On the mountaintop, Kurō stared at the masked man in front of him and felt like his blood pressure had not gone down once tonight.
He took a deep breath and confirmed again.
“Partner?
With Uchiha Itachi?” Obito nodded, as if it were the most natural thing in the world.
Kurō’s face instantly darkened.
“Obito, if you want me dead, just say so!
Is my being alive interfering with your latest breakdown or something?!” “…When we’re working, use titles.
Outside, you should call me Uchiha Madara.” “Titles, my ass!” Kurō’s voice exploded across the mountaintop.
“Three-tomoe Sharingan against Mangekyō?
Are you joking?!
I can’t believe you even thought of that!” Obito looked at him as he bristled with rage.
No emotion could be read from his exposed eye.
His voice remained certain.
“I know your strength.
Itachi… can’t do anything to you.” The corner of Kurō’s mouth twitched hard.
Was he afraid of Uchiha Itachi?
No.
What he was afraid of was the eye of Shisui in Itachi’s possession, Kotoamatsukami, the strongest genjutsu!
What if that lunatic suddenly snapped and hit him with a mind-control app?
Who was he supposed to complain to then?
Obito seemed not to notice Kurō’s complicated inner turmoil and continued, “Itachi is very likely a spy Konoha sent into the Akatsuki.
To keep him from interfering with our Eye of the Moon Plan, I need someone strong enough, and someone I can fully trust, to stay by his side and monitor him.” He paused.
That single eye stared straight at Kurō.
“And you are the best choice.” Feeling the “sincere” trust in Obito’s words, Kurō’s handsome face twisted slightly.
This bastard… he’s acting like I’m here willingly helping him cause trouble.
After the Nine-Tails’ attack, Kurō had actually still held a trace of hope for the Uchiha clan’s future.
After all, the reason the Uchiha clan later ended up being massacred was not fundamentally because they tried to stage a coup.
It was because they suffered from a severe shortage of top-tier combat power.
Leaving aside the possibility of Shisui not dying, and Itachi not awakening the Mangekyō, as long as Clan Head Fugaku and Shisui of the Body Flicker, two top-level powerhouses with Mangekyō Sharingan, stood united, Konoha would absolutely not have dared take such extreme measures against a powerful Uchiha clan while it was still weakened after the Nine-Tails’ attack.
Even if, in Konoha’s eyes, the Uchiha clan remained highly suspicious in connection with the Nine-Tails’ attack.
Unfortunately, Shisui was a hardcore Will of Fire believer, the kind thoroughly brainwashed by Konoha’s ideals.
He was more loyal than the Hokage’s direct ANBU!
That was seriously ridiculous.
Their own main carry refused to teamfight.
How were they supposed to play?
Even worse, after handing himself over to the other side, Shisui sacrificed himself and summoned an even more outrageous final boss for the Uchiha.
Traitor.
Agent.
Anti-Uchiha element.
Maniac.
Surrender faction.
Hidden hand.
Accomplice in the shadows!
Uchiha Itachi, courtesy name Senju.
The strictest father of the Uchiha clan.
The all-time record holder for the highest number of Uchiha kills, unmatched from ancient times to the present!
If Shisui could barely be called a nuclear weapon that failed to launch, then Itachi was like their own nuclear launch button getting spammed by the enemy until it exploded inside their own base.
And there was no doubt that Shisui’s suicide had to take the blame for Itachi walking down such an extreme path!
So, in Kurō’s eyes, the Uchiha clan had truly died because of Shisui!
As Kurō saw it, as long as he raised Shisui and Itachi properly, everything would be fine.
Although there was the failed educational case of Uchiha Obito, Kurō was still very confident in his teaching ability.
If the student’s brain had problems, how could the teacher be blamed?
Now he had two smart ones instead.
This time, there would definitely be no problem!
He would win!
…But the result was obvious.
His education failed again.
Those two brats, young as they were, were both more stubborn than the other.
They simply would not listen to a word he said!
But this was absolutely not a problem with his teaching methods.
It had to be the evil Will of Fire at work!
The Will of Fire was too wicked!
In the end, after Kurō discovered that even after giving it his all, events were still gradually moving back toward their original path, the emotions he had been suppressing finally exploded during an argument with Shisui.
During that argument, after cursing Shisui out so badly he could barely lift his head, Kurō resolutely chose to defect.
Back then, he had truly been crushed numb by everything.
He lost all drive, wandered around like a stray dog by the roadside, and prepared to casually find some small village where he could lie flat and spend the rest of his life doing nothing.
I’m done!
Do whatever you want!
My ability is limited.
The Uchiha clan can’t be saved!
Keeping myself alive was already the limit of what he could do.
However, just as he was searching for a place to retire, he “happened” to run into Obito, who had already put on the mask of a murderer.
At that moment, Kurō went numb all over.
He only wanted to give up and retire.
He was not trying to reincarnate early!
The man in front of him was no longer that silly, sweet Obito who would let him pat his head whenever he wanted.
This was now a lunatic who killed without blinking!
Who knew whether he would start spouting nonsense like, “You are nothing but a fake.
Only the world of the Infinite Tsukuyomi is real,” and then stab Kurō to death on the spot?
