Land of Fire Daimyo's Residence.
The Daimyo sat on a cushion, continuously waving his folding fan. The rapid rhythm revealed the anxiety in his heart.
He was waiting—waiting for the mysterious masked man who called himself Uchiha Madara to bring decisive intelligence.
Though he understood that only a few days had passed, thoroughly investigating Dawn Shipping—and the person behind it—would certainly require a great deal of time.
Yet the Daimyo remained unbearably impatient.
Then, the air twisted slightly, and Obito's figure silently appeared in the center of the room.
The Daimyo's body jolted at the sudden appearance, but he quickly regained his composure. With barely concealed urgency, he asked, "So soon? How is the situation in the Land of Waves? When can Dawn Shipping be completely eliminated?"
Obito did not answer immediately. The one eye exposed by his mask carried an amused look as it slowly sized up the Daimyo, as though he were admiring an interesting object.
That gaze rapidly magnified the faint unease in the Daimyo's heart.
"Eliminated?" Once he felt the atmosphere had been sufficiently built up, Obito spoke in a low voice with a trace of amusement. "Before discussing how to eliminate Dawn Shipping, Lord Daimyo, guess who I saw while gathering intelligence in the Land of Waves?"
That tone and gaze made the Daimyo's heart sink sharply.
Earlier, the confidant he had sent to verify the intelligence had already reported back that every piece of information provided by this masked man was accurate down to the smallest detail. He had even privately confirmed through special channels that someone called Uchiha Madara was indeed active within Akatsuki.
This made the Daimyo place absolute trust in Obito's intelligence-gathering abilities.
And precisely because of that, the other man's unusual attitude now frightened him even more.
"What exactly did