Deep within a concealed underground facility in the Hidden Rain Village, Uchiha Obito sat in the oppressive darkness with a profoundly gloomy expression etched across his features. Behind him loomed a massive, otherworldly creature with several lengthy tubes extending from its form and connecting directly to his body.
This enormous entity was none other than the Gedo Statue - the empty shell of the legendary Ten-Tails!
At this critical moment, Uchiha Obito was completely dependent upon the Gedo Statue to maintain his fragile life, which flickered as uncertainly as a candle flame in a violent storm.
As he remained lost in brooding silence, a distinctive black and white figure emerged from the ground nearby.
It was Zetsu!
"How did it go?" Uchiha Obito's words contained absolutely no trace of emotion or warmth.
"No problems whatsoever. Nagato and Konan harbor no suspicions, and now they believe even more firmly that you are severely injured and recovering!"
"I suppose that could be considered marginally good news!"
Black Zetsu stared intently at Uchiha Obito, who now emanated a mysterious yet extremely dark aura that seemed to permeate the entire chamber.
This sinister energy had originally belonged to Black Zetsu itself!
The Desperate Fusion
After the fierce and devastating battle between Uchiha Obito and Shihouin Naraku, Obito had been rendered completely unconscious from his severe injuries. Despite Black Zetsu's most determined efforts, it could at best only delay the progression of Obito's wounds but utterly failed to awaken him from his comatose state.
Black Zetsu absolutely could not allow this situation to continue, because Uchiha Obito remained essential to numerous critical plans and schemes. If he remained unconscious for an extended period, many key strategic objectives would become impossible to achieve.
Therefore, while utilizing the Gedo Statue to sustain Obito's minimal life functions, Black Zetsu desperately searched for alternative solutions. If it weren't completely impossible, it would have even considered approaching Shihouin Naraku directly and requesting his assistance in awakening Uchiha Obito.
However, due to legitimate fears that Uchiha Obito's true identity would be exposed, Black Zetsu found itself unable to explain the dire situation to the other members of the Akatsuki organization.
Nagato and Konan already harbored certain doubts about Obito's real identity. If they discovered his current critical condition, there would be no possibility of maintaining their cooperation. They would definitely sever all ties and potentially become enemies.
Consequently, Black Zetsu was ultimately forced to take matters into its own hands and pursue an extremely risky course of action.
Black Zetsu performed a dangerous Mind Fusion technique, parasitizing Uchiha Obito's consciousness while infusing its own spiritual energy directly into his damaged mind. Simultaneously, White Zetsu attached itself to Obito's physical form to replace damaged tissue.
Spirit and body working in perfect coordination!
Through the combined efforts of Black Zetsu and White Zetsu working together, Uchiha Obito finally regained consciousness!
However, the devastating consequence of this desperate procedure was that, except for his brain and a few vital organs, vast areas of Uchiha Obito's body tissue were now entirely composed of White Zetsu's cellular structure.
Even though Obito's intelligence had never been particularly impressive to begin with, he was now significantly affected by Black Zetsu's spiritual influence. From this point forward, if Black Zetsu wished to control Obito's actions, it no longer needed to exert direct physical effort. With merely a focused thought, Uchiha Obito would discover that he couldn't even control his own body movements.
Furthermore, the fact that Obito had been relying on the Gedo Statue to sustain his life for such an extended period had caused small amounts of weak divine tree tissue to infiltrate his system, creating an even more complicated biological situation!
A Transformed Being
To summarize the situation in simple terms: Uchiha Obito was no longer entirely human!
Instead, he had become a bizarre hybrid creature composed of White Zetsu's body, Black Zetsu's spiritual essence, divine tree tissue, and Uchiha Obito's original brain!
In his current transformed state, even if Ōtsutsuki Kaguya herself appeared before him, she would find it extremely difficult to determine exactly what Uchiha Obito had become.
As tragic as his circumstances were, Uchiha Obito's streak of misfortune was far from over.
Due to his severe injuries and this strange new condition, Obito found himself completely unable to remain away from the Gedo Statue for extended periods. During his last attempt to meet with Nagato and Konan, he had nearly died from the separation!
Obito had collapsed directly in front of the Gedo Statue upon his return. Fortunately, Black Zetsu discovered his condition quickly and immediately reconnected him to the life-sustaining apparatus, preventing any truly serious consequences.
Because of this terrifying experience, Obito had remained within the base since that meeting and hadn't dared to venture outside for even a moment.
However, after enduring this dangerous period, perhaps because his hybrid body and consciousness had begun to stabilize, Obito gradually developed a sustainable routine. Now he could venture outside more frequently, and his activities were no longer severely restricted.
