Obito's Recruitment

In the forests of the Land of Fire.

Tap, tap, tap...

Over a hundred Uchiha Clan Members moved through the woods.

Leading them was the Third Elder, Uchiha Takuya.

Ever since seeing the "future" in Natsuki's Illusionary Realm, he had become utterly convinced by Natsuki and voluntarily assisted the group of Uchiha Clan Members leaving the village.

Although Itachi possessed great Combat Power, he was too young and lacked experience in many matters. It was safer to have Takuya assisting him.

More than half of these hundred-plus Uchiha Clan Members were members of the hawkish faction.

The rest were Uchiha Clan Members who possessed various special talents.

Natsuki had personally selected every one of them, and their minds had previously been altered through Kotoamatsukami.

They would now faithfully support Uchiha Natsuki alone and strive for the future of the Uchiha Clan.

These Uchiha Clan Members were all shinobi, mostly Chunin, with few Jonin and Genin among them. This group of over a hundred represented half the clan's Combat Power.

The nearly thousand civilians and their families had not left with them. Only after they established a foundation elsewhere would they decide whether to relocate their families.

Whether they stayed in the village or left it, the Uchiha Clan Members on both sides faced their own difficulties.

A figure leaped to Itachi's side and handed him a skewer of Three-Color Dumplings.

Itachi accepted it expressionlessly. "You didn't need to come with us."

Though his tone was cold, he still put the Three-Color Dumplings into his mouth.

A faint smile rested on Uchiha Izumi's face.

"If you left, no one would eat Three-Color Dumplings with me by the river anymore."

Ever since Itachi had invited Izumi that night, she had finally understood his feelings. Before she knew the truth, she was willing to cast everything aside and remain by Itachi's side.

The nearby Uchiha Clan Members acted as though they were deaf. They even spread out a little to give the two room to talk.

Itachi remained silent for a long time, though his expression shifted slightly.

After a while, he let out a soft laugh. "Senior Natsuki's plans include many new foods. Once they're made, I'll treat you."

Izumi smiled sweetly, her eyes holding only Itachi's figure.

The journey was arduous, and Itachi's group was headed for a small country beside Konoha—the Land of Rice, where a small shinobi village called Otogakure was located.

The other personnel Natsuki had selected beforehand did not have their speed, so they could only travel there by other means.

Just then, Itachi seemed to sense something.

"Stop!" Uchiha Itachi raised a hand and clenched it into a fist.

All the clan members behind him came to a halt.

Space twisted in the clearing ahead, and a vortex appeared. A masked shinobi materialized out of thin air.

Itachi watched him vigilantly.

"You're the one who was lingering around the shrine, aren't you?"

Obito smiled faintly. "I didn't expect you to be so perceptive. You noticed me back then?"

Itachi's tone was icy, neither warm nor alarmed, distant and detached.

He waved behind him. Without a word, the other Uchiha Clan Members passed the two of them and continued onward.

Only Itachi and Obito remained where they were. Obito did not stop them. His purpose here was Itachi—to recruit him to his side. That would make many things far more convenient.

"I heard about Shisui. Konoha has long rotted away. Staying in Konoha isn't a very good choice for you."

Itachi remained silent, seemingly without any desire to speak.

Obito found Itachi's reaction somewhat strange, but continued anyway. "Join our organization. The future of the shinobi world..."

"Uchiha Madara!" Itachi shouted.

Obito was startled. Why had Itachi suddenly yelled? The instant Obito looked at him—

"Tsukuyomi!"

There was no probing. Itachi went all out from the very first move! Surging ocular power burst forth!

Obito's vision blurred, and he found himself in the black, white, and red Tsukuyomi world.

"Itachi, how did you know about me?"

Bound in place, Obito asked with a detached expression, seemingly unsurprised that he had fallen under Genjutsu.

Instead, Itachi mistaking him for Madara interested him somewhat.

Itachi stood before him without saying a word, gripping his blade as he prepared to strike.

Hmph. Obito snorted.

The ocular power of his Mangekyō Sharingan erupted at full force.

Yet the Illusionary Realm merely shook before returning to normal. Obito was greatly shocked.

A blade pierced his body, and Obito felt searing pain. Yet this environment did not collapse.

He opened his eyes and found himself back on the wooden post. Then another blade plunged down...

This was Itachi's Mangekyō Sharingan ocular technique!?

"Pfft." Another blade stabbed into him.

