Chapter 53: Linked Obito with Akatsuki

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"It's frustrating that Sasori got away. I couldn't stop him and realized he doesn't seem to fear my genjutsu."

"That's not surprising," Shuuzawa replied calmly. 

"He's probably converted his entire body into a puppet. A being like that, operated by a 'core of life', wouldn't be susceptible to visual genjutsu. Even his eyes are artificial."

Maybe only auditory genjutsu, or those directly affecting the mind, would work on someone like him.

"As for my side, I think you all know better than I do—Tobi escaped again," Kakashi said with a sigh, shaking his head in frustration. 

Letting Obito escape once again was eating away at him. Obito's relentless Mangekyō Sharingan attacks had overwhelmed him completely. 

He only found out that Shuuzawa had arrived after regaining consciousness. 

Of course, he trusted that Shuuzawa wouldn't hold back against Obito—this guy wouldn't go easy on anyone. But Obito still managed to get away.

Besides being relieved that Obito wasn't killed, Kakashi mostly felt helpless. 

"Uchiha Obito knows how to use the clan's secret techniques. He escaped the same way last time, too. He's such a troublesome opponent."

Shisui nodded beside him. It had to be him if anyone felt worse about not ending this villain. 

This bastard brought false accusations against the Uchiha Clan, and even now, they cannot clear their name.

"Forget it. We'll take him down eventually. For now, let's focus on gathering intel."

Unlike Shisui's anger or Kakashi's frustration, Shuuzawa was rather cheerful. Especially after talking about Obito, his spirits noticeably lifted. 

Still, he didn't say much and quickly shifted the topic.

"This organization may be connected to Uchiha Obito. That's an unexpected but pleasant surprise. We now have a clearer direction to pursue."

"You're right. This group is no joke—Sasori alone is extremely powerful," Shisui agreed. The one Shuuzawa fought, Kakuzu, was terrifyingly strong too.

Adding Uchiha Obito to that mix meant this team was a threat no village could ignore.

"Is this organization made up entirely of rogue ninja?" Tenzo, who had been silent until now, suddenly asked. Yuugao nodded as well.

"Obito is a rogue from Konoha, and Sasori is from Sunagakure. So yes, it seems that way. But what about the one Shuuzawa fought?"

"Most likely, a rogue from Takigakure," Shuuzawa replied, smiling at Yuugao. 

"When I fought him, I noticed these black, tendril-like appendages coming from his body."

"At first, I didn't think much of it, but as the battle continued, I suddenly remembered—it looked like Earth Grudge Fear."

"What's that?" Tenzo blinked curiously. Uchiha Itachi, still new to the group, paused thoughtfully before speaking.

"Senpai, I believe I've read about that before. It was once a prized technique of Takigakure. But it was thought to be lost long ago."

"Exactly. And since it was lost, it's plausible that it fell into his hands," Shuuzawa nodded, continuing.

"And you all know the name Kakuzu, right? He's a legendary figure in the bounty hunter field, active for years." 

"But there's very little intel about him, because everyone who fought him ended up dead. That's why so little information ever got out."

"To protect his secrets," Shisui concluded, his gaze darkening. 

"Both to hide his identity as a rogue and to conceal the existence of Earth Grudge Fear."

"It's an organization of rogue ninjas. That makes it extremely dangerous."

Rogue ninjas rarely survived long in the shinobi world. They constantly faced the threat of retaliation from their former villages or bounty hunters. 

They had to stay on guard even if they fled to other villages, and just because you want to defect doesn't mean the other village wants you. 

They might accept you for your intellect or rare bloodline, but your life wouldn't be easy.

Would you become a bargaining chip in negotiations? A breeding tool? A test subject for experiments? 

That's why most rogue ninjas live in hiding, never daring to show themselves.

Some seek shelter under secretive organizations in the shadows, just to survive. That's also why Shuuzawa didn't flee after breaking Danzo's curse seal.

Living a fugitive life, constantly on edge, wasn't worth it—better to stay and be a 'Konoha bureaucrat'. Not to mention, Konoha had quite a few beautiful girls.

"Alright, enough about that guy," Shuuzawa said, clearly not interested in spending more time on Kakuzu. 

He shifted the conversation again. "Any other intel? So far, the only thing I'm certain of is that this organization is likely based in one of the smaller countries—but I don't know which."

"I picked up on a few things while fighting Obito," Kakashi said after thinking for a moment. 

"He seemed obsessed with the past and kept repeating strange things… though I didn't understand most of it."

Kakashi repeated Obito's words: " The world is fake," "Everything is the world's fault," and "We need to destroy this world." 

After he finished, everyone silently turned toward Shuuzawa. Except for Itachi, everyone on this team had participated in the mission to track Obito. 

