"As expected of Konoha's hero, truly amazing!
Obito gestured exaggeratedly, which was in line with the persona he usually showed everyone.
"That's so amazing! If it were me, I'd probably be in pieces by now!"
Obito's meaningless praise was dismissed by everyone present.
Pain no longer looked at Obito.
Before his identity was revealed, what Obito said was more about covering up his identity, a performance.
Not worth carefully listening to.
Ignored, Obito was like a clown, making exaggerated comments.
Embarrassing, shameful.
But to maintain the persona of Tobi, he had to endure this and keep muttering.
Sometimes, he regretted it too.
Why had he used the persona of Tobi to cover up his identity?
How much humiliation had this caused him?
Every time, he would silently recite to himself,
This was all to create a world with Rin in it.
As long as Rin could return to his side,
Sacrificing everything was worth it.
Pain knew that Obito in this state couldn't give any useful suggestions, so he looked at the others.
"Now, we need to focus on capturing the Tailed Beasts."
Pain scanned everyone, then again fixed his gaze on Obito. "Once Zetsu finds the Three-Tails' whereabouts, Deidara and Tobi will capture it."
"Leave it to me!
Deidara immediately puffed out his chest. "This time, I'll definitely capture the Three-Tails silently!"
Last time, when he and Sasori teamed up to capture the One-Tail from Gaara,
His actions had caused too much of a commotion, leading Sunagakure to immediately ally with Konoha.
Although they eventually succeeded in sealing the One-Tail into the Outer Path Statue, they had also lost a key member.
This time, Pain was giving him a chance to redeem himself, and he would give it his all to impress everyone.
At the very least, he didn't want to see even a hint of contempt in Itachi's eyes.
He had always remembered how Itachi had easily subdued him with Genjutsu back then.
It could be said that he had joined the Akatsuki with a heart full of revenge.
If the opportunity weren't lacking, he would have challenged Itachi to a one-on-one fight long ago.
But after the big fight between Itachi and Takumi, although Itachi was easily defeated,
Deidara could also see that Itachi's strength was also very considerable.
Although he didn't want to admit it, the masterpieces he created seemed hard to threaten Itachi's life.
Unless he used his final, mutual-destruction move.
"No."
Pain said decisively. "This time, the main force will be Tobi."
"Huh?!"
Deidara was stunned for a moment, then suddenly turned his gaze to Obito.
Obito was also stunned, but he quickly understood Pain's intention.
"Tobi is a newcomer. I think you all should still be unclear about his strength."
Pain continued. "This time, Tobi will demonstrate his strength, proving that he has enough ability to fill the gap left by Sasori."
"Now that's something to look forward to."
Kisame crossed his arms, a hint of interest on his face, but he won't be surprised with the result.
After all, as one of the few who knew Obito's hidden identity, Kisame knew that Obito's strength was unfathomable.
At the very least, Kisame admitted he was no match for Obito.
And if he could capture a Tailed Beast, Obito could certainly do it even more easily.
His words and expression were just an act.
"Replace Sasori?"
Kakuzu expressed doubt. "That depends on how strong he is."
"After all, there aren't many Shinobi as strong as Sasori in the entire Shinobi World."
Kakuzu had to doubt that Tobi, with his usual excitable personality and nonsensical talk, could fill Sasori's position.
In his heart, if Tobi could reach even half of Sasori's strength, that would already be enough for him to acknowledge him.
"Senpais, please rest assured!"
Obito stood up straight and then bowed deeply to everyone. "I will definitely do my best to complete the mission!"
"You really think highly of yourself?"
Deidara indignantly grabbed Obito's head, constantly tightening his arm. "I'll be watching your performance closely!"
"Senpai! Senpai let go! Air..."
Obito flailed about in panic for a bit, then his whole body went limp, as if he had really been choked unconscious.
But after Deidara let go, he immediately became lively again.
Deidara was just messing around; he hadn't used any force.
"Alright, everyone, hurry up. Our time isn't that plentiful."
After Deidara and Obito finished their horseplay, Pain immediately announced the dismissal.
If they continued, he didn't know how long these two would keep fooling around.
Although it was said to be for hiding his identity, the personality Obito pretended to have was far too excitable.
Judging from this pretence, Pain was very certain that Obito's claim of being Uchiha Madara was a lie.
If Madara were still alive, he would be nearly a hundred years old.
A nearly hundred-year-old man acting this way,
Even if it were for pretence, it was too fake.
Anyway, he wore a mask. He could just slightly change his voice and casually make up an identity.
As long as he didn't take off the mask, naturally no one would delve into his identity.
Yet he had to put on such an incongruous disguise.
He really didn't take disguise seriously.
With Pain's order, everyone left the hall.
Some left alone, some left with their partners.
"Itachi, what do you think?"
Walking in the corridor, Kisame asked curiously. "I've noticed you've been training hard ever since you lost to Takumi."
"There's still a huge gap between him and me."
Itachi said calmly.
"Oh, right, I remember that Chakra giant was a unique technique of your Uchiha Clan, right?"
Kisame asked curiously. "Is he also a member of the Uchiha Clan? But I didn't see him use the Sharingan at all."
"It's called Susano'o."
Correcting Kisame's wording, Itachi's eyes were also filled with confusion. "I don't know. I've never seen his figure in the clan."
"If he were an orphan of the Uchiha, it's impossible for the Uchiha Clan to have no information about him."
Unless someone deliberately hid Takumi's Uchiha identity.
In his memory, there were only two people in Konoha Village who could do this and also conceal it from the entire Uchiha clan.
Hiruzen and Danzo.
One was the Hokage, the other was the Darkness of the Shinobi World in Konoha.
Only they could accomplish such a thing.