Chapter 37: The Hypocritical Sandaime
"Then it's settled." Uchiha Obito tilted his head and said to Zetsu, "Zetsu, I'll leave the barrier setup to you."
"Understood." Zetsu replied, his body slowly merging into the giant tree and disappearing.
Watching the spot where Zetsu disappeared, Qianye used Mirror Flower Water Moon to sense him, finding that Zetsu was still hidden within the giant tree. He sneered inwardly and added:
"And Uchiha Itachi, that traitor, I'll leave him to you. After all, he's a future teammate, and I'm sure you wouldn't want him to die by my hand now. When night falls, I'll feign death by his hand. Until everything is settled, I hope you can keep it a secret."
With that, Qianye's figure flickered and disappeared from Obito's sight.
He hadn't gone far before quietly returning and releasing Mirror Flower Water Moon.
This isolated Obito and Zetsu's perception.
Watching the spot where Qianye disappeared, it wasn't until his Sharingan could no longer perceive Qianye's Chakra that Obito spoke, "How is it, Zetsu? Is he gone?"
"I can no longer sense Qianye's Chakra," Black Zetsu replied.
Hearing this, Obito couldn't help but let out a sigh of relief, filled with lingering fear.
In the end, he had been too blindly confident in Kamui's ability.
And too careless.
In just one exchange, Qianye had seen through his right eye's intangibility.
And that incredibly deceptive genjutsu.
It had almost cost him his life.
If the opponent had intended to kill him just now, without knowing Qianye's intel, he might have truly fallen here.
"Madara, what do you plan to do? Do you really intend to recruit Qianye into the Akatsuki Organization? I just have a feeling he's a rather dangerous existence! His Body Flicker is secondary; that level of genjutsu is beyond anything we've known before," White Zetsu asked Obito.
Hearing the name 'Madara,' Obito immediately regained his usual composure. "Why not? At least for now, his interests align with ours. Moreover, no matter how powerful Qianye is, in front of the Rinnegan, he will ultimately appear pale and powerless."
"That's true," White Zetsu did not refute.
"Black Zetsu, do you have any idea about the jutsu Qianye just used? That terrifying Body Flicker, I'm afraid even the Fourth Raikage and Fourth Hokage would struggle to match it." At this point, Obito did not yet possess the experience he had when he first appeared in the original work.
Black Zetsu pondered for a moment and said, "It looks somewhat like Sage Mode. But it differs from the Sage Modes of Mount Myōboku, Ryuchi Cave, and Shikkotsu Forest, the three great sacred lands.
Not only did his appearance not change, but it also doesn't seem to be a power created by absorbing natural energy from the surroundings into the body, then balancing and merging it with one's own physical and spiritual energy, like normal Sage Mode.
It's somewhat similar to Orochimaru's Cursed Seal, but it's more advanced than a Cursed Seal. It seems to be released directly from within his body, causing his Chakra to surge to an extremely terrifying level in an instant.
Of course, his base Chakra reserves are also extremely terrifying, at least on par with an average Uzumaki clan member.
To be able to control such terrifying Chakra, he truly is a formidable individual."
"Sage Jutsu, huh," Obito repeated, his brows slightly furrowed. "It seems this guy has quite a few secrets. During tonight's battle, observe him closely for me. I need detailed intel on him. This guy is simply too dangerous."
"Understood," Black Zetsu respectfully replied, and the pitcher plant slowly merged into the giant tree.
Qianye stood beside Obito and Zetsu, and with Mirror Flower Water Moon released, he had no need to worry about being discovered by the two. Seeing them abide by the agreement, he no longer harbored doubts and slowly disappeared into the darkness.
Meanwhile, Uchiha Itachi had changed into his Anbu attire and arrived at the Hokage Building.
It was already sunset, and not just the Uchiha Clan Territory, but the entire Konoha was emitting an unusual aura.
Just this morning, the Anbu who had been monitoring the Uchiha Clan Territory were all withdrawn from their posts, gathered at the Anbu base, and put on high alert, awaiting the Hokage's orders.
And at this moment, on the rooftop of the Konoha Hokage Building.
Hiruzen Sarutobi stood with his hands behind his back. Behind him was Uchiha Itachi, dressed as an Anbu Ninja, kneeling on one knee.
"Have you made your decision, Itachi?" Hiruzen Sarutobi asked with narrowed eyes, his back to Uchiha Itachi.
Itachi lowered his head, his voice filled with unprecedented resolve, "Yes, Hokage-sama."
Starting tonight, he would bear the sin of slaughtering his clan, and the price would be the preservation of his younger brother, Sasuke.
"This is my fault. I never imagined things would come to this. I originally wanted to resolve it peacefully. I didn't want to resort to force." Hiruzen Sarutobi let out a heavy breath, then added, "You can rest assured about Sasuke. As long as I am alive, no harm will come to him."
"I am deeply grateful." Hearing this, Uchiha Itachi was greatly moved. After leaving that sentence, Itachi put on his Anbu mask and disappeared from the top floor of the Hokage Building.
Soon after Itachi left, Hiruzen Sarutobi gently raised his hand.
Suddenly, two Anbu appeared behind him, kneeling on one knee. The identities of these two were extraordinary; they were Hiruzen Sarutobi's eldest son and daughter-in-law, in other words, Konohamaru's parents.
"Go prepare," Hiruzen Sarutobi's face, no longer gentle as usual, was instantly covered by shadows, and he said in a deep voice.
The extermination of the Uchiha Clan was Konoha's top secret. Even Anbu like Kakashi, who were directly under the Hokage, were not qualified to participate and were gathered at the Anbu base on standby. Only Hiruzen Sarutobi's most trusted confidants knew.
"Father, are we to make a move?" Sarutobi Shinnosuke, Hiruzen Sarutobi's eldest son, now wearing a patterned mask, asked.
Hiruzen Sarutobi hesitated for only a second before saying, "If Itachi and Qianye don't make it in time..."
He didn't elaborate, but it was already self-evident.
Although he didn't believe Itachi would show mercy, the Uchiha were a large clan after all.
If they were detected, it was possible for some to escape.
Furthermore, if Qianye learned of Uchiha Izumi's death, he would undoubtedly go berserk.
If Uchiha Itachi failed to take down Qianye after eliminating the clan,
the two Elite Jonin Root Ninja arranged by Danzo would make a move.
If they still couldn't take him down,
then it would require Hiruzen Sarutobi's own people to act!
This was the final safeguard.
Even Danzo was unaware of this point.
"What if Uchiha Itachi doesn't kill Qianye?" Sarutobi Shinnosuke continued to ask.
Hiruzen Sarutobi did not answer, merely closed his eyes and turned to enter the room.
"I understand!" Sarutobi Shinnosuke understood his father's intention. After responding, the two then disappeared.
At the same time, at the Shimura Clan Territory.
"After tonight, Nidaime(2nd)-sama's long-cherished wish to eliminate the Uchiha will finally be fulfilled by my hand."
Danzo stood on the stone steps, leaning on his cane, full of vigor.
Below him were hundreds of Root elite.
PS: First update, please give recommendation tickets and monthly passes. I originally planned two updates, but seeing that [Quasar] gave a 5k starting currency reward, I'll do three updates today.