Silver lightning exploded in the darkness.
It illuminated the orange spiral mask.
The instant Obito's body was struck, it turned intangible.
Raikiri passed straight through him, as if cutting through a cloud of smoke.
It dealt no damage at all.
Intangibility…
One of Kamui's powers.
By transferring part of his body into another dimension, he could render physical attacks and most ninjutsu useless.
Teizawa withdrew his hand and took half a step back, putting distance between them.
"Interesting ability."
There was a trace of curiosity in his voice.
As if this were the first time he had ever seen such power.
Of course, it was not the first time.
Thanks to what he knew from before, Teizawa understood Kamui all too well.
But he could not let Obito realize that.
Obito's figure became solid again.
That Sharingan gleamed scarlet in the darkness.
"Your reactions are fast," he said, a faint note of appreciation in his voice. "But not fast enough."
He vanished again.
This time, he did not appear behind Teizawa.
He came from the front.
His hand shot toward Teizawa's throat at terrifying speed.
Teizawa turned sideways and avoided it.
At the same time, his left hand condensed a mass of pitch-black material and hurled it at Obito.
An Iron Sand sphere.
Obito became intangible again.
The Iron Sand sphere passed through his body and slammed into the wall, blasting out a large crater.
"Your ninjutsu won't work on me."
Obito's voice came from behind the mask.
It carried a condescending certainty.
"Is that so?"
The corner of Teizawa's mouth lifted slightly, and his finger gave a small hook.
Obito suddenly felt his feet sink.
At some point, the floor beneath him had become a black swamp.
Pitch-black Iron Sand surged up from underground like living things and wrapped around his ankles.
Intangibility…
By instinct, he tried to activate Kamui.
But the moment the Iron Sand around his ankles turned intangible, it followed tightly after him.
Like a parasite burrowing into the bone, impossible to shake off.
Magnet Release: Iron Sand Flow.
Teizawa's specialty.
It could control metal, change its shape, and track enemies.
Even if Obito could become intangible, as long as the Iron Sand remained attached to him—even if it entered his body through the capillaries—he would be unable to completely escape it.
"I told you… your ability is interesting."
Teizawa stood a few steps away, both hands tucked into his sleeves, his posture so relaxed he looked as if he were taking a stroll.
"But no matter how interesting an ability is, it still has weaknesses."
Obito's brow furrowed slightly.
Of course he knew his own weakness.
But very few people could find a way to deal with it so quickly.
This Kazekage was far more troublesome than he had expected.
Obito stopped prolonging the fight. His body sank into the void again.
The Iron Sand around his ankles was pulled into the Kamui Dimension with him.
Then he disappeared completely.
The office fell quiet.
Teizawa stood where he was, looking in the direction Obito had vanished.
The smile at the corner of his mouth slowly faded.
So he had finally come…
A little earlier than expected.
But still within the plan.
That was how it should be. He and Akatsuki were already mortal enemies.
If Obito still refused to show himself, that would have been strange.
After Obito vanished, Teizawa did not press the advantage.
Nor did he try to tear off that mask.
He knew the time was not right yet.
Obito was not his target.
Akatsuki's leader, Pain, was.
Obito was merely the shadow standing behind Pain.
To hook a big fish, patience was required.
Teizawa returned to his seat behind the desk.
He picked up the teacup on the table and took a sip.
The tea had gone cold, but the flavor remained.
He leaned back in his chair, closed his eyes, and began calculating in his mind.
Obito's goal was obvious.
Just as he had controlled the Fourth Mizukage, he wanted to use genjutsu to control the Kazekage.
He wanted to turn Sunagakure into an Akatsuki subordinate.
But that plan had failed.
He would definitely think of another method.
Next, he would either send more people to assassinate him, come again in person, or—
Launch a full-scale attack on Sunagakure.
No matter which option it was, Teizawa had to be prepared.
Swish, swish, swish.
Several figures suddenly appeared.
They were Sunagakure Anbu.
"Kazekage-sama, just now, several Anbu encountered an unknown intruder's genjutsu attack…"
The person had not finished speaking when he saw the ruined state of the Kazekage's office.
Every Anbu present was shocked.
Had Kazekage-sama been attacked?
"It's fine. Have someone clean this up."
Teizawa did not blame them.
Against that sneaky bastard Obito's ability, the Anbu were lucky they had not been killed instantly.
There was no point blaming them.