Facing the silent Obito before him, Kurō fell into a massive storm of thought.
In the end, he made the riskiest decision he had made since transmigrating into this world.
He directly exposed Obito’s identity!
Doxxing weapon, activate!
Finally, after a “deeply moving” reunion between old brothers, he successfully survived.
Only after that, the Uchiha Kurō who had tried to give up and lie flat disappeared.
He, Uchiha Kurō, took his talents to the Akatsuki.
Although it had been forced, in a certain sense, he really was safer now.
He had even obtained an unexpected opportunity to become stronger from his adopted son, namely Madara’s inheritance… Kurō pulled his thoughts back from his memories and looked at Obito in front of him.
Obito saw the resistance in Kurō’s eyes and fell silent for a moment.
Then he slowly spoke in his hoarse voice.
“If you’re unwilling, then forget it.
“I’ll reconsider Itachi’s partner.” Surprise flashed through Kurō’s eyes.
Did this guy vent enough when slaughtering the Uchiha Police Force, or did he enter some kind of post-Kamui clarity?
Why is he so easy to talk to today?
If this were any other time, he might have chatted with Obito a little longer.
But right now, he truly was not in the mood.
He only wanted to leave as quickly as possible.
Whether it was Uchiha Itachi or this masked man in front of him, he did not want to see either of them.
A faint gloom passed through Kurō’s eyes, but it was quickly pressed down.
He put on that careless, roguish look again.
“Then I’ll head back to Kirigakure on my own.
Contact me if anything comes up.” Kurō turned and prepared to leave.
“Wait.” Kurō did not look back.
His steps paused, and his voice was so calm that no emotion could be heard.
“What else?” The silence behind him lasted for several seconds.
Then Obito’s voice rang out, carrying something Kurō could not quite describe.
“…About the swordsmanship of Uchiha Izuna that you asked me about before.
I found it among Madara’s inheritance and left it with Yagura.
“Remember to pick it up.” Kurō’s body paused slightly.
After a moment of silence, he turned his head and looked back at Obito.
Moonlight fell across his face, illuminating the disguised, unrestrained smile at the corner of his mouth.
“…Thanks.” As soon as the word fell, his figure instantly vanished from the mountaintop.
Only Obito remained.
The moonlight stretched his shadow long across the ground, merging it with the dark forest behind him.
Obito stood there quietly, silent for a long time.
A moment later, a plant-like creature slowly emerged from the ground.
White Zetsu, along with Black Zetsu attached to him.
Black Zetsu looked at Obito.
Its hoarse voice sounded beneath the moonlight, carrying a malicious probe.
“That guy doesn’t seem to agree with your ideals as much as you claimed, ‘Madara.’ “You would be better off keeping an eye on him…” “Shut up.” Obito did not turn around.
His exposed eye reflected the full moon on the horizon.
“Everything is within my plan.” “Know your place, Black Zetsu.
“You… only need to do what you are supposed to do.” As his words fell, his figure disappeared amid a spiral distortion of space.
Black Zetsu watched the direction where Obito had vanished, its eyes filled with gloom.
“In the end, he’s still unreliable…” It paused, and its voice gained a few traces of hatred.
“Uchiha Obito, one day, you will regret this!!” ** Kamui Dimension.
Countless square platforms floated in the void, like silent tombstones.
Obito stood at the center of the space.
His mask had been removed, revealing a face that was half-scarred and half-youthful.
His intact eye was looking forward.
There, countless sealed corpses had been arranged.
The Uchiha clansmen slaughtered tonight.
The people he had personally killed over the years.
One after another, they lay quietly in this silent space.
At the very center were the Fourth Hokage, Minato Namikaze, and the Nine-Tails’ jinchūriki, Kushina Uzumaki.
Their faces were peaceful, as if they were asleep.
Beside them was a young girl.
Rin.
Obito’s gaze fell on that girl’s face and stayed there for a long time.
His lips moved slightly, but no sound came out.
Then his gaze shifted, landing in another direction.
There was nothing there.
Only empty space.
But in his mind, familiar faces could not help surfacing one after another.
Himself as a child, laughing freely.
Beside him was Kurō, smiling just as brightly.
Rin stood quietly nearby, watching them with a gentle smile on her lips.
“You’re still as good at hiding your feelings as ever… Kurō.” His voice was very soft, so soft it seemed like he was talking to himself.
“It’s just that back then, I failed to see how much of your smile was truly real.” He remembered those years in Konoha.
Kurō was always smiling, always careless, always acting as if he would not be afraid even if the sky collapsed.
Obito had thought that was simply who Kurō was.
He had thought that guy, who never seemed serious about anything, was just like that.
Only later did he learn that it… was only a mask.
Just like Obito now, Kurō also wore a mask.
“Now, my eyes can already see the darkness of this world.
They can also see the real you…” Obito’s gaze passed through the void and landed on that nonexistent face.
That man who clearly did not want to smile, yet was always smiling.
His voice lowered.
In that deep tone was an obsession approaching madness.
“You no longer need to keep pretending in this false world.” “In the dream world I will create, Rin, Kakashi, and Kurō… all of you will live happily.” “I will create a world where… you can truly smile from the heart!”