"Aren't we leaving yet? You've already seen No..."
"Shut up!"
The white half of the Venus Flytrap Monster's face grinned, wanting to continue, but the black half suddenly spoke, cutting him off with a low rebuke.
This monster, who resembled a Venus flytrap, had two different consciousnesses inside his body!
The black half of the Venus Flytrap Monster's face looked toward Shihōin Naraku and Kakashi Hatake and said in a very grim voice, "According to our intelligence analysis, one of those two is very likely to become the next Hokage, the Fifth."
"Obito, we could secretly..."
"No need! That useless Kakashi! He's never accomplished a single thing. He's completely finished!"
The Mysterious Masked Man, who was none other than Obito Uchiha, looked disdainfully at Kakashi Hatake, who was lost in his memories, and snorted.
"Zetsu! Don't do anything unnecessary. That useless Kakashi will ruin everything. If he becomes Hokage, Konoha will be finished sooner or later."
Every sentence Obito Uchiha spoke included Kakashi Hatake. From a certain perspective, that could also be called a kind of concern. Perhaps.
Zetsu glanced at Obito Uchiha, who was cursing Kakashi Hatake while still keeping his eyes fixed on him, and was utterly speechless.
"We recently found some traces of Orochimaru, but that snake is very well hidden. Should we keep digging? Or pass his whereabouts on to Pain?"
Only when the conversation turned to business did Obito Uchiha reluctantly look away. He lowered his head and thought for a while before shaking it. "Not for now. Orochimaru is still useful. Once he's outlived his usefulness, I'll kill him myself!"
"Hee hee hee... Though we haven't found that disgusting snake," Zetsu's white half said with a giggle, "we discovered that his subordinates seem to be discussing something with people from Sunagakure. We don't know the details, but their target is Konoha."
Obito Uchiha smiled disdainfully. He had no regard whatsoever for impoverished Sunagakure and said bluntly, "Those fools from Sunagakure actually trust Orochimaru..."
"Leave them alone. Sunagakure may be weak, but if they join forces with Orochimaru, Konoha, which has lost its vigilance after so many years of peace, will suffer heavy losses. That's a good thing for us!"
"Zetsu, wait until Orochimaru and Sunagakure have carried out their plan, then give this information to Uchiha Itachi."
"Hee hee hee... What are you planning?"
White Zetsu's giggles rang out, but Obito Uchiha ignored him. Distorted space-time appeared again. Before vanishing, he glanced at Kakashi Hatake and left one last remark.
"This false world will be destroyed by these useless fools sooner or later!"
The Venus flytrap-like Zetsu also slowly sank into the ground and disappeared.
"Hm?"
Shihōin Naraku abruptly raised his head and looked around, his gaze finally settling on the Ninja Academy's rooftop terrace.
"Was that my imagination? Why did I feel some malice just now...?"
With a swish, Naraku leaped up and landed on the rooftop terrace, frowning as he surveyed his surroundings.
But the place seemed no different from usual, with no strange traces anywhere.
"What's wrong?"
Roused by Shihōin Naraku's movements, Kakashi Hatake followed him up and looked around the terrace in puzzlement.
Shihōin Naraku shook his head and said uncertainly, "I thought I felt a malicious gaze coming from here just now, but I haven't found anything..."
As he spoke, he raised his hand and beckoned. The hidden ANBU squad appeared behind him.
"Use the Ninja Academy as your center and conduct a thorough sweep. See if you can find anything."
"Yes!"
With the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki involved, no one would take this lightly.
However, after the well-trained ANBU conducted their search, they found no unusual traces or anything of the sort.
"Was it really just my imagination?"
Listening to his ANBU subordinates' report, Shihōin Naraku was somewhat unsure whether his earlier impression had been mistaken. After all, coming and going freely in a place like Konohagakure was no easy feat...
No!
Shihōin Naraku suddenly remembered that there were indeed people who could come and go freely in Konoha.
Obito Uchiha and Zetsu!
They could indeed do something like that.
Could they have been here just now?
However, Shihōin Naraku set aside his doubts for the moment. He waved the ANBU members away, then went back into hiding with Kakashi Hatake.
"Oh? The ninja sparring is over?"
"Who won, Naruto or Sasuke?"
Shihōin Naraku looked toward the playground, where Naruto Uzumaki was jumping around and shouting.
"Sasuke Uchiha!"
Kakashi Hatake had seen the outcome of the sparring match and said directly, "Sasuke Uchiha caught an opening in Naruto's defenses and defeated him in the end."
"Oh, that's normal."
They had only been practicing tree climbing for a few days. Making this much progress was already good enough. For Naruto Uzumaki to catch up with Sasuke Uchiha was not very likely for the time being.
After losing to Sasuke Uchiha, Naruto Uzumaki looked unhappy. Once classes at the Ninja Academy ended, he went to the forest on the mountain behind the village in low spirits.
But Naruto Uzumaki did not stay dejected for long. He soon perked up again and resumed his tree-climbing practice, brimming with energy.
"Keep watch here for now... I have something to do!"
Shihōin Naraku spoke quietly, then vanished in a flash without even waiting for Kakashi Hatake to reply.
Kakashi Hatake frowned at Shihōin Naraku's retreating figure, somewhat puzzled. He had noticed something was off about him ever since earlier.
Shihōin Naraku moved very quickly, reaching Konohagakure's Memorial Stone in an instant. This was also the village cemetery.
He walked straight in at a slow pace and soon reached someone's grave.
"Sure enough, it was Obito Uchiha!"
A beautiful, eye-catching bouquet lay before the gravestone. From its appearance, it had clearly been placed there only recently.
On the gravestone was a photograph of a beautiful girl: Rin Nohara!
She had once been a teammate of Obito Uchiha and Kakashi Hatake. To protect Konoha, she had willingly died to Kakashi's Lightning Blade.
Shihōin Naraku looked around and, sure enough, found a discarded bouquet on the ground a short distance away.
"Tsk... Throwing away the flowers Kakashi offered to Rin Nohara and replacing them with his own. Obito really is petty."
Having confirmed his guess, Shihōin Naraku turned and left. He had no intention of telling anyone else about this.
Obito Uchiha had an agreement with Uchiha Itachi: as long as Itachi was alive, he could not make a move against Sasuke Uchiha or Konohagakure. So there was no need to worry about anything for now.
Besides, Obito Uchiha relied on his Mangekyō Sharingan ability, "Kamui," to come and go without a trace. Under normal circumstances, catching him really was no easy task.
Shihōin Naraku soon returned to the forest on the mountain behind the village, where he spotted Hiruzen Sarutobi at a glance.
Naruto Uzumaki had been truly happy lately. Not only did he have company every day, but he also got to eat delicious food every day. Compared with before, his life now could practically be called a wonderful dream.
After spending several days serving as a bodyguard alongside Kakashi Hatake, Shihōin Naraku finally approached Hiruzen Sarutobi and told him what he had in mind.
"I want to be the Medical Department Director!"
Before you continue