[Borderlands of the Land of Fire]
This small village had already fallen into a sea of flames.
Countless villagers were all tied up and thrown into a giant pit that had been dug out.
"SPARE ME!"
"I DON'T WANT TO DIE!"
"AH! MAMA! I WANT MY MAMA!"
"OLD MAN!"
Beside them, a tall, burly man formed an Earth Release seal with his hands.
At once, both sides of the pit collapsed inward, burying the villagers at the bottom.
The people who were buried alive wouldn't die right away. Especially since special breathing channels had been left behind here on purpose.
Wails of despair kept coming from underground.
Standing above the pit, Yomi formed seals, and visible black smoke began to pour from his body.
The source of that black smoke was none other than the villagers who had been buried alive.
"It's been so long already, and still no recovery?", Obito looked at the smoking Yomi, thinking that recruiting him into the organization had been a mistake.
It had already been more than two years, and the demon Moryo had never once appeared.
If not for Yomi's Dark Medical Ninjutsu still having some usefulness, Obito would've long ago kicked him out of the Tsukuma Organization.
Yomi shook his head, "Lord Moryo's recovery requires dark energy, or for the current shrine maiden to grow up."
"Right now, the shrine maiden hasn't inherited the role."
"Lord Moryo's recovery is slower."
"Anyway, they all want this soil full of corpses. I'm just absorbing a little dark energy on the side."
Obito glanced at the several others who were still busy burying people alive. They were Kazuma's squad.
Two years ago, these were the people Obito had recruited.
They wanted to destroy Konoha.
But in Obito's view, they were somewhat naive.
It was only Kazuma's so-called super forbidden technique, that was somewhat interesting. He planned to try it once Kazuma completed it.
Because of the rift between Nagato and Obito, Obito had begun recruiting constantly, gathering more and more people into his Tsukuma Organization.
Each of the Five Great Shinobi Villages had countless enemies.
But the villages themselves were too powerful, and those people couldn't take revenge.
Obito planned to link all those forces together to accomplish his own goal.
Just then, the ground in front of him bulged, and a figure appeared, it was Zetsu.
Obito was slightly surprised, "You got news?"
Zetsu had said earlier he'd found someone who held a grudge against Konoha and was planning to make contact. It hadn't been long, and now he was back.
Zetsu's tone was unusually heavy, "Something happened."
This was the first time Obito had ever heard such a tone from him.
He glanced at Yomi, still absorbing dark energy, and at Kazuma's group burying people.
"Let's talk somewhere else," Obito slipped into the earth, and the two of them tunneled far away before resurfacing.
Zetsu opened his mouth and stunned Obito, "Nagato has broken the seal on his heart."
"WHAT?", Obito nearly jumped.
That heart seal was used to keep Nagato from committing suicide, and also to forcefully control him into using the Samsara of Heavenly Life Technique.
That seal could only be released if Nagato died. Otherwise, it was unbreakable.
"Nagato's dead?", Obito suddenly thought of this terrifying possibility.
Zetsu shook his head, "No, Nagato's still alive. He just used some unknown method to undo the seal."
Obito's heart, which had just fallen, rose again, "If he undid the seal, then how do we resurrect Madara?"
He actually had no intention of reviving Madara. He wanted to become the Ten-Tails' jinchuriki himself and cast Infinite Tsukuyomi.
But in front of Zetsu, who Obito believed carried Madara's will, he had to say it that way.
Black Zetsu, as Kaguya's will, had plenty of backup plans in his mind.
But right now, none of them were usable.
He could only say, "We must find Nagato and take back the Rinnegan."
Obito paced back and forth, "But right now we can't even find him. How do we take it?"
Zetsu analyzed, "He's been hiding from us for more than two years, all just to undo the heart seal."
"And the beginning of all this was when Konan led people to attack Konoha and made contact with the Uchiha."
"Later, Uchiha Rengoku also revealed your identity in front of Kakashi."
"Nagato's whereabouts are deeply connected to the Uchiha."
Obito cut him off directly, "Saying that is the same as saying nothing. Can you even infiltrate the Uchiha clan?"
Zetsu replied calmly, "That's easy. The Uchiha have plenty of people out on missions. Not all of them are Mangekyo."
Obito frowned, weighing the risks.
Right now, the Uchiha were at the peak of their power. The number one fighting force in the ninja world, with Uchiha Rengoku as clan head.
Fugaku and Itachi were also Mangekyo Sharingan users.
Facing Fugaku or Itachi alone was dangerous enough. If they tried to capture an Uchiha, they risked being hunted down relentlessly.
The ninja world was vast, and Obito could roam freely almost anywhere.
But if the Uchiha pursued him without regard for cost, then achieving the Moon's Eye Plan would become much harder.
Obito had originally wanted to wipe out the Uchiha clan precisely because they were so uncontrollable.
Unfortunately, that plan had been broken midway by Rengoku.
And with Rengoku's rise, Itachi's return, and Fugaku's awakening, Obito's wariness had only deepened.
Obito hesitated, "Don't move against the Uchiha for now. My identity being exposed probably has to do with them."
"But Nagato's trail isn't necessarily tied to them."
"For uncertain intel, offending the Uchiha isn't worth it."
Zetsu seemed to see through Obito's thoughts, but didn't argue right away.
For him, reviving his mother through the Moon's Eye Plan was the only thing that mattered.
Offending the Uchiha? So what.
He deliberately used cutting words, "Are you stupid? Back then, you made the Uchiha clan shoulder the blame for the Nine-Tails' attack."
"You think they'll just let you go?"
Obito lowered his gaze, thinking, "For now, don't touch the Uchiha. On this current battlefield between Iwagakure and Sunagakure, Nagato might intervene."
"Go there first and see if you can get intel."
Zetsu didn't press. As long as Obito could still be kept stable for now, things could change later.
He said, "Relax. I've already sent Tobi to the Iwagakure battlefield. If there's intel, he'll report back."
Obito could use Kamui to move quickly.
But to shuttle back and forth across such great distances still took time.
So most things had to be handled by Zetsu.
After all, Obito alone couldn't run around, gather intel, and recruit people all at once.
At that moment, a spore clone of Zetsu popped out of the ground.
"Hah-looo…", Though all the spores looked the same, this one's greeting made it obvious who he was.
Tobi.
"Nagato has already sent Sasori and Kakuzu to support Sunagakure. Right now, Iwa's forces have already been pushed back," Tobi's flippant tone made one want to smack him, "And now Iwa's Five-Tails jinchuriki, Han, has led Iwa's elites rushing to the battlefield."
Obito's eyes lit up.
A jinchuriki entering the battlefield meant the fight was leveling up.
How would Nagato handle this?
"Let's go. To the Iwa battlefield."
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