Obito's Sense of Urgency

In the dark depths of the earth, Obito Uchiha, and Black and White Zetsu were present.

Black Zetsu Obito said, "Obito, did you control the Fourth Mizukage to commit suicide?"

Obito nodded and said, "Yes, there's nothing left to use in Kirigakure. Although Karatachi Yagura still holds the title of Mizukage, he's been effectively sidelined for a long time; his orders can't even leave the Mizukage Building."

"Rather than letting him fall alive into the hands of the Mist ninja and expose our existence, it's better for him to just self-destruct, which will at least inflict some casualties on the Mist ninja."

Black Zetsu asked, "Do you know who the newly appointed Fifth Mizukage is?"

Obito said, "It doesn't matter who it is. Kirigakure is already ruined. Kirigakure don't even have a single person who can fight. It's only a matter of time before they withdraw from the Five Great Ninja Villages. Maybe as soon as the news of the Fourth Mizukage's death spreads, the other shinobi villages will be discussing how to attack Kirigakure."

At this moment, White Zetsu said, "Obito, the newly appointed Mizukage of Kirigakure has signed an alliance with Iwagakure. The two sides will advance and retreat together. Anyone who dares to declare war on Kirigakure is declaring war on Iwagakure."

"With Iwagakure's strong stance, Konoha and Cloud ninja probably won't dare to act recklessly. Cloud ninja had been gathering ninjas, but after hearing the contents of this alliance, they immediately abandoned their plan."

Obito frowned and said, "Why so fast? I know the situation in Kirigakure; choosing a Mizukage acceptable to all sides isn't easy."

"Then I have to thank you. You controlled Karatachi Yagura to self-destruct, which directly caused the major clans like the Yuki to withdraw from the Mizukage competition," Black Zetsu said sarcastically.

"As a result, Kisame Hoshigaki was previously unknown, unexpectedly rose to power. I suspect that he has the support of Iwa ninja behind him."

"Considering the way that Fox of Stone acts, he was very likely in Kirigakure at the time. You've indirectly helped Iwagakure."

Obito gritted his teeth and said bitterly, "What did Yichen get from Kirigakure? I destroyed Kirigakure's Ninjutsu Scroll long ago."

Black Zetsu shook his head and said, "I don't know either. We no longer have any informants among the higher-ups in Kirigakure."

"However, we can't let Iwagakure continue to develop like this, otherwise the Ninja World might be unified by them before Lord Madara is even resurrected."

Obito snorted and said, "Iwagakure has a way to Counter to Space-Time Ninjutsu, so my Kamui can't be fully utilized there. Therefore, if we want to deal with Yichen, the battlefield absolutely cannot be in Iwagakure; we must lure him outside the village."

White Zetsu said, "Luring him outside the village won't help. As expected, he's mastered a Sensory Ninjutsu that can detect my clones. His movements are impossible to monitor."

"Furthermore, he also knows Flying Ninjutsu, while none of us can fly. If we want to deal with Yichen, we must find a ninja who can also fly to cooperate with us."

Black Zetsu said, "We can also set up the ambush in an enclosed space, so that his Flying Ninjutsu cannot be used."

Obito said, "But what kind of bait could lure Yichen into taking the risk?"

The group fell silent. Although Obito had suffered several losses at Yichen's hands, they still didn't understand Yichen well enough and didn't know what Yichen cared about most.

Black Zetsu said, "If luring him into a Nagato doesn't work, then we'll have to crush him with sheer power. How's Nagato doing? If we're looking for someone in the Ninja World right now who can defeat Yichen head-on and prevent him from escaping, it's probably only Nagato."

Speaking of Nagato, Obito became even more agitated. He had absolutely no control over Nagato now. Although Nagato was cooperating with him, he basically treated him like an intelligence ninja.

All of Nagato's decisions regarding the Dark Akatsuki Organization were made after consulting with Yahiko and Konan. Nagato never considered this cowardly guy who claimed to be Madara Uchiha as an equal collaborator.

Obito was unaware that Yichen was also a member of the Dark Akatsuki, and even less aware that Nagato and the other two would occasionally consult Yichen about methods for governing a country and a village. Otherwise, he might have gone even more insane.

"We must get rid of Yahiko and Konan, otherwise Nagato will never listen to us," Obito said hatefully.

White Zetsu interjected, "Back then Hanzo of the Salamander and Danzo of Konoha ambushed them and almost succeeded in killing Yahiko, but this Yichen ruined it."

"After that, the three of them rarely separated. Even when my clones pretended to get slightly close to Yahiko and Konan by accident, Nagato would kill them. Because of this, I've lost many clones."

Obito said, "In that case, let's give Nagato and the others some enemies. Only when Nagato experiences the cruelty of the Ninja World can he change his current attitude towards life. Also, it's time to tell him about the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path and the recovery of the Tailed Beast."

When Obito was planning who to attack first, Yichen returned to Iwagakure.

