After a few seconds of silence, Obito Uchiha let out a dry laugh, shaking off his unrealistic worries. He didn't believe he'd run into Uchiha Akainu so quickly. After all, he was never detected whenever he returned to Konoha. The supposedly tightly monitored Hidden Leaf Village was, in reality, a huge sieve. Given enough time, he felt confident he could figure out the abilities of Uchiha Akainu's Mangekyo Sharingan.
Yes. Obito had already marked Uchiha Akainu as a key surveillance target. The "old grudge" of nearly dying at that guy's hands... Obito had never forgotten it, not for a moment.
"Rin..." Obito murmured, "Everything is proceeding according to my plan. Soon, I will create a new world. That world will be the most beautiful world you've ever lived in. It will be so much better than this rotten shinobi world." Obito's gaze flickered to the withered white flower he had discarded earlier. "In the new world, you'll live well, and we'll share an even deeper bond than now. Wait for me, Rin."
"...Hmm?" At that moment, Obito's expression suddenly changed, his gaze immediately shifting to the left. He distinctly felt that two of the White Zetsu clones he had placed around had died. Keep in mind, even Root ninja and Anbu ninja hadn't been able to detect the White Zetsu clones he had hidden in Konoha. Who could this be? Obito became wary.
Tap... tap... tap... Faint footsteps reached his ears. The person wasn't deliberately hiding their presence. He guessed they clearly knew that killing two White Zetsu clones would expose them. If so, they might as well appear openly.
Under the moonlight, a figure gradually entered Obito's sight, causing his pupils to constrict slightly and a flash of surprise to cross his eyes.
Uchiha Akainu!!!
"Hoh hoh..." The next second, Obito switched his voice, making it deep and hoarse, and slowly said, "I wondered who it was... turns out to be a junior Uchiha." Obito was currently posing as Madara Uchiha.
However...
"Uchiha Obito," Uchiha Akainu calmly uttered a name that filled Obito's face with disbelief: "It's been many years. The evil on you has grown so crimson, it's almost black."
—How did he recognize me?!!
An incredulous gasp echoed in Obito's mind. He instinctively glanced at a nearby tombstone. Could it be because of Rin's tombstone?
"Junior, you're speaking nonsense," Obito had already activated his "Kamui" intangibility. He was, after all, still overly wary of Uchiha Akainu's ocular jutsu. According to the White Zetsu clones, Danzo had been tormented terribly. "Unable to live, unable to die"—that phrase perfectly described Danzo's plight. Obito didn't want to suffer the same fate. Only by activating Kamui's intangibility could he feel confident enough.
But Uchiha Akainu was taller than him, and he wasn't used to looking up to meet someone's gaze. So, Obito lightly leaped onto a tombstone—though not Rin's. He looked down at Uchiha Akainu with a condescending gaze and said hoarsely, "I am not the Uchiha Obito you speak of. I've heard of you. Konoha's maintainer of 'absolute justice'; the Lava Release beast of the Third Great Ninja War; the Uchiha clan's once-in-a-millennium double bloodline limit genius—Uchiha Akainu."
"Hoh hoh..."
Obito let out a soft laugh, unreservedly exposing his single visible Mangekyo Sharingan, and said, "Aren't you even a little curious about my identity? Junior of the Uchiha clan."
But Obito noticed that Uchiha Akainu's gaze was incredibly calm. His attempts at mystification had not fooled the other party. He, instead, looked like a clown performing a solo act on stage.
Damn it! Can't this guy play along? Even those Akatsuki members believed his "Madara Uchiha" identity!
"Hmph! Have the juniors of the Uchiha clan forgotten what politeness is?" Obito sneered, "I am your ancestor! Uchiha Madara! That name should sound familiar, shouldn't it?"
Uchiha Akainu slowly replied, "A monkey in a hat."
"...What does that mean?" Obito frowned. Having become a genin at nine, he hadn't received a complete ninja academy education.
"Meow, Lord Akainu means you're a monkey wearing a hat, trying to pretend to be human," Tachijiro licked his paw, mocking, "Are you illiterate, meow?" Tachijiro raised his cat head and declared, "Before Lord Akainu's eyes... any disguise is useless! Uchiha Obito, when Lord Akainu called out your name, it meant he had already seen through your clumsy disguise!"
A vein instantly popped on Obito's forehead. His face immediately flushed with anger.
Kakashi's Path to the Cemetery
On the other side, Kakashi Hatake, shedding his fatigue and removing his Anbu mask, finally managed to inquire about Uchiha Akainu's whereabouts from a Konoha ninja after a series of questions.
"Uchiha Akainu, huh... I saw him heading that way a little while ago, probably to the cemetery?" The Konoha ninja looked at Kakashi strangely as he spoke. He couldn't understand why anyone would voluntarily seek out that Uchiha "plague god." Wasn't he afraid that the Uchiha "plague god" would turn around and cause trouble for him?
Konoha Cemetery... Kakashi's eyes became a little unfocused, lost in thought. He composed himself and said, "Thank you."
Akainu's Unsettling Knowledge
"I don't understand what you're talking about..." Obito racked his brain, unable to figure out how his identity had been exposed. Was it because of Uchiha Akainu's ocular jutsu? But the Sharingan wasn't the Byakugan; how did this guy see through his mask?
He said coldly, "Uchiha Akainu, I admire a junior like you. If you are willing to serve me, I can tell you the secrets of the Uchiha clan and the secrets of the shinobi world."
"How long can Kamui's intangibility last?" Uchiha Akainu's sudden question made Obito's face instantly change. Uchiha Akainu continued, his words startling and relentless: "You activated Kamui before even meeting me. You must have already learned about my Mangekyo. I see, placing your body in a different dimension, is that how you deal with things?"
"...You!!!"
Obito was so shocked that his heart pounded, his breath nearly caught, and his face was utterly horrified, as if he'd seen a ghost.
—How does he know about Kamui's intangibility?!!!
This was one of his biggest trump cards for traversing the shinobi world! Yet now, it felt like he was a little girl with her skirt pulled up. This instantly filled Obito with an intense sense of unease. His previous facade of calm composure had completely crumbled. His palms were already glistening with cold sweat.
"Uchiha Akainu..." Obito masked his panic, his eyes filled with killing intent. He said coldly, "Knowing too much will get you killed. You had a big fight with Danzo; you must have used up a lot of chakra, right?"
The direct confrontation between Akainu and Obito is intense! Akainu clearly knows more than Obito anticipated. How will Obito react to Akainu's unsettling knowledge of his abilities, especially Kamui?