Obito snorted coldly, his eyes turning icy.
"Such insane sealing techniques… who else could it be besides my beloved teacher, the Minato Namikaze?"
"It seems my sunshine-loving teacher is perfectly fine letting his own son suffer for the sake of revenge."
"After losing his wife and Konoha… he's no longer the same man. No loyalty, no trust left. Heh… how ironic."
"The leader of Uzushiogakure… is the Fourth Hokage?"
Black Zetsu was stunned. It sounded ridiculous—but the more he thought about it, the more it made sense.
There were no "mysterious powerhouses" in the ninja world for no reason.
The Fourth Hokage had supposedly died during the Nine-Tails incident… but honestly, "dead" meant nothing in this world. Madara Uchiha faked his death. Obito himself did the same.
So why couldn't Minato?
If the leader of Uzushiogakure really was the Fourth Hokage… then things were about to get seriously annoying.
Minato wasn't famous just for Rasengan or speed—his real terror was the Flying Thunder God Technique. A space-time ninjutsu that made him basically untouchable.
Add in the fact he might also be a Nine-Tails Jinchūriki…
Yeah. Congratulations. You've got a walking "good luck killing me" machine.
Unless Obito and Nagato teamed up, taking him down would be a nightmare.
And those two teaming up?
Yeah right. That'd happen when pigs learn ninjutsu.
Black Zetsu frowned.
"Wait… something's off. Naruto is the Nine-Tails Jinchūriki. Why are you saying the Fourth Hokage is one too?"
Obito narrowed his eyes.
"I heard from Kushina Uzumaki that sealing techniques can split a tailed beast."
Black Zetsu went silent for a moment, then asked,
"So… what's your next move?"
Obito smirked slightly.
"Simple. I find Naruto."
"He's also a Nine-Tails Jinchūriki. Capture him, and the Fourth Hokage will have no choice but to submit."
"Besides… if my guess is right, Naruto's been secretly raised by the Third Hokage all this time."
...
Meanwhile, in Konohagakure…
The "Battle of the Land of Waves," which had spread like wildfire outside, was barely mentioned inside the village.
Partly because most villagers didn't even know where the hell the Land of Waves or Uzushiogakure was…
But mostly because the higher-ups were suppressing the information.
Think about it—if ordinary ninja found out that not only had a rogue Uchiha escaped punishment, but had also joined another village successfully?
Yeah, that'd cause chaos real quick.
Inside the Hokage office, Hiruzen Sarutobi looked like a man with a headache that no amount of tea could fix.
Danzo Shimura had barged in with the two advisors—Homura Mitokado and Koharu Utatane—ready to throw questions like kunai.
"Why are you ignoring Uzushiogakure?"
"Why are you just sitting there while the Nine-Tails Jinchūriki defects?"
Hiruzen sighed.
"I can't just publicly announce the Jinchūriki's defection. Who would've thought Naruto would not only found a village, but also take over the Land of Waves—and even clash with Akatsuki…"
Koharu frowned sharply.
"Now is not the time to dodge responsibility, Hiruzen. This is your failure as Hokage."
Hiruzen nodded calmly.
"You're right. It is my failure."
"But tell me—if you can bring Naruto back, I'll hand over the Hokage position to you."
"Even Jiraiya failed. Naruto's strength has already reached Kage level."
That shut them up real fast.
Their anger hit a wall—soft like cotton, but just as useless.
Because the truth was simple:
Konoha currently had no way to deal with Uzushiogakure.
Sending a full army? That'd just expose weakness to other villages.
Doing nothing? Annoying—but safe.
The two advisors exchanged helpless looks, then turned to Danzo—hoping the resident war hawk had a plan.
Danzo cleared his throat.
"Uzushiogakure is technically still an ally of Konoha. In the future, it may even become part of the village."
"But the real threat… is the organization Naruto fought."
"The Akatsuki."
Homura frowned.
"That name sounds familiar…"
Hiruzen explained,
"They're a mercenary group active in the black market. The masked man is one of them—the same one who worked with Itachi during the Uchiha massacre."
"They originally came from Amegakure."
Danzo hesitated, then finally spoke.
"I had dealings with them years ago. Back then, Hanzō and I joined forces to eliminate them… at a heavy cost."
"It seems they've… come back."
The advisors frowned.
"So the Nine-Tails attack was their revenge?" Koharu asked.
"And you still insisted the Uchiha were the main suspects?"
Danzo's expression stiffened.
"Only the Sharingan can control the Nine-Tails. And it's already proven—the masked man is an Uchiha."
"They even discarded their own clan. Just like Tobirama-sensei said… the Uchiha are a cursed clan."
Classic Danzo logic—when in doubt, blame the Uchiha.
The room went quiet for a moment.
Then Danzo added:
"The Akatsuki didn't just target Konoha. They also secretly controlled the Yagura, the Fourth Mizukage, causing years of civil war in Kirigakure."
Homura's face grew serious.
"So they're trying to destabilize every nation… but why? Money alone can't explain this."
Hiruzen finally spoke again, his tone heavy.
"Their goal… is the tailed beasts."
"They plan to gather them all and create the ultimate weapon—to dominate the ninja world."
The room fell silent.
Even the two advisors felt a chill.
Compared to Uzushiogakure, which could still be considered a "branch" of Konoha…
Akatsuki was something else entirely.
A group openly hunting tailed beasts?
That wasn't just dangerous.
That was basically declaring war on the entire ninja world.
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