Being surrounded by a hundred... or rather, over a thousand White Zetsus was no big deal. But if it were the real Black Zetsu and a man claiming to be Madara Uchiha, that would be a different story entirely.
Even now, the mere name "Madara" was enough to make people tremble at its mention. He was a legendary monster in the ninja world—one even the Akatsuki couldn't hope to rival.
Yet this man before them didn't radiate that chilling sense of oppression. Instead, he gave off a strange emptiness, as though he himself didn't understand what his name truly meant.
"Your stuff..." Naruto cautiously asked, keeping Sage Mode active in case anything sudden happened. "Are you talking about the Nine-Tails?"
"There's other things too," Tobi said nonchalantly. Through the hole in his mask, they could see his crimson Sharingan.
"Don't worry though. I'll take it all eventually." So Zetsu's intel was right after all—Naruto and Yugito are really here.
"Just because you've found us, what can you do?" Naruto asked warily. "You're not working with Pain, right?"
The sudden shift in topic caught Yugito off guard. Why bring up the mastermind behind their current predicament at a time like this? "Unless both of you are actually the leaders... but I wouldn't believe 'God' would work together with others."
"Pain is just a spoiled brat who's forgotten who gave him those grand ideas—who gave him those divine eyes," Tobi sneered. "He's gone out of control—so I dropped him. He wants to change the world, but he's doomed to fail. Still, maybe he can stir up some trouble for me, which might actually help my plans move forward more smoothly."
What exactly were his intentions? Yugito still couldn't piece it together. There's no way this man is Madara Uchiha, and he clearly isn't aligned with Pain either—so then, what does he want?
"What do you really want?"
"Peace, naturally—like every so-called great man," Tobi admitted bluntly. "A world where everything is perfectly ordered, where all the tailed beasts will be merged into a single entity, just as they were before the Sage of Six Paths divided them."
"No way..." Naruto heard the Nine-Tails growl inside his mind. "This guy isn't Madara. His chakra feels dark—it's strong, but compared to Madara's Sharingan, it's still far inferior."
He'd never forget that man. This one standing here? Definitely not him.
Tobi continued,
"I will become the Ten-Tails' jinchuriki, just like the Sage of Six Paths. Then I'll project my Sharingan onto the moon using the Ten-Tails' power, casting the Infinite Tsukuyomi across the entire world. That way, there will be no more wars, no more crime. Everyone will live in eternal happiness."
Is *this* what he calls peace? A world without free will, controlled entirely through genjutsu—how is that any different from the living dead?
"Man, did you steal this plan from a comic book or something?"
Naruto couldn't help but scoff. He now finally understood where Pain's ideas had come from — they had all been manipulated by this man.
"At the end of the day, you just want to rule the world," he scoffed. "I don't get it. Why do you always feel the need to sugarcoat your ambitions with high-sounding words?"
Ruling is ruling. Pain wanted to become a god, while this guy calling himself Madara planned to enslave the entire world with genjutsu. No matter which method they used, the final result was the same — forcing everyone to submit to their will. So why waste so much breath trying to justify themselves?
Tobi's eyes narrowed as he glared at Naruto through his mask, and even the White Zetsus behind him looked caught off guard.
"What did you say?"
"You want this world," Naruto repeated, "and there's nothing wrong with that. I just don't understand why you people always feel the need to defend yourselves like you've done something shameful. Who cares anyway? Why not just say it straight: 'I want to control the entire world with my Sharingan, manipulating everyone like puppets'? Orochimaru may be insane, but at least he takes responsibility for what he does. He never hides behind excuses for chasing his own desires. In this world, there's no such thing as truly good or evil — so why worry about what others think?"
Tobi remained silent for a moment before nodding slightly and replying,
"You're right, but not entirely. I don't care how you see me or how others judge me — only whether my plan succeeds matters. That Nagato was too naïve, obsessed with playing god. I'm different from him. I don't want to become a god or anyone else. I simply wish to complete the Moon's Eye Plan."
The Moon's Eye Plan?
Tobi paced back and forth among an army of White Zetsu as he continued,
"My plans have already failed multiple times due to your interference and your father's, but I've made thorough preparations, devising one contingency plan after another just in case. And you, Naruto, are the final nail in the coffin. You killed Sasuke, broke Itachi's mind, and destroyed everything I built. I originally intended to use the Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan to control the Nine-Tails and then use its power to revive the Ten-Tails. You even prevented us from capturing the Two-Tails, going as far as sacrificing your own eye and wiping out most of the Akatsuki organization."
"So you're no hero after all, huh?" Yugito thought bitterly, glancing at Naruto's back and finally understanding Tobi's meaning. "Wait, Naruto clearly still has two eyes."
"One isn't his — it belongs to Shisui Uchiha," Tobi remarked proudly, clearly enjoying revealing Naruto's secret. His gaze pierced Naruto as if seeing straight through him. "No matter how well you try to hide it, the truth remains unchanged. You carry not only the Nine-Tails but also Shisui Uchiha's Sharingan… and both shall be mine!"
A wave of fury surged within Naruto. Who did this nobody think he was, exposing his secrets like that?!
"If you want my Sharingan, come and take it!" he said, molding chakra with hand seals and ripping off the talisman that sealed Amaterasu.
[Fire Sealing Art: Release!]
He grabbed Yugito and hurled her away, then spun rapidly, whipping up a massive whirlwind around his body.
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