Madara Uchiha and Black Zetsu

Evening.

The Akatsuki base.

In a dim room, the original members of the Akatsuki sat on either side of a long stone table.

Yahiko sat on a stone stool, looking at Nagato at the head of the table with a complicated expression. Ever since that brush with death, Nagato's entire bearing had changed.

"Back then, the First Hokage distributed the Tailed Beasts among each Shinobi Village, giving every village a deterrent. He wanted to create a balance of power and build a peaceful order that way. The constant fighting between the Shinobi Villages now proves that his original idea was wrong."

"We will seize all the Tailed Beasts and suppress every Shinobi Village by force. As long as the Akatsuki exists, this world will enjoy lasting peace under our rule."

That declaration left both Yahiko and Konan silent. They knew that from this day onward, the Akatsuki would take an entirely different path, one filled with blood and fire.

Nagato turned to look at Pero across from him, who had his feet propped up on the table and was picking at his nails.

"Pero, you let that Black Zetsu escape on purpose, didn't you?"

He continued, "He took one of my Rinnegan. I'm worried they'll use that eye to threaten the Akatsuki's future plans."

Pero kept picking at his nails without even looking up, answering Nagato in an offhand tone.

"Actually, that eye isn't yours."

Nagato's eyes widened. He braced both hands against the table and stood up.

"Wha..." Nagato's pupils contracted sharply. He shoved against the table with both hands and rose to his feet.

"It was part of a scheme Madara Uchiha laid out. Those eyes were transplanted into your body when you were very young."

"How do you know that?" Nagato's voice was filled with disbelief.

Pero raised his right eyebrow and reached up to tap his ear.

"I'm hearing it right now."

Meanwhile, at Mountain's Grave, thousands of miles away.

"Hah... Black Zetsu, you went to see that brat, didn't you?

"What happened that made you summon away the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path?"

An elderly man with long white hair, dressed in a thin robe, stood before a stone table, a war scythe resting beside him. Several tubes were attached to his body, their other ends extending into the enormous Demonic Statue of the Outer Path behind him, which had a huge hole in its chest.

A boy lay on the stone table. The old man was operating on him with hands as withered as tree bark.

"What happened to leave the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path in such a terrible state?"

"Ah... well... Lord Madara." Black Zetsu scratched his head, a hint of embarrassment on his face. "I don't know how to put it."

"Oh?"

At that, Madara Uchiha slowly turned to look at Black Zetsu. The three tomoe in his Sharingan rotated slightly. He was somewhat displeased by Black Zetsu's hesitation.

"You're my will, yet you're so wishy-washy."

Suddenly, a voice came from afar.

"If Black Zetsu doesn't want to say it, I will."

"Who's there?" Madara Uchiha's gaze sharpened.

Whoosh!

Without warning, a pebble shot down from above with a shrill sound as it tore through the air.

Madara Uchiha's gaze sharpened. Instinctively, he snatched up his war scythe, turned, and swung.

A crisp clang rang out, immediately followed by a snapping crack!

The pebble was deflected with precision, but the war scythe that had accompanied Madara through the latter half of his life and served as his walking stick snapped at the impact. Half its blade fell to the ground.

"Hah... hah..."

That tiny movement was undoubtedly strenuous exercise for Madara Uchiha in his current condition. The aged man stood there propped on his war scythe, panting heavily.

"Hah... who is it?" Madara Uchiha glanced at the broken end of his war scythe, a hint of surprise in his eyes, then looked up.

"Madara Uchiha, you certainly have unusual tastes. Hiding in a dark, damp tomb like this for so long-aren't you worried about getting rheumatism?"

A calm voice rang out. A figure slowly descended from the darkness at the top of the cave, finally landing lightly on the ground.

After the final battle, Madara Uchiha's body had not been disposed of immediately. Having calculated that his body would not be disposed of, he used the properties of the Mangekyō Sharingan to set the forbidden technique Izanagi in his right eye, reviving himself at the cost of that eye. He then disguised a Shadow Clone as his corpse, keeping Konoha from discovering his resurrection all these years.

After leaving Konoha, Madara Uchiha had hidden beneath Mountain's Grave.

"Who are you? How do you know about this place?" Madara Uchiha frowned at Pero, who had descended from above. A possibility flashed through his mind, and he turned to Black Zetsu. "You actually brought a rat back with you."

"No, it couldn't have been me. I covered all my tracks," Black Zetsu protested.

"Don't suspect him. I can see exactly where you are. I can hear what you say from anywhere in the world. You have no secrets from me."

As he spoke, Pero's gaze swept over the stone platform behind Madara.

A boy with half his body crushed lay on the platform. A White Zetsu was merging with his mangled body.

So this is Obito. He was crushed by an enemy's Earth Release while saving Kakashi during the war and left on the verge of death. Before dying, he entrusted Kakashi with his Sharingan and his wish to protect Rin.

Looks like Kakashi already has Obito's Sharingan.

Once Obito recovers, Black Zetsu should let him out to witness Kakashi killing the girl he loves.

Madara Uchiha plotted a series of schemes to turn Obito to the dark side. That was a bit too monstrous.

Good thing this part of the story happened two years early. Otherwise, I might have met Obito after he'd turned.

Then I'd have no choice but to blow him apart with one punch. How boring.

What a shame. Still, since I'm already here, it'd be far too boring not to stir things up.

