Uzumaki Shuji was safe, but the situation on the Uchiha side had beco troubleso once again.
The entire Uchiha district was practically surrounded by Anbu.
Even the personnel stationed at the borders had been recalled.
The Uchiha clan's dissatisfaction surged once more.
And this ti, it wasn't just a handful of radicals.
It was the overwhelming majority.
Back when Madara Uchiha had wanted to lead the clan away from Konoha, no one had been willing to follow him.
After all, they had already tasted a peaceful life.
No one wanted to beco wandering exiles.
Even after Tobirama Senju took power and treated the Uchiha harshly, life had still been bearable.
But after Hiruzen Sarutobi rose to office, the village's attitude toward the Uchiha changed dramatically.
The distrust beca increasingly obvious.
And after the Senju clan faded away, the suppression only intensified.
The authority of the Konoha Police Force was steadily stripped away.
When Minato Namikaze took office, the Uchiha had finally been able to breathe a sigh of relief.
But less than two years later, he died.
Then ca the near-devastating crackdown.
Their hos were relocated from the center of the village to a remote corner.
At this point, even ordinary mbers of the Uchiha clan no longer held favorable feelings toward Konoha.
"...Thank goodness he made it back safely."
Fugaku Uchiha finally let out a long breath when he heard that Uzumaki Shuji had returned unhard.
If they lost this last ally, the Uchiha would truly be left with only one path.
Open confrontation with Konoha.
Fugaku had already seen through the so-called Konoha F4.
Those four old n wanted nothing less than the total extermination of the Uchiha.
Without the support of the Uzumaki, the clan would be driven into a dead end.
And he would never allow the Uchiha to perish like that.
…
"So, you failed to kidnap the Nine-Tails jinchūriki and defected because of it?"
Obito Uchiha asked in a skeptical tone.
"Yes."
"I awakened the Mangekyō Sharingan and planned to control the Nine-Tails jinchūriki to destroy Konoha."
"But I grabbed the wrong child."
"The two brothers look too similar. It was impossible to tell them apart."
Itachi lied without blinking.
He knew Obito was probably aware of his true objective.
But that didn't matter.
Obito would still recruit him.
"I see."
"How inexperienced."
"If you wanted to do sothing like that, you should have waited until both children were ho."
"Blow up their house with explosive tags, force the Nine-Tails to erge to protect its host, then control it with the Mangekyō."
Obito actually took the ti to share his own experience.
But Itachi remained expressionless and said nothing.
"So, the Uchiha massacre is off the table?"
"Since you've already left Konoha, co with ."
"Let's wipe out the Uchiha together."
"Those traitors who abandoned have no reason to keep living."
Seeing no response, Obito continued.
He still wanted to carry out their previous agreent.
To eliminate the Uchiha clan.
In truth, aside from collecting a few spare Sharingan, Obito had little practical need to massacre the clan.
What he truly enjoyed was dragging others into darkness.
Madara Uchiha had chosen him.
And now he had chosen Itachi.
Whether the Uchiha lived or died didn't matter much to him.
If he wanted extra Sharingan, he could simply hunt down a few Uchiha jōnin.
There was no need to wipe out the entire clan.
"Konoha is watching the Uchiha very closely right now."
"They're dissatisfied with the clan, but they won't stand by and allow its destruction."
"This matter is already out in the open."
"If anything happens now, Konoha's reputation will suffer greatly."
"So this isn't the right ti to act."
For the first ti, Itachi responded.
And he was speaking from the heart.
Under the current circumstances, the chances of success were extrely low.
"Then let's kill so of them first."
"We need Konoha to feel fear."
"They need to understand the price of betraying Lord Madara."
At that mont, a giant pitcher plant erged from the ground.
It was Zetsu.
In his strange, eerie voice, he said the very words that made Itachi clench his fists.
"That's not a bad idea."
"What do you think, Itachi?"
Obito sounded as though he had just had a revelation.
Then he turned to Itachi for his opinion.
"If that's what you decide, I have no objections."
Itachi answered evenly.
If things truly ca to that point, then so be it.
The enemy before him was too dangerous.
He couldn't afford to expose himself yet.
This information had to be passed on.
But under no circumstances could it be given to Konoha.
If Konoha learned of this, they would almost certainly use it to their advantage and allow Obito to proceed.
"I can only trust that person."
Itachi recalled the overwhelming presence Uzumaki Shuji had exuded.
That domineering confidence.
That lofty, king-like bearing.
For the first ti, it gave him a sense of reassurance.
"Zetsu, investigate and choose the right ti."
"We'll pay Konoha and the Uchiha a little visit."
Obito naturally had no intention of missing such an opportunity.
With Kamui at his disposal, he could advance or retreat at will.
In his eyes, Konoha was now a toothless wolf.
No threat at all.
"Yes, Lord Madara."
Zetsu enthusiastically played along with the act.
…
"Still no sign of him?"
Hiruzen Sarutobi looked expressionlessly at Danzo Shimura, who sat across from him.
This investigation had consud a trendous amount of manpower and resources.
Taking advantage of Itachi's defection, they had thoroughly examined every major clan in the village.
Yet they still couldn't find the hidden figure.
They had effectively checked every resident in Konoha, searching for the one person who didn't belong.
And found nothing.
"Correct."
"But we have confird one thing."
Danzo nodded, unable to do anything about Hiruzen's dissatisfaction.
"This person will appear whenever sothing happens to Uzumaki Shuji."
For all their failures, they had at least discovered one weakness.
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