Chapter 272: Scheming
"Who was your opponent, just now?"
Sakura had barely returned to Turtle Island when Tobirama, having sensed the fight, met her.
"Obito Uchiha."
Sakura didn't hide anything, answering directly.
"Dead?"
Tobirama raised an eyebrow.
"Dead. But also alive again."
That answer left Tobirama briefly blank — but he quickly caught on.
As the leading advocate for military action against the Uchiha clan back during the Senju's Warring States era, he had at least some knowledge of Izanagi.
And beyond that — his own resurrection owed no small debt to that very same eye technique.
Sakura only needed to mention it once, and he understood immediately.
"I see..."
Tobirama mused quietly.
"Head back to the village and help Tsunade manage things, ahead of what's coming."
Sakura continued, walking past the Second Hokage.
"What's coming?"
Tobirama sounded genuinely puzzled.
Sakura paused, turning to look back at him.
"Remember the question I once asked you?"
"What do you think of the nobility?"
Her tone was calm, but brooked no evasion.
Tobirama studied those eyes, his chest tightening slightly.
There was no dodging this one.
"...The nobility have run through this world for a thousand years, deeply entrenched in the shinobi world's very foundations. It looks, on the surface, like each nation has its own Daimyo and dozens of noble houses, with constant friction between different countries' aristocracies driving frequent wars — but in truth, they span the entire shinobi world, propping each other up, bound together through endless intermarriage."
"So-called shinobi are nothing more than chips on their gambling table."
Tobirama paused thoughtfully, then continued:
"But chips are still just chips, in the end — only a small part of their overall lives."
"Nobility. Shinobi. Commoners."
"Nobility governs the nation. Shinobi quell the chaos of war. Commoners develop the nation's resources."
"On the surface, it looks like each supports the other in balance. But any system, in its origins, is meant to serve its era, to benefit the nation and its people — and as the era changes, the system must change with it."
"Fail to keep pace with the shifting times, and you're inevitably swept into history's scrap heap."
"But because shinobi alone can't govern an entire nation, the nobility's continued existence becomes necessary — they understand how to administer, how to control a country."
"And, precisely because of the shinobi's presence, any resistance from the common people below can be crushed with ease."
"Under this class arrangement, the nobility's existence has persisted all the way down to today."
Tobirama saw the relationship between the three classes with remarkable clarity.
The so-called nobility weren't all mindless, useless leeches. Plenty among them were genuinely learned, capable administrators.
Shinobi, meanwhile, caught in endless cycles of war, could only pour every available moment into their own personal strength.
And even among commoners — those with genuine long-term vision could see all of this clearly enough, but faced with shinobi's absolute monopoly on force, all they could do was sigh and return to their fields, picking their hoes back up.
The nobility could provide shinobi with the resources they needed. The commoners could not.
No — they could, in principle. But whenever any hint of that emerged, the nobility crushed it immediately, ordering shinobi to sweep away any opposing voice.
"So the true pivot point — it's neither the nobility, nor the commoners."
"It's us."
Tobirama continued:
"If a shinobi emerged capable of governing a nation and holding the whole situation stable, there would be enough time to sweep the nobility away entirely — and before that shinobi's own natural lifespan ran out, cultivate enough capable commoners to take over governance in their place."
"Then this entire arrangement — nobility holding sole dominance — could vanish for good."
Tobirama sighed at the thought, a note of genuine regret in his voice.
"There was once exactly such an opportunity. A shame..."
What exactly did Tobirama regret?
Hashirama Senju, of course.
Hashirama's own era had been exactly such a golden opportunity. Hashirama possessed more than enough military force to suppress the entire shinobi world, while Tobirama himself possessed more than enough wisdom to cultivate a class of capable administrators.
But Tobirama's own dear elder brother had stabbed that plan in the back.
By marrying his own daughter off to the Daimyo.
Tsunade's own mother.
With that, Hashirama was no longer purely a shinobi. He'd become, alongside everything else, a Daimyo's own father-in-law.
And precisely because of that, he could no longer act as a pure, unentangled shinobi.
Tobirama, even holding the same ambition himself, had no choice but to let that particular flame die out.
And once Hashirama passed and Tobirama himself became Hokage, that same opportunity had resurfaced.
Unfortunately, while Tobirama was formidable, he wasn't quite formidable enough — he couldn't suppress the entire shinobi world the way his brother once had.
So the only thing he could actually do was cultivate the "Will of Fire" within Konoha's own shinobi.
