Obito's Madness

Before long.

The High Council meeting inside the Hokage Building concluded.

After a round of wrangling and disputes, Danzo successfully obtained the Hokage authority Minato had offered up.

He would not serve as acting Hokage, but during this period, he could take charge of the Hokage's Office, wield the Hokage's authority, handle daily administrative affairs, and issue and rule on high-risk missions of every level.

However, this also indirectly provoked the dissatisfaction of Mitokado Homura and Utatane Koharu.

They were all of the same generation, so why should Danzo, who loved lurking in the shadows, be the one to temporarily wield the Hokage's authority?

If anyone were to take over, it should be Hiruzen!

What, because he had lost an eye back then? Or because he had been afraid of dying and hadn't dared to volunteer to stay behind as rearguard?

If Hiruzen had not withdrawn from the competition, how could Danzo possibly have gotten his hands on it?

To be honest, Hiruzen's withdrawal had also been beyond Danzo's expectations.

He had only assumed that Hiruzen had lost his spirit after the death of his wife, Biwako.

How could he have known that Hiruzen had been scolded by the "revived" Second Hokage Tobirama last night, and no longer cared much for power?

Or rather, he was afraid that the next time Second Hokage-sama came around, he would find Hiruzen still desperately clinging to power and having turned the Fourth Hokage into a puppet.

As for Danzo, let him make a fuss all he wanted!

Hopefully, the next time he got to meet Tobirama-sama, he would still be as tough as he was now.

And so.

After obtaining the Hokage's authority.

The first order Danzo issued was to deploy more Root ninja to monitor the Uchiha Clan.

He also strictly prohibited Uchiha ninja from leaving their clan grounds. Any mission requiring Uchiha to leave the compound had to receive his personal approval before they would be allowed to go.

Such harsh policies naturally stirred the Uchiha Clan's dissatisfaction.

Fugaku Uchiha was provoked into "deliberately" seeking out Danzo to lodge a complaint.

But under the pretext of repairing the village and guarding against spies, Danzo drove Fugaku away.

The village had only just suffered through the Nine-Tails' rampage and was currently at its highest alert level. Everyone deeply hated the Nine-Tails. If the Uchiha truly dared to stand out at a time like this, Danzo would not mind using the momentum of public opinion to ruthlessly crush them.

Fortunately, Fugaku was very rational and held himself back once again.

As the Clan Head, he also suppressed the radicals within the clan once more.

Having already reached a secret agreement with Minato, he truly was not in a hurry. In fact, he hoped Danzo and the others would become even harsher and more excessive.

The more pleased with themselves they were now, the more miserable they might be later!

No rush. He would play along with them for a while.

Elsewhere.

[Land of Iron] [Graveyard of Mountains].

Within the underground secret base built by Madara Uchiha, the battered Obito had also fled back here.

Zetsu immediately emerged.

White Zetsu teased smugly, "Oh my, oh my, the great 'Madara Uchiha' failed?"

Black Zetsu added darkly, "You've grown overconfident. Minato Namikaze, the Fourth Hokage, is not someone so easily dealt with."

Obito snarled, "Enough nonsense. Hurry up and help me transplant a new arm!"

Jokes were jokes, but—

Black Zetsu naturally could not abandon an important pawn like Obito.

White Zetsu immediately took out a suitable limb, helping Obito transplant an arm and treat his injuries.

"Obito, you didn't expose your identity, did you?" Black Zetsu asked seriously.

"No. Looking like this, no one could recognize me!"

Obito had great confidence in his disguise. Though he had lost to his teacher Minato, he was certain Minato could never identify him.

Unfortunately.

He had no idea that Natsu Yuu had nearly exposed even the color of his underwear.

"Hehehe, the braggart got thoroughly taught a lesson by his own teacher! Taught a lesson!"

White Zetsu continued mocking him, as though afraid anyone might fail to notice he had a mouth.

"Shut up!"

"I was just careless. I didn't expect him to use the Rasengan and Flying Thunder God Technique at the same time!"

"Failure is failure. Making excuses only makes you look weak. You are the one who inherited Madara's ideals and will. You should not fall here," Black Zetsu continued to encourage him in his gloomy voice.

Yet at this moment, with Obito feeling especially alone, those words sounded rather pleasant.

"It was only one failure. There won't be a next time!"

"How are the Fourth Hokage and the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki now?"

"I don't know. I retreated immediately after I was injured." Obito shook his head, unaware of the situation.

White Zetsu immediately said in a smug tone:

"Hehe, I've got the latest intelligence here. Wanna hear it?"

With so many clones, White Zetsu had naturally left some around Konoha and had already obtained the latest information.

"Spit it out!"

"Apparently, the Nine-Tails has been sealed again. But the Fourth Hokage seems to have suffered severe injuries, and Danzo has temporarily taken over his authority as Hokage."

"Severely injured and stepping into the background? Could that be false information deliberately spread?"

Black Zetsu was cautious, as always suspicious.

"Not very likely."

"Without the [Sharingan], the Nine-Tails isn't so easy to subdue. After fighting me, the Fourth Hokage didn't have much Chakra left either."

"Even if the two of them managed to seal the Nine-Tails again, one of them must have been seriously injured!"

"Maybe one of them is already dead!"

"Zetsu, if the Nine-Tails is sealed back into the Jinchuriki's body, will the Jinchuriki die?"

"No."

Black Zetsu's knowledge was far from ordinary; he even knew something like that very clearly.

"Hehehe! Poor Uchiha Obito, you didn't kill a single person. Minato and his wife might both still be alive. Obito's huge failure! Huge failure!"

"Shut up!"

Black Zetsu asked, "What are you planning to do next?"

Obito said irritably, "As long as the Fourth Hokage and Kushina are alive, [Akatsuki] won't be able to grow at all. It'll also be difficult to capture all the Tailed Beasts in the future. Didn't Madara tell you that?"

"I know. That's why I'm asking you. You're Madara's successor now."

Obito pondered for a moment before making his decision.

"Find a way to incite [Kumogakure] to attack Konoha and test them!"

"If the Fourth Hokage doesn't show himself, that'll prove he really is seriously injured. Then we'll strike again and completely eliminate this nuisance!"

"My plan, my future—no matter what, it must be achieved!"

White Zetsu clapped and laughed. "Crazy Obito, crazy guy! Are you already trying to start the Fourth Ninja World War? Crazy, crazy..."

Obito couldn't be bothered with White Zetsu.

From the moment Rin died, the only goal of his life had been to recreate a safe world where Rin would never be hurt again.

For that, he would pay any price!

"Do we need to contact Nagato's side?"

"Not yet. We'll talk after Kumogakure finishes probing them."

"Also, hurry up and tear that piece of flesh off my back!"

"Flesh? Tear it off?"

"Yes! The part with the Flying Thunder God Mark!"

After confirming that Minato had not died, Obito became extremely cautious.

He immediately ordered Zetsu to strip off the large patch of skin and flesh on his back bearing the Flying Thunder God Mark!

If Minato had died sealing the Nine-Tails, there would naturally be no need to worry about the mark.

But since he was still alive, Obito had no choice but to take it seriously. Otherwise, the next time he encountered Minato, he might not even last a single exchange!

Very soon, White Zetsu forcibly tore off that large chunk of flesh.

The excruciating pain made Obito grit his teeth until his eyes nearly split apart, but compared to the pain of losing Rin, it was nothing at all!

If you enjoy this book, remember to add it to your bookshelf so you won't lose it next time.