Preparations for Defection, Meeting Obito

By the time they returned to Uchiha Izumi's home, it was already late into the night.

The sleepy Uchiha Izumi helped Fujiwara Chiya remove his Anbu gear and heated up a meal for him.

"Izumi, how are those military rations I asked you to prepare coming along?" Chiya picked up his bowl and chopsticks, shoveling down a mouthful of rice.

"They are ready, enough for several months," Uchiha Izumi replied, rising to retrieve the prepared rations from a cabinet.

Chiya casually stored the rations into his system inventory. He closed his eyes, released his sensory perception to confirm there were no Anbu monitoring them, and said with a solemn expression, "Izumi, you must have sensed the anomalies within the Uchiha Clan these past few days."

Uchiha Izumi nodded. Although she was not involved in the Uchiha Clan's coup, the strange atmosphere within the clan was so bizarre that it was difficult not to notice.

Chiya continued, "The Uchiha Clan will launch a coup during the festival the day after tomorrow. The Konoha high command is already aware of this. Danzo has given me a mission to slaughter the entire Uchiha Clan tomorrow night. The Third Hokage has tacitly approved it."

"How could it come to this?" Uchiha Izumi's eyes went hollow in an instant. She covered her red lips in horror, her face filled with disbelief.

"Don't worry, I won't do that," Chiya said, gently stroking Uchiha Izumi's forehead. "I will take you away from Konoha tomorrow."

"But if you do that, you will become a rogue ninja. And with me in tow..." Uchiha Izumi's eyes turned red, and tears could no longer be held back, sliding down her cheeks.

"Rest assured, I am very strong. Sleep early tonight; when you wake up, everything will be settled," Chiya comforted her.

The next day, just as dawn was breaking, Chiya struck Uchiha Izumi's pressure points to render her unconscious and stored her inside his system inventory.

[Ding, a special bloodline and Sharingan have been detected in the system inventory. Does the host wish to extract them?]

"Extract your sister."

Chiya cursed irritably. He cast Kyōka Suigetsu and summoned a crow, transforming it into Izumi's likeness before walking out of the courtyard.

He was in no rush to find Uchiha Obito.

Instead, he walked to the main street.

He bought some daily necessities, then secretly watched Yuhi Kurenai guiding Aili and Pang Ci in their training, little Hinata working hard on her Gentle Fist, and Naruto chasing after Sasuke in a fit of petty jealousy.

Finally, on a high building platform near the Ninja Academy, he encountered Uchiha Itachi, who was also watching Sasuke.

"Aren't you going to say goodbye to Sasuke? After tonight, you two brothers will become sworn enemies," Chiya said, appearing on the roof behind Itachi, at the highest point of the building.

Itachi glanced at Chiya, his eyes devoid of any emotional fluctuation.

He immediately associated this with the fact that the other party also had designs on Uchiha Izumi, and that the man knew Sasuke was his weakness and would be helping him slaughter the Uchiha tonight; his expression turned cold.

The look he gave Chiya was as if he were looking at a dead man.

"Meet at the entrance of the Uchiha compound at seven tonight. Don't be late." Leaving behind these words, Uchiha Itachi vanished from Chiya's sight.

Even though he knew this was Danzo's conspiracy.

Either use his hand to eliminate Chiya, or use Chiya's hand to eliminate him.

But if he didn't kill Chiya, once the man learned that Uchiha Izumi had died by his hand, he would surely find a way to target Sasuke.

He would never leave a threat to Sasuke.

Therefore, Chiya had to die.

Chiya's lips curled slightly as he released Kyōka Suigetsu and followed him.

He knew that after leaving Danzo's residence last night, the man had sought out Uchiha Obito.

Now, he was going to rendezvous with Obito to finalize the details of tonight's massacre.

Chiya tracked Uchiha Itachi's chakra, following him all the way to the forest behind the Uchiha compound.

"The operation is tonight. I will work with Fujiwara Chiya to wipe out all the civilians in the Uchiha residential area; I leave the Konoha Military Police Force to you," Uchiha Itachi said to Obito.

"Fine. As agreed, I will lend you a hand," Obito said, arms crossed, his tone calm. "However, that kid Fujiwara Chiya is no simple character. Like you, he sensed my presence, yet he didn't report it to the Konoha high command. You had better be careful."

"I understand. Then, it is settled." Uchiha Itachi paused, his brows furrowing as he replied abruptly. He turned to leave, only to hear Uchiha Obito say, "The reason I am helping you annihilate the Uchiha is not just for revenge; there is another purpose. Just pretend you didn't see those things."

"Are you telling me not to use my Sharingan to record your actions?" Uchiha Itachi looked back.

"Correct. This is also proof that I will spare your brother's life. I have no need for a child without a Sharingan," Obito said flatly.

"You can rest assured on that count." Uchiha Itachi turned his back to Obito. "At this point, I have no choice but to trust you."

"If you ever find yourself with nowhere to go, you can choose to join my organization." Uchiha Obito extended an invitation to Itachi.

"Your organization?" A flicker of surprise crossed Uchiha Itachi's eyes.

"It is called 'Akatsuki'," Obito replied.

"I understand." Uchiha Itachi nodded slightly and vanished into the forest.

Watching Itachi's retreating back, Chiya, who had been hiding in the shadows, deliberately exposed a flaw by snapping a tree branch.

Hearing the movement, Obito stiffened and turned his head toward a large tree dozens of meters away. "What kind of rat is there? Get out here."

Chiya slowly walked out from behind the tree, using an exaggerated tone as he clicked his tongue. "Ya-le ya-le, was I actually discovered? Truly worthy of the legendary Uchiha Madara."

"To be able to discover me and evade the insight of Itachi's Mangekyō while following me all the way here—I must admit, you do have some skill." Obito crossed his arms, adopting the condescending posture of a superior, seemingly in no rush to attack. "Speak, what is your goal?"

"It's simple. I am quite interested in that 'Akatsuki' organization you mentioned," Chiya said nonchalantly.

"On what grounds?" Obito narrowed his eyes, his words filled with disdain.

He hadn't even bothered to activate his Mangekyō.

Every individual qualified to join the Akatsuki is a notorious S-rank missing-nin who has shaken the ninja world, possessing either a Kekkei Genkai, unique abilities, or a long-standing reputation across the nations.

They are formidable in strength, with nearly every one of them being an existence no less than a Kage.

Even for Uchiha Itachi, Obito only allowed him to join because he valued his Mangekyo Sharingan.

What did Chiya have?

Was it just those amateur genjutsu taught by Yuhi Kurenai?

"Why not find out?" Chiya kept the smile on his face as he drew the blade Kyōka Suigetsu from his waist, whispering in a voice only he could hear: "Shatter! Kyōka Suigetsu."

"Since you are courting death, then I shall grant your wish. You were going to die sooner or later anyway, and killing you now won't affect my plans. Kid, today I will let you witness the true ocular power of the Uchiha clan."

The right eye beneath Obito's mask narrowed slightly, then opened again, having turned blood-red to reveal a three-tomoe Sharingan.

A powerful surge of chakra erupted, sweeping toward Chiya.