In the evening, at the Uchiha clan compound.
Inside a house, several elders and Uchiha Shinji were gathered. Some dishes were laid out on the table, and everyone had a bit of sake poured before them, all sitting upright and proper.
"Shinji, do you believe Fugaku's words?"
"Do you believe them, Elder?"
"Heh, who believes him? The words of someone who leans towards Konoha and thinks about surrendering to the Hokage faction all day, can they be trusted?" Uchiha Yoshinori sneered.
Shinji raised his cup and said respectfully, "Elder, you are right. This group from the Hokage faction in Konoha has never thought of letting our Uchiha truly grasp power. Continuing to stay in Konoha will only lead to us being slowly eroded!"
"Hmph, Fugaku has gone senile to believe their nonsense. And I heard that Fugaku even met with that little brat from the Anbu before today." Elder Yoshinori sneered. "Who's to say that even this set of rhetoric wasn't given to him by that little brat? Can their words be believed?"
"Then, according to you, we should leave the village and go to Uchiha Madara? But some of what Fugaku said wasn't without reason…" another elder hesitated for a moment, unable to resist pouring cold water on the idea. "Madara's betrayal back then, does he really not care about it at all?"
"We were just children back then, with no power. No matter what, he wouldn't hate our generation!" Elder Yoshinori stroked his beard and smiled. "Besides, if he really hated our Uchiha clan, why would he take that child away? He can tolerate even a brat like that, so why can't he accept us Uchiha clansmen?"
Uchiha Obito. In his view, was just a talentless fool. Madara wants even such an idiot, why wouldn't he want people like us? This line of reasoning… the elders all nodded, each feeling it made some sense. Only the younger Uchiha Shinji had a slightly different opinion.
"If what Fugaku said about 'possession' is true, then choosing Obito might be because he is relatively foolish and easy to deceive. In that case, he wouldn't need too many people."
"…" Everyone was speechless.
Uchiha Yoshinori sighed deeply.
"Let's eat!"
He already knew everyone's thoughts; there was no need to discuss this meeting any further! Although each one said "I don't believe it," in reality, Fugaku's words had planted a seed of doubt in their hearts, making them no longer so certain of their original judgment. Fugaku had already succeeded.
***
In the underground space. Obito slowly woke up, looking around in a daze.
This is…
He was confused for a while, then gradually remembered. He had been saved! And he seemed to have heard a very old voice, the other party saying he was Uchiha Madara. Uchiha Obito looked up and was instantly startled.
"Ahhh! Who are you?"
His body trembled. Although it was dark, he could still vaguely see through the light that the other's skin was pale and not like a normal person's.
White Zetsu chuckled. "I am a subordinate of Madara-sama. You can call me Tobi. Also, you don't need to look like you've seen a ghost. You have some of my flesh on you!" Tobi's laughter was eerie, making Obito shiver. But he looked down and found it was indeed true… On his body were some fair-skinned patches of flesh, clearly not belonging to him. This is his flesh?
Obito was first shocked, then heard the other party say, "We were in a hurry when we ran, there was no way to protect you, so you were injured quite a bit. And… your body is too weak. It's a good time to enhance it with some flesh."
Tobi said. Obito looked down, silent for a moment. Weak? Although he wasn't strong, he had always been secretly training his body; it shouldn't be that weak. However, he stood up and quickly understood what the other party meant by "weak." He was indeed much stronger! Not only that, he could feel his chakra flowing more smoothly, as if his whole body was much lighter. Besides…
"You can look at your own eyes," a voice sounded.
"Yes!" Sharingan! Obito activated his Sharingan, took out a kunai, and carefully reflected the light. Through the light, he saw his own eyes. In each eye, there were three distinct tomoe spinning. Three tomoe! A month ago, he would never have believed he could go from not having awakened his eyes to the level of three tomoe in such a short time.
For a moment, Obito was both happy and apprehensive. Happy… naturally, because he had awakened the three-tomoe Sharingan and obtained considerable power. Apprehensive—he was currently in Uchiha Madara's residence, not knowing if the ancestor was easy to get along with. Although he had been in contact with the other "Madara" for quite some time on the way, that person was not the same as the real Madara. Thinking of this, Obito suddenly remembered—the voice just now seemed to be the "Madara"-senpai from before.