At that thought, Pero vanished from his spot. The next instant, he appeared beside Black Zetsu and draped an arm around his shoulders as naturally as could be.

"Buddy, I spared your life. Are you moved?"

Black Zetsu went completely rigid. Inwardly, he cursed everyone from eighteen generations of ancestors down to Madara Uchiha.

Moved? I don't fucking dare move!

"I'm moved, I'm moved. Sir, could you let go of me? I'm feeling a little dizzy." As he spoke, Black Zetsu kept shooting Madara Uchiha pleading looks.

"Dizziness is normal. What's wrong? Are your eyes bothering you? Let me take a look for you." Pero reached both hands toward Black Zetsu's belly, where a Rinnegan was hidden.

"Enough of your nonsense, youngster!" Having caught his breath, Madara Uchiha raised his broken war scythe and struck its shaft heavily against the ground. "I don't know which clan's prodigy you are."

"But you're still far too green to face me."

Wood Release: Thorn Kill Technique!

Countless thick thorny vines surged out of the ground like living creatures, coiling precisely around Pero's feet before quickly spreading upward, their sharp thorns hooking tightly into his body.

At the sight, Pero shook his head and abandoned the idea of toying with Black Zetsu. Leaving the Rinnegan with him still served a purpose.

"You still can't recognize reality." Pero stepped toward Madara Uchiha. The thorns wrapped around him shattered across the ground like brittle, dead branches.

Seeing that his technique had no effect, Madara Uchiha sighed and gave up struggling. Leaning on his war scythe, he slowly sank to the ground against the stone table.

"In all my years, this is the first time I've seen a youngster as powerful as you."

"I'm old. Indeed, I'm a man clinging to life who would die immediately without a constant supply of chakra from the statue behind me."

"Do whatever you want."

Pero stood beside the stone table and pointed at the half-crushed Obito. "What were you planning to do with this little fellow?"

"Save his life and make him a new pawn." Madara Uchiha coughed twice. Light swirled in his eyes, and he suddenly looked invigorated, like a final rally before death.

"He's an important pawn in my resurrection plan. Working with Nagato to use Rinne Rebirth, he'll allow me to return to the Shinobi World at my peak. Then I can carry out the Infinite Tsukuyomi plan, and the whole world will attain true peace!"

"Unfortunately, your arrival has ruined things. This brat probably won't survive."

Resigned to his fate, Madara Uchiha sighed again and complained to Pero.

"What are you trying to do?" Seeing Pero approach the stone platform, Madara Uchiha propped himself up with his war scythe and warily rose to his feet again.

Ignoring Madara Uchiha, Pero first stabilized Obito's life with his bio-electric field.

He sliced open the not-yet-fully-healed suture line on the body with his fingertip.

Using heat vision, he stitched all the organs together with extreme precision.

Finally, red light flashed.

The enormous wound in Obito's abdomen had healed perfectly, without even a trace of a scar.

"This... how is this possible?!"

Madara Uchiha watched the fluid procedure, his jaw dropping. Refusing to believe it, he placed a hand on Obito's body and felt the renewed vitality within.

"You don't have long to live anyway, so I'll let you off this time. Come on, tell me what you're planning next."

"Let me make this clear first: this kid is mine."

"Oh, and give me one more thing."

"Uncle Pero, how did you rescue me? There was such a huge rock pinning me down."

"Uncle Pero, where are we going now?"

Listening to the incessant chatter from below, Pero really wanted to shut him up with a punch.

As the Man of Steel, I can't handle everything personally. The Akatsuki is short on members, so I can only use my foreknowledge of the plot to gather some talent.

This Obito Uchiha has plenty of talent. In the future, he'll turn the Shinobi World upside down.

But right now, he's still a small fry who loves the Will of Fire and wants to become Hokage.

How do I get him to awaken his Mangekyō?

Right, let's play it this way.

"Ah, we're here. Just in time."

Looking down, he saw two small figures surrounded by a large group of ninja.

"It's Kakashi and Rin! Let me down, you lousy old man!" Obito struggled constantly in Pero's grip.

Lightning gathered in Kakashi's hand as he repeatedly struck back at the ninja attacking him.

Rin Nohara threw shuriken from beside him to support him.

The two below suddenly stopped. Rin Nohara seemed to be explaining something, and the surrounding ninja also halted.

Seemingly realizing that something was wrong, Obito struggled harder and harder.

Rin Nohara made some sort of decision, then lunged forward into the Lightning Blade in Kakashi's hand.

The Lightning Blade pierced Rin's chest and emerged from her back.

At that moment, the scene froze in Obito's mind. His Sharingan appeared instinctively, its three tomoe spinning rapidly. They gradually formed a pattern resembling three scythes.

"Aaaaaah!!! Rin!!" In his fury, Obito kicked away the hand holding him and plummeted from the sky. After landing, he inadvertently grasped Wood Release and began a massacre, using the Cutting Technique to give every Kirigakure ninja present a taste of high-level combat.

In the end, Obito held Rin Nohara's corpse. Filled with pain and despair toward this world, he made a decision: he wanted to create a world with only Rin.

Right?

In midair, Pero bounced the resentment-radiating Obito in his hand. Obito's eyes were now vacant.

"Hey, you know what? This thing is pretty fun."

Pero held an eyeball with a red iris. The three tomoe in it spun continuously beneath his coating of chakra.

[The host used Sharingan Genjutsu on Obito. It was super effective.]