No War in the Land of Whirlpools

"Obito, where have you been all this time?"

Black Zetsu complained to Obito, who had appeared out of thin air, then stared at Obito's face with a look of suspicion and shock.

Obito was not wearing the mask he had never taken off since assuming the name of Madara. The evening glow pierced through the clouds and fell upon him, yet it failed to add a shred of warmth to his pale face.

With his hair disheveled, Obito was somewhat angry. The mere thought of suffering such a heavy loss at the hands of Uchiha Chen made his rage difficult to suppress. He vented some of that anger on Zetsu, saying quite bluntly:

"How are you handling your intelligence work? You didn't even know Uchiha Chen had awakened the Mangekyō?

He also wanted to use the Mangekyō to control the Three-Tails and Yagura. I fought him in the Jinchuriki's mental world; he has a genjutsu-based eye technique, and I suffered a loss because I was caught off guard."

That didn't sound like a "small loss" at all.

Black Zetsu muttered to itself, but it still gave this proxy of Madara some face and didn't call Obito out.

It was also quite surprised that Uchiha Chen could actually awaken the Mangekyō.

Having spent a thousand years observing dozens of Indra reincarnates and countless Uchiha in the shadows, Black Zetsu could confidently say that no one understood the Uchiha better than it did.

Uchiha Chen was very low on its surveillance and observation list, even ranking below his follower, Uchiha Tekka.

For a Uchiha with a calm personality, whose parents died early, and who had no close friends or loved ones—even with decent ninja talent—what could he possibly use to awaken the Mangekyō?

"Are you sure it was Uchiha Chen?"

Obito let out a cold snort and spat, clearly extremely dissatisfied with Black Zetsu's questioning.

"That would explain it." Seeing that Obito was in a fit of rage, Black Zetsu had to cater to his emotions and compensate:

"Suikazan Fuguki bringing Pakura and Uchiha Chen wasn't a case of Kirigakure's ninja clans contacting outsiders to clean up Yagura, but rather that he was controlled by Uchiha Chen using genjutsu."

Agitated and restless, Obito nodded, his single eye filled with killing intent and madness:

"Now Yagura and the Three-Tails have both fallen into his hands! We must find a way to kill him and take back the Three-Tails!"

"Eek!" Before Black Zetsu could speak, a White Zetsu emerged from a nearby tree and reported:

"It's bad! The clone monitoring Uchiha Chen was discovered and taken out by him!"

Obito's body trembled violently. The space in front of him distorted slightly, and a long, gourd-shaped Gunbai fell into his hand.

He stroked the tomoe on the Gunbai, his scarlet pupils reflecting the figure of Black Zetsu:

"Tell Tobi to possess me; we are going to kill him right now!

With Tobi's Wood Release, we will definitely be able to defeat him. We absolutely cannot let him research anything from the body of a White Zetsu!"

"Obito!"

Black Zetsu's voice turned stern. "Don't act on impulse!

"Setting aside whether he can discover the secrets of the White Zetsu, even if he does research something, so what?"

If he researches it, he won't go blind from using eye techniques and Susanoo, right?

Obito was somewhat confused; in his view, this was a major issue.

"He has no brothers; what kind of achievement could he possibly have?"

Black Zetsu appeared to have everything under control; what seemed like a massive problem to Obito was trivial to it.

Whether the Three-Tails were obtained or whether Uchiha Chen was strong didn't matter. Could Uchiha Chen possibly be stronger than Madara?

A thousand years of experience taught Black Zetsu that the more precise and perfect a plan was, the easier it was to fail in unexpected places. The only thing it truly cared about was one thing:

The Rinnegan.

Madara had used Izanagi during the battle at the Valley of the End, and by the time he had accumulated enough Eye Power to awaken the Rinnegan, he was already an old man.

Much like a child born to an elderly mother, his Rinnegan had some congenital deficiencies.

That was why he needed Nagato to serve as a container for the Rinnegan, giving him the dream of collecting Tailed Beasts to create the ultimate weapon, forcing him to burn everything he had to nourish the Rinnegan, and laying the foundation for Madara's future resurrection.