"Senpai, you're okay?"
"How could I not be? I'm even better than before." Black Zetsu chuckled, possessing Tobi's body, presenting a state of black and white.
Obito's eyes widened, then he said with joy, "You can manifest directly now?"
"Mm, I have received help from the main body and can act independently, more flexible than before. As for you, don't limit your vision to the present. Three tomoe is just the beginning!" Black Zetsu said.
Obito nodded emphatically.
"Senpai, I will work hard to become stronger!"
He didn't think too much, naturally accepting his current state, then looked up. The old man on the throne, the giant, strange Demonic Statue… mysterious and powerful.
Is that the secret of peace that the ancestor explored?
Obito's eyes were filled with fervent worship and longing. Seeing it, Obito was even more certain he had not come to the wrong place. One day, he too could bear its power and walk the path of "peace" all the way. Eternal peace can definitely be achieved!
***
Later, one morning. Shisui walked towards the Ninja Academy with a simple bag on his back. Since Obito's defection, he still felt as if he were in a daze, everything seemed both real and illusory. He had been thinking about what Obito meant by "eternal peace," wondering if it was a promise made by the person behind the scenes to deceive him.
Madara… sigh! Shisui sighed. Uchiha Madara was once an existence admired by everyone in their Uchiha clan, but now he had become an existence whose good and evil were hard to distinguish, which made him feel somewhat wistful.
"Shisui!"
"Inabi-nii, what's the matter?"
"It's nothing." Uchiha Inabi looked at Shisui, a gentle smile on his face. "I've seen you seem a bit absent-minded these past few days. Is something on your mind?"
"On my mind… not really. I just feel a bit tired," Shisui sighed softly.
Inabi said, "Don't think too much, make sure to rest."
"Mm." Shisui nodded, then smiled.
"Inabi-nii, I'm going to school."
"If you're free this afternoon, let's train together. I'll teach you the Uchiha clan's swordsmanship."
"Alright." Shisui waved goodbye. He wasn't physically tired, but mentally exhausted. Obito's ambitions were great, but few understood. When they mentioned him, it was always with labels like "fool," "dead-last," "idiot." These people had never looked Obito in the eye.
"They are even worse than Obito," Uchiha Shisui muttered to himself. These people thought they were strong, but didn't know that Obito had awakened two tomoe right away, his talent in the Sharingan far stronger than theirs. Living in the glory of the past… unable to adapt.
"Such Uchiha, if it were really Uchiha Madara, he probably wouldn't have any expectations for you either."
Shisui carried his schoolbag with one hand. In his mind, the words the senior had said suddenly came to him.
If you want to change them, you must have enough power and status to make your words useful enough. Only then can you change all this.
Because… the sickness of this clan lay in its roots and ideology. Without correcting all this, any amount of effort would be in vain.
"Power, status, ideology." Shisui's gaze gradually became firm.
"That's right! To change all this, I must have enough power, like senpai, to make those people recognize the gap with absolute strength and talent."
***
In the Anbu, Namikaze Minato looked helpless, yet puzzled. At that time, he had clearly caught up with the opponent, and could clearly sense Obito's movements before, but it seemed as if he had lost track of him in an instant. It was as if it were some kind of secret technique.
"This should be some special secret technique that can cover all presence and chakra fluctuations. Or, it is not a normal living being at all." Orochimaru licked his lips. Such an existence was truly curious! He wished he could immediately capture the other and study him thoroughly, but unfortunately he wasn't there at the time…
Orochimaru looked at Kyohiko. "What do you think? We have to find a way to dig them out!"
"I have no ideas." Kyohiko formed hand seals, controlling the application of his chakra. He was practicing "Amber." Currently, although the Amber Jutsu could achieve the effect he needed, its application was still too limited and hadn't achieved a very good effect. Besides—resin should have more applications.
As Kyohiko practiced, he pondered, "We still have to focus our attention on the Land of Water. We can't follow their rhythm."
