章節 278: Chapter 278: Black Zetsu: "Lately, There’s Something Off About Obito"
The gentle sound of rain pattered down as Obito sat alone, his face hidden behind a swirling mask that only revealed his right eye. He wore the iconic black cloak adorned with red clouds, the uniform of the Akatsuki, sitting quietly on a fallen tree trunk, deep in thought.
During his time in the Akatsuki, under the alias Tobi, he had always maintained a goofy, playful persona. But moments like this—silent, contemplative, amidst the rain—were rare for him.
Who knew what was going through Obito's mind as he sat there alone?
Suddenly, from the tree trunk behind him, a shadow emerged. The half-black, half-white figure of Zetsu appeared.
"Tobi, our plan is encountering serious obstacles," Black Zetsu said, addressing Obito directly.
"You're right. Uchiha Akira's power is indeed terrifying," Obito responded, his voice low, not even bothering to turn around as he spoke.
He paused for a moment before continuing, "Before his death, Madara Uchiha laid out the entire plan. He wanted everything to proceed according to his script."
"But in his script, there was no place for someone like Akira. In terms of raw power, Akira has already reached a level equal to Madara."
"And Madara's plan certainly didn't account for the existence of Otsutsuki Urashiki, either," Obito added grimly. "So trying to follow that script now is exponentially harder than it was before."
Obito's voice was heavy as he spoke, his mind lingering on the recent attack on Konoha, where Akira had transformed into a dragon in front of everyone's eyes. Even now, Obito felt a deep sense of shock just thinking about it.
"You are Madara Uchiha now," Black Zetsu's voice rang out, reminding Obito of his role.
Obito fell silent at that.
"Obito, what do we do next?" Black Zetsu pressed, growing impatient with the lack of a plan. Was the whole operation going to fall apart at this stage?
"The current situation is extremely difficult. I need more time to think about our next steps," Obito replied, his tone somber.
"Very well. I won't disturb you further," Black Zetsu said, and with that, he and White Zetsu sank back into the tree trunk, disappearing from sight.
As they left, Black Zetsu turned to White Zetsu. "Did you notice anything… off about Obito lately?"
"Off? What do you mean? He seems the same to me," White Zetsu responded, sounding as clueless as ever.
"Never mind. It's pointless to ask you," Black Zetsu muttered, clearly unimpressed by White Zetsu's lack of awareness.
But in his mind, Black Zetsu couldn't shake the feeling that something about Obito had indeed changed.
When did this change start?
After thinking about it for a while, Black Zetsu realized that it must have begun around the time of the Water Country incident.
What exactly had happened during that mission in the Land of Water?
Wasn't the report that Akira had shown up and thwarted their plans?
"It seems there's something we're missing about what happened in the Land of Water," Black Zetsu mused silently. Whatever had occurred during that mission, something important had been hidden from them.
"Rin…" Obito whispered to himself.
Still sitting quietly on the tree trunk, Obito's mind was filled with memories of Rin Nohara.
The Edo Tensei—a forbidden technique that could summon the dead using a living sacrifice—had shocked him. Until recently, Obito hadn't even known Konoha had such a jutsu.
When he saw Rin revived through Edo Tensei, Obito had done some investigating and learned about the technique.
Though Rin's body was a vessel, her soul was unmistakably hers.
So, after all these years—eighteen years, to be precise—he had finally seen Rin again.
The Edo Tensei was indeed powerful. Those summoned through it possessed immortality.
So now, Rin was effectively immortal?
"And now Rin is in Akira's hands… Does that mean he's already figured out who I really am?" Obito thought with a heavy heart.
Earlier, Black Zetsu had mentioned that Akira's presence made it far more difficult to advance the Akatsuki's plans, urging him to come up with a solution.
But right now, Obito felt completely powerless.
Akira already knew his true identity. Rin was in Akira's hands. If it came down to it, could Obito really bring himself to attack Rin, even knowing she was immortal?
Even though he knew she was technically already dead, he still couldn't harm her.
While Obito's mind was lost in thoughts of Rin and what had happened in the Land of Water, the Akatsuki itself was also facing difficulties.
Because of Akira's growing influence, the Akatsuki's plans had slowed to a crawl. Missions had become fewer and far between.
Kakuzu, in particular, was feeling the pinch. With fewer missions, his opportunities to skim money for himself had drastically decreased.
Nearly a month had passed, and Kakuzu had finally managed to save up a little over ten million ryo. Now, he was preparing to deliver this stash to Akira.
But just as Kakuzu was about to make his move, a figure rose up from the ground in front of him.
"Zetsu, can't you give me a heads-up before you just pop out like that?" Kakuzu grumbled, clearly startled.
He was relieved Zetsu had appeared when he did. If it had been a minute later, Zetsu might have caught him handing the money to Akira's summoning beast.
"My bad, I'll keep that in mind," Zetsu apologized quickly.
Well, since Zetsu had already admitted his mistake, what else could Kakuzu say?
Still feeling a bit annoyed, Kakuzu huffed, "Alright, enough of that. What do you want?"
"I came to ask you about what happened in the Land of Water," Zetsu said, getting straight to the point.
"The Land of Water?" Kakuzu blinked, a bit confused. "What about it?"
"I'm talking about the mission where you and Tobi went to the Land of Water. Did anything unusual happen?" Zetsu elaborated.
"We've already reported everything to Pain. When we tried to capture the Three-Tails, we ran into the Mizukage and Akira. That's why we failed," Kakuzu explained, still puzzled by Zetsu's line of questioning.
"Was there anything else? Nothing unusual involving Tobi, for example?" Zetsu pressed further.
"Tobi, huh…" Kakuzu's eyes narrowed slightly. It seemed like he understood what Zetsu was getting at.
Was this about the forbidden technique Akira had used, the one that summoned a weak girl and left Tobi unable to act?
"Yeah, Tobi. Was there anything significant that happened to him specifically during that mission?" Zetsu asked, his tone serious.
"Let me think…" Kakuzu said, furrowing his brow in thought as he tried to recall the details of their mission in the Land of Water.
After a long moment of silence, Kakuzu shook his head. "No, nothing unusual. Tobi didn't show any signs of odd behavior."
"I see. Thanks," Zetsu said, offering his thanks before starting to sink into the ground again.
"Use the door next time!" Kakuzu barked after him, clearly irritated by Zetsu's sudden appearances and disappearances.
To his surprise, Zetsu actually listened this time, walking out the door like a normal person.
Kakuzu rolled his eyes, muttering to himself as he finally summoned Akira's snake.
He handed over the prepared scroll, along with a letter, and watched as the snake opened its mouth, swallowing the items whole before slithering away.
Meanwhile, back in Konoha, Akira had paid his usual visit to the hospital to check on Hinata.
She was still weak, lying in her hospital bed with a high fever, but her chakra levels were steadily increasing.
After exchanging a few tender words with her, Akira finally left the hospital and returned home.
Upon arriving, his thoughts shifted. He sensed a familiar presence—a snake appeared before him, bringing a smile to his face.
Akira recognized this snake immediately. It was the one he used to communicate with Kakuzu.
It seemed that after nearly a month, Kakuzu had finally gathered enough money to send his latest payment.
Looking at the scroll and letter that the snake had delivered, Akira didn't open the scroll right away. Instead, he opened the letter first to see what it said.
The letter was short but important. It mentioned that Black and White Zetsu had recently confronted Kakuzu, asking about the events in the Land of Water and specifically about Rin's Edo Tensei revival. Knowing that this information would be valuable to Akira, Kakuzu had made sure to inform him.
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POWER STONE!!!
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