In the dark limestone cave, the night wind swept away several bloodstained glove fragments from the ground.
Obito's violent roar still lingered in the air, making the entire underground space hum.
His one exposed Sharingan was filled with crimson blood vessels.
But with only himself and those brainless White Zetsu clones scattered across the mountains and wilderness, his fighting strength was nowhere near enough.
Trying to force his way into the Leaf Village and seize the Nine-Tails would be no different from delivering himself to Minato Namikaze and Uchiha Yoru on a platter.
Black Zetsu wriggled a few times through the muddy ground, its yellow eyes rolling wildly in the darkness.
"Brute force isn't worth it, Obito."
It spoke slowly, its voice like sandpaper scraping together.
"Uchiha Yoru cares most about those two genius brats by his side."
"If we start with them, it'll take far less effort than fighting the Leaf Village head-on."
"You want to go after that blond brat?" Obito turned, his lone eye fixed on it.
"No. The target is the other one."
Black Zetsu let out a hoarse, unpleasant chuckle.
"Sasuke Uchiha."
"That brat is Indra's reincarnation. He's proud to the bone and can't stand being overshadowed."
"We can use him to tear open a corner of Stone Village, and gain an extra sharp blade to probe Uchiha Yoru's hidden cards for us."
Land of Earth, Iwagakure.
The special training ground was deathly quiet late at night.
Only the cold wind howled as it swept across the hard rock.
The air was thick with the dry smell of gunpowder and scorched earth, enough to sting the nose.
"Huff... huff..."
Heavy panting echoed from a corner of the dim training ground.
Six-year-old Sasuke Uchiha stood bare-chested, drenched in sweat.
His messy black hair clung to