Black Zetsu and White Zetsu brought Uchiha Obito, whose life hung in the balance, to the Akatsuki base where the Gedo Statue was hidden. No one knew about their actions.
Black Zetsu breathed a sigh of relief as he watched the wires extending from the Gedo Statue connecting to Uchiha Obito.
Although it remained unclear whether Uchiha Obito would survive, with the Gedo Statue's power, at least his chances of survival would be higher.
"Puff!"
Black Zetsu directly removed Uchiha Obito's Mangekyō Sharingan and handed it to a special White Zetsu beside him.
"Afei has to help Obito recover from his injuries, but he cannot leave his body. From today on, Yan, you will pretend to be Uchiha Obito."
"Hehehe... leave it to me."
As White Zetsu spoke, it reached out to Obito and absorbed a small amount of chakra. Its pale body began to change, and in the blink of an eye, it looked exactly like Uchiha Obito. Compared to the real Obito, its transformed face wore a strange smile.
"Hehehe..."
White Zetsu Yan removed his right eye and installed Obito's Mangekyō Sharingan. A puff of green smoke spread, and the replaced eye returned to its normal appearance.
"Don't do anything unusual that might cause Nagato and the others to notice something is wrong."
"Don't worry, I'm much smarter than Obito."
White Zetsu Yan put on the same mask as Uchiha Obito and then donned a black robe. At this moment, he truly resembled Uchiha Obito.
Black Zetsu took a satisfied look. White Zetsu's transformation technique was the strongest in the shinobi world, and no other ninja could match it. Black Zetsu didn't think anyone could discover the deception.
But they still had to be careful, especially when facing people like Nagato and Uchiha Itachi. One careless move and the others might notice something was wrong.
"Uchiha Obito is in this half-dead state now, and there's no way to maintain the control of the Fourth Mizukage Yagura. Fortunately, I am familiar with Madara's control methods. Next, you must quickly master the genjutsu and then go to Kirigakure to cast an illusion on Yagura!"
"As for Nagato here, if you need to see him, I'll go with you. Don't worry about Uchiha Itachi for now. We'll deal with him after Obito wakes up."
"..."
Black Zetsu sorted out the matters that needed to be rearranged and grew even more frantic. Once Uchiha Obito fell, there would be too many problems to handle!
What frustrated it even more was that while it had to manage all these things, it also had to monitor Uchiha Obito's injuries closely!
"So... why did you go after Shihouin Naraku?!"
Black Zetsu wanted to grab Uchiha Obito and shout this question loudly.
"But what's with Shihouin Naraku? There's something strange about his strength!"
"The Shihouin clan shouldn't have any outstanding kekkei genkai, but where does his power come from?"
To be safe, Black Zetsu asked White Zetsu to start collecting information on the Shihouin clan and Shihouin Naraku. At the same time, it listed Shihouin Naraku as a key target for surveillance.
...
Meanwhile, Shihouin Naraku had already set out on the road back to the village with his two awakened subordinates.
But Shihouin Naraku was also wondering why Uchiha Obito had suddenly confronted him and why they had fought.
His battles with Hatake Kakashi and Might Guy were sparring matches, although Shihouin Naraku had been somewhat ruthless.
The battle with Uchiha Obito was a fight for survival—one wrong move, and someone would die.
"It's strange. At this stage, Obito and I don't have any conflicts. After all, his plan hasn't even begun yet."
Thinking with some confusion, Shihouin Naraku returned to Konohagakure with his subordinates.
Shihouin Naraku had no intention of hiding the matter from his two subordinates, mainly because they were defeated by Zetsu and lost consciousness shortly after the battle began. They didn't witness the rest of the fight at all.
However, there was one important detail—these two subordinates were defeated by someone using the Wood Style, and they had discovered its existence.
Shihouin Naraku wasn't concerned about this. Even if he reported it to Sarutobi Hiruzen, it wouldn't be a big issue.
Indeed, it came as no surprise to him. Sarutobi Hiruzen first expressed his satisfaction with the results of Shihouin Naraku's work outside the village during this period, then inquired about the Wood Style information.
"It is indeed Wood Style, and I found that the opponent's Wood Style differs somewhat from Tenzo's. I don't know the specifics, but I can clearly tell that the enemy's Wood Style is stronger! And not just slightly stronger!"
Sarutobi Hiruzen's expression suddenly grew serious. He thought for a long time before saying, "I see... You mentioned before that there was another enemy who possessed a Sharingan?"
Shihouin Naraku nodded and shared what he had prepared in advance. "The enemy wore a mask, so we couldn't see his specific appearance. But the Sharingan was clearly visible, and he is definitely not Uchiha Itachi!"
This would cause some trouble!
Sarutobi Hiruzen thought for a moment and continued, "Submit the mission report for this outing as soon as possible. You must be very tired, so go and rest."
"Oh, by the way, Kakashi is still in the hospital. If you hadn't returned to check on him, I wouldn't have let him leave directly. It's too late today—you should visit him tomorrow."
"Mm."
Shihouin Naraku agreed and left the Hokage's office.
Long after he departed, a sinister look appeared in Sarutobi Hiruzen's eyes.
"Is that you, Danzo?"
Tenzo, the Wood Style user, had been taken from Danzo by him, so he somewhat suspected that the newly appeared Wood Style enemy might be connected to Shimura Danzō.
As for the reason for attacking Shihouin Naraku, it was obvious that Shimura Danzō had his eye on the position of Hokage, so he wanted to eliminate the threat posed by Naraku in advance.
Regarding the enemy who possessed the Sharingan, it wasn't difficult to guess their origins.
Back then, Shimura Danzō personally led people to surround the Uchiha clan's district and even participated in the conflict. Even Sarutobi Hiruzen himself didn't believe that Shimura Danzō hadn't acquired a Sharingan.
"I thought Danzo knew when to advance and when to retreat and knew how to keep a low profile. But it seems he's been doing many things in secret."
"Someone, notify Anbu to gather."
"Yes!"
...
The base of the Root organization was naturally no secret to the Hokage.
Soon, Third Hokage Sarutobi Hiruzen, along with many Anbu members, surrounded the Root Organization headquarters.
"What are you up to?!"
Shimura Danzō, leaning on a cane, slowly walked out of the Root base alone.
Sarutobi Hiruzen puffed on his pipe, but there was no smile on his face. "Danzo, Anbu went out to complete a mission and accidentally encountered enemies who can use Wood Style. One of them even has a Sharingan."
"You know what this means. I can let you do many things, but there are some lines you absolutely cannot cross!"
Sarutobi Hiruzen's words became more severe as he spoke.
Shimura Danzō narrowed his eyes. He truly knew nothing about this matter, so he stated with certainty: "It has nothing to do with me. I didn't do that!"
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