Chapter 266: What Is Obito Doing Here?
Kenichi's mood turned complicated.
He genuinely had not expected Obito to be selling masks here of all places.
It did not match Obito's usual vibe at all. If Kenichi were not certain the man in front of him was Obito, he might have suspected he had mistaken someone else.
It felt like Luffy finally reaching Mary Geoise, only to discover the Five Elders and that so called Imu were out on the street every day selling roasted sweet potatoes.
Even so, Kenichi still walked over to test the waters. Obito would never show up in a place like this for no reason. He had to be here for something.
"Tobi?" Kenichi stepped closer and lowered his voice.
For an instant, panic flickered through Obito's eye. Then it vanished, replaced by calm. In the next breath, Obito put on an exaggeratedly bright, joyful expression.
Kenichi could not help but admire it.
Forget everything else. Just that acting alone was beyond most people. In Kenichi's previous life, Obito could have taken home a shiny little gold trophy without breaking a sweat.
He could also outperform those stage actors who only recited "one, two, three, four, five, six," then waited for someone else to dub the real lines. Some actors really did make money too easily, and their professionalism was not exactly inspiring.
Kenichi suddenly had a thought.
After he went back, he would prepare a camcorder and keep it on him. If anything happened, he could record it, especially embarrassing moments.
Obito shivered all over and rubbed his hands.
What was that? He had just felt an inexplicable chill. Was he wearing too little today?
"A mission?" Kenichi scoffed at Obito's first attempt at an excuse. "Does the Akatsuki have a mission here?"
What kind of joke was that?
Nagato was not someone who cared about the Uchiha. He only trusted his own Rinnegan. To him, the Sharingan was nothing special. Besides, the Uchiha's whereabouts after leaving their village had always been kept secret.
Nagato could not possibly issue a mission to search for the Uchiha right now. That meant Obito came here on his own, not because of any order.
The problem was, Kenichi still could not tell what Obito wanted.
"The leader wants to recruit powerful rogue shinobi, so he arranged for me to search everywhere," Obito said with a chuckle, the tone light and casual.
Kenichi could not immediately poke a hole in it.
He knew the Akatsuki had always been searching for members. Nagato had even told Kenichi before that if he ran into strong shinobi who had defected, he could try to recruit them. If they showed interest, Kenichi could report it, and Nagato would handle the follow up.
When Nagato said those words, his confidence was unmistakable. The Rinnegan and his growing achievements had made him carry himself like a god.
"Then do you think there are strong shinobi in this village?" Kenichi squatted in front of Obito's stall, casually picked up a mask, and examined it.
The craftsmanship was rough. It was clearly wholesale goods.
Masks were common across the shinobi world. Even the Hidden Sand had a so called Mask Sage who specialized in making them, which made Kenichi want to complain. People really loved handing out the title "Sage" like it was free.
Kenichi felt a little disappointed.
He had been thinking how great it would be if he could buy the same mask Obito wore. Kenichi did not know what material that mask was made from, but it was excellent. It even seemed able to block the Byakugan's prying, which was impressive.
"Hmm." Obito let out an uncertain chuckle. "I think the people here are rogue shinobi from Konoha's Uchiha Clan, so there should be, right?"
Under the goofy tone, Obito watched Kenichi closely.
The Uchiha leaving Konoha had caused a huge stir. But what caught the most attention was the way they escaped.
That mysterious contraption that flew high into the sky had immediately made Obito think of Kenichi. Kenichi had become famous for striking from above, earning the title "Heavenly Demon."
But the Heavenly Demon had barely appeared in recent times, which meant only a portion of shinobi who had experienced it still remembered the name.
"Oh?" Kenichi chuckled while turning the mask in his hands. "And how are you so sure?"
Was Obito trying to remind him that he already knew the Uchiha here were connected to him?
Kenichi glanced at Obito again.
Obito looked perfectly fine. He probably had not run into any enemy recently strong enough to force him into the Kamui dimension to hide.
That would not do.
At first, Kenichi did not care much about Obito. Sooner or later, Obito would step into the trap Kenichi had prepared, and the "big treasure" would detonate when it was meant to. If there was a reward, great. If not, Kenichi still lost nothing.
But now things were different.
Obito had already discovered where Shisui, Itachi, and Sasuke were. Kenichi did not know what Obito planned to do, but what if Obito took another Mangekyo from here, or even pushed it toward the Eternal Mangekyo?
Kenichi knew the chances were slim, but he could not afford to be careless. The shinobi world's plot had already been completely twisted out of shape.
At this point, even if Orochimaru turned fully into a woman and announced he was getting married, Kenichi would not be surprised.
"Of course it's because I found handsome men and beautiful women from the Uchiha Clan here," Obito said, staying in character and leaning hard into the goofy tone. "I heard the Uchiha are all handsome men and beautiful women!"
"Is that so?" Kenichi threw his head back and laughed. "Then you should know some Uchiha men are ugly as sin, yet they still dream about chasing beautiful women. It's hilarious."
Obito's eye darkened instantly.
His fists tightened.
Logically, Kenichi should not be able to know who he was.
Yet right now, Obito had the unsettling feeling that the man in front of him already did.
How was that possible?
In the entire shinobi world, the only one who knew his current identity was Black Zetsu.
Madara was already dead.
.....
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