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Mabui chose not to comment directly on that outburst and instead continued her analysis. "The reason the Akatsuki would target Lord Dodai is most likely to seize Uchiha Obito's Sharingan. Therefore, we should immediately relocate the hidden eye to a different location."
"That damned Uchiha Obito!" Mabui's analysis brought the realization crashing down on A. Others might not be able to infiltrate the relay base so silently and without warning, but Obito certainly could. His Mangekyo Sharingan's space-time ability was uniquely suited for such infiltration – Kazuki had long since explained this. Moreover, Obito's other Sharingan, after being sealed, had been hidden right here in the Cloud Village. Obito wanted to reclaim that eye because possessing a complete pair of his own Mangekyo Sharingan would dramatically enhance his combat power. To achieve this, he would probe in every direction, continuously gathering intelligence, desperately seeking to recover his eye. And the location where the Sharingan was hidden was a matter of critical, classified village intelligence. Dodai happened to be one of the individuals privy to that secret. So it stood to reason that the Akatsuki had set their sights on him.
Combined with the intelligence on Hoshigaki Kisame... the probability that he had participated in this operation against Dodai was extremely high. An S-rank rogue ninja from the Mist Village who excelled in all manner of powerful Water Style techniques – that was practically the equivalent of shouting out his own identification number.
"Send word to the personnel on Turtle Island immediately! Order them to relocate with the Sharingan at once! I absolutely will not let Uchiha Obito succeed!" A thundered. You dare to harm my people, and you think you can reclaim your eye? In your dreams! I would sooner destroy that Sharingan than leave it for you.
"Yes, my lord." Mabui hesitated momentarily, then obediently departed to transmit the Raikage's command. In truth, she was deeply worried – was the order already too late? If the Akatsuki had dared to strike at Dodai, they would have had absolute confidence in their ability to extract every secret from his mind. Once they obtained the precise location, they would move immediately to seize the Sharingan, knowing full well the Cloud Village would attempt to move it the moment they learned of the attack.
But the Raikage was currently in the grip of fury. Mabui weighed her concerns and decided to suppress them for now. Who could say? Perhaps the Akatsuki's operation wouldn't proceed that swiftly. At this point, they could only gamble on whether the village's orders could be transmitted faster than the Akatsuki could act. After all, Turtle Island didn't remain in one fixed area; it drifted ceaselessly across the vast ocean. Although it never strayed too far from the Cloud Village's territorial waters, locating it would still require considerable time and effort.
With Dodai successfully captured, prying the secrets from his mind posed no real difficulty for the Akatsuki. Even if Dodai had placed protective seals within his brain designed to resist mental probing, it was ultimately futile. Upon learning that the Sharingan was hidden on Turtle Island, Obito moved without hesitation. He did not leave Kisame behind, instead bringing him along, together with Black Zetsu who had arrived to rendezvous with them. Finding an island that was constantly on the move within a vast expanse of ocean required Black Zetsu's assistance. When it came to searching for objects and gathering intelligence, he was the true specialist.
At long last, it would be his. The prospect of finally obtaining his own Sharingan filled Obito with tremendous excitement. Wielding a single Mangekyo versus a complete pair were two entirely different matters, to say nothing of the fact that these were his own eyes. Once he assembled the pair, even if they were merely ordinary Mangekyo Sharingan, his strength would receive a substantial boost. The pressure he felt from Nagato would also diminish considerably. To put it another way, he would finally be able to stand tall and hold his head high. He detested being suppressed by others. Although even with both Mangekyo Sharingan he still wouldn't be Nagato's match, he would at least possess the confidence to challenge him openly. With confidence, it was called making a stand; without confidence and without strength, it was simply called seeking death.
Understanding that Obito was already burning with impatience, Black Zetsu did not hold him back. He swiftly located the moving Turtle Island. Without a general bearing to work from, finding a mobile island in the boundless sea would have been extraordinarily difficult. But with the intelligence extracted from Dodai's mind, the task became remarkably simple. Black Zetsu located the target without expending much effort at all.
And then, the ninja stationed on Turtle Island met their grim fate. The Cloud Village maintained a garrison on Turtle Island, but their numbers were small and their combat ability was thoroughly unremarkable. Too large a force would have attracted unwanted attention, so the Cloud Village had deliberately assigned only a modest complement of personnel. Furthermore, at this point in time, Killer Bee was still confined within the Cloud Village itself, leaving the island devoid of any force capable of resisting Obito. Sweeping aside the enemy with contemptuous ease, Obito successfully obtained the sealed Sharingan. Black Zetsu and Kisame had become mere spectators. Black Zetsu was, as ever, unperturbed, while Kisame found himself intensely curious – Obito had been so frantic to find his missing eye. Just how powerful would he become once he had assembled the complete pair?
"Let's move!" With the sealed Sharingan found, Obito did not hesitate for an instant. He immediately departed with Black Zetsu and Kisame in tow. He was not foolish enough to linger on Turtle Island and wait for a collision with the Cloud Village's incoming forces. The objective had been secured; the only sensible course was to leave at once. However, before departing, he made sure to leave a spatial marker behind. Who could say? There might come a time when he would need to step foot on Turtle Island again.
The Raikage's command was swiftly dispatched, and the Cloud Village's forces mobilized at once. Yet it was only when they boarded Turtle Island that they discovered the bitter truth: they were too late. The garrison had been slaughtered. The hidden Sharingan had been stolen. The colossal creatures that inhabited the island had also been killed, virtually to the last. Even the enormous turtle upon whose back the island rested seemed to be voicing its distress – someone had waged battle directly on its body, and the violent fluctuations of combat had left it deeply uncomfortable.
In a subterranean base visited only on the rarest of occasions, Obito arrived. Kisame surveyed the base with open curiosity, silently speculating on what this place might be.
"Hmph!" Gazing at the bottle containing the Sharingan, its surface covered in dense layers of sealing formulae, Obito let out a disdainful snort. Did they truly believe these seals would pose an obstacle to him? Pure wishful thinking. For Obito, extracting the Sharingan was almost laughably easy.
"Ha ha ha ha!!!!" The moment he obtained the Sharingan, Uchiha Obito instantly transformed into one of the legendary Four Great Mad Laughers. His unbridled, arrogant laughter was such that anyone watching would have felt an overwhelming urge to plant a fist squarely in his face. Black Zetsu internally groaned, too exasperated to even voice a complaint. Kisame opened his mouth as if to say something, but the moment he saw Obito remove the mask from his face, he wisely elected to play dumb. I didn't see anything, I didn't hear anything. Go on, go on, keep doing what you're doing.
Obito had long since forgotten how long it had been since he'd laughed with such unrestrained delight, and so he became thoroughly absorbed in the moment, completely forgetting that both Black Zetsu and Kisame were present. Black Zetsu was one thing – he was merely the manifested will of Madara Uchiha. Madara Uchiha laughed even more wildly than I do. So what if he sees this? But Kisame was a different matter entirely.
Laughing and laughing, Obito suddenly felt something was slightly off. He reined in his laughter and turned to look at Kisame. Kisame, with remarkable presence of mind, had tilted his head back and was intently studying the rock formations on the base's ceiling, his expression one of complete and utter ignorance. Hmph, you know your place.
Obito's left eye socket was not empty. In its place was a three-tomoe Sharingan that Madara had previously collected and preserved. This three-tomoe Sharingan was primarily kept as a safeguard against death – a disposable tool specifically reserved for casting Izanagi. Obito, however, had never revealed its presence. Now, this eye was no longer of any use. Obito raised his hand, plunged his fingers directly into his eye socket, and tore the blood-slicked Sharingan free.