A mistake—a huge mistake. He had never expected that after merely not seeing each other for a while, Ueno Kei's strength would have improved again! Especially that Nine-Tails jinchūriki—Uzumaki Naruto!
The pale golden horizontal slit in those eyes, along with that feeling, indicated that the boy had already mastered senjutsu!
Damn it! The stronger Ueno Kei and the Nine-Tails jinchūriki became, the more detrimental it was to Tobi's plan. Although Tobi was confident that the plan would certainly proceed as he had laid it out, the process would no longer be so simple! It had gained far too many unforeseen complications.
What a headache! Tobi had misjudged the two of their strength. What should have been an easy retrieval of Sasuke and Itachi had now turned into him being pinned here by Ueno Kei and Naruto, unable to advance or retreat. Itachi Uchiha's corpse had to be taken back!
For Tobi—or, more precisely, to enhance Second Pillar's strength and make his plan proceed more smoothly—
For that, he had to obtain the pair of eyes on Itachi Uchiha's body! Those Mangekyō Sharingan!
A trace of resolve appeared in Tobi's Mangekyō Sharingan. He stared darkly at Ueno Kei and Uzumaki Naruto, weighing whether he should reveal some of his secrets to reclaim Itachi Uchiha's corpse.
Or should he simply capture the Nine-Tails right here?
Tobi's expression shifted uncertainly. Zetsu, standing nearby, showed no awareness whatsoever that he had done anything wrong. He wore an indifferent expression—or rather, half of his face looked indifferent, while the other half remained expressionless.
No, now was absolutely not the time to make a move. Some things had yet to be prepared. Especially before that thing was recovered, he could not act rashly.
"Bastard! Give Sasuke back!" Naruto roared at Tobi.
"Ninja Art—Shadow Clone Jutsu!"
"Senjutsu—Rasenshuriken!"