After returning to the Land of Earth from the Land of Water, Yichen first went to the capital and met with the Tsuchikage of the Land of Earth to discuss trade between the Land of Water. The daimyo naturally gave his full support to this matter, which could both expand the Land of Earth's influence and bring tangible financial benefits.

So Yichen happily returned to Iwagakure with a large sum of money allocated by the Daimyo.

Upon entering the village, Yichen immediately convened a High-Level Meeting with his advisors.

At the meeting, Yichen first took out the Ninjutsu Scroll from Kirigakure and said to Saka, "Gather the village's Water Release ninjas and have them practice these Ninjutsu properly to improve our overall strength. Try to ask for as few Contribution Points as possible in the exchange."

Saka opened the Ninjutsu catalog and glanced through it. His eyes lit up immediately, and he exclaimed, "Wow, so many! This is a real windfall! I'll never have to worry about running out of high-level Water Release again!"

Yichen nodded and said, "I plan to get some advanced Water Release Ninjutsu for Ishinose Kiyoshi as well. The fact that he was able to stay in Kirigakure for so long without being discovered is largely thanks to the Water Release Technique he created."

Everyone nodded, indicating that there was no problem. Although these Ninjutsu were all to be confiscated, Yichen, as the ninja who obtained the Ninjutsu, was willing to give his disciple a little convenience, and no one else had any objections.

Moreover, Yichen had a legitimate reason.

After dealing with the Ninjutsu Scroll, Yichen handed over the extra funds allocated by the Daimyo to Ming. Ming immediately Awakening Eyes and said, "Perfect timing! We've been setting up Natural Energy Seal Barrier for the Shark Swarm, and the village's finances are a bit tight. This funding comes at just the right time. In consideration of this funding, we'll let bygones be bygones for your extended stay in Kirigakure this time."

The Shark Swarm played a significant role in dealing with the Monkey Clan last time, so after observing the Shark Swarm for a while longer, Yichen and the others began to build Shark Swarm settlement. Because sharks are extremely large, setting up these seals in the Shark Swarm settlement required a large amount of the village's funds.

Yichen rolled his Byakugan, ignoring Ming's words, and changed the subject. "Now that we've signed an alliance with Kirigakure, we also need to open up trade routes with them. Kirigakure Ikura, you'll be in charge of that."

Ikura nodded and said, "The situation with the Land of Iron is probably difficult to handle. The Land of Iron has always maintained neutrality, and it's unlikely they will easily agree to lift the restrictions on trade routes and allow our caravans to pass through frequently."

Yichen thought for a moment and said, "If all else fails, we can take the waterway, through the Land of Sound, the Land of Hot Water, or even the Land of the Moon."

Ikura frowned. "The Land of the Moon is too close to the Land of Lightning; I'm afraid it's not safe."

Yichen said, "There's nothing unsafe about it. The Fourth Raikage isn't as reckless as he seems. He knows how to assess situations."

"Otherwise, he should have already invaded the Land of Water. Since he's wary of our strength and Kirigakure, he certainly won't interfere with our caravans too much."

"By the way, has there been any news from the Third Generation lately?" Yichen asked Saka after assigning tasks to Ikura.

Saka said, "We haven't had any contact at all, and we don't even know which country they've gone to."

Yichen sighed, wanting to complain, but he held back. Although Ōnoki was a playboy, Yichen had the least right to complain.

After seeing that Yichen had finished dealing with his matter, Kitsuchi suddenly took out a letter and handed it to Yichen. It had just been sent from Konoha a couple of days ago and was mixed in with intelligence.

Yichen curiously took the letter, glanced at it, and exclaimed in surprise, "Kakashi Hatake? How did he contact us? Who gave him the means to do so?"

Kitsuchi shook his head and said, "No one gave him any contact information; he found it himself. He contacted our intelligence ninja planted in Konoha and had him deliver the message back."

The ninja responsible for gathering intelligence in Konoha was nearly scared to death.

Yichen was taken aback and said, "As expected of Kakashi Hatake, he has some skills."

Kakashi's letter was very simple; he merely asked Yichen how to persuade Shisui Uchiha to support his actions.

Yichen frowned. Kakashi was a poor choice as a teammate. Although Shisui Uchiha was strong, his vigilance was too poor, making him vulnerable to being betrayed by his own people.

In Konoha, Kakashi received a reply from Yichen. In his letter Yichen suggested that Kakashi could try to persuade Shisui Uchiha from Itachi Uchiha's perspective.

Tell Shisui Uchiha: If the problems Uchiha Clan and the Konoha High-ranking officials cannot be resolved, his younger brother Itachi may die in this internal strife before he even reaches adulthood.

Kakashi hesitated for a moment, but ultimately decided to follow Yichen's suggestion.

The next day, Kakashi found Shisui Uchiha had just finished his shift at Root.

Kakashi started with Obito and had a long and pleasant chat with Shisui Uchiha.

Kakashi had expected Shisui Uchiha to be somewhat hostile towards him, but the result was unexpected. Kakashi was very warm towards Obito's comrade, showing none of the anger that other Uchiha would feel upon seeing an outsider using the Sharingan.