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Facing the attack, Obito had no intention of dodging. The next moment, a giant black hand formed by Susanoo passed straight through his body and slammed into the ground, sending huge chunks of rock flying.

Seeing that he could no longer stand there, Obito landed on another tree and muttered, "Susanoo... Mangekyō."

He watched as Uchiha Gen controlled Susanoo, its two massive hands sweeping toward where he stood once more.

Gathering his thoughts, Obito shifted positions again. Although Susanoo could not affect him—

If he wanted to take this guy down, he would probably have to pay a price. And he had no idea what this Mangekyō's ability was. With that in mind, Obito temporarily softened his attitude.

"Young member of the Uchiha Clan, tell me your name." Obito opened his own Mangekyō Sharingan and looked at him.

Uchiha Gen frowned. "Sharingan?"

The attack stopped, but Susanoo was not dismissed, as if he remained constantly wary of Obito's ability to suddenly appear before him. "Who are you? Could you be another clan member who escaped?"

Obito considered the implications of those words. Other clan members? On the surface, he imitated Uchiha Madara's manner of speaking. "I am Uchiha Madara."

Hearing that, Uchiha Gen sneered inwardly. Good grief, he's actually trying to fool me with this. You want to act? Who's afraid of who?

That was what he thought, but Uchiha Gen wore a serious frown. "Uchiha Madara died long ago. Even if he hadn't, he should be a hundred-year-old man by now. Could he still run around? Are you stupid, or am I?"

Obito suddenly laughed. "The entire Ninja World says I'm dead. But who has ever seen my corpse?"

Having said that, Obito intended to give Uchiha Gen some time to fill in the blanks himself. "I came to invite you to join our organization. You should want to know where Itachi is, shouldn't you?"

After saying that, Obito looked as though victory was already in his grasp.

But Uchiha Gen had no intention of following his lead. With a deadpan expression, he said, "An organization? Honestly, no. Even though we're both from the Uchiha Clan, I don't have much real feeling about what happened back then, much less any hatred toward Itachi."

Besides, if they were really talking about it, Obito had played a major role in the clan massacre. If Uchiha Gen truly cared about such things, then compared with Itachi, he felt like burying Obito, who stood before him, first.

Obito said, "...Then what do you want?" He really was cold-hearted, though Obito had no right to say that about anyone else.

Uchiha Gen looked like he did not want to waste any more time with Obito. As though casually brushing him off, he said, "I hope for peace in the Ninja World. Can you make that happen?"

"Yes!"

"Hm?" Uchiha Gen froze.

Obito relaxed. "Or rather, that is the ideal of our Akatsuki organization. We plan to gather the nine Tailed Beasts and bring peace to the Ninja World."

Just moments ago, Obito had thought the negotiation had fallen apart and was about to make a move. Hearing those words was a complete turnaround.

"That's quite a claim. Akatsuki, you said? But I heard Itachi is in that organization too. Aren't you afraid he and I will fight?"

"As long as you agree, we can ensure that Itachi will not cause trouble. However, Akatsuki intends to gather the Tailed Beasts and use military force to suppress the world into peace, while I intend to achieve peace by creating an entirely new world." Obito repeated to Uchiha Gen the same story Black Zetsu had used to fool Madara, and Madara had used to fool him.

Obito planned to cultivate his own loyal followers within Akatsuki. Hearing this, Uchiha Gen fell silent, seemingly weighing the pros and cons, when in reality he was thinking about how to get an autograph.

Obito was in no hurry and quietly waited for his response. Looking at the Susanoo that had not disappeared from beginning to end, he thought Gen was truly cautious.

The Mangekyō awakened when one lost something and experienced an intense emotional upheaval from despair or something else, stimulating the Sharingan to evolve.

Although this Uchiha looked as if he did not care about anything, those Sharingan proved that he was not as calm as he appeared.

And then there was the ability Uchiha Gen had shown earlier, suddenly appearing behind him...

Heh—

Rin, once I rebuild a world, a world without conflict, a world where you exist...

A voice suddenly interrupted Obito's memories. "All right, then. I agree."

Hearing that, Obito said with satisfaction, "A wise choice. However, Akatsuki's roster is currently full, so for now, you'll be a reserve intern. Once one of them dies, you can take their place."

Yet Uchiha Gen seemed somewhat dissatisfied, as if he wanted to say something but held it back.

Obito smiled and suddenly said, "Akatsuki members are forbidden from fighting each other, but casualties during missions are unavoidable."

Uchiha Gen said, "..." That's not what I meant.

"Ahem, I've been meaning to say this for a while..." Uchiha Gen dismissed Susanoo and took out some paper and a pen from his pocket. "Could I ask Lord 'Madara' for an autograph?"

Obito was somewhat stunned. "???" Once he came to his senses, he thought, Good grief, this kid is actually a little fan of 'Madara'?

Thinking that, he instinctively accepted the paper and pen. He did not sense anything strange; it was merely ordinary paper.

It was not his name anyway. After thinking for a moment, Obito casually wrote Uchiha Madara's name. But after finishing, he stared at his handwriting in silence. "..."

He wrote it again...

However... it still seemed a little ugly. For some reason, Obito wrote it several more times.

Glancing over, Obito saw that Uchiha Gen seemed to be growing suspicious. He picked out the best-looking one among them and tore it off for Uchiha Gen.

He casually slipped the remaining sheets into his pocket, intending to destroy them later.

Uchiha Gen said, "..."

Forget it, he could just buy another one later. But—looking at the words "Uchiha Madara" in his hand, written in handwriting that resembled a child's—

Uchiha Gen suddenly thought of a serious question... Would the system recognize Uchiha Madara written by Obito?

Choose to submit—

A huge "Submission Failed" immediately appeared before him. Heh heh... Uchiha Gen was instantly enveloped by an aura of gloom.

Obito did not know what was going on inside Uchiha Gen's mind. Although Gen still looked happy, Obito did not know whether it was just his imagination, but he felt that Uchiha Gen seemed rather disappointed.

Hm, it must have been an illusion. He had written this one quite well. "What is your name?"

Uchiha Gen came back to his senses and maintained his smile, carrying the act through to the end. "My name is Uchiha Gen..."

Over in Konoha...

Over the past few days, under Jiraiya's guidance, Uzumaki Reikawa had successfully learned to form a ball like Naruto. He had also mastered the Three Basic Jutsu and the Shadow Clone Technique, all of which he could now use.

At first, Jiraiya had been somewhat suspicious of how quickly Lingchuan mastered things. Then this guy learned the Rasengan within an hour after watching him demonstrate it once. Aside from Jiraiya, Kakashi, Naruto, and the Fourth Hokage, no one else knew that ninjutsu.

Thinking of what it had been like when he learned the technique, Jiraiya immediately felt a sense of defeat. Naruto looked as though he had seen a ghost. Seeing this, Uzumaki Reikawa flicked his hair and wore the expression of a peerless master, lonely at the top. "Perhaps this is what it means to be a genius~"