An Obvious Weakness
"What will you do after revenge?"
The question came from the Pain known as the Deva Path the body that represented Nagato's will.
It was a strange question.
Logically speaking, someone who had already walked to the very edge of extremity should not care about such things. A man who had sacrificed everything for vengeance rarely asked about life after hatred.
So why ask now?
Uchiha Yi found himself unsettled.
What exactly caused this change?
Could it be because of me?
No… that didn't make sense.
He had only interacted with Pain for two or three months at most. That was barely enough time to establish familiarity, let alone influence the convictions of a man who had already reshaped the world through suffering.
And this wasn't some warm companionship.
They weren't comrades forged in battle.
They were strangers walking parallel paths.
Uchiha Yi had no delusion about possessing overwhelming personal charisma. If he truly had that kind of influence, the tragedy of the Uchiha clan might have unfolded differently.
Back then, he had tried.
He had approached Fugaku Uchiha, the clan head, and even attempted subtle contact with Itachi Uchiha before the massacre. He had hoped that foreknowledge might shift fate.
But reality was colder than theory.
Every gaze he received had carried the same silent question:
Who are you, really, to interfere in the destiny of the Uchiha?
Even without studying psychology, one could read that meaning clearly.
In the hierarchy of the clan, what was Uchiha Yi's standing?
A nobody.
The truth was simple.
Knowing a character's personality, history, and future did not grant control over their choices. Fate was not a script you could edit at will.
From that moment onward, he had abandoned the naive urge to "save everyone."
Respect fate.
Respect choice.
That was the lesson.
Yet now, facing Pain, he felt something stir again.
Not hope.
But curiosity.
After a brief silence, Uchiha Yi answered bluntly.
"After revenge? If every enemy is gone… then I live."
"I enjoy life."
"What else is there to do?"
The answer was simple almost crude in its honesty.
But it struck like a stone cast into still water.
Hidden nearby, Konan observed silently. Even through layers of paper clones and distance, the impact of those words reached her clearly.
This was not an answer born of hatred.
It was an answer born of continuation.
While they had allowed hatred to define existence, this Uchiha spoke of life after vengeance as if it were obvious.
In contrast, Nagato and Konan had long been trapped within the gravity of their own pain. Step by step, they had walked into darkness until they resembled the very forces they once opposed.
At times, even they wondered
Was this truly justice?
Was this what Yahiko would have wanted?
But doubt was fleeting.
Conviction, once hardened, did not shatter easily.
A few sentences from an outsider could not overturn years of suffering.
Still…
Something lingered.
A ripple.
"Continue tomorrow."
Pain's voice returned to its usual cold detachment. Without another word, the Deva Path vanished in a burst of speed, the body dispersing into motionless silence.
"Understood."
Uchiha Yi nodded.
Only after Pain left did he allow himself to exhale slowly.
The exchange had been brief, but meaningful.
Pain initiating such a question meant one thing recognition.
Not friendship.
Not trust.
But acknowledgment.
And in the world of shinobi, that was a beginning.
The depth of a relationship determined everything. Whether Pain would truly guide him in the future, or merely offer hollow instruction, depended on that fragile distance between them.
Guidance without sincerity was useless.
Especially when it came to taijutsu.
If Pain merely went through the motions, Uchiha Yi's close-combat weaknesses would remain fatal flaws.
And that weakness…
Had not gone unnoticed.
The sparring and physical exchanges between Uchiha Yi and Pain could not escape the gaze of the ever-observant White Zetsu.
Information flowed like roots beneath soil.
Before long, the intelligence reached both halves of Zetsu—and another observer.
Far away, amid the blood-soaked chaos of Kirigakure, a masked man listened in silence.
Obito Uchiha.
"That guy… is really that weak in taijutsu?"
His tone carried disbelief.
White Zetsu's pale face twisted into a grin.
"The data is consistent. We've observed it repeatedly. His close combat is undeniably poor."
Even Black Zetsu did not refute the assessment.
There was no reason to fabricate such a flaw.
After all, deception required purpose and none could be detected here.
If anything, it made only one conclusion likely:
Uchiha Yi's taijutsu was genuinely subpar.
"Impossible…"
Obito frowned beneath the spiral mask.
"Someone with such strong ninjutsu shouldn't have such an obvious gap."
The contradiction irritated him.
Yet even as doubt lingered, the evidence remained.
"It's absurd," Black Zetsu admitted calmly. "But reality is often absurd."
Silence followed.
Then Obito laughed quietly.
"If that's true… then he's no longer a real threat."
Once, he had treated Uchiha Yi as a dangerous anomaly—an unknown Uchiha possibly wielding the Mangekyō Sharingan. Their first encounter had forced Obito to sacrifice a Sharingan and invoke the forbidden technique Izanagi to survive.
That humiliation had elevated Yi's threat level in Obito's mind.
He had even considered the possibility that this man might interfere with the Madara Uchiha's Eye of the Moon Plan.
But now?
A shinobi with a glaring weakness was manageable.
Even so, Obito did not fully relax.
If Yi truly possessed the Mangekyō Sharingan, arrogance would be fatal.
"Can you identify him?" Obito asked.
"Unlikely," Black Zetsu replied. "The Uchiha population was large. During the aftermath of the massacre, many bodies were destroyed without verification. And Danzo Shimura collected Sharingan in secret."
"Too much time has passed. Tracing identities now would be difficult."
Obito clicked his tongue.
"Then forget it."
"A man with such an obvious flaw won't overturn the board."
His attention shifted elsewhere.
To the present.
To Kirigakure.
Black Zetsu's voice turned colder.
"Don't forget the plan, Obito."
"Do not kill the Three-Tails jinchūriki."
"If the Three-Tails Isobu dies prematurely, the resurrection cycle will delay everything. The timeline will shift by years."
Zetsu did not care about the fate of Kirigakure.
Villages were expendable.
But the Moon's Eye Plan was not.
"As long as the jinchūriki lives, destroy whatever you want."
Obito waved dismissively.
"I know."
Whether he truly listened… only he knew.
After Zetsu departed, Obito stood alone amid mist and ruin.
Then, slowly, a new idea formed.
A cruel one.
If chaos was inevitable, why not deepen it?
From the shadows, he tightened his control over the Fourth Mizukage Yagura Karatachi, the jinchūriki of the Three-Tails.
Under Obito's genjutsu, Yagura's will was nothing but a puppet's string.
Soon, new decrees spread across Kirigakure in the Mizukage's name.
Brutal.
Paranoid.
Bloody.
The already fractured village began tearing itself apart.
Bloodline purges intensified.
Suspicion became law.
And among the clans, none reacted more violently than the battle-crazed Kaguya clan, infamous for their obsession with combat.
Cornered and enraged, they erupted into open rebellion.
The Bloody Mist grew darker.
And far away, unaware of the storm he had been discussed within
Uchiha Yi continued walking his own path, ignorant of how many eyes now measured his existence.