Itachi Uchiha did not resist when he heard this. He obediently walked over and examined the intelligence they had gathered.
His casual gaze changed instantly. His eyes widened, his pupils trembling. The intelligence was incredibly detailed-they even had information on all Five Great Nations!
"Th-this..."
He was so shocked that he could barely speak.
"Heh, my reach is far greater than you think. Do as you're told, and you'll be better off."
It was entirely thanks to White Zetsu, but since he could show off and maintain his air of mystery, Obito Uchiha had no reason not to play along. His tone was thoroughly smug.
Black Zetsu, standing beside him, rolled his eyes at that.
After briefly scanning the information, Itachi Uchiha made his decision.
Tap, tap, tap. He lightly tapped the table and pointed to his target.
"Then I'll try to capture the Four-Tails, Goku."
"Why?"
Obito Uchiha tilted his head, puzzled. He had expected Itachi to choose the Seven-Tails, so his curiosity prompted him to ask.
Itachi froze for a moment, not expecting a follow-up question. Without any hesitation, he explained his thinking.
"He isn't in Iwagakure right now, but there's no telling when he might return. Capturing him early would be better than going after the Seven-Tails in a small village."
Even Black Zetsu was stunned by that. Wasn't Itachi Uchiha a spy for Konoha?
He had thought it would be good enough if Itachi didn't sabotage them, yet he was actually helping them get things done?
"Good. An excellent decision. I hope you can accomplish it. Only then can our cooperation continue. Take a month to recover, start preparing next month, and I want to see the Tailed Beast in two months."
Obito Uchiha simply rose, rummaged through the intelligence the White Zetsu had collected, and placed Roshi's file on the table, sliding it over.
Itachi Uchiha took the file and stayed no longer, leaving immediately with the Body Flicker Technique.
Once again, only Obito Uchiha and Black Zetsu remained in the room.
Black Zetsu stayed where he was, rubbing his chin in thought. As he recalled what Obito had done, realization dawned on him.
"Obito, so that's why you asked me about the Mangekyo and had Tobi come back. It was all for Itachi Uchiha."
"Yes."
Seeing Obito nod in confirmation, Black Zetsu gave him a thumbs-up!
"Brilliant. Absolutely brilliant! Itachi Uchiha's Mangekyo abilities might not be especially outrageous, but he still has those eyes and Susanoo, and his combat intelligence is exceptional. With his cooperation, our plan will definitely move faster!"
"Tobi might not be strong, but he's the smartest of the White Zetsu. He can keep Itachi's body functioning while also keeping an eye on him, and he has no thoughts of betraying us!"
"Call me Madara. You haven't even seen what I'm truly capable of!"
The praise went to Obito Uchiha's head, and he immediately lifted his chin.
"Heh, impressive."
Black Zetsu obligingly gave him a thumbs-up in praise, but inwardly he scoffed. Whether you're Obito or Madara Uchiha, you're nothing more than a tool to resurrect Mother. As long as she can be resurrected, you can say whatever you like.
"Are you going to watch their fight?"
"In theory, with Itachi's intelligence and strength, he should definitely be able to take down Roshi, the Four-Tails' Jinchūriki, one-on-one."
Obito Uchiha rubbed his chin, unable to shake the feeling that something unexpected would happen.
"I still feel uneasy. I'd better go take a look. After all, the main point is to see whether he's committed to working for us. I don't want anything going wrong."
"All right."
Black Zetsu said nothing more.
Meanwhile, Itachi Uchiha had left with an utterly speechless expression.
White Zetsu Tobi chattered away beside Itachi's ear!
"Hey, hey, what are you going to give me as payment? Are you planning to go to Iwagakure? I don't think there's anything good there. I hear their best stuff is stone statues."
"..."
The incessant chatter in his ear left Itachi speechless again. At least he could read the Diary in his mind. If there really were another physical copy, he would have no idea what to do.
There was no way he would give up the information inside it. Its owner, who could predict the future, would be a great help down the line and could already provide plenty of information now.
If he couldn't read it in his mind, he might never have agreed to this. He might have chosen to endure his condition with medicine instead.
"Anyway, are we really going to capture the Four-Tails' Jinchūriki? I hear he's really strong. Your body seems like it would struggle right now."
"Then when do you think we should go?"
Itachi Uchiha felt utterly speechless. Hadn't this fellow called Tobi been listening beside them the whole time? He should know that capturing a Jinchūriki was the condition for getting help with his illness. Whether he wanted to go or not, he had to.
After hearing that, White Zetsu Tobi pondered for a moment before offering his assessment.
"About ten days. Your body should be mostly recovered by then. After that, gathering intelligence, finding out where he is, making a plan, and choosing where to ambush him will take at least another month."
"I think so too. I'm sure the Masked Man came to the same conclusion, which is why he gave us two months. Having you here really has improved my condition."
As time passed, Itachi Uchiha could feel that his body was indeed beginning to improve with Tobi attached to him. It truly was remarkable.
"Haha, my abilities are the strongest in our entire kind! Back then, that..."
White Zetsu Tobi nearly let something slip and hurriedly changed tack.
"Anyway, even that 'Madara' only stayed alive because I healed him."
Itachi Uchiha raised an eyebrow at that. It seemed the Masked Man really was hiding his identity and was not Madara Uchiha. Otherwise, Tobi would not have paused like that before saying his name.
That made sense, though... How could someone from the Warring States Period still be alive today? Even if he had survived through some miraculous life-extending method, he would surely be incredibly frail. How could he be as young and robust as the Masked Man?
Moreover, the records clearly stated that Madara Uchiha's Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan had come from his younger brother, Uchiha Izuna.
It was precisely those records that had given Itachi Uchiha the idea of sacrificing himself so that his younger brother, Sasuke, could obtain the Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan.
It seemed having another chattering voice in his ear came with an extra benefit: he could coax some information out of him.
And Tobi wasn't particularly clever. Once he started rambling and got excited, he might let information slip even without any prompting.
"Haha, don't overthink it. Relax. With me here, just like I said earlier, I can definitely keep you alive."
"Mm."
"How about we visit the toilet first? I need to research the theory I'm writing about the proper process of producing poop."
Itachi Uchiha's face darkened at that.
To stay alive. To stay alive. Endure it. I have to endure it.
After taking several deep breaths, Itachi Uchiha simply chose to ignore him, letting his words go in one ear and out the other.