Black Zetsu was miserable, but he didn't say a word.
Because of Orochimaru's new high-tech invention, White Zetsu could no longer infiltrate Konoha. That forced Black Zetsu to act personally and gather information himself.
The result? He ended up being chased by a cat.
He couldn't even figure out what that cat saw in him—it was so determined to catch the pitch-black creature that it leapt from power line to power line just to stay on his tail.
...
While Black Zetsu was being hunted down, Obito arrived before Takeshi.
"Sit down, Obito."
Takeshi, who had been handling village affairs, looked up in mild confusion when he saw Obito standing perfectly straight in front of him. Why was the man acting so formal?
Hearing Takeshi's words, Obito cautiously glanced toward Uchiha Hikari, who was sitting by the windowsill munching on a chocolate stick. When he saw no reaction from her, he carefully moved closer to the chair, slowly lowering himself onto the seat.
"Ahem."
Hikari coughed after being choked by the sweetness of the chocolate, and that single sound made the already nervous Obito snap back to full attention.
Takeshi immediately understood what was going on. It was obvious that Hikari had intimidated him earlier, so he decided not to press the matter of whether Obito sat or not.
"I heard that during your recent infiltration, you encountered the Fourth Raikage? And he wasn't affected by Yōwan's eye technique?"
Takeshi asked his question directly.
"Yes."
Obito decided to just stand where he was and answer, occasionally glancing toward Hikari's direction.
"Hmm..."
Takeshi tapped the end of his pen against his chin, frowning slightly. He quickly realized that the other side's technology seemed to be developing rapidly as well.
It looked like Jigen really had teamed up with Yōwan.
Jigen...
Thinking of how Naruto and Sasuke were utterly crushed by him, Takeshi shivered.
No, no, with my current level, I can only elbow around with old Madara at best. You want me to fight Jigen? I'd rather take on all five Kage at once.
This kind of troublesome mission had to be dumped on Ōnoki.
Takeshi made up his mind—when it came to dealing with Jigen, Ōnoki was going to be the one on the front line.
Ōnoki: "That evil Shimura brat!"
"Should we send people to surround and eliminate them?"
Obito had only just learned about the existence of the Ōtsutsuki and didn't fully understand their abilities yet. He was feeling eager to test himself.
"Now's not the time. But we should indeed keep them under surveillance. For now, cutting off the Snow Country branch would be the best move."
Takeshi rejected Obito's proposal, believing that the top priority was to shrink their encirclement and strip away the outer layers of Akatsuki's network.
"Kakashi's mission in the direction of the Snow Country was delayed for a while due to security issues. But he's already departed with his team. I think we should deal with the Snow Country situation first before making further decisions."
After sharing his plan, Takeshi assigned Obito a new task as well:
"The Sky Ninja's movements have already been tracked. Jiraiya is currently monitoring them. You'll lead a team to support him—try to capture Shinno alive."
"Understood."
Obito straightened up and answered seriously.
...
With their ability to fly through the sky, the Ancor Vantian finally reached the border of the Land of Demons after a long journey.
There, Shinno encountered someone whose medical ninjutsu skills rivaled his own—a man named Yomi.
"The so-called Mōryō is nothing compared to the Ōtsutsuki."
Inside the fortress, Shinno spoke passionately, introducing Yomi to the might of the Ōtsutsuki clan.
"Even I can only dwell within the outer formation, unable to enter the inner sanctum. But if you and I join forces, we might earn a place within. Once that great being is resurrected, you and I will surely gain true immortality."
Seeing Yomi's potential, Shinno earnestly hoped to form an alliance. With the secret techniques he had stolen from Konoha, he believed they could share in the chakra fruits alongside the Ōtsutsuki.
"I see... Ōtsutsuki, huh..."
Yomi didn't immediately respond. He had never witnessed the Ōtsutsuki's powers himself, so he remained skeptical of Shinno's claims.
Still, the man's words were intriguing—especially the part about the origin of shinobi.
If chakra truly came from those extraterrestrial beings, then where did Mōryō and natural energy originate from?
...
At that moment, Jiraiya was crouched outside the fortress with Aburame Shikuro and Inuzuka Tsume, waiting for reinforcements.
He immediately noticed the faint distortion of space behind him—just as Obito landed, a sharp white strand of hair was already pressed against his neck.
"It's me, you pervy old man."
Obito quickly identified himself, not expecting his old teacher's senses to be sharp enough to detect even the ripple of space-time distortion.
"We're on a mission. Be serious."
Being called that nickname in front of two fellow Konoha shinobi made even thick-skinned Jiraiya flush with embarrassment.
With a red face, he gestured for Obito to watch his words. Then he realized—his "reinforcement" was just this one foolish disciple.
"You came alone?"
Jiraiya wasn't doubting his own strength, but even he knew that taking down such a large enemy force with just their small group was impossible if they wanted to wipe them out completely.
"It's a critical period for the Allied Shinobi Forces right now—manpower's tight everywhere. Besides, Takeshi said we only need to take out the key figures."
Obito explained.
----------------
Check out my new fanfic Naruto Mobile Game In The Ninja World. Good fanfic with the system
Fanfic is finished on Patreon (445 chapters in total.)
Patreon(.)com/Jixo (for only $4.50, read this entire fanfic)