Somewhere in the shadows of Konoha.
Wearing the Spiral Mask, Obito watched everything in silence.
Beneath his mask, his brows knitted tightly.
"The plan... fell through."
His original plan had been-
To provoke Naruto into going berserk, lure Uchiha Itachi to Konoha, then eliminate Itachi and seize his Mangekyō Sharingan once both he and Konoha had suffered heavy losses, while dragging Dragon Release Village into the affair and making Lin Ze everyone's target.
And along the way, if an opportunity arose, he could collect the Nine-Tails as well.
But he had never expected-
Lin Ze had actually sent Tagitsuhime.
This Snake Princess from Ryūchi Cave had grown far stronger over the past two years and had already reached super Kage level. With her there, making a move against Itachi would be as difficult as reaching the heavens.
This did not match what he knew of Lin Ze.
Over the years, Lin Ze had shown no interest whatsoever in tailed beasts or conflicts between ninja villages, focusing solely on his own "research into life and death."
And apart from "Genbu" capturing the Two-Tails back then and making one attempt against the One-Tail, his Dragon Release Village had shown no signs of interest either. Why had they intervened this time?
"Did he notice something?"
Obito pondered.
He assessed the strength Tagitsuhime and Uchiha Itachi were displaying and found that even with Nagato, they might not be able to defeat them quickly.
And if things dragged on and Lin Ze came to their aid...
There was no chance of winning.
"Still... this wasn't a complete failure. Now I just have to wait for word from the others."
Obito looked toward the devastated Konoha, a cold glint flashing in his eyes.
The Nine-Tails' rampage had inflicted heavy losses on Konoha, and Tsunade, Jiraiya, Hizashi