章節 48: Chapter 48. Obito's Realization, Again!

Chapter 48. Obito's Realization, Again!

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"Iwagakure!" Danzo clenched the crumpled paper in his hand, his face cold and emotionless. A glimmer of icy light flashed in his eyes. After a moment of silence, he lifted his gaze to the bounty notice on the table.

The face was unchanged. The name was unchanged. The description was unchanged. The only difference... was the bounty amount.

[Reward]: 410 million ryo!

As expected.

Someone had their sights set on him.

Four hundred million.

Enough to wage a war!

Especially now, with tensions mounting between nations. If someone could claim his head... Bah!

Danzo snorted coldly.

Fire Style: Burn the Bounty Notice Jutsu!

The bounty notice disintegrated into ashes. Danzo leaned back in his high seat, silent, before turning his sharp, expressionless gaze to the incompetent fools below him.

So much time had passed...

And they still hadn't uncovered who dared to issue such a bounty on him. Nor had they learned anything useful from that Uchiha Yuto.

Useless. All of them are trash!

Yet, he couldn't deny it—whoever was behind this, spreading the bounty through multiple channels, was exceedingly cautious.

Danzo pondered for a moment. His gaze flicked to a Root ninja who appeared to have something to say. Danzo snorted again. "Speak."

The Root ninja lowered his head respectfully and reported, "A message from the Anbu: to celebrate Konoha's strong performance in the Chunin Joint Exams, the Hokage has invited Lord Danzo, Lord Mitokado, and Lord Utatane to celebrate at Yuto BBQ."

"Celebrate? Hmph! Even Hiruzen is indulging in these frivolities now?"

Although Danzo hadn't attended the exams due to the presence of foreign ninjas, he was aware of the situation.

Konoha had performed... decently?

Danzo reflected. He realized he hadn't stepped out in quite some time, having missed multiple council meetings while in seclusion. As much as Hiruzen's bounty notice on his desk irked him, Danzo knew he couldn't stay out of sight forever.

Perhaps it was time to make an appearance.

Especially with the matter of Iwagakure…

"Hmph!" Danzo snorted once more, his cold eyes sweeping over his subordinates. "Very well. Inform the Hokage—"

Before he could finish, a Root ninja rushed in.

"Lord Danzo."

Danzo stopped mid-sentence, his mouth twitching slightly.

He had... a bad feeling.

This scene was far too familiar.

Sure enough, as his right eye began to twitch uncontrollably, the ninja approached with practiced reverence and pulled out a sheet of paper. With a calm motion, he unfurled it in front of Danzo.

"..."

Danzo stared silently as the "4" on the bounty amount turned into a "5."

He slowly settled back into his high seat, his lips parting slightly as if to speak. Despite the faint tremble in his voice, his tone remained steady.

"Inform the Hokage… that I've recently gained new insights into ninjutsu and will be remaining in seclusion. I... will not attend today."

With that, he gripped the new bounty notice tightly, cold fury flashing in his eyes.

[If I ever find out who's behind this... I, Shimura Danzo, swear to kill them!]

Damn it!

…

"Ah-choo!"

Uchiha Yuto rubbed his nose, wondering if the arrival of late autumn was to blame. Lately, he'd felt a persistent chill in the air.

Yet, his surroundings remained as breezy as ever.

Especially Hyuga Suzune beside him, whose black mesh top revealed tantalizing glimpses of her figure.

As expected, compared to other proper ninjas, he was just an ordinary rich man. Feeling a bit frail was, perhaps, only natural.

Uchiha Yuto lazily stretched, rubbing his arms casually.

The Chunin Exams had ended, and a full-scale war was likely just around the corner.

Recently, he'd noticed a clear decline in the profits from his various franchise stores across the Land of Fire. Earnings had dropped to the system's preset minimum threshold. There was no way he could scrape together enough funds to throw more money at Danzo for now.

And despite being ranked number one on the bounty list, there still weren't any fearless fools daring to sneak into Konoha to claim it.

Especially that guy who couldn't stop boasting about having once fought the "God of the Ninja World" every time he saw a Konoha forehead protector... Why hadn't he made a move?

Wasn't Danzo tempting enough?

How could he resist acting?

Could it be… he was still waiting for the bounty to increase?

Uchiha Yuto sighed in resignation and muttered, "So greedy…"

As the words left his mouth, he abruptly stopped in his tracks, his face twitching as if struck by sudden stomach pain.

Suzune, noticing him stop, paused as well, puzzled. "What's wrong, Yuto?"

Seeing him standing there blankly, staring straight ahead, she couldn't help but feel a strange sense of déjà vu. It was as if she'd seen this scene somewhere before.

Yuto didn't answer. Curious, Suzune blinked and followed his gaze.

And then—

Not far ahead.

A dark-haired boy, wearing clothes marked with the Uchiha clan emblem, stood in the middle of the road. His lower lip was bitten, his fists clenched tightly, trembling with the force of his grip. His face was etched with sorrow as he stared into the distance. The crimson glow of his Sharingan gleamed eerily in the night.

This scene… looked so familiar!

Hadn't she seen this somewhere before?

Suzune stared at the figure, stunned, and whispered, "Isn't that Obito?"

What was he doing there?

His posture spoke of desolation, sorrow, and anger… like a stray dog.

Suddenly, Suzune felt something cold on her face. Surprised, she stretched out her hand and caught a frosty white flake in her palm. She murmured, "It's snowing!"

...

After finishing the group meal, Obito had watched the girl of his dreams turn him down once again, only to run off with his most hated rival to drink… milk tea!

When he'd invited her to drink milk tea not long ago, she'd refused, saying she wasn't in the mood. Just now, he'd deliberately suggested Ichiraku Ramen after their barbecue, only to be rejected again.

Yet she had dashed off to join "that guy" for milk tea?!

Obito felt utterly betrayed. His heart, full of love, had been mercilessly shattered, as if his feelings had been toyed with.

Rin… she has changed.

She wasn't the warm, gentle, caring Rin he used to know.

Why would she lie to him?

Clenching his fists tightly, his expression twisted between darkness and despair. He stared intently at the two figures, laughing and chatting as they walked into the bubble tea shop, until they disappeared from view.

A shadowy mist seemed to rise from his body, and in an instant, Obito let out a furious roar, clutching his eyes in agony.

Pain!

But…

This feeling was so familiar!

Moments later, a sinister smile spread across his face. "Hahaha!"

His laughter grew louder and stranger, drawing curious stares from passersby.

[What's wrong with that kid?]

Obito ignored the puzzled gazes. Running his right hand through his hair, he continued laughing wildly. The higher his head lifted, the further his back bent, as a faint crimson light flashed in his eyes.

After some time, he finally lowered his head. His cold, sharp features curved into a subtle smirk as he murmured to himself, "Is that so?"

His two-tomoe Sharingan fixated on the milk tea shop in front of him.

He stood there quietly, letting the cold wind tousle his hair. The snowflakes settled lightly atop his head, giving him the look of an aged man with silver hair.

He, Uchiha Obito, seemed to have realized it again!