Which explained precisely why Konoha's shinobi recognized only the Hokage, and paid no mind to the Daimyo at all.
On the surface, it looked like nothing more than an unremarkable loyalty-building exercise taught at the academy.
But in truth, it had planted the seeds for breaking down the class system, someday, down the line.
"Go on."
"Head back to Konoha."
Sakura, watching Tobirama's expression tinged with regret, spoke.
"What do you mean by that?"
Tobirama looked puzzled.
Sakura relayed, directly, everything from her earlier exchange with Black Zetsu.
"In that case, I really should head back."
Tobirama's expression turned grave.
In peacetime, Tsunade could handle the Hokage's duties perfectly well.
But in wartime, Tsunade would genuinely start struggling.
Not because she lacked ability — everyone simply had their own particular strengths.
Take, for instance — an emperor who conquers a realm and an emperor who governs one well were entirely different breeds. Someone genuinely skilled at both war and governance was, even across Sakura's own past-life history spanning thousands of years, an exceedingly rare thing.
Li Shimin. Zhu Di.
Maybe her own knowledge was limited, but those were the only two names Sakura could actually think of.
Emperor Wen of Han might qualify too, though unfortunately, during his reign the nation's strength hadn't been sufficient — he'd spent his time desperately accumulating wealth and resources purely to lay groundwork for Emperor Wu afterward.
"And what about here?"
War mattered, of course — but the moment Naruto achieved perfect jinchūriki status, he'd be able to single-handedly decide the outcome of an entire battlefield.
As far as Tobirama was concerned, this location mattered just as much.
"I'll stay here. Help Naruto along, and keep an eye out for any troublemakers."
"If Naruto hasn't finished mastering the Nine-Tails' chakra within seven days, I'll return to Konoha myself."
Sakura answered.
"Seven days?"
"That should work."
Tobirama considered it briefly.
If Akatsuki started spreading word that the previous Land of Fire Daimyo had died at the Fifth Hokage's own hands, roughly seven days sounded about right for that to gain traction.
By the time the shinobi world rose against Konoha as one, that would still buy enough time to prepare.
After all, war couldn't simply begin the instant someone shouted "attack."
Before the troops march, the supply lines march first.
That old principle held true in every world, this one included.
"By the way — once you're back in Konoha, if you run into Sasuke, have him come to me directly."
Sakura added.
"That Uchiha brat?"
"Why?"
"I'll admit I'm not particularly fond of him, but he's a genuinely capable combatant."
Tobirama had no great enthusiasm for pulling a Mangekyō-tier Uchiha away to Turtle Island at a moment like this.
Especially since Turtle Island already had one Mangekyō user present.
"I need his power to help a seed grow."
Sakura left him with that single, cryptic line, and Tobirama, though puzzled, simply agreed and asked nothing further.
"One more thing — if word of Akatsuki's rumor campaign starts spreading, consider making use of the Daimyo currently residing in the village."
Sakura added, and Tobirama, who'd just been about to leave, paused, then quickly understood.
Ah, I see.
So that was part of the reasoning behind bringing the Daimyo to Konoha in the first place, back then...
Watching the tall, white-haired man vanish into the darkness, Sakura wasn't worried at all that Tobirama might fail to grasp her meaning.
Conversation with sharp minds always went easier — the merest hint tended to be enough.
Hold the emperor hostage to command the vassals.
There was no way a man of Tobirama's intellect wouldn't grasp that immediately.
Nominally, the Land of Fire's Daimyo held equal standing with every other nation's Daimyo.
But national strength was national strength, plain and simple.
Equal standing? I lower myself to have a friendly chat with you, and you actually think that makes us peers?
—
Land of Rain
Amegakure
In a quiet, empty room, upon a bed that should have held no one at all, a form gradually solidified out of nothing — Obito Uchiha's body slowly taking shape upon the sheets.
The instant he fully materialized, Obito's eyes flew open, and he sat up, gasping desperately for breath.
Anticipating the Fifth Hokage's own combat capability, he'd carved an Izanagi trigger point in place before ever setting out.
Thanks to the Ghost Sprout Technique's dramatic boost to his overall strength, his Izanagi could now sustain itself for a full twelve hours.
As long as he died within that twelve-hour window, he'd be revived at the exact location where the trigger point had been set.
"Seems things are developing in a rather extreme direction, hm."
Black Zetsu crawled out from Obito's sleeve, speaking.
Not just Obito — Black Zetsu himself had been restored here alongside him, via Izanagi.
