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Someone slipped in here without a sound? Are those Root remnants trying to break Danzo out?!
The thought flashed through Kakashi's mind. He twisted on instinct, ready to whip around and smash a vicious kick into whoever dared sneak up behind him.
But before he could move—
A powerful hand clamped down on his shoulder. An overwhelming suction force followed.
He couldn't even twitch.
"What is—?!"
Kakashi's eyes flew wide. In the blink of an eye, he was swallowed whole into the Kamui dimension, without the slightest chance to resist.
"Kakashi—damn it!"
Watching a living person vanish into thin air, his companion felt both rage and fear surge through him.
He yanked a stack of explosive tags from his pouch, ready to ignite them.
If even Kakashi, a jōnin, had been taken down without putting up a fight, then someone of his own special jōnin level didn't stand a chance.
If he couldn't win, he could at least make noise. Alert the guards outside. Let them know the prison had been breached.
"A worm's last struggle."
Obito's voice was cold and flat.
A black rod materialized from Kamui and shot forward, piercing straight through the man's skull. The explosive tags slipped from his lifeless hand and fluttered to the floor, never ignited.
"Tsk, tsk. Looks like you still have some old feelings left. You didn't kill Kakashi outright—just tossed him into Kamui."
Zetsu emerged from the ground, glancing at Obito with a teasing grin.
"That's none of your business. I have my reasons for keeping him alive."
Obito stepped into the cell as he spoke.
When he saw Danzo's condition—limbs severed, reduced to a grotesque stump—his brow furrowed beneath the mask.
He had thought Zetsu's description was exaggerated.
It wasn't.
Danzo had truly been carved down to nothing.
"Wow… he's in that state and can't even move. What use is he supposed to be?" White Zetsu shook his head, baffled.
"I say we do a good deed and put him out of his misery."
No! No! I still have value! I don't want to die!
Danzo screamed inside his own mind, his torso trembling violently.
Yes—even in this wretched condition, he still wanted to live.
Especially now that someone had broken into the prison—someone who might have come for him. His desire to survive burned stronger than ever.
The ninja world's medical techniques were advanced. With the right treatment, full recovery wasn't impossible.
And if that failed, there was always Orochimaru. Replacing a few missing "parts" wouldn't be difficult for him.
As long as he could get out of here, he would be restored in no time.
And then—
He would make the Uchiha pay.
That was why he shook even harder, trying desperately to signal that he wanted to live.
Unfortunately, White Zetsu saw it very differently.
"See? I told you. He's shaking so hard. He's begging us to end it quickly."
White Zetsu chuckled, pleased with himself.
Idiot! That's not what I mean! I want you to save me, you moron!
Where did this brainless fool come from?!
Danzo fumed internally, his body trembling even more violently.
White Zetsu misread it entirely.
"Don't worry, don't worry. I'll send you off right away."
Despair washed over Danzo.
To think he would die at the hands of an idiot like this… what a miserable end.
Just as White Zetsu moved to strike, Obito stopped him.
"I don't think he's asking to die."
He paused, then added calmly, "Go get Tobi. Have him possess Danzo. I want to hear what he has to say myself."
Relief flooded Danzo's heart so suddenly he nearly wept.
Finally—someone understood him.
But… Tobi? Who was that? Some legendary medical ninja who could restore his speech instantly?
With those questions in mind, Danzo waited in tense silence.
About half an hour later, another White Zetsu crawled up from the ground.
"Ma—Lord Madara, you called for me? Or did you finally want to tell me what it feels like to poop?"
He had nearly called Obito by name, but noticing Danzo lying nearby, he quickly corrected himself.
"Possess him."
Obito pointed at Danzo, ignoring the question entirely.
"Yes!"
Though he hadn't gotten his answer about defecation, Tobi obediently latched onto Danzo's body.
In an instant—
"This… incredible! I can speak again! Even my jaw's restored! My limbs—they're back!"
Danzo flexed his fingers in amazement, voice full of astonishment.
"The ninja world actually has techniques like this…"
"Your body hasn't been healed," Tobi explained from within him. "I'm just lending you mine for now. If I pull away, you'll go right back to how you were."
