About three hundred meters away from the abandoned village, on the trunk of a giant tree that would take five people to wrap their arms around…
A figure slowly emerged from the shadows.
It was a man wearing a long black coat with red clouds.
The coat swayed gently in the forest breeze, the red cloud patterns on it looking like coagulated bloodstains.
Uchiha Obito, wearing an orange tiger-striped mask, stood silently on the tree trunk. His single crimson Sharingan peered coldly through the mask's hole at everything happening in the distant village.
"Otogakure's Ninja... that Orochimaru fellow is quite well prepared," Obito muttered to himself, his voice muffled beneath the mask.
His Sharingan could clearly see details from three hundred meters away, and he had even lip-read the conversation between Sakon, Kidomaru, Tayuya, and Jirobo.
He could even make out the bloodthirsty expressions on the faces of those Otogakure's Ninja and feel the well-trained killing intent radiating from them.
But Obito didn't think that Orochimaru and these Otogakure's Ninja alone could deal a fatal blow to Konoha.
The Third Hokage, Sarutobi Hiruzen, might be old, but Konoha's foundations were deep after all.
Konoha also had the most Jonin among the Great Ninja Villages, as well as the Konoha's Anbu, the elites of the great clans, and that dirty rat in the gutter, Danzo, not to mention that troublesome guy Jiraiya was also in the village.
Orochimaru's plan might cause chaos, might kill some people, but to heavily damage Konoha, or even completely destroy it, was still far from enough.
But that didn't stop Obito from hoping Konoha would be dealt a blow.
After all, that village—
"Obito~"
A strange voice suddenly came from the tree trunk beside him.
Obito didn't turn his head, but he knew who it was.
The surface of the adjacent tree trunk rippled like water, and a bizarre black-and-white creature 'grew' out of it.
Its upper half was human-shaped, but its lower half was merged into the tree trunk like a plant.
Its body was divided in half lengthwise, one side pure black, the other pure white, like the yin and yang poles.
The white half of Zetsu showed an exaggerated, playful expression and said in a frivolous tone: "Yo, Obito, guess what important intelligence I gathered from Konoha! I guarantee it'll shock you!"
Obito's brow furrowed beneath his mask, his voice turning colder: "How many times have I told you, call me Madara-sama."
"Alright, Obito-sama!" White Zetsu remained carefree and laughing, completely disregarding Obito's warning.
Obito gave a light snort but didn't actually get angry.
This White Zetsu had been with him when he was rescued by Madara, lying on his deathbed, severely injured, alongside another White Zetsu named 'Tobi'.
Back then, Obito's entire body was wrapped in bandages, unable to move. Only Tobi and this White Zetsu stayed by his side, chattering incessantly, telling various boring jokes and gossip.
In a sense, this sharp-tongued White Zetsu was one of the few people Obito could talk 'honestly' with, though since Rin's death, Obito had gradually hidden his true emotions.
Black Zetsu spoke in a low, hoarse voice, getting straight to the point: "It's about that little guy you were paying attention to before, named Menma."
Obito's body paused for a moment.
'Menma?'
Obito still remembered that night of the Nine-Tails Attack, he had snatched an infant from Kushina's arms… Naruto's twin brother, Minato's other child.
But because he had absolutely no experience caring for an infant, and his main energy at the time was focused on Nagato, planning to use Nagato's Rinnegan to realize the [Eye of the Moon Plan], Obito ultimately decided to foster Menma in a Konoha Orphanage.
He planned to wait until the child grew a little older, like at three years old, or maybe five, before taking him away to be trained.
His original plan was cruel: to raise Menma as a cold-blooded, ruthless Ninja and then, when he grew up, send him to assassinate the Nine-Tails' Jinchuriki… his own younger brother, Uzumaki Naruto.
Obito wanted to personally direct this drama of brothers turning against each other.
But the plan went awry.
Seven years ago, the year Shura suddenly burst onto the scene in the Ninja World, the White Zetsu lurking within Konoha Village began to disappear on a large scale.
Obito initially thought they had been discovered by the Konoha's Anbu, but after investigating, he found that those White Zetsu had vanished under very suspicious circumstances. No bodies could be found, and no information was sent back.
Combined with Shura's appearance in the Hyuga Clan's Compound in Konoha that same year, he preliminarily determined that Shura had likely killed those White Zetsu and taken them away for some kind of experiment.
Among them were some White Zetsu monitoring Menma.
After that, Menma's life trajectory completely escaped Obito's monitoring.
Obito only knew that the child had been adopted by the wealthy merchant Gato and was being fostered in Konoha, but he didn't seem to be receiving any special attention, because Gato had adopted children in many Ninja Villages as a way to invest in and establish closeness with those villages.
And as time passed and he lost control, he once lost interest in the child.
It wasn't until later, when he had White Zetsu investigate Gato, that he discovered the true master behind Gato was actually Shura.
Only then did Obito become vigilant again.
He encouraged Nagato to have the Akatsuki send someone to 'invite' Gato and the man beside him, Kakuzu, to join.
Officially, it was to recruit new members... in reality, it was to test them.
The result was as expected: both Kakuzu and Gato were Shura's people.
This made Obito even more wary of Shura, and he secretly suspected that Gato's adoption of Menma might have been at Shura's behest.
But only Obito himself should have known that Menma was Minato's child.
Obito was puzzled, afraid of alerting the enemy, and only occasionally learned from White Zetsu's reports that Menma had entered the Ninja Academy and seemed to have excellent grades, earning the title of 'civilian genius'.
Now, hearing Menma's name, Obito was indeed somewhat curious.
"What about that guy?" Obito asked.
