Late at night, when the last light upstairs in the Yamanaka Flower Shop also went out.
In an underground facility in the Land of Frost, thousands of miles away from the Land of Fire, Obito, wrapped in bandages like a rice dumpling, opened his eyes.
He tried to move slightly, only to feel a heart-wrenching pain.
In the end, he could only let his head fall back on the bed, staring blankly at the dim yellow light on the ceiling.
"You're awake?"
A hoarse voice came from beneath the ground. A flytrap plant rose from the floor, opening to reveal a face half black, half white.
Under the light, the black part seemed much lighter, and his voice carried a lingering sense of weakness.
"Black Zetsu, you're injured?"
Obito opened his mouth, his voice parched. "What happened to me?"
"You've been unconscious for nearly a month. During this time, you were sustained by the facilities Madara-sama left behind."
Black Zetsu didn't stand for long either, showing fatigue in his movements as he hunched over and sat down.
Logically, as a creation of Yin-Yang Release, he shouldn't be in such a state.
But a month ago, that sword-wielding girl's counterattack when assaulted by the Otsutsuki Clan's member truly injured him.
A strange power lingered in his body, impossible to expel or recover from. As a result, Black Zetsu had significantly reduced his monitoring of the Five Great Nations and their Ninja Villages over this period.
The appearance of the Otsutsuki, the rise of Haruno Sakura, the Five Great Nations acting recklessly, Pain also having risk of losing control...
All these signs made Black Zetsu increasingly feel that the Ninja World was about to undergo major changes. So, over this past month, he overturned many past plans and arrangements, reformulating targeted strategies.
"Internal division?"
Obito raised an eyebrow, looking at the plan Black Zetsu handed him.
"After completing its integration, Konoha is rapidly growing stronger. To achieve yours and Madara-sama's long-cherished wish, we must drain them!" Black Zetsu bowed respectfully to Obito.
"But infiltrating them won't be easy."
Two White Zetsu approached, turning the pages of the plan for Obito to read.
"Don't worry. According to my intelligence network, factions within are already stirring."
Black Zetsu considerately presented Obito with a wandering monk's robe and identification materials for the Land of Fire.
At this moment, he had never been more grateful for the Daimyo system, modified and perpetuated for millennia by his mother's hand, and the era of Ninja created by those two traitors after betraying his mother.
Ninja, possessing power, served as military consumables, while the divinely ordained Daimyo controlled ordinary people to engage in production and economic development. This clear division of roles meant that by slightly interfering with either side, one could ignite greed and dissatisfaction, instantly detonate the long-accumulated contradictions between the Daimyo and the Ninja.
'The Twin Jewels of the Land of Fire... Heh heh!'
"If I go to the Land of Fire, what about the Akatsuki?"
After reading the plan, Obito waved the White Zetsu away, but the movement tugged at his wounds, making his mouth twitch in pain.
The injuries caused by Haki partly existed in the flesh, but the more troublesome part resided in the mind. Until countered with equal willpower or until physical healing influenced the mind over time, this pain would persist.
"I, along with Tobi impersonating you, will handle keeping them in check."
Black Zetsu reached out, taking back the plan from the White Zetsu and burning it. "If the plan is forcefully interrupted by Konoha, please execute the contingency plan!"
To prevent this fool Obito from messing things up again, Black Zetsu had even thoughtfully prepared a backup plan for the new plan.
If the political power in the Land of Fire was crushed by violence, Obito would perform 'assisted seppuku' for the Land of Fire's Daimyo clan.
Afterwards, by preserving a few remaining bloodlines and sending them to the other four Great Nations, framing Konoha for the deed, they could stoke the fear of those great Daimyos towards the Land of Fire.
In short, they had to force the strongest Tailed Beast's troublesome protectors into a corner: act and get besieged, or don't act and get besieged after the village weakens.
A single path transformed into a dead end from both sides!
"Contingency plan, I understand..."
