"Then it's settled." Uchiha Obito turned his head toward Zetsu. "Zetsu, I'll leave setting up the barrier to you."
"Understood." At that, Zetsu slowly sank into the tree and disappeared.
Looking at the spot where Zetsu had vanished, Chiya used Kyoka Suigetsu to sense his surroundings. He discovered that Zetsu was still hidden inside the giant tree and sneered inwardly before adding:
"And leave that traitor, Uchiha Itachi, to you as well. He'll be a teammate in the future, after all, so I'm sure you don't want him to die at my hands now. When night falls, I'll fake my death at his hands. Until everything is settled, I want you to keep this secret."
With that, Chiya flashed away and disappeared from Obito's sight.
After going a short distance, he quietly returned and released Kyoka Suigetsu.
It cut off Obito and Zetsu's senses.
Staring at the spot where Chiya had disappeared, Obito waited until his Sharingan could no longer detect Chiya's chakra before finally speaking. "Well, Zetsu? Has that guy left?"
"I can no longer sense Chiya's chakra," Black Zetsu replied.
Hearing that, Obito couldn't help but let out a sigh of relief, his heart still pounding with lingering fear.
In the end, he'd simply been too blindly confident in Kamui's ability.
He'd also been far too careless.
In just one exchange, Chiya had seen through the intangibility of his right eye.
And then there was that illusion, so convincing it could pass for reality.
It had nearly cost him his life.
If Chiya had decided to kill him just then, Obito might really have been done for. He knew nothing about Chiya's abilities.
"Madara, what are you planning to do? Are you really going to bring Chiya into the Akatsuki? He seems like an extremely dangerous person. His Body Flicker is one thing, but that level of illusion is beyond anything we've ever known," White Zetsu asked Obito.
At the name Madara, Obito immediately regained his usual composure. "Why not? For now, at least, our interests align. Besides, no matter how powerful Chiya is, he'll still be helpless in the face of the Rinnegan."
"That's true." White Zetsu didn't argue.
"Black Zetsu, do you have any idea what technique Chiya used just now? That terrifying Body Flicker might even surpass the Fourth Raikage and the Fourth Hokage." Obito hadn't yet gained the experience he had when he appeared in the original story.
Black Zetsu thought for a moment before answering. "It looks a little like Sage Mode, but it's different from the Sage Modes of Mount Myōboku, Ryūchi Cave, and Shikkotsu Forest, the Three Great Sage Regions.
"His appearance didn't change at all, and it doesn't seem to be a power formed the way ordinary Sage Mode is, by absorbing the Natural Energy around him and balancing it with his own physical and spiritual energy.
"It's somewhat like Orochimaru's Cursed Seal, but more advanced. It seems to be released directly from within his body, causing his chakra to surge to a terrifying level.
"Of course, his base chakra is terrifying in its own right. It's at least on par with an ordinary member of the Uzumaki Clan.
"Being able to control such terrifying chakra—he really is an impressive guy."
"Senjutsu, huh." Obito repeated the word, his brows furrowing slightly. "Looks like this guy has plenty of secrets. Keep a close eye on him during tonight's battle. I need a detailed report. He's far too dangerous."
"Understood," Black Zetsu replied respectfully as the pitcher plant slowly sank into the giant tree.
Chiya stood right beside Obito and Zetsu. Since he had released Kyoka Suigetsu, he didn't need to worry about the two of them noticing him. Seeing that they had kept their agreement, he stopped second-guessing them and slowly disappeared into the darkness.
Elsewhere, Uchiha Itachi had changed into his Anbu uniform and arrived at the Hokage Office Building.
The sun was already setting. An unusual atmosphere hung over not only the Uchiha Clan Compound, but all of Konoha.
Early that morning, the Anbu who had been watching the Uchiha Clan Compound were all pulled from their posts and gathered at the Anbu base. They had been placed on Level One alert and were waiting for the Hokage's orders.
At that moment, on the rooftop of the Hokage Office Building in Konoha,
Sarutobi Hiruzen stood with his hands behind his back. Behind him, Uchiha Itachi knelt on one knee, dressed as an Anbu Ninja.
"Have you made your decision, Itachi?" Sarutobi Hiruzen asked, his eyes half-closed, his back turned to him.
Itachi lowered his gaze. His voice held a resolve unlike anything he'd shown before. "Yes, Lord Hokage."
Starting tonight, he would bear the sin of slaughtering his clan. In exchange, his younger brother, Sasuke, would be spared.
"This is my failure. I never thought things would come to this. I'd hoped to resolve this peacefully. I never wanted to resort to force." Sarutobi Hiruzen let out a heavy breath, then continued, "You can rest assured about Sasuke. As long as I'm alive, I won't let anything happen to him."
"I'm deeply grateful." Uchiha Itachi was deeply moved. After leaving those words, he put on his Anbu mask and disappeared from the rooftop of the Hokage Office Building.
Not long after Itachi left, Sarutobi Hiruzen raised a hand.
In an instant, two Anbu appeared behind him and knelt on one knee. Their identities were far from ordinary: they were Sarutobi Hiruzen's eldest son and daughter-in-law, Konohamaru's parents.
"Make the preparations." Sarutobi Hiruzen's expression lost its usual warmth, and shadows fell across his face as he spoke in a low voice.
The extermination of the Uchiha Clan was Konoha's highest-level secret. Even Anbu such as Kakashi, who served directly under the Hokage, had no right to take part. They had been gathered at the Anbu base and put on standby. Only the closest of Sarutobi Hiruzen's confidants knew the truth.
"Father, should we get involved?" asked Sarutobi Shinnosuke, Sarutobi Hiruzen's eldest son, who was wearing a patterned mask.
Sarutobi Hiruzen hesitated for just a second before replying, "If Itachi and Chiya don't manage in time..."
He didn't finish the sentence, but his meaning was clear.
He didn't think Itachi would show mercy, but the Uchiha were a large clan, after all.
It was possible that someone might escape if they were discovered.
And if Chiya learned that Uchiha Izumi had died, he would surely fly into a rage.
If Uchiha Itachi couldn't take Chiya down after wiping out the clan,
the two elite jōnin from the Root Division whom Danzo had arranged would step in.
If they couldn't take him down either,
then Sarutobi Hiruzen's own men would have to act!
That was the final safeguard.
Even Danzo knew nothing about it.
"What if Uchiha Itachi doesn't kill Chiya?" Sarutobi Shinnosuke asked.
Sarutobi Hiruzen didn't answer. He simply closed his eyes, turned, and went inside.
"Understood!" Sarutobi Shinnosuke had understood his father's intentions. He replied, and then the two of them disappeared.
At the same time, at the Shimura Clan Grounds,
"After tonight, the wish of the Second Hokage to destroy the Uchiha will finally be fulfilled by my own hand."
Leaning on his cane, Danzo stood proudly on the stone steps.
Below him stood hundreds of elite Root Division operatives.
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