White Zetsu eagerly answered in an exaggerated tone: "That kid graduated from the Ninja Academy and became a Genin! And guess what? He teamed up with the Nine-Tails' Jinchuriki! Their team leader is Kakashi! Finally, they're also participating in this Chunin Exams!"
The barrage of information hit Obito's heart.
'Menma and Naruto on the same team?'
'And led by Kakashi?'
Kakashi—
That name was like a thorn, stabbing into his long-frozen heart.
Memories from over a decade ago flooded uncontrollably into his mind.
The days he, Kakashi, and Rin spent together, following Minato on missions.
Those sunny afternoons, those moments of fighting side-by-side, those bonds of unconditional trust and connection—
And then it all shattered…
At Kannabi Bridge, crushed by a boulder, believing he was about to die, he entrusted his Sharingan to Kakashi.
He 'died'.
And then he saw hell.
Kakashi's hand piercing through Rin's chest.
Obito's breathing became somewhat ragged beneath his mask, though the mask hid his emotional fluctuations well. Only the brief, violent tremor in his Sharingan revealed the storm inside him.
"Hmph." Obito ultimately only let out a cold snort, his voice icy: "That guy Kakashi... he's qualified to be a teacher?"
Even White Zetsu could feel the sarcasm and hatred in those words.
Black Zetsu continued: "According to intelligence, the second part of the Chunin Exams is the five-day survival challenge in the Forest of Death. Both the Nine-Tails' Jinchuriki and the One-Tail's Jinchuriki should be going in. This is an opportunity for us to obtain One-Tail's Chakra."
Obito was silent for a few seconds.
He felt that Black Zetsu had been somewhat... impatient lately.
In the past, Black Zetsu was always calm and steady, just like that old bastard Uchiha Madara… as if he was scheming against the entire world.
But recently, Black Zetsu seemed to be pushing many things to accelerate.
He wondered why there's such change from Black Zetsu.
What Obito didn't know was that Black Zetsu had already reached a secret cooperation with Shura.
In exchange for specific information on the One-Tail's Jinchuriki's whereabouts, Black Zetsu had sent a thousand White Zetsu to Shura as a 'show of good faith'.
This deal was made behind Obito's back. Black Zetsu was worried that if he mentioned the cooperation with Shura, Obito might become suspicious.
Moreover, Black Zetsu was equally worried that Shura might change his mind at any moment or that other variables might arise, so he wanted to obtain the One-Tail's Chakra as soon as possible to advance the Eye of the Moon Plan.
"The Chunin Exams might alert the enemy," Obito said slowly. "Konoha is on high alert right now. All the Great Ninja Villages have sent their elites. If we act rashly, we might expose the Akatsuki's objectives."
"But this is a rare opportunity!" White Zetsu became energetic again. "The Forest of Death is huge. Five days' time… if something happens inside, it'll be hard for outsiders to notice immediately! And both the One-Tail's Jinchuriki and the Nine-Tails' Jinchuriki are in there. This is a once-in-a-lifetime chance!"
Just then, White Zetsu's body suddenly trembled slightly. It was receiving some kind of long-distance intelligence transmission through the tree trunk.
A few seconds later, White Zetsu said jokingly: "Yo, looks like our leader also thinks the second part of the Chunin Exams is an opportunity. The leader just sent orders: we are to wait for the right moment to act, and if conditions permit, we can attempt to capture the One-Tail's Jinchuriki."
Obito's brow furrowed even tighter.
'Nagato thought so too?'
"Additionally, that guy Uchiha Itachi seems to be heading toward Konoha," White Zetsu continued.
Obito snapped his head around: "Didn't Pain send Uchiha Itachi and Ringo Ameyuri to the Land of Waves yesterday to investigate how those two wastes, Momochi Zabuza and Rokusho Aoi, died?"
Several days had passed since the Land of Waves incident. The intelligence regarding the deaths of Zabuza and Aoi, as well as the turmoil in the Land of Waves and the unusual activity of the Red Star Alliance there, had only just reached the Akatsuki's headquarters.
Pain immediately ordered Itachi and Ameyuri to go investigate.
But now Itachi was heading to Konoha?
Black Zetsu said slowly: "Probably for Shisui's sake—"
Uchiha Shisui.
This name brought a thoughtful, amused smile to the corner of Obito's mouth beneath his mask.
Once the most brilliant genius of the Uchiha Clan, [Shisui of the Body Flicker], and Itachi's once closest friend.
Now Shisui had returned to Konoha in a high-profile manner as the leader of the Land of Stars' delegation. The news had probably spread long ago.
'When Uchiha Itachi heard this news, what would his reaction be?'
"That should be interesting," Obito said softly, his tone carrying a certain malicious anticipation. "I really want to see what happens when Uchiha Itachi and Uchiha Shisui, these two once like-minded close friends, meet again. What kind of battle will unfold?"
It was as if he could already see the scene: Itachi standing before Shisui, their Mangekyo Sharingan locked in gaze, one the Uchiha sinner who nearly committed genocide, the other the current clan head who had saved the Uchiha Clan.
The level of excitement of this drama was equally worth anticipating.
Very much anticipated.
"Wow~ Should we interfere then?" White Zetsu also asked expectantly.
Obito shook his head: "No need. They'll write this script themselves. We only need to… watch and see how things develop."
He looked again toward the abandoned village in the distance.
The Otogakure's Ninja had completely concealed themselves, and the village had returned to a silence as empty as if no one were there, as if everything just now had been an illusion.
"Heh heh, the show is about to begin," Obito murmured softly, his body slowly sinking into a spatial vortex and disappearing.
Zetsu also silently merged into the tree trunk, as if they had never appeared.
The forest returned to its tranquility.
Only the rustle of wind through the leaves and the faint, distant noise of Konoha Village remained.