Then, without missing a beat, he added:
"In exchange for borrowing my body, you have to tell me what it feels like to poop."
Danzo: "…"
Unbelievable.
The being possessing him was an imbecile.
Was he really expected to answer something so idiotic?
For the leader of Root to respond to such a humiliating question… it was unbearable.
But if he refused, and Tobi withdrew…
He'd be back to a limbless stump.
As Danzo wrestled with that dilemma, White Zetsu chimed in again.
"Hey, Danzo. Earlier you were shaking like crazy. You sure you weren't begging me to finish you off?"
He still believed his original guess was right.
Danzo turned to glare at the half-black, half-white creature, his expression dark.
This thing—this thing had nearly killed him.
"No. That was not my intention."
His voice carried restrained fury.
"Huh. Guess I was wrong. What a shame."
White Zetsu scratched his head, grinning sheepishly. He even looked a little disappointed.
Danzo's teeth itched with anger.
"Hey, hey! Danzo, you should answer my question first. What does pooping feel like? If you don't tell me, I'm leaving!"
Tobi complained, clearly unhappy at being ignored.
Damn it—again with that question.
What kind of freaks were these people?
Just as Danzo was scrambling for an excuse, Obito's voice cut through.
"That's enough. Stop the chatter."
His tone turned serious.
"Danzo. I want to know—do you still have the ability to test Uchiha Akira?"
Finally. A sane person.
Danzo exhaled internally. If even the man in the spiral mask had been another lunatic, he would've had to seriously reconsider escaping with them.
"So you have a grudge against Uchiha Akira too," Danzo said coldly. "In that case, we're allies. I ended up like this because of him. I share an irreconcilable hatred with the entire Uchiha clan."
"Spare me your life story."
Obito cut him off, tilting his chin up slightly.
"I don't care what you've been through. Just answer the question. Can you draw out Uchiha Akira's true strength?"
"And mind your place."
His voice dropped, proud and arrogant.
"You are not worthy of calling yourself a friend of Uchiha Madara. You're nothing more than a tool I picked up."
Danzo let out a cold laugh.
"Uchiha Madara? A man of your caliber… afraid enough to need me to test someone for you?"
The real Uchiha Madara had stood shoulder to shoulder with the First Hokage, crushing an entire era beneath his power.
There was no way the masked coward before him was that man.
He lacked even the aura of a true powerhouse.
"Say one more useless word," Obito said flatly, killing intent flooding the cell, "and I'll kill you right now."
He had no need for a cripple to question his identity.
"…Understood, Lord Madara."
Forced to bow his head under someone else's roof, Danzo swallowed his humiliation and bent slightly in submission.
"Don't worry, Lord Madara. I may look like hell right now, but the Root I've built over all these years isn't for show.
There's a top-secret underground facility within Root. Aside from me, only a handful of people even know it exists. No one will ever find it.
That's where I keep the secret weapon I've been developing.
The research isn't finished yet. Progress is only around thirty percent.
But it's more than enough to test Uchiha Akira's strength on Lord Madara's behalf.
And if everything goes smoothly… wiping out the entire Uchiha clan, maybe even all of Konoha, isn't out of the question."
Danzo's voice brimmed with confidence.
"I hope this so-called secret weapon of yours is really as powerful as you claim."
Obito spoke evenly, his tone flat and unreadable.
"Rest assured, Lord Madara. I won't disappoint you.
If I had brought that weapon out that very night, then even with a freak like Uchiha Akira among them, the Uchiha would never have escaped extermination."
Danzo made his pledge.
He gave them a location, and the group immediately set off toward the so-called secret base.
Before leaving, White Zetsu followed Obito's orders and cleaned up the scene. Then he summoned three clones, using a special transformation technique to take on the appearances of Danzo, Kakashi, and another guard.
With White Zetsu's near-perfect disguise ability, even someone activating the Byakugan wouldn't spot anything unusual.
On the way back to the Uchiha compound, Fugaku looked at Akira with open gratitude.
"We really owe you, senior. If you hadn't been there to hold the line, I would've been completely outplayed by that old fox Hiruzen and the others. Getting even one of those elder seats would've been incredibly difficult."
