Naruto: What Kind of Starter Pack is 13 Years Late?

"The recruitment mission failed?"

In a forest of Land of Grass, Obito frowned when he heard Black Zetsu's report.

He had been quite busy lately. To keep Kakuzu in line, he had to engage in 'sustainable overfishing' with some wealthy merchants.

With Kamui, he didn't have to worry about being discovered, but he never expected such a thing to happen.

"That's right, it failed."

Black Zetsu nodded, speaking calmly as if nothing had happened.

"For some reason, Konoha got intelligence and sent a team of Takemi, Kakashi, and Jiraiya to Land of Earth."

"Luckily, I discovered them in advance and had Pain prepare, otherwise something big might have happened, since Ōnoki even rushed over."

"How troublesome..."

Listening to Black Zetsu, Obito snorted coldly, while the other half of Black Zetsu, White Zetsu, grinned.

He did this!

"They actually attracted Ōnoki, what exactly are they doing?"

Obito didn't notice White Zetsu's expression, he couldn't help but curse.

"Also, how did Kakashi and the others get the information? Why can they find us so accurately every time? What exactly is going on?"

Obito couldn't help but feel strange. Although there were many connections between this and him, his situation was somewhat special.

He was caught by Takemi, and then his identity led to suspicions about Kirigakure.

Then, by sheer dumb luck, they encountered internal strife in Kirigakure, which led to his current predicament.

But why did they get information about Kakuzu and Hidan that time?

And this time, when they went to recruit new members, they showed up again?

"Is there any movement from Itachi?"

Suddenly, Obito thought of something, and Black Zetsu, along with White Zetsu, immediately shook their heads.

"No, we know his situation, so we naturally won't let our guard down."

Itachi, that double-agent, was being watched closely by both Obito and Black Zetsu and White Zetsu.

As a pawn, no matter what your purpose is, you must be obedient. They won't allow Itachi to mess around.

"If it's not him, then who could it be?"

Obito's brows furrowed deeper. All these chaotic things lately were truly annoying him.

"Is there anyone in Konoha who is good at intelligence gathering?"

"That... it seems so..."

Black Zetsu seemed to fall into thought, and after a while, he looked up at Obito.

"Do you still remember those Konoha Ninja who were with Hanzo when Nagato and the others were ambushed back then?"

"Those Konoha Ninja?" Obito thought carefully.

"Those people... they seemed to be Danzo's subordinates, right?"

When Hanzo and Danzo attacked Nagato and the others, they couldn't possibly not watch, after all, Nagato still had Madara's Rinnegan.

That time, Obito still remembered clearly. The power of the Rinnegan was indeed extraordinary, and at the same time, Yahiko's death perfectly matched his expectations.

"That's right, Danzo." Black Zetsu nodded, his expression becoming somewhat solemn.

"It is said that this Danzo controls another branch of Anbu in Konoha. He wields immense power and is extremely skilled in intelligence gathering."

"And because of this, he earned a nickname: 'Darkness of the Ninja World'!"

"Darkness of the Ninja World?"

Obito fell into thought. He knew a little about Danzo, knowing that he had great power and seemed to be some kind of Hokage's assistant.

Also, the Uchiha clan massacre was inseparable from him, and many of the Sharingan of the deceased Uchiha were in his hands.

Even one of Shisui's eyes seemed to be on him!

As for other things, he didn't think too much. After all, such a guy was just an insignificant small fry to him.

"Hmph, a rat from the sewers, with such abilities?"

Obito wasn't entirely sure, but after a while, he spoke, "But go investigate, and tell me after you figure it out."

"Don't worry, we will thoroughly investigate this matter."

Black Zetsu also nodded seriously, but White Zetsu seemed to be holding back uncomfortably, his mouth twitching as if he wanted to speak.

But unfortunately, Black Zetsu, as the dominant one, wouldn't let him cause trouble at this time.

"That's good, you handle this matter, and keep an eye on those people in Konoha, they're really causing me trouble." Obito nodded.

He glanced at the time before speaking, "I still have things to do. After this, I should be able to rest for a while."

Obito was now terribly annoyed with Kakuzu. That damned money-grubber truly gave him no peace, always prioritizing money above all else.

However, it was also fortunate that he only wanted money, which made him relatively easier to deal with.

"Hmph, if Kirigakure were still around, would it be like this?"

After Obito disappeared, Black Zetsu sank into the ground with White Zetsu. After a while, he couldn't help but curse under his breath.

"Isn't he just trying to get revenge for Rin?"

White Zetsu could finally speak now, and he couldn't help but mutter from the side, which made Black Zetsu snort coldly.

"I know, but there are many ways to get revenge. Slowly bleeding them dry, constantly wearing down their talents, preventing all resistance—wouldn't that be better? Wouldn't we have more resources that way?"

"Huh? What are you saying? It's so complicated."

"..."

Black Zetsu rubbed his temples, feeling like he was talking to a brick wall, while White Zetsu still smiled cheerfully.

"Also, you're so mean. It was clearly our doing, yet you threw it onto others. But why is Obito as foolish as me? He didn't see through it at all."

"So you know you're foolish, huh?"

Black Zetsu glanced at White Zetsu out of the corner of his eye, but ultimately didn't say it aloud.

As for shifting the blame to Danzo...

This was something he had already planned.

"This time, I caused such a big commotion, and I also provided the intelligence. Someone has to take responsibility, and that person naturally has to be from Konoha, so Danzo..."

He was a good choice, after all, he was the Darkness of the Ninja World, and he was indeed active.

When Obito's mask was shattered in Konoha, Black Zetsu saw him standing next to Sarutobi Hiruzen.

It's hard to say that he wasn't involved in the recent series of events. Pinning this on him is perfectly reasonable.

"Oh, by the way, did you get a result this time?" White Zetsu spoke up while Black Zetsu was in the midst of thinking.

"Although I don't really care, I'mafraid Obito will get angry."

"If he doesn't know, he won't get angry." Black Zetsu glanced at White Zetsu, shaking his head silently.

As for the result this time...

"That brat, he's really a big problem!"

This time, Takemi's outburst wasn't as exaggerated as last time, and his aura wasn't as strong and chaotic as before.

But precisely because of that, he felt even more troubled and dangerous, because this kid's aura was too stable.

"And, there's natural energy. This kid..."

(End of Chapter)

Read 40 Advanced Chapters on patreon.com/astralicity