He narrowed his eyes and said, "Pass down the order. Strengthen security. Starting today, Sunagakure is entering Level Two combat readiness."
"All outside missions are canceled. All shinobi are to stand by. Night patrols in particular will have their manpower doubled."
The Anbu froze for a moment, then dropped to one knee.
"Yes, sir."
The door closed softly.
Teizawa leaned back in his chair and stared at the ceiling.
Obito, your timing is perfect.
He had been worrying about how to get White Zetsu as sacrifices.
Now Obito had delivered himself to his doorstep.
If he could find a way to obtain White Zetsu cells from Obito during their next clash…
Or simply capture a White Zetsu outright?
Then the matter of Edo Tensei would have a solution.
The corner of his mouth rose slightly, and a cunning glint flashed through his eyes.
When that time came, Sunagakure's strongest shinobi from past generations would all return together.
Then let's see who still dared to invade.
Teizawa was a man of action.
He closed his eyes, and his sensory perception spread outward from the Kazekage Building in every direction.
Electromagnetic waves pierced through layer after layer of rock and earth like invisible feelers.
They reached tens of meters underground.
Then hundreds.
The dense network of tunnels and caverns beneath Sunagakure surfaced one by one in his mind.
Soon, about fifty meters underground in the village's southeast corner, he sensed an unusual life energy.
It was not human.
It was not animal.
It was something indescribable, somewhere between the two.
It had no heartbeat and no body heat, yet it possessed vigorous vitality.
Like a massive plant buried underground.
Its roots spread outward.
It occupied several hundred meters of space in every direction.
White Zetsu.
Teizawa opened his eyes, the corner of his mouth lifting slightly.
He had known from the start that Obito would definitely leave White Zetsu behind as a backup plan.
…
Elsewhere, in an abandoned mine somewhere on the outskirts of Sunagakure, the air suddenly twisted.
A vortex appeared out of thin air.
It spun wider and wider, deeper and deeper.
Obito stepped out of the vortex.
He landed on a pile of broken stones with a faint rustle.
His exposed Sharingan glowed scarlet in the darkness.
The ground at his feet split open.
A half-black, half-white figure emerged halfway from underground.
It was Zetsu.
"Obito…"
White Zetsu's voice was as light as ever, carrying that same lazy, careless humor. "So? Did you wipe them all out?"
Obito did not answer.
He leaned against the rock wall and folded his arms.
His Sharingan stared up at the darkness blocked by stone overhead.
After a moment of silence, he said, "No."
His voice was low and hoarse.
Every word sounded as if it had been squeezed out from deep in his throat.
Black Zetsu's head rose from the ground on the other side.
No expression could be read from that black half of his face.
But a trace of surprise flashed in his yellow eye.
"He's strong?"
Obito said nothing.
He thought back to that brief exchange.
He thought of Teizawa's deep eyes.
He thought of the figure moving through the darkness with such ease.
He thought of that strange Magnet Release.
It could not only control metal, but even manipulate chakra.
It could even track his intangibility.
Obito had rarely encountered someone like that.
"He's strong," Obito finally said. "And… he knows a great deal."
White Zetsu tilted his head.
"Knows a great deal? Knows what?"
Obito did not explain.
He straightened and walked to the mouth of the mine.
Moonlight poured in from outside and fell across him.
His black cloak gleamed coldly beneath it.
"Watch him. I want to know what he's doing at all times."
"Who he meets, where he goes, what he says—record all of it."
White Zetsu blinked, then nodded with a grin.
"Relax, relax. Leave it to me."
It fully crawled out from underground, its white body glimmering faintly beneath the moonlight.
"If there's one thing I'm good at, it's spying on people."
Black Zetsu said nothing.
He only sank silently back into the earth.
Obito stood at the mine entrance, looking toward Sunagakure in the distance, where the village lights glowed faintly through the night.
A complicated light churned in that Sharingan.
That Kazekage was stronger than expected.
Before Teizawa fully matured, Obito had to either bring him under control or…
Eliminate him.
The night wind swept past, lifting a few withered leaves.
Obito's figure vanished into a vortex.
The mine fell quiet once more.
Only White Zetsu remained standing atop the pile of broken stones.
It tilted its head and looked toward Sunagakure.
"What an interesting guy," it muttered to itself. "Let yours truly see what secrets you're hiding."
With that, its body melted into the ground like water.
Not even the faintest trace remained.
(End of Chapter)
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