said made a little sense, he would believe it and carry it out seriously and without doubt.
***
In another part of the Land of Fire.
"They appeared here and scavenged the surrounding wild fruits."
"Mm, it is indeed Obito's scent." Inuzuka Ago nodded. "Minato, should we still chase?"
The one leading the pursuit of Obito was Namikaze Minato. This was also the result of Tsunade's careful consideration. Minato's strength was sufficient to protect himself and his comrades in any situation, and accompanying him was his old partner, Inuzuka Ago. The two of them had excellent coordination, and the Inuzuka clan's ninja hounds could also provide great convenience.
Besides… smoke swirled. A figure appeared. "Sir, this is some of the intelligence we have gathered."
"Good, thank you for your trouble." Minato Namikaze nodded and took the intelligence scroll from the other's hand. The next second, the member of the Iburi clan disappeared in a body flicker.
Inuzuka Ago couldn't help but sigh. "The Iburi clan's ability isn't particularly strong in combat, but as intelligence and spy ninjas, they are indeed very competent and useful."
"Indeed. Hmm—" Minato looked at the scroll in his hand and fell into deep thought. According to the contents of the scroll, Uchiha Obito, apart from a few instances of gathering fruits and water, his movements were basically appearing in discontinuous points. In other words, the other party had been traveling using Earth Style?
"What's wrong?"
"The person who instigated Obito's defection is very strong in Earth Style, and they might have a means of replenishing their chakra," Minato analyzed. "The other party's trajectory seems to be heading for the Land of Grass. Are they planning to go to the Land of Water through the Land of Grass?" That was also reasonable. Minato already had a plan in mind. He took out a pen and paper, quickly sent a message to Mui using the Flying Raijin, and then let out a breath.
"Let's speed up and go directly to the Land of Grass!"
"Alright."
***
In the Land of Grass, Obito "borrowed" a set of clothes and some money. He walked and looked around the streets, while whispering, "I see, this should be the Land of Grass."
"So it's this pitiful little country. No wonder I couldn't remember where it was," Black Zetsu sighed.
Obito then became curious and asked why the Land of Grass was pitiful. Black Zetsu naturally gave him a rundown. Of course, he didn't forget that he was now "Madara Uchiha."
As he was explaining, Black Zetsu's mind suddenly stirred. He sensed a gaze looking towards them. "Go, someone has discovered us!" he urged.
Obito immediately quickened his pace. Soon, even Obito sensed someone rapidly approaching. "Let's go!"
"Don't be anxious." To make the act complete, Black Zetsu secretly channeled chakra, giving Obito the ability of Earth Style and to phase through objects.
The next moment. Thud, thud, thud! A series of kunai landed around him, and then, a figure quickly appeared. "Uchiha Obito, come back with me."
"You are…" Obito looked up, his face instantly turning pale. Namikaze Minato! Although he wasn't familiar with Minato, he knew his title. The Yellow Flash. His speed was almost the same as Ryoho Kyohiko's, perhaps even faster. There's no escape!
Obito was anxious. I absolutely cannot fall here!
Sharingan, on! With his two-tomoe, his insight was greatly enhanced, but… the next moment, the light and shadow before him flickered. I can't see! I can't see at all! It's over!
"So, the gap between me and them is actually this big…" A deep sense of despair flashed through his heart. Obito already felt he was dead for sure—although he wasn't a ninja, as a final-year academy student, he knew very well what leaving the village without reason meant. Rogue-nin! The fate of a rogue-nin… he seemed to be recalling the experiences of the past eleven or twelve years, but in the end, Obito's heart was filled with sadness. It seemed—apart from the people and things he cared about, there was nothing much to reminisce about.
"My life has been so pathetic!" a thought flashed through Obito's mind.
The next moment, something flashed before his eyes—he found he was already in a patch of earth. Escaped, I escaped?
Just as he was rejoicing, a barrier rose up in front. "Relax!" Black Zetsu said quickly. He had wanted to use the crisis to force Obito to quickly awaken his eyes, but from the results, it had failed. Obito's current state, what he was lacking was probably not crisis or emotion, but physical fitness. However, this was not a problem. Coincidentally, he could use the crisis to lead into his subsequent arrangements.
Black Zetsu led Obito, quickly diving downwards. Seeing the barrier about to close, Obito's escaping speed suddenly increased. Then, Obito almost let out a scream—underground, a white creature grinned at him, then grabbed his hand and accelerated his escape.
"Ahhh!" Amidst the screams, Obito felt as if he wasn't traveling through the earth, but "swimming" in a sea of sand. The speed was astonishingly fast, and his whole body ached faintly.
"Who is he?"
"I don't know, but he might be a subordinate of the real 'me'," Black Zetsu replied.