"The Land of Water…" Namikaze Minato shook his head. Easier said than done?
"The one who can control this power must be a high-ranking official, or even the Mizukage. But as an enemy country, what can we use to influence their Mizukage election?" As for the internal affairs of Kirigakure, if they wanted to change the Mizukage, Karatachi Yagura would have been replaced long ago given the years of the Bloody Mist policy. Why wait until now?
Orochimaru said, "Heh, my moral bottom line is not as high as you two. If you let me do it, I could directly dismantle their Jinchuriki first." A slight smile touched his lips. This wasn't the first time he had done something like this.
"Let's not rush," Kyohiko shook his head. Assassinating a Jinchuriki… this was the worst strategy. It could easily trigger a joint attack from the shinobi world, which would in turn fulfill Uchiha Madara's needs—the other party just wanted the shinobi world to fall into chaos. Chaos, internal strife. Only then could Madara slowly accumulate power and wait for Nagato's eyes to mature.
"Nagato." Kirigakure and Nagato were two key points. The former was the power Madara could currently use to influence the shinobi world, to complete the plans he needed. For example, this assassination.
"We definitely can't actively start a war. Our ninjas are not good at naval combat. Crossing the great sea to attack the Land of Water is undoubtedly the worst choice. But we can leak some information to the Kirigakure ninjas." Kyohiko smiled.
"They can tolerate the Bloody Mist policy, but they probably can't accept being manipulated by outsiders and used as tools to complete a plan, right?"
"I'll go," Namikaze Minato stood up.
Orochimaru shook his head. "You two should forget it. This is not something you should do. Your presence now is much stronger than ours." After the Second Great Ninja War, the names of the Sannin echoed throughout the shinobi world. But at that time, the enemy was not as daunting as Namikaze Minato and Ryoho Kyohiko. Thunder God And two top-tier ninjas who had both mastered it. When the two of them acted, it basically meant no one could match them. They could even come and go as they pleased, and no one could stop them, unless a trap was set in advance.
Besides—"You still have to deal with the Third Raikage. I heard that guy came personally, right?" Orochimaru looked at Kyohiko. The Third Raikage… this one, like Kyohiko and Minato, was a presence to be revered in the current shinobi world. Apart from Kyohiko and Minato working together, it was basically impossible for others to defeat the Third Raikage. Including the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki—Kushina.
Kyohiko nodded and smiled. "Yes, so I plan to let A out for some air, to recuperate, so people don't say we mistreat prisoners."
"That's that, then." Orochimaru smiled.
"Coincidentally, I'm interested in the battlefield over there and plan to go and have a look."
"Alright." Kyohiko nodded. He paused, then said, "If you go there, help me see if there are any surviving descendants. If there are, you can bring them back, or raise them outside as a hidden force."
"The Yuki and Kaguya clans?" Orochimaru pondered for a moment, then nodded. "Alright, I'll pay attention." After speaking, he disappeared in a body flicker.
Kyohiko thought in his mind. "There's one more thing, Onoki's side."
"Sensei is keeping an eye on it. And, the information from over there can also effectively help us," Namikaze Minato said. Speaking of which, he had to admire Kyohiko. Yahiko, this chess piece, was truly played brilliantly. A nail stuck between the Land of Wind and the Land of Earth, able to obtain intelligence from both sides simultaneously.
But this was also what Kyohiko was worried about. The shinobi world was calming down. The gazes of the Land of Earth and the Land of Wind would inevitably shift from the Land of Fire, and their goal would temporarily change from dividing up Konoha to internally strengthening their military and externally expanding their forces. Small countries, small ninja villages, and wandering ninjas would become their targets to win over or eliminate. Thinking of this.
"After the matter with the Cloud Village comes to an end, I plan to make a trip to Yahiko's side."
"Go to their side for what?" Minato was surprised.
Kyohiko said, "Whether the person behind this is Madara or a fake Madara, his re-emergence is definitely not just for revenge. I'm more worried about those eyes." Those eyes… the Rinnegan.
Minato was silent. The legendary eyes of the Sage of Six Paths were indeed coveted. If outsiders found out—caught between two major powers, Nagato and the others would surely die!