"So that's how it is..."
Fu's mouth hung open.
Talking with Shinichi, the whole story finally clicked in her head. She stared at him, the memory of his hand on her forehead flashing through her mind.
A few seconds later, she walked up to him, stood completely still, and bent into a deep bow.
"Thank you for saving me," Fu said, her voice completely sincere. "Thank you."
Shinichi leaned back in his chair, studying her bowed figure. "No need for thanks," he said. "Even though you didn't fall into their hands... you're still my prisoner now."
"Eh?" Fu straightened up, her orange eyes wide. "Prisoner!?"
Confusion was written all over her face.
Simple as she was, she clearly didn't grasp the situation. She honestly believed that since Shinichi had saved her, he'd just let her go back to her village.
Shinichi's brow twitched. He looked into those clear eyes, so full of bewilderment. This kind of innocence... in the shinobi world, people like her were rare. Honestly, fools as optimistic as Uzumaki Naruto were basically an anomaly.
He leaned back. "You want to be friends with me?"
"Mm-hm!" Fu nodded right away, a hopeful smile breaking out. "My dream is to make a hundred friends!"
"You saved me, and you even helped me suppress the Tailed Beast... You're definitely a good person! So of course I want to be friends with you!"
"Heh. A good person..."
Shinichi gave her a meaningful look. After a few seconds of silence, he spoke. "Friends... isn't impossible."
Fu's eyes lit up.
"But right now," Shinichi went on, "I just happen to need this friend's help."
"Help?" Fu tilted her head, curious. "What kind of help? Since we're friends, as long as it's something I can do, I'll definitely help you!"
The corner of Shinichi's mouth lifted. "It's very simple," he said slowly. "I want you to help me with my training."
...
Meanwhile, inside the Kamui dimension.
"The Eye of the Moon Plan..." Kakuzu repeated the words, turning them over in his mind. 'Infinite Tsukuyomi. Peace inside an illusion. No war. No...'
"A world without... betrayal!"
Kakuzu said it out loud. A flicker of vulnerability crossed his green eyes, his pulse jumping almost imperceptibly.
But the next second, that trace of weakness vanished. He crushed the unrealistic moment without mercy.
"Hmph... A boring world." He looked up, staring straight into the single eye visible behind Uchiha Obito's mask. "I only believe in money."
Obito stayed silent, but beneath the orange mask, the corner of his mouth ticked up. He hadn't missed that brief crack in Kakuzu's defenses.
This rogue ninja had lived over ninety years, tasted the bitter sting of betrayal, and claimed to only care about coin. Yet, inside, he wasn't as unbreakable as he pretended.
A long life brought power and experience, sure. But it also planted a quiet, gnawing fear of eternal emptiness. And the Eye of the Moon Plan was exactly what could fill that void.
Since Kakuzu's heart had wavered, even for a moment, reeling him in would be easy.
"Money..." Obito's voice came low and rough. "Fine."
Kakuzu's brow twitched.
"Since you believe in money," Obito continued, "then I'll hire you. Kisame was originally a supporter of the Eye of the Moon Plan, but unfortunately, he's dead."
"Now his spot needs to be filled. I need a powerful shinobi to work for me and carry out the plan." He paused, letting the offer settle in the quiet dimension.
"The reward will satisfy you. Far more than any bounty you've ever collected. And it will keep coming."
Kakuzu stayed quiet. The sharp scrutiny in his eyes softened slightly, replaced by the calculating gleam of a man weighing options.
Obito noticed the shift and took a step forward.
"So? Do you accept?"
Kakuzu stared at him for a long, tense moment.
"Fine," he finally said, his voice cold. "But..." A sharp, dangerous light flashed in his green eyes. "I'll need more money."
"Give me enough money... and I'll do anything! Whether it's this Eye of the Moon thing you're talking about, or taking out Pain himself... it's all the same to me!" Kakuzu spoke with absolute, unwavering confidence.
'What a joke,' Kakuzu thought. 'I'm the man who assassinated the First Hokage, Hashirama Senju, and lived to tell about it.'
'As long as there's money... there's nothing I won't dare to do. Of course... whether I actually succeed is a different matter.'
Obito didn't even flinch at the boast. Money? During the years he controlled the Fourth Mizukage, Yagura, he'd used the man's absolute authority to bleed Kirigakure dry.
In the name of the Blood Mist Village, he'd piled up an untold fortune. Feeding one man's greed was trivial. He couldn't care less about the cost.
What he really cared about right now was how Tejima Shinichi could possibly know so much about Kamui, and even his true identity.
Where did that information come from? ...Kisame was dead.
His severed head had fallen into Konoha's hands, but his knowledge was limited.
Kisame only knew Akatsuki's structure and the broad outline of the Eye of the Moon Plan. He couldn't possibly know the intricate details of Kamui.
In the entire shinobi world, those who knew such tightly guarded secrets could be counted on one hand. And that cold reality made a certain figure surface uncontrollably in Obito's mind.
That thing with the flytrap-like appendages. A body as black as ink. Uchiha Madara's will. Black Zetsu.
'So... Black Zetsu, you must have noticed, haven't you?' Obito's lone eye narrowed into a glare.
'You've noticed that right now, I don't plan to resurrect Madara. I plan to carry out the Eye of the Moon Plan alone.'
'And because of that... did you secretly leak information about me to Konoha? Or directly to Tejima Shinichi?! Just to force me into a corner?!'
Once the paranoid thought took root, Obito, who already despised and distrusted Black Zetsu ...couldn't shake it off.
'No matter what...' Obito's lips pressed into a thin, furious line beneath his mask. 'The final executor of the Eye of the Moon can only be me!'
Finally, he pulled his wandering thoughts back and refocused on the present.
Seeing Kakuzu still waiting for a solid answer, Obito's voice dropped into a gloomy, commanding tone.
"Fine. As long as you perform well, the reward will satisfy you. And I'll also let you experience... the true world."
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