August 18th, Konoha Year 46.
On this blazing summer day, Obito Uchiha and Rin Nohara officially severed ties with Konoha, becoming true missing-nin in every sense of the word.
At the same time, however, they also joined the mysterious organization Nightfall, the group Shimizu belonged to, becoming provisional outer members.
And for both of them, this outcome was more than acceptable.
Filled with enthusiasm, Obito and Rin immediately set out toward the destination of their mission.
Only after the two disappeared into the distance did Kakashi speak again.
"Shimizu-senpai, how are we supposed to identify whether someone is a member of Nightfall?"
Kakashi's concern was reasonable.
Since he personally knew Obito and Rin, conflict with them naturally wouldn't happen.
But the Third Great Ninja War was still ongoing.
People died in war every day.
Who could say whether the enemy shinobi you killed might secretly be a member of Nightfall?
"Nightfall's official members are all elites among elites, so our numbers are limited. As for how to identify them..." Shimizu paused slightly. "You'll learn once you become an official member."
It was a good question.
And at the same time, it reminded Shimizu of something important.
He really did need to come up with some kind of identification system between members.
After all, there was no way he could have every official member of Nightfall strutting around in those ridiculously conspicuous black cloaks with red clouds.
"Oh right, Kakashi. Leave all your soldier pills with me. Then return to Konoha immediately and inform the Third Hokage to bring trusted personnel and elite shinobi here to support me."
"Remember—don't tell anyone else. Inform the Third Hokage personally."
"And if anything unusual happens in Konoha, notify me immediately."
"Yes, Shimizu-senpai."
As Kakashi handed over the soldier pills, he asked another question.
"Is this part of Nightfall's entrance test?"
"Of course not. Your actual evaluation task is to recruit Kakuzu into Nightfall."
"!!"
Kakashi had clearly heard it earlier—
The Kakuzu Shimizu mentioned was an S-rank missing-nin from Takigakure.
They were actually planning to recruit someone that dangerous into Nightfall?
Could a criminal like that really join an organization dedicated to world peace?
"Bringing someone like Kakuzu into Nightfall is naturally a decision made after careful consideration by the organization's leadership."
"And don't doubt Nightfall's founding purpose either. Nightfall's leader is a shinobi so powerful that even I deeply admire and respect him."
Shimizu naturally noticed the doubt in Kakashi's expression.
Unlike Obito, Kakashi wasn't the type who could be fooled with a few casual words.
So Shimizu gave a slight explanation regarding Kakuzu's recruitment.
At the same time, he established an image of Nightfall's leader as an unfathomably powerful and reliable figure.
Sure enough, after hearing that even Shimizu-senpai respected Nightfall's leader, Kakashi immediately relaxed.
But simultaneously, his curiosity only deepened.
Just what kind of person could earn the admiration of someone as powerful as Shimizu-senpai?
And rather than isolating himself from the world, such a powerful shinobi had instead declared "maintaining world peace" as his mission and founded Nightfall.
Without question, this had to be an ambitious figure capable of shaking the shinobi world itself.
"Kakuzu's strength is respectable. You'll need to demonstrate enough power to intimidate him first."
"Then offer him our terms and place him in charge of all of Nightfall's finances."
"I think he'll be interested in Nightfall."
It sounded simple enough.
But Kakashi understood something very clearly.
Earlier, when assigning Obito and Rin their second mission, Shimizu had warned them:
"Be careful. Don't die."
That alone was enough to prove Nightfall's evaluations were far from simple.
Of course, if Shimizu handled it personally, then recruiting Kakuzu really wouldn't be difficult.
A so-called immortal shinobi like Kakuzu—someone whose speed was unimpressive and whose weaknesses were obvious—was little more than a mini-boss with an oversized health bar in Shimizu's current eyes.
Still, Kakuzu's combat ability was unquestionably Kage-level.
Kakashi would likely struggle against him.
At that point, Shimizu would probably have to secretly keep watch nearby to prevent anything from going wrong.
"Remember this too—don't let him fool you with that nonsense about having fought the First Hokage."
"Huh?"
"He threw a shuriken at the First Hokage from eight hundred meters away and started calling that 'fighting the First Hokage.'"
"He's been bragging about it for decades."
Eight hundred meters?!
