Return to Konoha

After attending the Akatsuki Organization meeting, Zetsu, with his yin-yang face, arrived in an underground chamber.

There, he met a man wearing a Spiral Mask.

This man was "Uchiha Madara," whom even Nagato greatly feared.

Yet the man's true identity was Uchiha Obito, a ghost of the Uchiha Clan—a man who should have been dead long ago.

"The Akatsuki Organization has lost one member. Kakuzu is dead."

Upon seeing Uchiha Obito, the black half of Zetsu's face spoke.

"Who killed him?"

Uchiha Obito asked, his voice slightly cold.

On the surface, the Akatsuki Organization was led by Nagato, but in truth, Uchiha Obito was the one truly steering it.

Every member had been carefully selected by him and possessed strength surpassing that of an Elite Jonin. The loss of any one of them was enough to pain him.

"Most likely Uchiha Fugaku, though it cannot be confirmed."

The white half of Zetsu's face spoke.

"Uchiha Fugaku?"

As a former member of the Uchiha Clan, Uchiha Obito naturally knew something about Uchiha Fugaku.

As far as he knew, this man was fairly strong, but he had only awakened the Three-Tomoe Sharingan and possessed the strength of an Elite Jonin.

Logically, strength like that should not have been enough to defeat Kakuzu.

"Could he have already awakened the Mangekyō Sharingan?"

Having experienced a tremendous surge in strength himself, his first thought was inevitably the Mangekyō Sharingan.

It was an ability of the Uchiha Clan so absurd it could practically be called cheating. Once awakened, it immediately granted Kage-level strength.

"If Kakuzu was truly killed by him, then that is highly likely."

The white half of Zetsu's face said.

"This could very well affect the plan. We must investigate this matter thoroughly."

Uchiha Obito said.

"I have already dispatched numerous clones to gather information and investigate. There should be results soon."

The white half of Zetsu's face replied.

"How is Nagato's side? Is he following the plan?"

Uchiha Obito asked again.

"He is currently following the plan and has made no other moves."

The black half of Zetsu's face said.

"Good. Keep Nagato under constant surveillance. The moment you discover any action outside the plan, notify me immediately."

Uchiha Obito said.

Whoosh—

Uchiha Fugaku hurried through the forest, making his way back to Konoha.

Suddenly.

He sensed a terrifying presence rapidly approaching.

After fusing Yamanaka Fu's corpse, he had gained the Yamanaka Clan's constitution and acquired extremely keen perception.

A sense of dread rose within him, and a chill ran through his body.

Judging from the presence alone, he already understood that whoever was approaching was absolutely not someone he could contend with.

Almost as a reflex, he concealed himself and suppressed every trace of his presence.

He made himself seem like a lifeless stone, allowing not the slightest hint of his aura to leak out.

Just after he did so, a figure wearing a Black Cloud Red Robe and sporting orange hair flew low through the sky.

As the figure flew low, he sensed the surrounding auras, clearly searching for something.

"Nagato's Deva Path clone!"

At the sight of this figure, Uchiha Fugaku's pupils contracted slightly.

Ordinary people would not recognize him, but Uchiha Fugaku knew that this was the strongest of Nagato's Six Paths of Pain—the Deva Path clone.

With his current strength, if this Deva Path clone discovered him, he would have almost no chance of winning.

"It actually drew him out!"

He could not help but feel shocked.

Killing one Kakuzu had actually drawn out Nagato, the big boss. He had never expected that.

"Luckily, I acquired the Yamanaka Clan's sensory ability!"

If he had not acquired the Yamanaka Clan's sensory ability and sensed the approaching danger from quite a distance away, allowing him to hide in advance, he would likely have been discovered by now.

He could not help feeling fortunate, grateful that he had chosen to melt the corpse of that Yamanaka Clan member earlier.

Unlike the previous owner of this body, who believed that the Uchiha Clan's Kekkei Genkai was the strongest and that the Kekkei Genkai and special physiques of other clans were nowhere near comparable to his own clan's, he believed that while the Uchiha Clan's Kekkei Genkai was indeed powerful, the Kekkei Genkai and special physiques of other clans should not be underestimated either.

He absolutely could not look down on the Kekkei Genkai, special physiques, and bloodlines of other clans simply because of the Uchiha Clan's powerful Kekkei Genkai.

With a Dojutsu like Corpse Melting, absorbing the Kekkei Genkai and special physiques of other clans into his own body was the most correct approach.

He remained perfectly still in hiding for an hour before setting off again.

To avoid any ambushes ahead, he did not return directly to Konoha. Instead, he took a large detour and only arrived at Konoha's entrance several days later.

"Captain!"

The people guarding Konoha's entrance were members of the Military Police Force. Upon seeing him, they all respectfully addressed him.

"Did anything happen in the village while I was away?"

Uchiha Fugaku asked.

"Nothing happened in the village. Oh, right—several days ago, Root lost a squad of elite ninja."

The Military Police Force member leading the group was named Uchiha Nozomi, a jōnin from the Uchiha Clan.

Hearing Uchiha Fugaku's question, he answered.

"Root lost a squad of elite ninja?"

Uchiha Fugaku was surprised.

He had indeed killed someone from Root, but there had only been one. The numbers did not match at all.

"They encountered an unknown powerful enemy. This unknown enemy was extremely strong and could fly. Their strength should have already reached Kage-level."

"Of Root's six-man squad, everyone except one ninja exceptionally skilled at concealing his presence was killed. They were killed without any ability to resist."

Uchiha Nozomi said with a hint of schadenfreude.

The Uchiha Clan's relationship with Shimura Danzō, who led Root, was extremely poor.

Root had suffered a major loss at the hands of an unknown enemy, so naturally he was rather pleased.

"Kage-level strength, and the ability to fly..."

Uchiha Fugaku could not help thinking of Nagato's Deva Path incarnation.

Nagato's Deva Path incarnation undoubtedly met both conditions, making him suspect that the Root members had encountered Nagato's Deva Path incarnation.

"Could it really be such a coincidence?"

He could not help feeling surprised.

The person Root had sent to monitor him had died and lost contact, so Root would inevitably send people to investigate.

If his guess was correct, the people sent to investigate had surely encountered Nagato's Deva Path incarnation.

Nagato was currently trying to find out who had killed Kakuzu. Even without that reason, once he encountered Root members, Nagato would certainly strike with thunderous force.

After all, Shimura Danzō had once joined forces with Hanzō of the Salamander to set up the Akatsuki Organization, causing it devastating losses and costing Nagato his closest friend.

With such hatred between them, how could Nagato possibly let them go?

Perhaps Root would even take the blame for him and be regarded by the Akatsuki Organization as the true culprit behind Kakuzu's death.