Hearing these four words, Obito felt his vision blur, instinctively obeying Black Zetsu's command.
"Yes, you just need to trust me. As the embodiment of Madara-sama's will, I will serve both your ideals. Everything for a peaceful world without war or smoke."
Black Zetsu, with only a thin membrane for a body, saw his condition, and the smile at the corner of his mouth grew more arrogant and unrestrained.
…
Elsewhere, at the main gate of the Fire Temple in the Land of Fire.
Two men in black robes arrived here at an inopportune time, standing before the gate brimming with Sealing Technique Chakra.
"This is a temple, right? Are they really in a place like this?"
The man with a scythe on his back cast a questioning look at his companion.
"Who knows? But..."
The man in the black mask clenched his fist, slowly being dyed black. "Being able to combine the organization's mission with making money... it's truly intoxicating!"
Boom!
The Fire Temple's gate was forcibly breached, the debris crashing into the temple grounds, smashing many torii gates.
Panicked monks scrambled out of the buildings. When they saw the black robes with red clouds worn by the intruders, panic spread.
"That cloak... it's the legendary..."
"The seals around the temple have all been broken by them!"
"Go report to Chiriku-sama!"
A monk in white robes quickly ran into the main hall. Soon, a monk dressed similarly to the others, with a waistcloth bearing the Land of Fire's emblem around his waist, descended the steps one by one.
"May I ask your business? If nothing is amiss, please leave quickly!"
Though already aware his life was being targeted, Chiriku still hoped to resolve this conflict through words.
"Guardian Ninja Twelve of the Land of Fire, Chiriku... bounty, thirty million… Don't damage the body, Hidan!"
"Kakuzu, you bastard, you really are here for the money. You're going to hell, you know!"
Hidan unhooked the scythe from his back, slammed it into the ground, and charged at Chiriku.
Kakuzu moved almost simultaneously, dark veins extending from his arm converging into a mask, spewing fire from its mouth.
Violent tremors erupted once again above the Fire Temple. The fierce battle nearly leveled the entire temple.
After a hard-fought battle, Chiriku lay on the ground, lifeless. Hidan stepped forward, picked up his corpse, and tossed it to Kakuzu.
Kakuzu, receiving the body, slung it over his back. His cold gaze swept over the monks buried in the ruins. Confirming they held no value, he followed Hidan as they swaggered away.
At the moment of Chiriku's death, in the Land of Fire's capital, less than thirty kilometers from the Fire Temple.
A man in a wandering monk's robe, wearing a mask, arrived at a somewhat desolate estate.
This was the residence of a once-great figure, a member of the Guardian Ninja Twelve. It was a place where dignitaries and nobles of the Land of Fire once wore down the threshold and still had to queue.
However, after the Guardian Ninja Twelve were disbanded due to infighting, the status of those living here plummeted, and it gradually became desolate.
"Who goes there!"
The moment the wandering monk stepped into the courtyard, three ninja descended from above, placing their weapons against his neck.
"I have come to seek an audience with... oh, no, with Koutou-sama!"
The monk pressed his palms together, bowing reverently to the men.
"Oh? A monk who knows my old name wants to see me? Here to repay a debt or settle a score?"
A man also in monk's robes, with dark skin and a scar on his face, stepped out.
"Neither. This humble monk has come to present two things to the master: a piece of information and a plan."
The monk respectfully took out two scrolls from his robe, offering them with both hands to the man.
"Hmm? What information? What plan?"
The scarred man didn't take the scrolls, continuing to probe for information.
"Concerning the death of Guardian Ninja Twelve's member, Chiriku, and a plan to dismantle Konoha from within the Land of Fire's court!"
The monk raised his head, his lowered hood revealing crimson pupils with three black tomoes slowly spinning within.
"Uchiha?"
Seeing this signature Kekkei Genkai, Koutou was taken aback, then burst into laughter. "Hahaha, interesting! Come in and speak!"