As for the Tailed Beasts, they were merely minor details.

Once Madara returned like lightning, how long would it take to collect all nine Tailed Beasts?

One day would definitely be enough!

Twenty-two hours to travel and find the Tailed Beasts, and one hour and fifty-nine minutes for Madara to bully juniors like Uchiha Chen and spout some arrogant lines.

Leaving one minute for the nine Tailed Beasts would be considered showing them respect!

"Nagato's development of the Rinnegan has only just begun, and Tobi's Wood Release causes too much of a stir. Now is not the time for us to be exposed!"

Black Zetsu rejected Obito's proposal without hesitation and instead persuaded him:

"If you take back your other eye, you must be stronger than Uchiha Chen!"

Hmph!

Obito's cold snort already indicated his attitude. Seeing that he wouldn't get Black Zetsu's support, he could only sulk in frustration.

"How about we go to Takigakure? The Seven-Tails is easier to deal with, and the strength of the Takigakure ninjas ranks high even below the Five Great Shinobi Nations."

Black Zetsu felt exhausted, but it still cajoled and deceived Obito, making him abandon his original idea.

"That works too!"

Obito nodded reluctantly, though a trace of resentment flickered in the depths of his eyes:

Without a brother, even with Hashirama Cells, the upper limit isn't high... Are you talking about Uchiha Chen or are you talking about me?

Is this the reason you chose me to be your proxy? Do you think I can't escape your and Madara's control?

If Madara can become the Ten-Tails Jinchuriki, there's no reason I can't!

Inside Yagura's residence at the center of the Kirigakure camp, Uchiha Chen sat brazenly in Yagura's chair, flipping through Kirigakure's classified intelligence and ninjutsu documents.

"The White Zetsu monitoring the perimeter are getting fewer and fewer. It seems Kenji has finally admitted defeat this time!"

Seven or eight days had passed since the 'battle for Yagura' against Uchiha Obito. Uchiha Chen had been acting like a tyrant within Kirigakure, with only one thing on his mind:

"When exactly is Shisui coming?"

His Eye Power was no longer sufficient to control both Yagura and Suikazan Fuguki simultaneously, so he had been forced to let Yagura kill Fuguki today to conserve his Eye Power consumption.

"Lord Chen!"

Yagura walked back in from outside the camp, still carrying the scent of blood, and presented a giant, door-sized blade that was much taller than himself with both hands.

"Samehada is here. Whenever you need to replenish your Chakra, you can directly absorb the Three-Tails Chakra from my body."

Yagura was clearly very excited.

He and Fuguki had long-standing grievances; even though both of their wills had been influenced by Kotoamatsukami, the hatred between them still remained.

"Won't this arouse the suspicion of the Kirigakure ninjas?" Uchiha Chen tossed a grape into his mouth and asked casually, not caring in the slightest.

"The people below wouldn't dare to ask, and as for the Third Mizukage," Yagura's smile grew even wider:

"I obtained evidence that Fuguki was taking money from Konoha, and his money was laundered through the Hozuki Clan. The Third will only be happy to have another excuse to sanction the Hozuki Clan."

So that's how it is; the entire Shinobi World is just a contest of who is less rotten.

The internal strife in Konoha was already intense enough, but compared to the three-way brawl between the Third Mizukage, the ninja clans, and Genji in Kirigakure, it was still small potatoes.

Uchiha Chen sighed as he took Samehada from Yagura's hands and rested the blade on Yagura's shoulder. Yagura understood and began to draw out the Three-Tails Chakra.

"Lord Yagura's control over the Three-Tails is getting more and more impressive!"

Two ninjas patrolling the camp felt the visible, powerful Chakra fluctuations being suppressed by Yagura inside his tent, and they exchanged words full of hope.

"Lord Yagura has mastered the power of the Tailed Beast; he must be stronger than the Third."

"Indeed, once Lord Yagura becomes the Fourth, the village will surely flourish!"

Kirigakure had been on a downward spiral for decades.

From here on out, unless the Mizukage went insane or was controlled by genjutsu, things had to start looking up, right?