"Moreover..."
With a thought, he covered just his fingers in Armament Haki.
Then he quickly moved it to his palm.
Then to his elbow, and his arm.
He could control the amount of Haki with precision, simply by willing it.
He could cover whichever area he wanted!
He no longer had to cover an entire "surface" just because he couldn't cover a single point, wasting Haki in the process.
"It really is as dark as ink, as hard as iron, and responds to my every thought!"
A satisfied smile tugged at his lips. "Now that I can combine it with my Devil Fruit Ability, my combat strength will improve considerably."
Armament Haki could make his power more concentrated.
As a result, it could enhance both his close-combat and long-range abilities.
"And with Life Return, I'll be able to control my body more precisely, develop its hidden potential, widen my meridians, and improve both the quality and quantity of my chakra."
The higher the quality of his chakra,
the stronger his Armament Haki—and his Devil Fruit Ability—would naturally become.
It was a virtuous cycle!
At that moment, in an underground space...
"You're saying Uchiha Ye's Sharingan has evolved?"
Beneath Uchiha Obito's wooden spiral mask, his eyes narrowed slightly. He looked at Zetsu, who had brought him the news. "Are you sure?"
The White Zetsu half nodded firmly. "There's no mistaking it! That feeling of seeing through everything, along with a slight ability to hypnotize people without them realizing it, can't fool me!"
Black Zetsu added, "Uchiha Ye really did a good job hiding it. But unfortunately for him, he couldn't hide it from us!"
"The chakra around him was exactly the same as Uchiha Itachi's when he had the Three Tomoe. I don't think there's any chance we're wrong."
Hearing both halves of Zetsu confirm it, Uchiha Obito's gaze turned resolute. "Good. I understand."
His voice was cold, though his expression remained unusually calm. "I didn't expect him to grow even faster than I'd imagined. Keeping him under surveillance was definitely the right decision."
"Then we'll deal with him after he completes this mission in Kirigakure!"
"That guy's abilities are pretty strange. I'll need to prepare something that can counter his ability to ignore attacks from sharp weapons."
Uchiha Ye had managed to make him suffer a setback right when he was starting out.
Uchiha Obito naturally wouldn't underestimate him. He had to be cautious.
"Speaking of which, Obito..."
The White Zetsu half suddenly asked, curious, "Why are you so hostile toward Uchiha Ye? Compared to him, Uchiha Itachi is clearly more calculating and a greater threat to us."
"Besides, if you want to take a Sharingan for later use, wouldn't Uchiha Itachi's Mangekyo Sharingan be a better choice?"
Hearing White Zetsu's question, Uchiha Obito replied, "That's true. Compared to him, Uchiha Itachi, who slaughtered his entire clan and went undercover in Akatsuki, is clearly more calculating and a greater threat to us!"
"But..."
He changed tack. "That's only what it looks like on the surface!"
"No matter how calculating Uchiha Itachi is, I know his background, and I know who his weakness is. Even if I let him grow, I know where his limits are!"
"But Uchiha Ye is different..."
As he spoke, the man who manipulated the shinobi world's affairs revealed a deep wariness in his eyes. "He may not be as calculating as Uchiha Itachi, but his origins are far too mysterious. I know next to nothing about him."
"The unknown is a threat. It means he can't be controlled."
He clenched his fist. "And I already have a grudge against him. So I have to make sure I can always keep him under control. If I can't—like now, when he's grown to the point where he's almost beyond our control—then I have to eliminate him quickly, before he turns on us."
"As for wanting his eyes as a backup, that's only a secondary consideration."
To him, the unknown was the most frightening thing of all.
"I see!"
The White Zetsu half nodded in agreement. "You're right. That guy's far too mysterious!"
Since they were about to face one of the Five Great Shinobi Nations,
even people as arrogant and proud as Sasori of the Red Sands and Biwa Juzo were actively preparing contingencies and refining their techniques.
Uchiha Ye, meanwhile, kept practicing the two new abilities he had just obtained, working to make them mesh smoothly with his Devil Fruit Ability.
The only one truly itching to set out was probably Deidara.
And while each of them made their preparations,
in Kumogakure, far away in the Land of Lightning, the Raikage's furious roar resounded throughout the entire village.
"What did you say? Yugito and the three-man Kamui squad were completely wiped out?"
"Are you kidding me?! Who had the nerve to attack our Cloud Ninja?!"
The Raikage's fury had reduced the entire Raikage's Office to rubble.
He was like a furious dragon in human form, ready to explode at the slightest provocation.
"We suspect it was a mysterious organization called Akatsuki!"
As the Raikage's secretary, Mabui calmly explained, "We were on a mission to seize a secret technique in the Land of Cedar. We've heard that the Land of Cedar hired this organization to defend against our invasion and protect their secret technique."
Hearing this, the Raikage gritted his teeth. "Akatsuki? What kind of damn organization is that?"
Mabui shook her head. "All we know is that they're a mercenary group that specializes in taking jobs between small nations. Their prices are low, but they're extremely efficient. They're close to monopolizing mercenary work for the smaller countries."
"Rumor has it that their base is in the neutral Land of Rain, and that they may have close ties to Amegakure."
"But without solid evidence, even we can't just hold them responsible, let alone threaten or intimidate them."
She pushed her glasses up. "Besides, Amegakure enforces a strict policy of isolation. Infiltrating the country to investigate will likely be very difficult."
Hearing this, the Raikage impatiently pounded the wall and roared, "Damn it! So we're just supposed to sit here and watch?"
"We lost three elite jonin and a Jinchuriki! This isn't some minor skirmish!"
When had the mighty Kumogakure ever had to swallow such an insult?
"For now, we can only hold them responsible once we obtain crucial evidence. Alternatively, if we confirm that they abducted or killed Yugito, we'll be able to move against them."
"But as I said, it will be difficult for us to infiltrate the country and investigate, let alone obtain crucial evidence."
Mabui answered calmly.
Her answer only made the Raikage feel worse.
They knew the other side was up to something, yet Kumogakure couldn't act.
It was infuriating!
But he also knew...
Given the current state of the shinobi world, he had to abide by the rules.
Otherwise,
all the small nations would surely unite in condemnation.
Even Kumogakure couldn't withstand that kind of public pressure.
Before you continue