"I'm so bored."
Sitting in front of the door, watching the Akatsuki members move about, Obito pouted and complained to Kakashi.
"How much longer are Takeshi and the others going to keep talking? Is it really okay to leave that guy alone in there?"
"Hey, Kakashi, why are you just standing there watching?"
"Rin, say something to him too."
"Kaka—ow!"
Unable to endure Obito's whining anymore, Kakashi clenched his fist and slammed it hard onto Obito's head, hitting him so hard that it brought tears to Obito's eyes.
"You bastard, hitting me in the head again!"
Obito, now in pain from the punch, stood up furiously. He didn't care that they were on Akatsuki's turf—he was ready to throw down with Kakashi.
Yūjirō, who had been watching them from the side, showed a helpless expression.
As expected, they really were just kids. Even on the battlefield, they couldn't help messing around.
"Dammit, you're pretty good at dodging, huh."
Sneaking a glance at Yūjirō, who still hadn't moved, Obito felt a little pleased with himself and continued chasing Kakashi around.
Just a moment ago, when Kakashi had hit him, he had caught the subtle signal in Kakashi's eyes—he immediately understood that Kakashi was using the commotion as a cover to scout Akatsuki's defenses.
While they wrestled and scuffled, Kakashi had already gotten a clear read on the surrounding guard placements.
"Hey, Obito."
The door swung open, and Takeshi's voice called out to Obito.
Hearing his name, Obito instantly stopped running and took two steps at a time toward Takeshi. Before he could speak, Takeshi grabbed him by the collar and dragged him into the small room.
"W-W-What's going on?"
Dragged in against his will, Obito thought something had gone wrong with the negotiations. He quickly reached for his ninja pouch, but Takeshi grabbed his arm and stopped him.
"Let me introduce you. This is Jiraiya-sensei's new student—Uchiha Obito."
Smiling, Takeshi introduced Obito to Yahiko and the others, who politely stepped forward to shake his hand.
With a dazed look, Obito glanced around at everyone present, completely confused about what Takeshi was up to.
"The next part of our discussion will require your help. Obito, send us into the Kamui space."
Takeshi's expression turned serious as he addressed Obito.
He wanted to explain the origins of the Rinnegan to Yahiko and the others. But Madara was bound to have planted a Zetsu to monitor Nagato, so the conversation had to take place somewhere completely hidden.
Only Kamui's dimension could guarantee privacy from White Zetsu, who could freely travel through the earth.
To prevent Nagato from being easily manipulated by Madara's agents, Takeshi had to reveal the truth.
"Everyone, place your hands on Obito's shoulders."
Without waiting for Obito to respond, Takeshi had already arranged everything.
"Wait a second..."
Obito was baffled. How did Takeshi know so much about the Mangekyō Sharingan's abilities—maybe even more than he did?
Still, because he trusted Takeshi, Obito didn't voice his doubts.
"Yahiko..."
Seeing that they were about to enter another dimension, Konan looked toward Yahiko, a little uneasy.
Though the earlier conversation made it seem like this boy wasn't hostile, there was no guarantee all of that friendliness hadn't been leading up to this moment.
But Yahiko still wore his usual confident smile. He waved at Konan reassuringly and then stepped forward, placing his hand on Obito's shoulder.
Seeing Yahiko so calm, Nagato and Konan didn't object. Trusting in Yahiko, they each placed a hand on Obito's shoulder as well.
"Alright. Let's go."
With all three hands in place, Takeshi placed his own hand on Obito's free shoulder.
With a command, a wave of dizzying spatial distortion swept over them.
After a flash of darkness, they successfully entered the Kamui space.
...
"This is..."
Looking around at the vast space before them, Nagato extended an arm in front of Yahiko and Konan protectively, examining the surroundings cautiously.
"This is one of my teammate's abilities. I won't explain too much for now. The reason I brought you here is to tell you a secret. You can choose to believe it or not—but I hope that if, one day, a mysterious man calling himself Uchiha Madara approaches you and asks you to accept his will or to capture the Tailed Beasts, you'll remember what I'm telling you now."
Takeshi spoke quickly and at length, trying to make his message as convincing as possible.
The three exchanged glances. Seeing Takeshi so serious, they decided to listen before making any judgment.
...
Madara's secret base.
At this moment, Uchiha Madara was deep in sleep. The masked man was nowhere to be seen. In the vast underground space, the only other living beings were two strange-looking White Zetsu—and the still-injured Uchiha Yōwan.
That is, if White Zetsu even counted as living.
Staring at the two creatures who openly admitted they were watching him, Yōwan felt utterly miserable.
After all, waking up every morning to see one whirlpool-shaped freak who constantly wanted to talk about poop, and another creature with a massive spiked groin, wasn't exactly great for morale.
The so-called Uchiha Madara had fallen asleep after speaking a few words and sealed the exit with stone. Yōwan's body had also been infused with some strange substance—some wounds even glowed with an eerie white light.
He had to find a way to escape.
Yōwan felt no loyalty toward Madara. This so-called ancestor was no longer a Konoha shinobi. Even a kid like Yōwan understood that siding with a rogue ninja wouldn't end well.
However...
Looking at his limbs wrapped in bandages, Yōwan sighed and decided to go along with what these two monsters said, at least until he recovered enough to escape.
"By the way, that masked guy from the other day—isn't he one of your creations?"
Trying to keep his balance, Yōwan casually probed, hoping to gather some information.
"Him? Should we tell him?"
The spiked Zetsu blinked and looked toward the whirlpool-shaped Zetsu.
"Well, Madara-sama never said we couldn't talk about him. He's kind of like poop—whether he exists or not doesn't matter."
Zetsu raised a finger and continued his poop metaphor.
"Anyway, that guy went off to catch up with an old friend. I'd say you'll probably be seeing him again real soon."
Hearing that the masked man might return soon, Yōwan clenched his fists nervously.
That one was human—not a monster. Compared to these two freaks, a real person would never give him a chance to escape.
He had to move faster.