"Strength is everything," Akira said calmly. "If you're strong enough, you can flip the table whenever you want. Who cares about rules?"
"Yes, yes, you're absolutely right!"
Fugaku nodded repeatedly, his gaze full of envy.
If only he had that kind of power. Would the Third Hokage and the higher-ups still dare to target the Uchiha at every turn?
Still, things weren't bad now. As long as he clung tightly to this powerhouse, the Uchiha's status in Konoha would only rise.
After walking a while, Fugaku suddenly asked,
"Senior… do you think, after taking such a huge loss today, Hiruzen might lose his patience and find an excuse to strike at us directly?"
Akira fell into thought. Recalling Hiruzen's behavior from his previous life, he answered,
"From what I know of that old man, the chances of him going berserk are slim. He'll most likely swallow it and endure."
"He can endure that much?!" Fugaku was stunned.
What Akira had done in that meeting room went beyond "over the line." It was practically taking a dump on the heads of Konoha's leadership.
He killed a Konoha elder on the spot. Seized two elder seats by force. Extorted a hefty compensation on top of it.
If Hiruzen could still endure that, then the only thing Fugaku could do was curse him as an old turtle in his heart.
At that moment, a system notification rang out in Akira's mind.
[ Ding… Mission triggered: Disguise yourself as an ancestor of the Uchiha clan and make the clan believe it! ]
[ Mission reward: +1 sign-in opportunity! ]
'Seriously? That came out of nowhere,' Akira grumbled internally. 'And the reward's just one sign-in chance?'
Still, a mosquito's leg was still meat. He didn't have anything urgent to do, and the task wasn't particularly difficult. Might as well complete it.
He stopped walking and raised a brow as if remembering something.
"By the way… I don't think I've told you my true identity yet."
"That's right, senior! We still don't know who you really are. Are you going to reveal it?" Fugaku's eyes lit up.
"Correct. Go gather every clan member who's at least chunin rank. Have them assemble at the training grounds."
Akira gave the order with a slight nod.
"Senior… about your true identity… could we maybe discuss it first?"
Fugaku sidled closer, rubbing his hands together with a sycophantic grin that made Akira frown.
That smile was way too sly. Definitely bad news.
"Move it. Stop wasting my time," Akira snapped, waving him off.
Seeing that Akira seemed annoyed, Fugaku swallowed whatever he'd been about to say.
Earlier, just to show off in front of the clan, he had lied—claiming that the current Sasuke was his true son and his secretly cultivated trump card.
If Akira didn't cooperate now, that lie would be exposed. And he didn't dare force the issue.
'Sigh… I shouldn't have bragged like that back then.'
Shaking his head, Fugaku went to summon the clan.
At the Uchiha training grounds, Akira arrived first. Using Earth Style, he raised a high platform from the ground.
Standing atop it, he nodded in satisfaction. Now this felt like giving a proper speech.
Whoosh!
A sharp rush of wind split the air.
Itachi, having heard that Akira would reveal his identity, was the first to arrive.
He stared up at Akira with a blank expression.
That isn't my brother. I only care about what's happened to my real brother.
Soon, as Itachi arrived, other Uchiha clan members began to gather one after another, all looking curiously at the man on the platform.
Who exactly was this mysterious powerhouse who had suddenly appeared, wiped out the Shimura clan, and helped the Uchiha through their crisis?
Whoosh!
Fugaku flashed onto the platform beside Akira and reported quietly,
"Senior, all clan members at chunin rank and above are assembled."
"Mm."
Akira responded softly, tilting his chin toward the crowd below.
A silent signal for Fugaku to step down and stop hovering.
Once Fugaku returned to the ground, Akira swept his gaze over the crowd.
Faces filled with curiosity stared back at him.
He suddenly spoke in a clear, resonant voice:
"I know you're all curious about who I am.
Fine. I won't keep you guessing anymore. I'll lay it all out.
I am an ancestor of the Uchiha clan.
My name…"
He paused.
"Ōtsutsuki Indra."
Boom.
One sentence, and the crowd exploded into chaos.
"..."
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