Obito screamed repeatedly, while saying, "Then at least slow down, my body…"
"If we slow down, we'll be caught. Run faster!" White Zetsu retorted.
The next moment, Obito felt as if he had passed through a certain layer of earth and arrived in an open area, and then—Thud! He fell to the ground. Pain! My whole body hurts! Obito grimaced, almost fainting.
At this moment, an old voice sounded. "A familiar presence."
"Chakra from a long time ago. I never thought I would be able to find it again one day, but…"
"Who are you?"
The old voice came from above. Obito, lying on the ground, struggled to open his eyes and look up. Then, in the dim cave, he saw an old man so withered he didn't look human. Beside him, a scythe and a gunbai fan were particularly conspicuous. Behind the old man, thick, special "tubes" extended from the terrifying giant statue above into his body.
"You are… my ancestor, Uchiha Madara? My name is Uchiha Obito…" Uchiha Obito's eyes widened, his face filled with ecstatic joy. A few seconds later, his vision went black and he quickly fainted.
At this moment, Black Zetsu emerged from his body. "It seems he fainted from the pain."
"You did very well, better than I expected. Although the one you brought back is an idiot," Madara chuckled lightly.
Black Zetsu said, "Konoha is too cautious. They didn't let the Uchiha participate in the previous ninja war at all. Otherwise, it wouldn't have been so troublesome. We could have just abducted one during the war."
"No matter. A kind but foolish person is perfect for us to influence and control. He will also believe my words more," Madara replied faintly.
Black Zetsu said, "That's what I thought too."
"Take him down and fuse him with some of White Zetsu's cells. He is too weak now. If he wants to awaken his eyes quickly, he must have his constitution remodeled."
"Yes!"
***
In Konoha, in Tsunade's office, Yuhi Kurenai and Nohara Rin looked on with anticipation at Tsunade and Kyohiko. "If Senior Minato makes a move, he can definitely bring him back, right?"
"This…" Tsunade was at a loss and had to look at Kyohiko. She wasn't very experienced in comforting girls!
Kyohiko was thinking about how to tactfully tell them—even if Minato made a move, it was highly likely he wouldn't be able to catch Obito. He could be certain that Black Zetsu had made a move. Once they were out of the Land of Fire's range, they would hide in Madara's hiding place. With the Gedo Statue and Black Zetsu's isolation, no one could find Madara's residence.
Just as he was thinking… Kyohiko sensed a fluctuation of chakra. Well then! No need to rack my brains. Kyohiko waited for a moment. A toad appeared out of thin air, landed on the desk, looked around, and then fixed its gaze on Kyohiko.
"A message from Minato!"
"Mission failed. Obito was taken away. The other party had an Earth Style master helping. Also, there is an existence on Obito that he cannot sense controlling him," the messenger toad said.
"I see. Where did Minato chase him to?"
"The Land of Grass."
"Is there any other intelligence?"
"No more, gribbit!" the toad replied.
Kyohiko nodded, dismissed the other, and came back to his senses to see—four women were looking at him. Tsunade, Shizune, and also Kurenai and Rin.
"Did everyone hear that?" Kyohiko looked at Tsunade.
"Hokage-sama, I think we can confirm that the other party is some kind of spiritual entity, possessing special chakra that can evade most perception methods."
"What a hassle!" Tsunade rubbed her temples.
"Damn Madara, he won't let us have peace even after he's dead. And as you said, they must have a connection with the Land of Water and Kirigakure. Otherwise, why would Kirigakure go out of their way to cooperate with them?"
"Kirigakure is probably retaliating, right? After all, many from the Kaguya clan have settled in our Konoha," Shizune said, holding a file. Although the Kaguya clan had changed their names, everyone knew that this group were the inheritors of the Kaguya clan's Shikotsumyaku.
"No, Shizune, your thinking has been misled by the opponent," Tsunade shook her head. She rested her chin on her hand. "Madara doesn't care about Kirigakure's life or death, so don't be misled by the superficial reasons. His main goal is still Obito."
"Hokage-sama is wise!" Kyohiko immediately added.
Tsunade rolled her eyes at him, speechless for a moment, then looked at Nohara Rin. "Rin, we will do our best to bring Obito back. But he has now been controlled by Madara's genjutsu. Even if we bring him back…" She sighed. Medical ninjutsu could heal the body, but in the spiritual domain, medical treatment was just beginning.
Nohara Rin bowed deeply. "Thank you, Hokage-sama, and Kyohiko-kun, Kurenai…"
"Obito was also my classmate once. I certainly want to save him too. But first, we can't lose our own composure. That would only fall into the opponent's calculations. Also, you guys have to work hard on researching medical techniques for the spiritual domain," Kyohiko said, comforting and motivating her at the same time. This research would be enough to keep her in Konoha and not go out for a long time.