Obito Attacks

"Precisely because of peace, I have to go!"

Uchiha Yan's face was solemn, his gaze firm as he looked at Konan. "Senior, without the courage to do what seems impossible, we'll never see peace in our lifetimes.

"One person or one village can never achieve peace. I want to use my blood to awaken the majority and make them work together for peace.

"Besides, I won't necessarily die. Danzo can only tamper with my missions. During wartime, he won't dare kill me openly."

Konan parted her lips. She could vaguely see Yahiko's shadow in Uchiha Yan, and her eyes grew desolate.

"Fine! Sometimes people really are exactly alike. Leave these people to me. They'll be punished."

"Thank you, Senior!"

Uchiha Yan bowed, then took a scroll from inside his clothes. "Who knows when we'll meet again? Before I leave, I have a gift for the three of you.

"This contains a plan for the Land of Rain's future economic development, as well as some Confucian teachings."

At this point, Uchiha Yan looked down at the scroll in his hands, reluctance showing in his eyes.

"Part of it also contains plans my father and I made to achieve lasting peace in the Shinobi World. No one capable of putting those plans into practice has emerged in Konoha or the Uchiha Clan yet.

"I can only entrust it to you. Use it if you can. If you can't, just leave it at the bottom of a chest."

With that, Uchiha Yan bowed to Konan and the others.

Apart from Kakashi and Taichi, everyone was moved by the sight. He was clearly settling his final affairs.

Konan accepted the scroll with reddened eyes. What immense trust!

Instead of giving the fruits of their joint efforts to their own clansmen, father and son had entrusted them to strangers they had met only once. What trust, and what helplessness, must have led to such a choice.

Even Pain gave a rare sigh. "Rest assured! I'll let you see peace in the Shinobi World."

"I'm counting on you, Senior. I should go!"

As he spoke, Uchiha Yan turned and waved to everyone behind him. "Everyone, believe in yourselves. Anything can happen.

"Senior Jinyan, my fellow clansmen, the Sharingan exists to give you the ability to protect others and keep tragedies from happening again, not to plunge you into darkness.

"The green mountains endure, and the clear waters flow on. Everyone, until we meet again!"

Kakashi and Taichi exchanged glances, each seeing helplessness in the other's eyes. This guy was such a good actor.

After glancing at Uchiha Yan's retreating back, Kakashi turned, took out a letter, and handed it to Pain.

"This is a letter from Lord Jiraiya. If you want to reply, you can send it to Konoha.

"We'll leave these people to you. You can punish them or have them earn bounties for the Land of Rain. If they violate the Land of Rain's laws, deal with them as you see fit."

Pain accepted the letter and nodded to Kakashi without saying anything more.

After making arrangements for the Uchiha clansmen and Root ninja, Pain returned to the base with Konan.

Nagato did not open Jiraiya's letter right away. Instead, he opened the scroll Uchiha Yan had left behind.

"The Rain Country Canal? An International Transport Hub?"

Nagato looked bewildered. What did that mean? He knew every word, so why couldn't he understand them put together?

Only after reading on did Nagato understand. The idea was to open a river connecting the Land of Earth and the Land of Fire, routing goods between the two countries through the Land of Rain and collecting tolls.

Genius! The people on both sides of the canal would benefit. Now this is a true envoy of peace.

"What a shame!"

Nagato handed the half-read scroll to Konan.

"Compared to Uchiha Yan, we know nothing. Once we've collected all the Tailed Beasts, we can follow this plan.

"Konan, put the scroll away. We'll need it later."

"Aren't you going to keep reading?"

"There's no need!"

"Do you want to read Teacher Jiraiya's letter? He's asking about you and why the Rinnegan appeared on Yahiko. He's already on his way to the Land of Rain, too."

Nagato's expression froze. Only after a long while did he recover. "Write back to him. Tell him it's one of the Rinnegan's abilities and that he doesn't need to come."

