Mountain Graveyard

In this world.

There were tens of thousands of Ninjutsu, which could be divided into nine major types: Water, Fire, Wind, Lightning, Earth, Yin, Yang, Sealing Jutsu, and Space-Time Ninjutsu.

Of these, Space-Time Ninjutsu was the hardest to master, standing at the very top of the Ninjutsu pyramid.

As far as Dan knew,

all Space-Time Ninjutsu actually involved only space, and could not affect time.

Flying Thunder God, Kamui, Ame-no-jikara, and even Kekkei Mōra like Yomotsu Hirasaka and Amenominakanushi were all space-based techniques without exception.

They had nothing to do with time.

If anything could be said to relate to time, the Sharingan's two great ocular techniques, Izanagi and Izanami, could each produce an effect similar to "rewinding time" or a "time loop." But in the end, they were only similar effects.

In other words,

there were no true time-based techniques in the Naruto world.

Uchiha Itachi couldn't guess that Dan's ability was time stop because neither his conscious nor subconscious mind would ever consider that possibility.

People couldn't conceive of things beyond the limits of their understanding.

Even so, Dan decided he'd try to use time stop as little as possible from then on, to keep his ability from being exposed.

Although he didn't consider himself a ninja, he strongly agreed with a phrase ninjas often repeated:

A ninja's battle was a battle of intelligence.

The Akatsuki, with all their bizarre abilities, were the best proof of that.

Every one of them made a swaggering entrance, only to lose their clothes and get sent off in no time once their abilities were figured out.

Even Pain, who fancied himself a god, had lost the battle of intelligence.

In the JoJo world,

the invincible Kujo Jotaro had suffered setback after setback in battle once the whole world knew he could stop time. He'd been ambushed and attacked by all sorts of tricks, until Father Pucci finally killed him.

Dan didn't want that happening to him.

Once people knew he could stop time, the talent and intelligence of the ninjas would surely lead them to come up with all sorts of ways to counter him.

After parting ways with Itachi, Dan returned to the Fitness Gym.

"Gym Director, you're back."

Samui had been diligently holding down the front desk. She had just greeted Dan as he came through the door when she noticed the pair of arms in his hands.

"Don't be scared. They're fake. Look, they don't even bleed."

Seeing Samui's horrified expression, Dan picked up Obito's arms and explained.

What to do with Obito's arms was a problem.

If he wanted to use them to study Hashirama Cells and Wood Style or something, that probably wouldn't work. Dan knew next to nothing about that sort of thing.

Still, the arms didn't bleed or rot, so he could probably keep them for a while and figure out how to study them later.

With that thought,

as Samui watched in stunned silence, Dan carried the arms into the kitchen, opened the freezer, and tossed them inside.

They ended up mixed in with the beef, sausages, and other food.

"Those aren't... meant to be eaten, are they?" Samui murmured, praying to herself.

Outside Konoha,

in a forest, space rippled, and Obito appeared, dropping to the ground.

"Hah... hah..."

He knelt there, gasping for breath. His Tiger Mask had fallen off, revealing a deathly pale face.

He hadn't tasted defeat in a long time—not since the Nine-Tails' Attack.

This time, he'd fared even worse than when he lost to the Fourth Hokage.

The most infuriating part was,

he'd racked his brain and still couldn't figure out how he'd lost.

Forget it. No point thinking about it now.

The urgent thing was to find somewhere safe to recover.

The following night.

In the northern Land of Fire, there was a peninsula that belonged to no one. The Mountain Graveyard, where Madara Uchiha had once hidden, was located there.

Just as its name suggested,

the graveyard was full of the skeletons of large animals. It was a dangerous place that ordinary people wouldn't dare approach.

Obito knew the way well and soon reached the main entrance to the Mountain Graveyard.

It was a cliff face riddled with openings, each tall enough for a person to enter. Only one was real, and it led straight to the underground hideout.

"Hey, Obito, what happened to you?"

At the sound of a surprised voice, Zetsu emerged from the ground. Half his face was white and half black, and his head was shaped like a Venus flytrap.

Zetsu was a fusion of White Zetsu and Black Zetsu, each with its own consciousness.

Seeing Obito in such a sorry state, Zetsu was stunned. "How did you lose your arms again?"

Obito had lost an arm twice before.

The first time, a rock crushed his right arm at Kannabi Bridge. The second time, Namikaze Minato had broken his left arm with a Rasengan.

This time, he'd lost both arms at once.

"I ran into an enemy and let my guard down."

Obito wore a grim expression as he walked into the hideout.

Inside the cliff were an Armory, a Library, an Operating Room, a Conference Hall, a Residential Area... Every facility was there. It was an Underground Palace Madara had spent decades building.

When Madara left Konoha, he took a large number of the Uchiha Clan's Historical Records and Ninjutsu scrolls with him. They were all stored here.

That was exactly why

many of the Uchiha Clan's traditions had been lost, and its overall strength had declined badly over the past few decades.

If the Uchiha wanted to restore the glory they'd enjoyed at their peak, they had to retrieve what was stored in the Mountain Graveyard.

Unfortunately, Obito wouldn't let them.

"Obito, did you run into an enemy even more troublesome than the Fourth Hokage back then?"

Zetsu followed behind Obito, asking curiously.

Obito was no longer the reckless kid he'd once been. He'd grown a lot over the past few years. Even when facing Nagato, who possessed the Rinnegan, he could calmly hold his own.

After all, Obito's Kamui was invincible.

Zetsu couldn't imagine who in the Ninja World could have injured Obito so badly.

"I told you, I let my guard down! It wasn't because the other guy was that strong."

Obito insisted again, still too stubborn to admit he'd been defeated.

Soon, they reached the Operating Room.

"Black Zetsu, get the operation ready. Transplant New Cells into me. White Zetsu, infiltrate Konoha immediately and monitor the Uchiha Clan. Pay special attention to a man named Uchiha Dan."

As he gave the orders, Obito lay down on the operating table.

Uchiha Dan, just you wait.

Once I've recovered, I'll get my revenge.

Obito's gaze turned cold as he swore to himself.

Konoha.

Root Underground Base.

Two Root Ninjas knelt on one knee with their heads bowed, silently waiting.

Tap, tap, tap.

At the sound of a cane striking the ground, an old man with a sinister face and bandages wrapped around half his head slowly emerged from the darkness.

He was the current Hokage Assistant and Root Leader—Shimura Danzō.

At that moment,

Danzō looked unwell. The bandages on his face and right arm had just been replaced. It seemed he'd undergone some kind of surgery and needed time to recover.

So he'd been staying in Root for the past few days and hadn't gone out.

"How has Itachi been lately? Has he done anything noteworthy since joining the Anbu?"

Danzō slowly asked.

"Reporting, sir. Itachi has been doing well in the Anbu. However, he's been spending a lot of time with his uncle, Uchiha Dan. Every day after work, he goes to Dan's Fitness Gym and stays until evening," a Root Ninja replied.

"Uchiha Dan?"

Danzō furrowed his brow. The name sounded a little familiar.