Even Itachi, though new, understood some of the background. And this speech of Obito's perfectly matched Shuuzawa's earlier theories.

"He's an extremist," Shuuzawa muttered, disappointedly shaking his head. 

"But this is still too little information. Still, we can start making some bold assumptions."

"Assumptions?" Yuugao blinked, curious. "Like, what do you think he's planning?"

"I think… his target is the tailed beasts."

"What?!"

Shuuzawa's words shocked everyone at first, but they quickly began to calm down because the idea didn't seem so far-fetched.

"Six or seven years ago, Uchiha Obito could already control the Nine-Tails. Doesn't that mean he could also control the other tailed beasts?" 

Shuuzawa chose his words carefully and spoke with a low voice.

"And he keeps saying 'this world is fake' and wants to 'break this world.' To him, maybe the shinobi system—and shinobi themselves—shouldn't exist."

"So, he wants to destroy everything? The ninja, the villages?" Kakashi's face paled. Shuuzawa nodded solemnly.

"To accomplish that, he'll need overwhelming power. I suspect he joined a rogue ninja organization because they all share a hatred for the villages." 

"For whatever reason, they defected, they all carry resentment—and resentment can be turned into power and the tailed beasts…" 

"They're each village's ultimate weapons. So back then, when he attacked Konoha…"

"Was it because of his hatred for Konoha?" Yuugao asked. 

"I remember you said he hated the Fourth Hokage for not saving him in time, and he resented the village." 

"Since Konoha had the Nine-Tails, he struck both the village and the Fourth Hokage?"

"That seems to be the case," Shisui said grimly. 

"If the Fourth Hokage hadn't sacrificed himself to save the village and seal the Nine-Tails, Obito might have succeeded!"

"That bastard… why didn't that boulder just crush him to death back then?"

Kakashi opened his mouth as if to speak, but in the end… he said nothing.

Thinking back on it, maybe if I had crushed him to death back then, none of this would've happened. 

At the very least, he would've still been hailed as a hero of the Leaf. 

Seeing everyone else accept that reasoning, Shuuzawa nodded slightly in agreement. 

"Now our mission has expanded. In addition to investigating the situation with the Hidden Grass Village, we also need to start digging into Uchiha Obito." 

"At the very least, we must find out what this organization is—and where it came from."

"True, but how exactly are we supposed to do that?" Yamato looked at Shuuzawa with curiosity, and Shuuzawa smiled slightly in response.

"Iwagakure most likely hired this organization. If you've read the reports, you'll know they often outsource shady jobs to independent shinobi groups." 

"Since we're dealing with Iwagakure again, the only way to dig deeper is to capture someone of high enough status. I think that's the only way we'll get more intel."

"In that case, our target would naturally be Kurotsuchi's father, Kitsuchi." As soon as Shuuzawa said this, everyone present subconsciously swallowed hard. 

Wasn't this the same guy who captured the Fourth Raikage not long ago? 

Now, he's aiming for the Third Tsuchikage's son? Is he not afraid of sparking a full-scale war in the shinobi world?

"Damn it!" Obito's figure staggered into view in a hidden cave within the Land of Grass, his expression beneath the mask especially grim. "That damn brat!"

"Calm down, Obito." At that moment, a pitcher plant sprouted from the ground beside him. 

Black Zetsu looked at the flustered Obito with exasperation. "At least you made it back alive. But seriously, you need to rethink that Sharingan Kakashi has."

"Hmph…" Obito grunted, even more irritated now that the topic was brought up. 

Kakashi had tricked him with a Lightning Clone in the final moments, catching him completely off guard.

That move had cost Obito dearly. Kakashi had used the eye Obito gave him to set a trap—one that worked too well. 

When Obito tried to eject him from the Kamui dimension, Kakashi used that same eye to disrupt the space-time passage, momentarily jamming it. 

Right at that moment, that bastard Shigenari Shuuzawa showed up.

"Don't be so upset. That eye was yours to begin with," Black Zetsu said as he sighed and shook his head. 

"Now you should understand just how critical it was to have both Sharingan. And besides, Shigenari Shuuzawa might be hiding even more than we thought. Otherwise…"

"Yeah. There was a strange power… that white Zetsu clone got forced out and killed." Obito nodded. 

When Shuuzawa appeared, Obito's body was partially paralyzed from the Lightning Clone's attack. 

If it weren't for the White Zetsu half of his body, he wouldn't have even been able to twist around in time.

Shuuzawa's strike would've gone through his heart if not for that. 

The instant that blow landed, Obito could feel an unfamiliar energy surge through him—something invasive. 

Whatever it was, it forcefully expelled the White Zetsu clinging to him.

Luckily, Shuuzawa was momentarily distracted by the appearance of White Zetsu, which gave Obito just enough time to slip back into Kamui. 

