"Who would have thought you'd consider so much for my sake? As expected of you, Brother Obito."
"Brother Obito, I'll definitely work hard to gather intelligence from the Anbu. Together, we'll make the wish of peace in the Ninja World come true."
Youhu's face was filled with emotion. Then, as if he had thought of something, he pressed on:
"By the way, Brother Obito, how should I contact you after gathering the intelligence?"
"Just wait for me at Hero Cemetery like today. You seem to come here often. I saw a bouquet of flowers in front of Senior Rin's gravestone just now."
Upon hearing Rin's name, Obito froze as if struck by lightning.
After a while, Obito gently shook his head. "You were discovered here today, so I won't be coming here to pay my respects for a while. If you want to contact me, use this."
As he spoke, Obito took a ring from Kamui Space and handed it to Youhu.
Youhu accepted the ring, examined it briefly, and said:
"Brother Obito, this ring was made with your Wood Style, right? I'm so envious of you. You possess the legendary Mangekyō Sharingan of your clan, as well as the First Lord's Wood Style."
"It would be great if I were as powerful as you."
"..."
Obito had no idea whether Youhu was being sincere or mocking his poor combat ability.
It was true that he possessed the Mangekyō Sharingan and Wood Style, but he had nearly been killed by Youhu. Although carelessness had played a part, the fact remained that he had nearly died, and he would not deliberately avoid facing it.
To change the subject, Obito began explaining the ring's function:
"This ring stores my Chakra. You can use it to send me messages. Once I receive one, I'll come find you if I have time."
"Got it."
Youhu nodded, still fiddling with the ring he had just received, like a child who had been given a toy.
Seeing Youhu playing with the ring, a smug smile rose at the corners of Obito's mouth. As he stepped into the vortex, he said:
"All right, it's getting late. I have to leave Konoha too. Be careful while infiltrating the Anbu. Whatever you do, don't let anyone else discover you."
"Be careful too, Brother Obito..."
Youhu smiled as he bid him farewell. Then, as if he had thought of something, he said, "By the way, Brother Obito, didn't you leave a Sharingan with Captain Kakashi? Could your eyes have the same ability?"
"Don't get caught by Captain Kakashi either."
"Kakashi..."
Obito disappeared into the vortex, still muttering Kakashi's name as he left.
He had almost forgotten that he still had a Sharingan in Kakashi's possession. This was no small problem.
Previously, Kakashi had never seen him, so he would only treat his eye as an ordinary Three-Tomoe Sharingan and would not actively seek out a Mangekyō Sharingan to use.
But now that his identity had been exposed, Kakashi could obtain Kamui with just a little research.
When Kamui encountered Kamui, how much use would the Phasing Ability he relied on still have?
After Obito left, the smile on Youhu's face instantly vanished. He looked at the ring in his hand, his expression thoughtful.
If he remembered correctly, the Akatsuki's rings did not look like this. This ring could not use the Phantasmal Body Technique either, so how was he supposed to send a signal to Obito with it?
The answer was already obvious. This ring absolutely contained White Zetsu's Spore Technique.
Obito had left the ring behind partly to make communication between them more convenient, but also to monitor him, just as he had monitored Uchiha Sasuke in the Original Plot.
To deal with a mere Uchiha Chunin like himself, Obito had actually gone this far?
Still, monitoring him would not be so easy.
Just as Youhu was about to do something, a disturbance arose from the other side of Hero Cemetery.
Meanwhile.
After successfully persuading Youhu to defect, Obito found Uchiha Itachi at the other end of Hero Cemetery.
Compared with the unexpected delight that was Youhu, Obito actually cared more about Uchiha Itachi. Uchiha Itachi had graduated from Ninja School at six, joined the Konoha Anbu at eleven, and was a genius no less talented than Kakashi.
Most importantly, Uchiha Itachi's parents were both alive, and he had a younger brother studying at Ninja School.
With family as his bond and his innate talent, Uchiha Itachi only needed a little guidance to awaken a decent Mangekyō Sharingan.
Moreover, judging from his observations over the years, Itachi was actually an extremely radical Uchiha with a deeply abnormal mindset.
A normal Uchiha would not go to war at the age of four, much less join Root Ninja, an organization known for its darkness, soon after graduating from Ninja School.
This world is false. Let me help you escape this illusion and walk together toward the reality of Infinite Tsukuyomi.
Obito muttered inwardly as he stepped out of the Space Vortex and gradually approached Itachi.
However, at that moment, Kakashi's figure rapidly closed in on Obito. A gleaming Kunai accurately stabbed toward Obito's heart, but just before it struck, the Kunai suddenly changed position.
"Obito, I know you've been controlled by someone. Come with me to see the Hokage. I'll plead for you."
"If you continue refusing to see reason, I won't hold back."
"I really don't want to kill you."
Obito used Phasing to pass through Kakashi's body. After retreating several steps, he glared fixedly at him and said through clenched teeth:
"Kakashi, are you saying that as long as you're willing, you can kill me whenever you want?"
"You're just as arrogant as you were back then."
Obito was furious.
They both suspected that he had been controlled by someone else.
Youhu had not urged him to return to Konoha. He had only asked about his difficulties. After learning that he intended to gather the Tailed Beasts to create peace, Youhu had voluntarily offered to join his plan and become his informant.
But that bastard Kakashi only wanted him to surrender, while saying that he did not want to kill him.
Do you think you're still the genius Jonin you were back then?
Even Minato, who became the Fourth Hokage, died at my hands. What are you supposed to be?
"Obito, I never thought it would really be you..."
After hearing Obito say his own name, the last trace of hope in Kakashi's heart vanished. The Masked Man before him, whose appearance resembled Obito's, really was Obito himself.
Moreover, judging from Obito's tone, he did not seem to have been coerced. He appeared to be acting willingly.
His closest friend had ultimately gone astray.
"Did you refuse to return to Konoha all these years because you blamed me for failing to protect Rin? Were you the mysterious person who killed the Mist Hidden Anbu back then?"
Kakashi approached Obito with his Kunai, intending to persuade him with words.
"Failing to protect Rin was the greatest mistake of my life, but this has nothing to do with Teacher Minato or my mother-in-law Kushina. You shouldn't have attacked them, and you shouldn't have taken your anger out on the village."
"If you truly want revenge, you can come after me..."
"If I kill you, will Rin come back to life?"
Obito raised his head, revealing his blood-red Sharingan. His expression was twisted with rage.
Even Itachi beside him and Youhu, who had rushed over, could feel Obito's overwhelming fury.
Youhu seriously suspected that Captain Kakashi was not trying to persuade Obito to surrender, but was trying to completely provoke him.
Generally speaking, even when interrogating a criminal, no one would deliberately keep jumping back and forth across the criminal's bottom line like this.
Captain Kakashi really was terrible with words.
Before you continue