"You should write it yourself. He knows your handwriting."

"You know perfectly well I can't write."

"Precisely because you can't write, Teacher Jiraiya will believe it. Don't tell me your hand still shakes when you hold a pen?"

"Fine, I'll write it! It's only writing. Who's afraid? You're the one who shakes! Your hand shakes when you write!

"You think I'm afraid? What would God fear? God is the most powerful."

Nagato had no intention of changing his plan. He had always believed that only nuclear deterrence could truly bring peace to the world.

Uchiha Yan was a fine person, but unfortunately, they were not on the same path. Helping him without affecting his own plans was already generous enough.

Nearby, Zetsu kept glancing at the scroll in Konan's hands. He wanted to see whether its contents would affect his plans.

"Nagato, how should we assign those Konoha Ninja?"

"The plan needs funding. Send them all out on missions. Besides, we need people to search for Kage Level ninja."

"Nagato!"

Konan frowned as she offered her suggestion. "Those Root ninja can't be allowed to stay!"

"I know. Once war breaks out between Konoha and Kirigakure, I'll deal with them personally."

"I think we should just take this opportunity to kill Danzo."

Nagato shook his head. "No! Danzo and Hiruzen Sarutobi are too close. If we act against him, it'll inevitably arouse Konoha's suspicions.

"We're not strong enough to stand against the entire Shinobi World yet. We still need to be patient."

Nagato paused there, gathering his words before continuing.

"I know you want to avenge Yahiko, and you also want to keep Uchiha Yan alive.

"Don't worry. Danzo won't live much longer! As for Uchiha Yan, I'll have Zetsu watch over him in secret and provide intelligence support as long as it doesn't expose us."

"All right!"

Zetsu understood Konan's thoughts very well. This was hardly about protecting Uchiha Yan. She wanted to protect another Yahiko.

White Zetsu had been following Uchiha Yan all along anyway. Zetsu knew exactly what he was doing.

I've lived for thousands of years, but this is the first time I've seen an Uchiha awaken his eyes because other people were stupid.

As expected of the Uchiha Clan, each is arrogant in his own way. Most are arrogant about their abilities, while Uchiha Yan is arrogant about his brains.

But he really is clever. I should persuade Obito to bring him into the Akatsuki. He might become an asset.

With that thought, Zetsu sank underground and returned at great speed to the underground cave where Madara Uchiha had lived before his death.

"Obito! Obito! Do you know what I discovered?"

Obito was gazing foolishly at a photograph of Rin Nohara, looking every bit a lovesick creep.

"Obito! What are you doing?"

Hearing the familiar voice, Obito quickly put away the photograph and turned to glare irritably at Zetsu.

"Spit it out!"

"Uchiha Yan awakened his eyes!"

"So he awakened them! Shisui awakened his at nine. What's so special about him awakening his at twelve? Could he possibly be as much of a genius as me?"

Disdain involuntarily crept into Zetsu's eyes. "He's much better than you! You awakened your eyes after seeing a teammate get hurt. He awakened his because his teammates were so stupid that they made him furious.

"He didn't lose anything, while you lost Kakashi's eye."

"That arrogant?"

Obito froze, his face full of disbelief. "He was that arrogant before awakening his eyes? Won't he be even more arrogant now?

"Wait! Why are you telling me this? You want to bring him into the Akatsuki?"

"Yes! You need an Uchiha to help you anyway. Why not Uchiha Yan?"

"No! Shisui is still the better choice. He's young, so it'll be easy for me to guide him onto the right path. Uchiha Yan is too clever."

Zetsu's tone turned mocking. "You're not scared, are you? Afraid he'll figure out who you are?

"You don't need to be afraid, either. He just said he already has an idea who killed Minato Namikaze.

"He just doesn't have any evidence yet, so he doesn't dare tell anyone."

"Kill him!"

Obito made the decision without a moment's thought. "Tell me where he is. I'll go kill him right now."