Chapter 63: The True Reason
100km… 80km… 70km…
Kenzo kept running through the forest at an incredible pace, his figure tearing across the soaked terrain while the rain hammered endlessly against the ground below. A bead of sweat slowly rolled down the side of his temple despite the cold rain constantly falling over him, his breathing remaining controlled yet slightly heavier than before.
Just 50 more km… Kenzo muttered inwardly.
If he could cross this final stretch he would finally reach Amegakure and surprisingly enough nothing had interfered so far. Even Kenzo himself found that strange. After all he already understood very clearly that a confrontation with Uchiha Obito was practically inevitable sooner or later, however as long as even the slightest possibility of reaching Amegakure before Obito appeared still existed then he would absolutely not give up on that opportunity.
Thinking this Kenzo accelerated even further.
The surrounding forest blurred violently around him, trees, rocks and streams vanishing past his vision in distorted flashes while rainwater exploded beneath his feet every time he touched the ground.
Unfortunately reality was ultimately just reality. No matter how much you hoped, no matter how much you resisted, no matter how desperately you wished for things to go differently, reality itself would never bend simply because of your emotions. It moved forward coldly and indifferently, crushing expectations without hesitation.
Deep beneath the shadow of an enormous twisted tree hidden far away from normal sight, a pale white figure slowly slithered outward from the ground itself. Its body looked strange and unnatural, half plant and half human, with rough vein-like patterns running across its skin while a large flytrap-like structure surrounded its head.
White Zetsu.
Its head tilted slightly as it looked toward the distance lazily.
A violent gust of wind suddenly blasted through the forest.
White Zetsu's eyes widened slightly.
A blurred figure shot across the forest at terrifying speed, so fast that even the rain itself seemed unable to fully touch him before he disappeared further ahead.
"What the hell was that…" White Zetsu muttered in surprise, its expression turning strange. "That speed… interesting~"
The creature's body slowly sank halfway back into the ground before strange ripple-like distortions spread across its surface.
Far away inside a dark underground chamber Uchiha Obito stood silently before White Zetsu's voice echoed out from the darkness itself.
"Found something interesting."
Obito's visible eye narrowed faintly beneath the spiral mask.
"Speak."
"A fast one~ very fast. Moving directly toward the Land of Rain." White Zetsu's tone carried strange amusement. "Young male. Chakra presence matches the information almost perfectly."
The atmosphere around Obito subtly shifted.
"How far?"
"Not too far from Amegakure now if he keeps moving at that speed."
Silence filled the chamber briefly before space itself suddenly began twisting violently beside Obito.
A spiraling distortion rapidly formed in the air, dark and unstable as if reality itself was being forcefully dragged inward. The surrounding stone cracked slightly while the spiral rotated faster and faster.
Kamui.
Without another word Obito stepped directly toward the distortion, his body gradually disappearing into the warped space piece by piece until only the spiral mask remained visible for a brief instant before vanishing completely.
Far away within the endless rain Kenzo's figure continued moving through the forest at extreme speed completely unaware that space itself had already begun twisting open ahead of him.
Meanwhile back inside the Hokage tower office.
Hiruzen and Danzo were once again sitting together however this time Hiruzen's brows were deeply furrowed while smoke slowly drifted upward from the pipe between his fingers.
"Danzo… do you think he will take the bait?"
By "he" Hiruzen was naturally referring to the masked man.
Danzo on the other hand simply replied in a calm voice.
"The plan is already set in motion and even if he does not take the bait Konoha loses nothing."
At those words the old Hokage's expression eased slightly. Some people when burdened by uncertainty only needed someone else to reinforce the decision already forming inside their hearts and Hiruzen Sarutobi was exactly that kind of person. In essence he was an extremely conflicted man and conservative to the core, always hesitating before taking risks unless circumstances pushed him into a corner.
Danzo watched this display silently while sneering inwardly. This had happened countless times before. A Hokage who constantly needed reassurance before acting was no true Hokage in his eyes. If not for Uchiha Kenzo posing such a dangerous threat why would Hiruzen even agree to such a plan in front of the advisory elders?
What exactly made Uchiha Kenzo so dangerous? Was it his Uchiha bloodline? Not exactly. Was it the possibility of him being captured and eventually producing another branch of the Uchiha clan somewhere outside Konoha? Also not exactly. Even if such a thing happened at most they would only gain half blood descendants with diluted lineage and uncertain chances of awakening the Sharingan in the first place and that alone would take decades before showing any results.
So in the end the answer returned once again to the same point.
Information.
That was what made Uchiha Kenzo truly dangerous. During the battle with Aburame Torune even though most traces had already been erased it was still not difficult for Konoha to piece together fragments of the truth afterward. With the help of several specialists and analysts they eventually reached the same conclusion.
Uchiha Kenzo must have known about Torune's abilities beforehand.
Without prior knowledge it would have been nearly impossible to devise such a perfect counter against someone like Aburame Torune especially at Kenzo's age and level of experience at the time. Which naturally led toward an even more dangerous implication.
Kenzo somehow possessed highly classified information regarding one of Root's highest ranking members who also happened to be Danzo's right hand man.
And if he possessed information on Torune then what else did he know? Wouldn't that also imply he potentially had intelligence regarding Root itself? The Anbu? Konoha's internal operations? Or perhaps even darker secrets buried deep beneath the village for decades?
And if such intelligence were ever leaked toward the other great villages then the consequences for Konoha would be disastrous.
That was the true reason Hiruzen ultimately accepted this risk despite his naturally cautious personality.
Danzo slowly looked toward Hiruzen who had already returned to silently smoking his pipe again.
Monkey… with your personality your time is already nearing its end.
And now…
It is finally my turn to become Hokage.
Back within the forest Kenzo's figure suddenly stopped moving altogether. Rainwater splashed outward beneath his feet as his instincts screamed violently at him.
Something was coming.