In an underground cavern in Amegakure.
Water dripped from the stalactites, striking clear, crisp echoes.
Candlelight flickered in a corner, making two shadows stretch and shrink.
Obito sat on a jutting rock, the eye beneath his mask fixed on the ground, utterly still.
Black Zetsu poked half his body out from Obito's shoulder, his stark black-and-white form glaring in the dim light.
"Obito, what do we do now?"
Black Zetsu kept his voice low, carrying a caution honed over a thousand years.
"Because of Genya Uchiha and Hashirama Senju, Nagato and Konan have postponed the Tailed Beast plan. Maybe... they won't collect the Tailed Beasts anymore."
Obito's fingers twitched, but he said nothing.
Of course he knew.
Ever since Nagato had visited Konoha and attended that New Year's Gala, he had come back a different man.
He used to gather intelligence on the Tailed Beasts every week. Now he barely mentioned them once a month.
Konan, too. She used to regard Konoha with nothing but wariness. Now, when she mentioned it, there was actually a hint of warmth in her voice???
Obito's fingers curled.
It was all because of that man.
"Why would an Uchiha have a pair of Rinnegan?"
His voice was muffled, thick with frustration suppressed to its limit.
"How did he awaken them?"
Black Zetsu fell silent.
He had lived for over a thousand years, seen the reincarnations of Indra and Asura, and watched countless Sharingan evolve from one tomoe to the Mangekyo.
But he understood the conditions for awakening the Rinnegan better than anyone.
Only by combining Indra's and Asura's chakra could someone of the Sage of Six Paths' bloodline awaken the Rinnegan.
It was an ironclad rule no one had broken in a thousand years.
So where had Genya Uchiha's eyes come from?
Black Zetsu