286. Failure
----
Watching Naruto casually haul back three unconscious enemies, Kakashi scratched his head.
"Looks like there wasn't anything for me to do after all. Well, I saved some chakra."
Fuu, who had originally been eager to fight, completely forgot about it as her attention shifted elsewhere.
"Naruto! That move was so cool! Can you teach me?"
Naruto smugly shook his head. "Nope. This technique requires deep Buddhist enlightenment and great wisdom. You don't qualify."
"Huh?! That's not fair!" Fuu pouted in dissatisfaction.
Sakura, however, smelled something fishy, "Wait a minute, Naruto. Didn't Master Chiriku refuse to teach you? How did you learn that move? Don't tell me you—"
She abruptly stopped herself, realizing she shouldn't make wild accusations.
Naruto flashed a mysterious smile and leaned in, "You guys wouldn't understand," he said dramatically. "That night at the Fire Temple, Master Chiriku tapped me three times on the head, then walked backwards out of the middle gate. Do you know what that means?"
Sakura frowned.
That didn't sound even remotely real.
Fuu, however, looked enthralled.
Naruto proudly revealed the supposed hidden meaning, "It meant that I should sneak in through the back door at midnight to secretly learn the technique from him!"
Sakura's sceptical glare intensified.
Fuu, on the other hand, gasped in admiration.
"That's amazing!" she exclaimed.
"Hahahaha!" Naruto soaked up the attention, puffing out his chest with pride.
Unfortunately, his grip loosened.
Thud. Thud. Thud.
The three unconscious mercenaries crashed to the ground headfirst.
Sasuke's eye twitched.
With his Sharingan, he had seen through everything clearly.
Naruto's golden aura and holy fists? Just Nine-Tails chakra.
The Buddhist chanting? Naruto was making the sounds himself.
The hand seals? Completely inaccurate.
This idiot had only mimicked about seventy per cent of Chiriku's technique yet had somehow woven an entire elaborate backstory around it.
Sasuke sighed, 'I won't expose him. Not with outsiders around'
Minato, of course, had seen through everything too.
He was intimately familiar with Nine-Tails chakra, but he hadn't expected Naruto to be able to control it this precisely.
Being able to form chakra arms without even entering his full golden form was impressive.
But now wasn't the time to discuss it.
Minato turned to the Kirigakure shinobi.
"It's not safe to perform surgery here, and you're all in no condition to return home immediately. Why don't you come to Konoha for treatment first?"
Yagura considered the proposal carefully. "At this point, we have little choice."
Mei Terumi hesitated. "But Mizukage-sama, we still have to meet with the Daimyo. Time-wise…"
"It's not an issue," Minato said, casually twirling a Flying Thunder God kunai. "Once the treatment is complete, I can teleport you all directly to the Fire Country border."
That settled it.
The Kirigakure shinobi had no argument left.
After all, they had already seen Flying Thunder God in action.
As long as they ignored the bizarre synchronized teleportation mishap earlier…
----
As always, Naruto and his clones handled the heavy lifting.
Minato, ever the strategist, delegated efficiently.
This time, before using Multi Shadow Clone Jutsu, Naruto took a deep breath and mentally prepared himself.
'Alright, guys, let's keep it normal this time. We have foreign guests watching. Stay calm… maintain dignity…' He froze for three seconds after forming the hand sign.
Those familiar with him immediately realized he got lost in his own thoughts again.
Those unfamiliar thought it was some kind of chakra-gathering ritual.
Luckily, this time, the clones came out normal.
Each clone grabbed two people and teleported everyone, including the five captured mercenaries, back to Konoha's gates.
They also brought back a few of the grotesque parasitic White Zetsus for research.
But no one noticed…
One of the Zetsus was missing its head.
Far underground, it had already vanished.
---
By the time Naruto's team returned to Konoha, the escaped White Zetsu had already used the Mayfly Technique to reach Black Zetsu's location.
A strange fusion process took place.
As they merged, Black Zetsu turned to Tobi (Obito).
"Just as expected Mercenary Squad failed."
Tobi, who had dropped his usual goofy tone, responded seriously.
"As planned. We only used them as a distraction."
Black Zetsu continued, "However, as a result, we successfully collected enough Three-Tails chakra."
White Zetsu picked the worst possible moment to speak.
"Huh, I don't get it. That 'Yellow Flash' guy doesn't seem scary at all. Why are we going to such lengths to avoid him?"
Tobi scoffed.
"You have no idea," he muttered darkly.
No amount of caution was excessive when facing that man.
Especially when that man was the reason for… this body.
And also because…
I CAN'T USE KAMUI ANYMORE.
Just thinking about it made Obito want to punch something.
Why did Kakashi have to be so obsessed with training his Kamui?
That technique had a fatal drawback using it too much wrecked your vision.
Yet, for some godforsaken reason, Kakashi had practised it over and over, which somehow resulted in his Kamui dimension getting infiltrated.
Now, it was basically unusable.
Obito barely kept his frustration in check.
If he wasn't wearing a mask, the others would have seen his face twitching in rage.
"Regardless," he said, regaining composure, "we're one step closer to our goal. What about Kisame and Deidara?"
Black Zetsu sighed. "At their current pace, they should have just entered the Land of Water. Deidara refuses to let Kisame ride on his clay bird, so they're moving slower than expected."
"Smart decision," White Zetsu chuckled. "If Kisame got on, he'd probably get blown up."
"Honestly," he added, "I feel like one of them is going to die before this mission ends."
"Shut up."
Tobi wasn't worried.
Kisame was practical and disciplined. He wouldn't let Deidara's childish antics interfere with their objective and he had previously been assigned to kill his own comrades if needed, so he wasn't someone Deidara could easily trick.
Tobi shook his head.
Why am I even entertaining White Zetsu's nonsense? I must be stressed.
Forcing himself to focus, he asked, "And what about that person?"
Black Zetsu's tone grew serious.
"Still difficult to track. We only found a few abandoned labs. Judging from the remnants, he… or she… seems to be experimenting with something… unusual."
Tobi smirked beneath his mask.
"The stranger the research, the more valuable it might be. That guy's ability to survive is well known."
"Find him. Tell him that if he agrees to cooperate, we'll let the past slide and grant him one reasonable request."
He gazed at the sky with his remaining Sharingan.
"With the Five Kage Summit concluded, the Five Great Nations might declare war on us first."
"Time is running out."
Black Zetsu nodded and sank into the ground.
----
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