Obito Was Driven Mad-Before the Akatsuki Organization Could Even Make a Move, It Had Already Lost Troops and Generals

Drip.

Deep within the cold, damp Mu Jin cave, not even a trace of fresh air could be smelled year-round.

The rotting leaves piled in the corner for who knew how many years had fermented into a sour, rancid stench that made one nauseous.

The Demonic Statue of the Outer Path's enormous gray toes curled in the darkness like a row of weathered Mu Jin pillars, lifeless and deathly still.

Several virtual projections flickered with static from time to time in midair, accompanied by hissing electrical interference.

Deva Path Pain's projected form stood at the very center. There was not a shred of life in those violet, ringed eyes; they looked like the dead fish eyes of something left to rot underwater.

The air was deathly silent.

Then, an awful sound like torn cloth suddenly rang out in the center of the hall.

Obito, wearing his orange spiral mask, dropped out of the void in a somewhat sorry state. His foot slipped half a step in the sludge beneath him, producing a sickeningly wet squelch.

He roughly reached up and tugged at the collar caught under the edge of his mask, pulling out a stale breath reeking of snakes, insects, and gunpowder.

Meanwhile, among the projections in the air, the ring signals representing Kakuzu and Hidan flickered dimly several times before abruptly going out with a snap.

"The connection's gone, Pain."

Obito wiped at the small eyehole in his mask. His single eye was filled with undisguised irritation and panic, and his voice was as low and rough as gravel.

"I told you that old miser Kakuzu couldn't be trusted. And Hidan's nothing but a brain-dead idiot who knows how to worship Jashin through sacrifices. They're worse than useless."

"Sending them to the Land of Water was no different from