After a few seconds of silence, Uchiha Obito let out a short, involuntary laugh and brushed aside the unrealistic worries lingering in his mind.
He didn't think he would run into Uchiha Chizumi so soon.
After all, every time he slipped back into Konoha he remained unnoticed; the supposedly "tightly monitored" Konoha was really just a giant sieve.
Given enough time, he was confident he could work out exactly what power Chizumi's Mangekyō Sharingan possessed.
Yes—
Obito had already placed Uchiha Chizumi under close surveillance.
The "old grudge" of nearly losing his life to that man…
Obito had never forgotten it.
"Rin…" he murmured. "Everything is proceeding exactly as I envisioned. It won't be long before I create a new world—one more beautiful than any you've ever known, far better than this foul, rotten shinobi world."
His gaze flicked to the withered white flower he had tossed aside.
"In that new world, you'll live well, and the bond between us will be deeper than it is now.
"Wait for me, Rin."
Just then, his expression changed; his eyes darted left. He could feel that two of the White Zetsu clones he had stationed nearby had been killed.
Even Anbu and Root operatives had never discovered those clones inside Konoha—
so who could this be?
Obito tensed.
Tap… tap… tap…
Soft footsteps reached his ears; the newcomer wasn't bothering to hide them. They clearly knew killing two clones would expose them, so they chose to appear openly.
Under the moonlight, a figure gradually entered Obito's view, making his pupils contract in surprise.
Uchiha Chizumi!
"Heh‑heh…" Switching to a deeper, raspier voice, Obito drawled, "And here I wondered who it might be… just a kid of the Uchiha clan."
He was, after all, masquerading as Uchiha Madara.
Yet—
"Uchiha Obito," Chizumi said softly, uttering a name that froze Obito's face in disbelief. "Long time no see. The sins on you have grown so crimson they're nearly black."
—How did he recognize me?!
The shocked cry rang inside Obito's mind. Instinctively his eyes flicked toward a nearby gravestone.
Was it because of Rin's grave?
"Youngster, I don't understand your nonsense," Obito replied, already phasing into Kamui's intangibility—still wary of Chizumi's ocular arts.
White Zetsu had told him how miserably Danzo was tormented—unable to live, unable to die. Obito had no desire to share that fate. Kamui was his insurance.
Chizumi was a little taller, and Obito disliked looking up, so he lightly leapt onto another gravestone—not Rin's—then looked down with a condescending gaze.
"I am not this 'Obito' you speak of," he rasped. "But I have heard of you: Konoha's enforcer of 'Absolute Justice'; the Lava Release fiend of the Third Shinobi War; the once‑in‑a‑millennium dual‑kekkei‑genkai genius—Uchiha Chizumi."
He chuckled and fully revealed one Mangekyō Sharingan. "Aren't you curious who I am, boy?"
But Chizumi's eyes remained calm.
Obito's theatrics were fooling no one; he felt like a clown performing a one‑man act.
Damn it!
Couldn't this guy play along? Even the Akatsuki believed his "Uchiha Madara" persona!
"Hmph! Have Uchiha youngsters forgotten respect?" he barked. "I am your forefather—Uchiha Madara! Surely that name is not unfamiliar?"
Chizumi answered slowly, "A monkey dressed in a crown."
"…What?" Obito frowned; having become a genin at nine, he'd never finished the academy curriculum.
"Meow—Chizumi-sama says you're a monkey wearing a hat, trying to look human," sneered the orange cat Jūjirō, licking its paw. "Illiterate, are you?"
The cat lifted its head. "Before Chizumi-sama's eyes, no disguise works! Uchiha Obito—once he spoke your name, it meant he'd already seen through your pitiful mask!"
A vein bulged on Obito's forehead, and his face flushed crimson.
…
Elsewhere
Exhausted and removing his Anbu mask, Hatake Kakashi finally coaxed a lead out of a Konoha shinobi.
"Uchiha Chizumi? I saw him head that way not long ago—likely to the cemetery."
The shinobi eyed Kakashi oddly, unable to fathom why anyone would seek out that "Uchiha Plague."
Konoha Cemetery…
Kakashi's gaze grew distant before he steadied himself. "Thank you."
…
"I don't understand how you found me out…" Obito muttered inwardly.
Was it Chizumi's eye technique? The Sharingan wasn't a Byakugan—how had he seen through Obito's mask?
Aloud he said coldly, "Uchiha Chizumi, I admire someone like you. Serve me, and I'll reveal the Uchiha clan's secrets—and the shinobi world's."
"How long can Kamui's intangibility last?" Chizumi suddenly asked, turning Obito's face ashen.
Unruffled, Chizumi continued, "You activated Kamui before facing me; you must already know about my Mangekyō. So—that's your answer: hiding your body in another dimension."
"…You!!!"
Obito's heart pounded; his breath hitched. Horror spread across his face as if he'd seen a ghost.
—He knows about Kamui's intangibility too?!
That was his greatest trump card, yet now he felt stripped bare.
A surge of dread rose inside him; all earlier composure shattered, palms slick with sweat.
"Uchiha Chizumi…" Obito masked his panic with killing intent. "Know too much, and you die. You fought Danzo—your chakra must be low, right?"
~~~
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