This Kakuzu could actually use such an absurd shuriken technique?!
At that moment, Kakashi genuinely felt the terrifying pressure of an S-rank missing-nin.
"U-understood, Shimizu-senpai."
Kakashi steadied his emotions, picked up the broken White Fang tanto, then immediately bid farewell to Shimizu before rushing toward Konoha at full speed.
Now that all three kids were gone, Shimizu finally began seriously planning the construction of the mysterious organization he had just mentioned to them—
Nightfall.
At present, the detailed information regarding the organization Nightfall was as follows:
Official Members:
-Shimizu Uzuki — Kage-level shinobi. Simultaneously serving as leader, executive, and official member.
Probationary Members:
-Obito Uchiha — Elite Jonin
-Rin Nohara — Elite Chūnin
-Kakashi Hatake — Elite Jonin
Potential Members:
-Currently under active recruitment...
Organization Assets:
-One Konoha property approximately one hundred square meters in size
-One Wind Release chakra longsword
-Several Lightning Release chakra kunai
-A certain amount of money and explosive tags
Mystery Level: MAX
Fame Level: MIN
Date Established: After August 18th, Konoha Year 46
That was right.
This organization had been founded completely on impulse by Shimizu.
An idea that came to him on the spot, and he immediately acted on it.
There was no reason not to make use of free labor like Obito and Rin.
And being able to rope Kakashi into it as well made the organization's birth especially meaningful.
Thinking about it more carefully, the three Kirigakure shinobi currently under Shisui's Kotoamatsukami could probably also be considered part of Nightfall's sphere.
As for future recruitment targets, the list was dazzling:
Shisui.
Megumi.
Satomi.
Amane.
Even Orochimaru and Minato...
Oh right, Yoshimaru wasn't bad either.
Their relationship was decent enough.
Worth observing. Worth considering.
The more Shimizu thought about it, the more Nightfall no longer seemed quite so hopeless.
Soon enough, however, he set aside thoughts of the newborn organization.
The crisis here had not yet been fully resolved.
The reason he told Kakashi to bring the Third Hokage and Konoha elites here was naturally to prepare for the battle that might happen next.
Shimizu suspected that the Valley of the End had been the prearranged rendezvous point between Tobi and Madara.
Otherwise, Tobi would never have chosen this location to meet Obito and openly extract the Three-Tails here.
Clearly, they had genuinely never expected Shimizu Uzuki to appear.
That was why they had treated this place as safe territory.
Tobi had already proven that judgment with its life.
At the same time, Shimizu was also worried that Madara might already be clashing head-on with Konoha forces—or perhaps was already on his way toward the Valley of the End.
If he ran back and forth between both sides now, he might fail to handle either properly.
So sending Kakashi back to Konoha also served the purpose of gathering intelligence.
But most importantly...
There were Tobi's dying words:
"Destroy my body completely."
Why exactly had it said that?
Shimizu didn't understand.
So he could only wait and see if someone took the bait.
After retrieving the chakra kunai and shuriken scattered throughout the sea of forest, and swallowing soldier pills one after another, Shimizu began a long period of silent surveillance.
...
No one knew how much time had passed.
Then suddenly—
From the center of the silent forest sea came faint rustling sounds.
Black Zetsu slowly emerged from underground.
It surveyed the battlefield around it before muttering softly:
"The Three-Tails is gone."
"Obito Uchiha has left."
"Looks like Tobi's mission failed."
"But where's the corpse?"
It searched again.
Still nothing.
"...So Tobi ultimately realized it after all."
In that case...
Black Zetsu raised a hand.
Two Kumogakure shinobi immediately emerged from underground.
Then it ordered them:
"Leak information to Kumogakure that Madara was the one behind the Two-Tails going berserk."
"Then provoke Konoha and Kumogakure into joining forces against Madara."
Black Zetsu was once again forced to alter its plans on the spot.
The two "Kumo shinobi" were actually White Zetsu in disguise, dispatched to carry out this task.
With Madara's current strength, there was no one in the shinobi world capable of defeating him one-on-one.
But if he were forced to face both Konoha and Kumogakure—the two colossal powers of the shinobi world—simultaneously...
His defeat would only be a matter of time.
And once Madara retreated back to this original rendezvous point...
Black Zetsu planned to personally step in and bring this farce to an end.