On the very night after Obito departed, Danzō returned to Konoha after failing to locate Orochimaru, and upon receiving an urgent report he rushed back to survey the near-total destruction of the Root headquarters along with the headless corpse of Yamanaka Fū, causing even the perpetually composed Danzō to erupt in fury.
"What in the world happened here!!"
"Lord Danzō, the situation is as follows..."
The Root member kneeling nearby reported the events to Danzō.
After hearing it all, Danzō leaned on his cane and bowed his head in thought.
'Slipping past Konoha's barrier without a sound, infiltrating the underground Root headquarters, a constitution immune to all physical attacks and ninjutsu, space-time ninjutsu surpassing that of the Second and Fourth Hokage, and that ominous chakra body cloaking him, it is undeniably the Susanoo of legend... the only intruder I can think of is none other than him, Uchiha... Madara.'
'No, Madara is a figure from the Warring States era, no matter what methods he used to extend his life he should not still be alive now... it must be some Uchiha clansman who has inherited Madara's will, one who can use Wood Release and targeted the one called "Kinoe" who inherited Lord Hashirama's cells, plotting to seize the power of both the Uchiha and the Senju.'
'In other words, he wants the Nine-Tails.'
'Orochimaru vanishes at precisely this moment, and that... is most likely not a coincidence.'
"Report this matter to the Fire Daimyō immediately."
"Lord Danzō, this incident occurred within our Root headquarters, publicizing it would damage Root's reputation, which is why..."
"Heh, what does reputation matter, this incident can perfectly highlight the weakness and incompetence of Konoha under the Fourth Hokage's rule, allowing enemies to exploit the opening and inflict enormous losses on Root, which tirelessly protects Konoha, the Fourth has only just taken office and his position is not yet secure, this blow will be severe, which suits me just fine..."
"But the Fourth was recommended by the Third and is a hero of the Great Ninja War, simply pulling him down like this is hardly realistic."
"It will at least shift the situation in my favor, for instance... giving me legitimate grounds to place the Nine-Tails Jinchūriki under Root's supervision."
"Lord Danzō is wise!"
Danzō's gaze deepened: 'Kushina's chakra stands out even among the Uzumaki Clan and can fully suppress the Nine-Tails, which is precisely why she was chosen as the second Jinchūriki after Mito, she is now pregnant and the seal grows steadily looser, making this the ideal moment to act, once the Nine-Tails serves me I will frame the Uchiha Clan for the death of the Jinchūriki, that way I can both destroy the Fourth Hokage's rule and eliminate the Uchiha Clan as an unstable factor.'
"The one who will ultimately become Hokage and lead Konoha to reign over the ninja world will surely be me, Shimura Danzō!"
In the forest outside Konoha, Obito was racing through the trees, and the reason he did not use Kamui to return to the base immediately was that he wanted to mark space-time coordinates with his Sharingan across more locations to make traveling back and forth more convenient.
The Obito of the later original story could use Kamui to traverse virtually every corner of the ninja world, and it was because his footsteps had covered the entire ninja world.
"Raito, you made a rare trip to Konoha, why not collect the Nine-Tails while you were at it, don't you want to become the Ten-Tails Jinchūriki..."
"Things must be done one step at a time, you cannot swallow everything in one bite, and Konoha's strength right now should not be underestimated, with that Yellow Flash holding the fort and the Third Hokage at his peak, along with Jiraiya of the Sannin and numerous elite jōnin all present, without thorough preparation it will not be easy to succeed."
"Well, that's fair, besides the Nine-Tails Jinchūriki still has half a year before she gives birth, it's not too late to act once the seal loosens a little more..."
Obito said nothing, because the true greatest reason he was not acting at this moment was that he did not want to strike against a pregnant woman.
Attacking Kushina as she gave birth, extracting the Nine-Tails, and causing Kushina's death was one of the few stains in Obito's past that could never be washed away no matter how one tried.
Obito would not choose to act during Kushina's delivery the way Obito once had, he would capture the Nine-Tails in a straightforward and upright manner.
Even if Kushina would die all the same after the Nine-Tails was extracted from her, that was a separate matter entirely, one that touched on Obito's principles.
"I have marked enough locations, it is time to head back..."
Rustle, rustle, rustle! Suddenly, a sound came from not far away.
Obito saw that in front of some rocks and targets, a tall boy was guiding a shorter boy in shuriken throwing.
The one concentrating intently on throwing shuriken was none other than Uchiha Itachi, five years old at the time.
Guiding him from the side was Uchiha Shisui, eight years old at the time, and under the moonlight the three tomoe set into his crimson irises were utterly at odds with his youthful face.
Obito's eyes lit up.
Uchiha Shisui, known as Shisui of the Body Flicker, was the greatest genjutsu genius in the entire history of the Uchiha Clan, and while Itachi awakening his Sharingan at eight years old had stunned all of Konoha, what was not widely known was that Shisui had awakened his even earlier, having opened his eyes at seven years old.
With only a single year of training he had already achieved proficient mastery and awakened a three-tomoe Sharingan.
Thud! Thud! Thud!
Itachi's shuriken could already accurately hit the bullseye of a target ten meters away.
"Itachi, let me teach you how to hit a target in a blind spot..."
"A blind spot? That would require the shuriken to curve, how is that even possible?"
"Like this."
Shisui placed two shuriken flat against each other, offset at a slight angle, and casually flung them forward.
Clang! Clang! The two shuriken collided mid-flight, their trajectories shifted, and they struck the bullseye behind the rock precisely.
"Amazing, worthy of Brother Shisui, when will I ever be able to do the same!"
"With your talent, just a little practice is all it would take, actually when I was your age I had not yet... hm?"
Suddenly Shisui's pupils flashed, and he raised his head as though sensing something.
Whoosh... a breeze swept through, sending a cascade of leaves swirling into the air.
"Brother Shisui, what is it?"
"It's nothing, it must have been my imagination..."
Shisui murmured, staring at the empty treetops.
"Tsk tsk, remarkable perceptiveness, I must say, the potential contained in those eyes is no lesser than yours from before..."
That was of course true, otherwise he would not have been chosen by Obito.
"Shisui, I will wait for those eyes of yours, because you have the worth that makes waiting worthwhile... only your Kotoamatsukami is worthy of fusing with my Kamui to obtain the supreme and unrivaled strongest eternal Mangekyō Sharingan!"
The pupils behind Obito's mask flickered with a strange light, and with a swirl of a vortex he vanished beneath the night sky.