NOVEL WEB Chapter 104: Chapter 114
There are so many people here right now. Even though Nagato is technically his subordinate, he still has to give Nagato some face.
Besides, if he keeps going back on his word, what will Nagato think of him? The level of cooperation might drop.
Still, the "Tobi" he was playing had to go along with things.
After all, Black Zetsu represented Uchiha Madara's will—essentially his boss.
Even though he wanted to escape, his current strength wasn't enough. So for now, he had to keep playing along, acting under Black Zetsu's instructions.
"Ah… mm…"
"That's what I think…"
"Like how Deidara-senpai already blew himself up…"
"And if he was pushed to self-destruct, that means the Sand Village isn't easy to deal with."
"And now the Sand Village is under Konoha's protection."
"Tobirama Senju has already been revived by Impure World Reincarnation… He replaced the cowardly Third Hokage. Konoha has changed."
"So we need to think long-term."
"I know the Leader is powerful, but we still don't have much intel on Tobirama Senju's Edo Tensei form."
"It's hard to compare whether the strength of shinobi from that era matches ours."
"Eh…"
"Deidara-senpai…"
Obito's real personality was rather somber—or let's say, serious.
But the "Tobi" persona he played was cheerful and goofy. His role in the Akatsuki was that of a mysterious, informal member who'd been around for two and a half years, always hiding his face and possessing a Sharingan.
He got along well with Deidara, often tagging behind calling him "Deidara-senpai."
So using this kind of tone wasn't a problem.
And when it came to Tobirama Senju—no one didn't know who he was.
Because the shinobi of the past had been overly mythologized.
The First Hokage and Uchiha Madara—legends like gods. The First Hokage was known as the God of Shinobi.
Tobirama Senju was his younger brother.
So Konoha of the past overlapped with Nagato's current plans to gather the Tailed Beasts and summon the Ten-Tails.
Back then, after Hashirama's death, the Five Great Shinobi Nations immediately collapsed into war.
So what Obito needed to do was emulate what Hashirama had done—gain overwhelming power so that no one dared to rebel. If no one dared to fight, then peace would be achieved, right?
But the First Hokage died too soon. Obito wouldn't.
He had ambition.
However… now the God of Shinobi's brother had returned to the living world.
"…Tobirama Senju, huh…"
Pain, controlled by Nagato, fell silent for a moment. "Then we'll pause for now."
"Kakuzu, agree to the Sand Village's request."
"You're in charge. And go retrieve Sasori."
"Eh…" As the Akatsuki's wallet, Kakuzu was irritated.
Didn't this basically mean spending money?
He was fine with being given money, but if it was being taken from his pocket, Kakuzu would rather die.
But he wasn't strong enough to beat Pain.
"..."
So, extremely unwillingly, Kakuzu nodded.
"Mm."
Only then did Pain decide to hold off on the plan for now.
He wasn't sure why Tobi suddenly gave up on capturing the Tailed Beasts,
But even Pain had to take the name Tobirama Senju seriously.
Tobirama and Hashirama—Tobirama wasn't as legendary, but if Hashirama were to return as well… it could interfere with his plans to capture the Tailed Beasts and summon the Ten-Tails.
Because ever since he was little, Pain had heard stories… that Konoha's First Hokage was stronger than the Tailed Beasts.
Squeezing the Nine Tails was like squeezing a kitten.
That's why the Great Ninja Wars only started after Hashirama died.
Over the years, the other villages had been bullying Konoha for no longer producing another Hokage of that level.
But now, the Second Hokage had been revived. Could the First Hokage be far behind?
Even though he claimed to be Pain, a god,
Even Pain didn't have absolute confidence that he could defeat Hashirama Senju.
In that case…
They really did need to gather more information.
Not only that—
Tobi claimed to be Uchiha Madara… though he and Konan had discussed it and found it unlikely, there was definitely some connection.
And they had also suspected that Tobi was trying to use them. Who knows when he might betray them?
So they had to prepare.
Konan's Paper Jutsu—Dance of the Shikigami—could be transformed into various forms, including explosive tags.
Her suggestion was to produce as many paper bombs as possible and for Akatsuki to invest in buying real ones too.
With enough explosive tags, regardless of whether Tobi was really Madara—blow him up first and ask questions later.
Thinking this through, it really was better to put everything on hold.
If something went wrong while capturing the Tailed Beasts, could Konan fight Madara?
Nagato wasn't confident.
Losing Yahiko had been incredibly painful, but Konan was also a comrade. He'd already lost one person—he couldn't lose another.
He didn't want to see Konan get into a life-or-death battle with Tobi because of something he caused.
So just like that—Pain's plan to capture the Tailed Beasts came to a sudden stop.
··········
After the meeting, Kakuzu was sent out with money to bring back Sasori, while Obito couldn't wait to find Black Zetsu.
The two of them didn't speak much and quickly left Amegakure, heading through the night toward a secret cave in the Land of Grass.
Amegakure was Nagato's domain. It rained every day—the rain was Nagato's jutsu, Rain Tiger at Will.
A sensory technique.
So they couldn't discuss anything important inside the village.
Thus, the two of them rushed back to the secret base in Grass.
"So… it was you who told me to collect the Tailed Beasts ASAP, and now you want me to stop?"
"What's the meaning of this?" Obito demanded.
"I changed my mind," said Black Zetsu. "Now I want to go to the moon."
"Obito."
"Figure something out—I want to go to space!"
"..." Obito.
"..." Obito.
Obito couldn't help but walk to the entrance of the secret base and look outside. The moon was already high in the sky, glowing bright.
He had thought Black Zetsu was worried that Konoha had revived Tobirama Senju, making the Tailed Beast capture plan harder.
So they needed to think long-term.
And as someone from Konoha, Obito naturally understood how legendary the First and Second Hokage were.
Even his own teacher, Minato Namikaze, couldn't be compared to the Kage of that era.
Hashirama and Madara captured Tailed Beasts like it was nothing. Meanwhile, Minato nearly died just sealing the Nine Tails… actually, no—he did die.
So…
Hearing that Tobirama was back did make Obito hesitate a little.
But—
So what?
Why not just send Pain to Konoha for a test run to see how strong Tobirama really was?
So Obito had actually thought Black Zetsu was being strategic. As expected of Uchiha Madara's will.
But… ????
Turns out… this guy just wants to go to the moon?
"You're seriously saying… the moon?" Obito asked with a serious face.
"Yes, I want to go!" Black Zetsu nodded.
"I can sense that there's a special power on the moon."
"I want to see for myself."
"..."
"..." Obito.
"..." Obito.
Special power on the moon?
If that were true… Obito was actually interested.
But.
?????
How's he supposed to get to the moon?!
He couldn't fly!
His current strength was just Mangekyō Sharingan, while the Rinnegan was said to be an evolution of the Mangekyō—triggered when Madara combined it with a piece of Hashirama's flesh.
Then, after a long period of hibernation, the eye evolved.
Obito's body was half made of White Zetsu, which had Hashirama cells, so he could also use Wood Style.
But…
After waiting over a decade, his Mangekyō still hadn't evolved into a Rinnegan.
He figured he didn't have enough talent.
But he couldn't steal Nagato's Rinnegan—that was a trap planted by Madara, and if Black Zetsu found out, he'd use some special control technique to kill Obito.
And besides, Nagato wasn't so easy to deal with now either. When Nagato fully matured, Black Zetsu—as Madara's will—would make him use the Rinne Rebirth to revive Madara.
Then Obito would be nothing more than Madara's pawn.
Thinking about that made Obito feel disgusted.
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