"What now?"
Obito spoke, his right eye now a blank, empty white.
That particular three-tomoe Sharingan was permanently gone now.
No matter, though. He still had reserves.
"Time is tight. Have Hiruko and Kisame stand in for Pain against the invading Sunagakure forces outside."
"Buy Pain enough time to engage that Hokage directly."
Black Zetsu's words made Obito's mouth twitch.
Send Pain to deal with Pinky?
Who's going to be dealing with whom, exactly?
"I've told you before. People grow."
"Obito, haven't you yourself grown, compared to three years ago?"
Black Zetsu seemed to have already guessed exactly what was going through Obito's mind.
"Nagato's range for controlling Pain has its limits."
"Once Pain's been defeated by the Hokage, you take Nagato and leave."
Black Zetsu's words made Obito's brow furrow.
"Your goal is to make Pain lose, deliberately?"
Black Zetsu nodded.
"Pain's grown far too arrogant."
"He needs a defeat."
"To grow from it."
Obito's frown deepened further at that.
"Your goal is to make Pain stronger?"
Black Zetsu nodded without any hesitation, then looked at Obito with genuine seriousness.
"Obito. This isn't the time for scheming against each other."
"With a genuine enemy bearing down on us, continuing to play politics among ourselves would be the single stupidest choice we could make."
"We need every scrap of strength we can leverage."
"Nagato doesn't just need a defeat. He needs to become stronger."
"Otherwise, there's no realistic way we ever finish collecting all nine tailed beasts."
Black Zetsu's words left Obito quiet for a long moment — but eventually, he nodded.
Black Zetsu wasn't finished, though:
"Once Nagato's tasted defeat, I'll need you to transplant the Hashirama cells in your own body into him."
!!!
"Do you even understand what you're saying?"
"You don't seriously think Nagato is on our side, do you?"
Obito's face darkened, glaring at the dark mass before him.
Black Zetsu let out a deep sigh, and looked at the man before him with genuine gravity.
"When it's time to let go, you let go. Don't cling to short-term gains and lose the bigger picture — that path leads nowhere."
"Our goal was never to keep Nagato under our thumb. It's Infinite Tsukuyomi."
"Do you understand which matters more?"
"Or, put another way — do you honestly believe you, as you stand now, could beat the Hokage and claim the Nine-Tails for yourself?"
"And bear in mind — knowing Pain's temperament, there's little chance he'd ever choose to act alongside you willingly."
Black Zetsu's words left Obito silent.
Seeing this, Black Zetsu simply continued walking toward the door, speaking as he went:
"Obito. We both hold the same ideal in our hearts. I believe both of us would gladly give our lives for that beautiful world we're working toward."
"But right now isn't the time to be second-guessing every gain and loss. If Nagato grows too powerful someday, down the line — we simply beat him when that day comes."
"But that's a matter for the future. Right now, we exist only in the present."
"We can't change the past. But what we do now can shape what comes next."
Black Zetsu's voice faded further into the distance, and Obito, lifting his mismatched eyes — one red, one blank white — found his fists clenching tight, unconsciously.
Black Zetsu was right.
We can't change the past. But we can shape the future through what we choose now.
In that moment, Obito's thoughts drifted, unbidden, to Madara — and he felt a quiet pang of something close to gratitude.
If Madara hadn't left Black Zetsu behind for him, he'd probably have gone charging headlong straight into that wall named Sakura Haruno, and nothing more.
Black Zetsu, uninterested in whatever thoughts were currently running through Obito's head, simply possessed a nearby White Zetsu and moved off toward wherever Nagato currently was, turning over his own next steps as he walked.
Capturing the Four-Tails. Spreading the rumor campaign. Stoking the nobility's hostility toward the Hokage across the shinobi world. Forcibly reigniting a shinobi world war that had barely settled for three years.
And then there was still the matter of Pain...
Too much to handle. He needed to organize his thoughts properly.
Still — the Four-Tails jinchūriki, Rōshi, specialized in Lava Release, which Kisame's own abilities countered well.
Which meant all Kisame needed was a partner capable of extracting him quickly from the scene once Rōshi was dealt with.
Currently, the only member of Akatsuki capable of fast aerial extraction was Konan.
Whether Pain would actually agree to let Konan and Kisame handle this mission together, though, remained to be seen.
Turning all of this over in his mind, Black Zetsu continued forward.
Before he knew it, he'd arrived before the Central Tower.
This was where Pain — Nagato — currently resided.
(End of chapter)
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