I thought you saw me as your husband!
But you saw me as your son?
Fuck!!!
Crack.
Haruma froze on the spot, feeling as though something had gone wrong with his internal organs.
He had no idea whether what had shattered in two was his devilish left atrium or his angelic right ventricle.
"Heh."
Haruma laughed awkwardly and scratched his head. "If you miss Itachi, you can use that ninjutsu I taught you."
"Aren't you wearing the necklace?"
Haruma meant the Magic Lantern Body Technique, which he had also taught Itachi earlier. He had subsequently made several more mediums using Yin–Yang Release chakra.
There was Fugaku, who was tracking Danzo, and Shisui, who was saving the Shinobi World. After making them, Haruma had even made a special trip using Flying Thunder God to deliver them.
Of course, collecting some of the funds from Shisui was merely incidental, definitely not the main purpose.
"Didn't you say that the farther away someone is, the more chakra it takes to form their thought projection?"
Mikoto shook her head and said gently, "It's better not to bother Itachi unless it's something important."
"Tch!"
Haruma looked indignant. "That old bastard Fugaku must have his ancestors' good deeds to thank for being able to marry you."
Mikoto's cheeks flushed slightly, and she hurriedly returned to the matter at hand. "You should at least show your face around the compound more often. Lately, I feel like there have been quite a few more Anbu nearby."
Haruma grinned and chuckled. "Those Anbu aren't here to watch the Uchiha Clan."
"That old fox probably has his eye on me."
Mikoto was shocked. "You mean the Third has noticed you?!"
Haruma looked relaxed. "Don't worry. That old fox only has his eye on my other identity."
"I knew the Anbu were watching during my fourth deal with Root."
"Looks like the lingering problems on Danzo's side have been dealt with, and the old bastard wants to catch me slipping."
Haruma stood and looked out the window disdainfully. His gaze seemed to pierce the layers of stone walls and see the Anbu hiding around the cherry tree outside the compound gates.
Meanwhile, elsewhere.
Shisui, who was roaming away from home, had just finished a mission at a mansion and was about to transfer the funds when he suddenly stopped.
"Whoa!"
"Tobi, look! He looks exactly like you!"
"Could he be your clone?"
Shisui instantly looked up. Two strange figures stood in the ancient tree by the entrance.
Like Shisui, they wore black robes patterned with red clouds.
Obito and Black and White Zetsu, whom Haruma had mentioned.
Their resemblance was so close that ordinary eyes could not tell the real from the fake. The two men, one in the tree and one below it, put on a show of the real and fake Uchiha Clan.
"Idiot!"
"Can't you sense for yourself whether he's a clone?!"
The black half of Zetsu's head turned his eye and angrily cursed at the white half of his body.
"Who exactly are you?"
Obito's deep gaze rested on the impostor below, his voice dark.
According to the plan, Obito should have gone to Konoha to trick Itachi and collect a batch of Sharingan while he was at it.
But before he could set off, news had spread that Itachi had defected from Konoha.
Not only that, a large number of wealthy merchants near Konoha had been robbed.
A powerful mental patient who spared anyone who paid up. That information was spreading more and more widely too!
Obito originally had no interest whatsoever in such trivial nonsense. He was no Shinobi World policeman responsible for catching robbers.
But while he and Black and White Zetsu were searching for Itachi's whereabouts first, they happened to hear the name that lunatic used during every robbery...
So Obito had brought Black and White Zetsu to find him first.
Shisui's gaze sharpened. Imitating Obito's current voice, he said in a low tone, "I am Madara Uchiha."
Obito: "???"
Then... who am I?
"Wow! Lord Madara! You actually..."
"Shut up, idiot!" Black Zetsu covered the white half's mouth with one hand, his brow furrowing incessantly. "Looks like those people were right. A mental patient?"
"Whether he is or not, we'll know once we take off his mask." Obito's voice was sinister, and he dove down as soon as he finished speaking.
Boom!
The dust dispersed, leaving only a crater in the ground. Shisui had already vanished.
Whoosh.
A kunai abruptly shot toward Obito from behind.
Obito remained where he was without dodging. The next moment, the coldly gleaming kunai passed straight through his head and flew into the distance.
Obito turned, just about to mock him...
Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh...
Like several machine guns taking turns firing, an endless stream of countless kunai and silver needles filled Obito's entire field of vision.
Clink, clatter.
The ancient tree, the ground, the mansion-kunai and hidden weapons were embedded everywhere, all driven deep.
"What a fast Body Flicker Technique," Obito remarked as he emerged from behind the large tree.
He surveyed his surroundings. Shisui was long gone.
"Can you track him?" Obito asked toward the tree.
The next moment, Black and White Zetsu's head emerged from the center of the ancient tree.
Black Zetsu's voice had also grown considerably graver. "He deliberately included us in that attack just now."
White Zetsu grinned playfully. "I could still sense him before, but by the time you finished talking, Tobi, I couldn't sense him anymore~"
"He was so fast~"
"Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh, and he was already far away~"
Obito was long accustomed to White Zetsu's habitual bouts of madness.
Apart from the part about being unable to sense him, he automatically filtered out the rest of the nonsense.
"Damn it!" Obito growled, sounding somewhat frustrated. "Who the hell is he?!"
How could he just be a mental patient!
The same outfit as mine, and he even copied the name I use!
Such an obvious attempt to frame me, and deliberately ruining Madara's reputation.
He was clearly coming after Akatsuki, coming after Obito!
Most importantly, how had he obtained that information? That was the real problem.
Just how many secrets about the subsequent plans did he know? Obito's head ached.
Night.
A desolate mountain valley, a hidden stone cave.
This place was not too far from Konoha and bordered the Valley of the End.
It was one of Shisui's secret bases for his operations away from home.
Inside the cave were a wooden bed, a round table, and four wooden stools, extremely simple furnishings.
Two candle lamps hanging on the rock walls provided light to see by.
Shisui sat on the wooden bed, holding a golden kunai in one hand and forming a special seal with the other.
Three minutes later.
Bzzzz.
The instant the kunai vibrated with a hum, Haruma's figure appeared from inside the cave.
"What's up?"
Having returned to his original appearance, Haruma plopped down on the round table. "Did you pull off a big job today?"
Shisui shook his head and said solemnly, "I ran into Obito and Black and White Zetsu today."
"Just like your information said, the Masked Man's intangibility ignores physical attacks."
"Tch."
"I thought you'd hit the jackpot. Turns out it's just this little thing," Haruma said, somewhat disappointed.
Shisui: "..."
His dear friend's mind seemed to have nothing left in it but money.
After a speechless moment, Shisui continued, "Those two probably came specifically to find me. They might go to Konoha afterward."
Haruma nodded, his tone relaxed. "With me in Konoha, they won't accomplish much."
"They probably got the news and heard about your glorious deeds when they came here looking for Itachi and Orochimaru."
The corner of Shisui's mouth twitched. Robbery really was glorious...
"If they're looking for Itachi, should we give him advance warning?"
Clearly, Shisui still cared quite a bit about that dear friend of his.
Remembering that Mikoto had also mentioned that wonderfully filial son today.
Haruma nodded and immediately formed a complex series of hand seals!
Rat, dragon, ram, boar, tiger...
"Magic Lantern Body Technique!"