Obito groaned, his Mental Energy draining along with it.

It had to be said that Obito's Mental Energy was powerful enough. Even after being tortured for seven days in the Illusionary Realm, he could still stand steady.

But because of the depletion of his Mental Energy, his Sharingan had already fallen out of its Mangekyō state and reverted to the Three Tomoe form.

Then it continued to regress from the Three Tomoe state until it deactivated entirely.

The moment Obito emerged from the Tsukuyomi world, before his mind had recovered, a kunai was already buried in his throat.

"Ambitious person..." Obito's corpse turned illusory and vanished from the ground.

Itachi showed no surprise as he watched Obito's body disappear.

Ugh...

Itachi covered his eyes, unable even to remain standing.

He hurriedly staggered back two steps and leaned against a tree.

Drip... drip...

Bloody tears fell from his eyes to the ground below.

The intense pain continued until the Uchiha Clan Members returned to find him.

Izumi treated Itachi with a pained expression while the others stood guard nearby.

A moment later, Izumi's treatment had some effect. At the very least, Itachi could stand normally again.

"We can't stay here long. Move!"

Natsuki had already told Itachi everything about Obito.

So Itachi had directly used every bit of ocular power he could muster to maintain Tsukuyomi, determined to force Obito out of his Sharingan state.

Itachi knew that this man was the true culprit who had controlled the Nine-Tails and caused Konoha to keep suspecting the Uchiha Clan. He hated him to the bone.

Sasuke's death in the future visions was also attributed to Obito.

Itachi had poured every bit of ocular power he could use into Tsukuyomi. It could be said that it was an attack in which he staked everything on a single gamble.

Fortunately, he succeeded!

Since Obito liked pretending to be Uchiha Madara, then let him keep pretending.

Today's lesson would be one Obito would never forget.

At the very least, Obito would no longer keep thinking about Itachi.

The current Itachi was no longer alone. He had more than a hundred followers, as well as Izumi.

Kamui Dimension.

As everything flickered, Obito rose to his feet while covering his face.

"Looks like you suffered a loss?" A figure whose body spread apart like aloe leaves spoke slowly. Black Zetsu had appeared.

When Obito removed his mask, the Sharingan in his left eye had turned gray-white and lost its function.

Black Zetsu was shocked. "You actually used Izanagi? Is Itachi that strong?"

Izanagi!

The power of the Uchiha Clan to reverse fate. All unfavorable outcomes could be rewritten, but the price of this technique was that the Sharingan would lose its light.

Obito's Space-Time Ninjutsu, Kamui, could have given him an immense advantage in nearly any ninjutsu or taijutsu battle.

But he had one enormous weakness: he could not defend against Genjutsu.

That was why, in the original timeline, Obito had not dared to swagger around outside during the early stages.

Only after Uchiha Itachi had been misled by Danzo into Destroying the Uchiha Clan, after Fugaku had died, and after both Shisui and Itachi had died—

Only then had Obito dared to run wild without restraint.

That was because Sharingan without the Mangekyō could not pose any Genjutsu threat to him.

As for Sasuke, he was a typical ninjutsu-type shinobi and was not especially skilled in Genjutsu.

Who would have thought that on the very day he met Itachi, before he had even finished his recruitment pitch, Itachi would hit him with such a vicious blow?

Although Itachi had the advantage of a sneak attack, it had to be said that Itachi's Genjutsu countered him too perfectly.

"It was just a momentary mistake." Obito got to his feet.

"Good thing Itachi doesn't know about Izanagi, or it would've been dangerous." Obito removed the blinded Sharingan from his eye.

"He refused your recruitment?" Black Zetsu asked curiously.

"I don't know. I thought Itachi was someone special, but he turned out just like the other Uchiha Clan Members—a madman. He directly launched a sneak attack on me."

Obito's voice carried irritation. Having never gone through the Night of the Uchiha Clan Downfall, he did not actually have many spare Sharingan. Every one he used meant one less remaining.

...Aren't you a madman too? Black Zetsu fell silent for a moment.

"Are you still going to make a move against Itachi?"

Obito shook his head. "Let him leave. Itachi's Combat Power is formidable. It's better for him to leave Konoha. It'll make it easier for us to capture the Nine-Tails in the future."

Obito should have been grateful that Shisui had not recovered from his earlier excessive ocular power depletion. Otherwise, Shisui would have definitely given him a Kotoamatsukami.