As long as he returned to the base every ten days and connected to the Gedo Statue for a restoration session, he could resume his external activities.
According to Obito's careful calculations, if he persisted with this regimen, eventually this timeframe would extend to eleven days, then twelve days, and so on until he would no longer be affected by the limitation at all.
Unexpected Benefits
Of course, after surviving this catastrophic injury, Obito had "gained" countless disadvantages and limitations, but he had also acquired relatively significant benefits!
Uchiha Obito reflected on the excruciating pain he had endured during this recovery period, gritting his teeth and growling with barely contained rage: "Shi-ho-u-in Na-ra-ku!"
His pale right hand suddenly clenched into a tight fist, and a sonic boom like thunder erupted through the air!
That incredible display of power had resulted from nothing more than a simple hand gesture!
Obito could now unleash such terrifying physical force, which would have been completely unimaginable in his previous condition!
Moreover, after awakening from his ordeal, Obito discovered that he had gained not only immense physical strength, but his chakra reserves had become extraordinarily abundant, and his sensory perception abilities had increased dramatically.
His Wood Release ninjutsu had undergone the most remarkable transformation of all. To put it simply, if the power level of Wood Release techniques that Obito could perform previously rated at ten, now the Wood Release he could execute casually easily exceeded ten thousand!
The improvement was absolutely outrageous in its magnitude!
Ever since awakening his Mangekyō Sharingan, Obito had harbored a persistent question about the legendary battles of the past.
Now he finally understood how Senju Hashirama had been able to fight on equal terms with Uchiha Madara despite the incredible power of the Uchiha clan's Sharingan.
Such overwhelmingly powerful Wood Release techniques were indeed capable of competing directly with the Mangekyō Sharingan!
Dangerous Thoughts
Uchiha Obito, whose strength had increased so dramatically, once again employed his characteristically twisted logic and decided to settle his score with Shihouin Naraku after he had completely survived this dangerous recovery period!
However, after Black Zetsu provided Obito with a detailed account of everything Naraku had accomplished on the recent battlefield, he reluctantly calmed his aggressive impulses.
Nevertheless, Black Zetsu could clearly observe that Obito remained unconvinced and had not abandoned his desire to confront Shihouin Naraku. It could only conclude that Obito's brain truly functioned differently from ordinary people.
Black Zetsu thought with mounting frustration: "I expended so much energy and effort to finally awaken you, but after regaining consciousness, instead of expressing gratitude, you immediately began planning another fight!"
"Do you even remember what your ultimate goal is supposed to be?"
Black Zetsu's mental parasitism technique had also resulted in significant personal cost and energy depletion.
If the situation hadn't been absolutely desperate, it would never have chosen such a drastic approach!
Therefore, after witnessing Uchiha Obito's immediate reaction, Black Zetsu felt ready to collapse from sheer exasperation.
All descendants of the Uchiha clan were complete idiots!
Even though their stupidity made them relatively easy to manipulate and exploit, they couldn't possibly be this incredibly foolish!
Eventually, Black Zetsu managed to persuade Obito to abandon his revenge plans, relying on the original rhetoric about building a new world and reuniting with Nohara Rin...
At this moment, the thoroughly exhausted Black Zetsu finally observed Uchiha Obito, who had returned to a semblance of normalcy and whose power had increased tremendously!
It was a case of enduring bitterness before experiencing sweetness.
Black Zetsu could only comfort itself with this philosophical perspective.
New Missions
"Hiss..."
Uchiha Obito, who had been seated near the life-support apparatus, tore away the connecting tubes from his body and stood up with renewed purpose.
Obito, completely oblivious to Black Zetsu's frustrated and angry expression, asked: "Have the White Zetsu agents been deployed? Although the Two-Tails cannot be resurrected within such a short timeframe, we still need to prepare for that eventuality well in advance!"
"There are three White Zetsu operatives buried beneath the Forest of Death. When the Two-Tails eventually resurrects, we will definitely locate and capture it before Cloud Village can respond."
"If the Two-Tails is resurrected, regardless of whether our master plan has begun or not, we must capture it immediately to prevent any unforeseen complications."
Uchiha Obito adjusted his clothing while speaking, his eyes flashing with cold determination across his face that displayed the stark contrast between angelic and demonic features.
Just as Obito was preparing to depart for his mission, a White Zetsu wearing the distinctive Kamui Mangekyō Sharingan suddenly emerged from the ground with obvious urgency!
"Something terrible has happened!"
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