Chapter 99: Framing and Shifting Blame — Killing with a Borrowed Knife!
While Oborotsuki had just finished his performance on this side, successfully releasing Uzuki Yūgure and sending her back to Konoha,
At the same time, on the other side, Sunagakure in the Land of Wind was also welcoming two uninvited guests.
Uchiha Obito, accompanied by Black Zetsu and White Zetsu, had secretly infiltrated Sunagakure. Using the intelligence they had gathered earlier, they easily located the position of the One-Tail jinchūriki, the monk Fūku.
At this moment, the entire village of Sunagakure was on high alert.
The Fourth Kazekage Rasa had summoned all the senior leadership to an emergency meeting to discuss countermeasures.
The reason was simple: the One-Tail jinchūriki, Fūku, was now advanced in age and nearing the end of his life.
They now needed to quickly determine the next suitable jinchūriki.
Otherwise, once Fūku died, the tailed beast inside him would go berserk and cause unnecessary chaos for the village.
Inside the Kazekage's office, the atmosphere was grave.
The higher-ups were still arguing heatedly over who should become the next jinchūriki.
Meanwhile, at Fūku's location—
The Sunagakure ANBU guarding him had already been silently eliminated by Obito.
Under the cover of night, sand and wind raged across the desert.
Suddenly, a massive explosion came from the southeast corner of Sunagakure.
BOOM!
The tremendous shockwave was felt even in the core of the village, inside the Kazekage Tower.
"What's happening?"
Rasa's expression changed instantly as he asked.
"Bad news, Lord Kazekage! The tailed beast!! The One-Tail has gone berserk!!"
An ANBU rushed in frantically to report.
"As expected…"
Rasa's face darkened. He stood up immediately and hurried out of the meeting room.
The higher-ups had been arguing endlessly about the next jinchūriki, but time waited for no one.
In truth, Rasa had already made his decision in his heart.
He planned to make his youngest son the next jinchūriki.
But before he could announce it, the worst had happened.
"Immediately gather all ANBU! Assemble at the scene right now!!"
Rasa issued the urgent order.
He personally led his direct Kazekage ANBU unit and his bodyguard Maki out of the meeting room.
…
Outside Sunagakure.
On top of a sand dune.
Obito stood side by side with Black Zetsu and White Zetsu, watching the enormous figure rampaging in the southeast corner of the village from afar.
"Releasing the tailed beast to wreak havoc on Sunagakure will greatly weaken their military strength. This will be very beneficial for our plan."
"But how do you plan to retrieve the tailed beast afterward?"
"Without a jinchūriki, it won't be easy to take it away…"
Black Zetsu looked toward Obito beside him.
Dealing with the One-Tail Shukaku alone was, of course, not a big problem.
But right now, Obito had provoked the entire strength of Sunagakure.
Black Zetsu knew very well that he wasn't the real Uchiha Madara.
This guy might not be able to withstand the full force of Sunagakure alone—he felt this move was far too risky.
However, Obito remained obstinate. He insisted on releasing the One-Tail from Fūku and controlling it with his Sharingan.
"You're no longer needed here. Go scout the other battlefields."
"The rest of our plan will proceed even more smoothly from now on."
"Just watch."
Obito calmly issued the order to the merged Black Zetsu and White Zetsu.
Hearing this, Black Zetsu and White Zetsu slowly sank into the ground:
"Then I'll go check on Pain's Deva Path."
After Black Zetsu and White Zetsu left, Obito turned his gaze back to the distant One-Tail Shukaku.
"The power of the Sharingan… Sunagakure will soon get a taste of it."
"When that time comes, the Uchiha clan of Konoha will never be able to wash away the suspicion, will they…"
"They don't have many options left!"
Obito muttered to himself. Beneath the mask, a cold glint flashed through his eyes.
To achieve that ultimate goal, any means were acceptable.
This was the reason Uchiha Obito was confident he would succeed.
…
After using Transformation Technique to disguise himself as Uzuki Yūgure and escaping from Kirigakure, Oborotsuki did not immediately return to the village after shaking off the pursuing Kirigakure ANBU.
Along the way, he deliberately left several fabricated clues to mislead the Kirigakure shinobi into chasing in other directions.
At the same time, he created additional false trails.
This way, even if Kirigakure's ANBU realized they had been deceived and turned back,
In the end, they would only conclude that Uzuki Yūgure had been rescued by an elite comrade from Konoha.
After finishing all of this, Oborotsuki finally activated Flying Thunder God and left the Land of Water, arriving in Konoha.
The sky was just beginning to brighten.
The entire village of Konoha was shrouded in morning mist. In the Uchiha compound, clan members were gradually leaving their homes for work.
Under the leadership of Uchiha Fugaku, the police force members headed to headquarters in orderly fashion.
Soon, almost all of the elite clan members had left.
Only the elderly, women, and children remained in the compound.
Oborotsuki appeared inside Uchiha Fugaku's home.
At this moment, Uchiha Mikoto was preparing breakfast for Itachi, who was about to go to the academy.
In the crib in the room, little Sasuke was still in swaddling clothes.
"Mom, I have the graduation exam today. I might come home a little later."
Sitting at the table, Itachi turned his head obediently, looking at his busy mother.
"So soon already? My little Itachi is really amazing!"
Mikoto smiled warmly as she turned around, gently praising him before bringing the finished breakfast over.
Receiving praise from his mother, Itachi was very happy. He jumped down from the chair to help her carry the food.
Mother and son chatted and laughed happily as they finished breakfast.
After Itachi left for the academy, Mikoto finished cleaning up outside and turned to go back into the room to feed little Sasuke.
But the moment she opened the door, her entire body froze. She stared in disbelief at the scene before her:
"It's you…"
Mikoto looked nervously at Oborotsuki, who was standing beside the crib.
At this moment, Oborotsuki wore a gentle smile. He was lightly teasing little Sasuke, using one finger as a pacifier near the baby's mouth.
"This little guy is really cute. What's his name?"
Oborotsuki smiled, lifted his gaze, and casually asked Mikoto.
"What exactly do you want?"
The moment she recognized this young, extraordinarily handsome man as the mysterious intruder from that night, Mikoto's brows furrowed tightly as she asked.
Last time, she had guessed he was an ANBU sent by Konoha's higher-ups.
Now, seeing Oborotsuki again, Mikoto suddenly felt that might not be the case.
No matter how you looked at it, Konoha's ANBU shouldn't be this frivolous…
"The Uchiha clan's current situation isn't very good, is it?"
"Today we should have time to properly continue the conversation we didn't finish last time."
Oborotsuki spoke leisurely, then casually walked toward Mikoto.
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