Still, Shuuzawa snapped White Zetsu's neck before it could react.

"But… will that cause any problems?" Obito frowned and lowered his voice. 

"I remember Uchiha Madara once said those white clones were created from Hashirama Senju's cells. If they capture one…"

Now you realize it's trouble? Black Zetsu gave him a long, speechless look before finally shaking his head. 

"Your use of Wood Release is already exposed. Losing one White Zetsu doesn't change much. The bigger issue now comes down to two possibilities."

"What possibilities?" Obito didn't understand, prompting Black Zetsu to explain.

"One: Shigenari Shuuzawa turns it over to the higher-ups. Konoha would immediately worry about the potential for replication." 

"That would put you in deeper trouble. Two: he doesn't hand it over. And that would be completely reasonable too, since he's a member of the Senju clan himself."

"He doesn't even need to transplant anything. He already has the ability, but now he can study White Zetsu up close, maybe even unlock new techniques. If that happens and his strength increases… the next time you face him…"

Is there ever any good news? Obito didn't even want to speak anymore. 

It felt like everything related to Shigenari Shuuzawa always ended up in disaster, and he was the one who suffered for it. 

Come to think of it, didn't Madara also get wrecked every time he fought Hashirama? Don't tell me this is some cursed fate repeating itself.

"Whatever. Forget it. No matter what that guy does, we'll deal with it eventually." Obito shook his head as if trying to shake off the bad luck. 

"By the way, what about Sasori and Kakuzu? Are they still alive?"

"They made it out," Black Zetsu nodded. He hesitated for a moment, then finally spoke up. "There's something else I need to tell you."

"What is it?"

"Shigenari Shuuzawa has already linked you to the Akatsuki."

"That's not surprising. But it doesn't prove anything. For all anyone knows, I could just be working alone."

"But he's convinced. And he's already narrowed down where the Akatsuki might be operating from."

"…"

"He completely ruled out the Five Great Nations and locked onto the small nations nearby. Obito… this just got a lot more complicated."

"…"

Elsewhere, deep in the forests of the Land of Grass, Sasori and Kakuzu had fled here separately, only to run into each other again. 

Seeing how battered they both looked, neither of them said anything at first.

Sasori looked especially bad. His body was in tatters, and he was missing an arm—not from being torn off, but from defending against Shisui's attack. 

In doing so, he got caught in the crossfire from Shuuzawa. At that point, Sasori had already decided to retreat. 

After recovering the Third Kazekage's puppet, he abandoned everything else and fled immediately.

Kakuzu looked even worse. His cloak was gone, his body covered in severe burns. 

Parts of his body were unnaturally sunken in, and behind him, only one of his elemental masks remained—the others had been destroyed.

Neither of them had seen each other in such pitiful states before. 

Neither of them had even considered helping the other during the escape, which made their reunion all the more awkward.

"So… you made it out too." After a long silence, Sasori finally spoke. Kakuzu exhaled like he'd been holding it in.

"Yeah. Looks like you did too. This mission needs a pay raise."

"Definitely," Sasori nodded. Seeing that Kakuzu didn't push the matter further, he also let it go. "I lost a ton of puppets. I'll need serious funds to rebuild."

"Mm." Kakuzu nodded. Money was his favorite thing in the world. He'd risk his life for it. "You get any intel from this mission?"

"That brat's Mangekyou is seriously powerful. It's not easy to counter. And his overall capabilities were way beyond what I imagined." 

Sasori's voice trailed off. His mind was still filled with the image of Shisui's towering chakra avatar—its offensive and defensive abilities far outmatched his puppets, and it gnawed at his pride.

"What about you? Anything on your end?"

"Shigenari Shuuzawa… or rather, Senju Shuuzawa," Kakuzu said grimly. 

"Strong. Very hard to deal with. His Flying Thunder God and Wood Release combo left me completely helpless." 

"I honestly don't have any way to counter it right now."

With that, Kakuzu stopped talking and instinctively reached for a pouch at his waist. Unbidden, certain memories began replaying in his mind.

It was during the battle. A blazing wooden dragon had just hit him. Even though he managed to dodge slightly, he was already on the verge of death. 

Shuuzawa appeared right in front of him. A kunai landed beside him, and Shuuzawa mouthed words silently.

As a seasoned ninja, Kakuzu could read lips. And in that moment, he understood Shuuzawa's message:

"I heard you're a bounty hunter. There's no future with that organization. How much do they even pay you per month?"

"For that little money, you risk your life?"

"Even worse, you have to run yourself ragged taking jobs just to earn anything. Is it worth being their workhorse?"

"Right now, I'm offering you a better deal. Thirty thousand ryo a month. All you have to do is feed us intel."

"If you agree, pick up the kunai and walk away. If not… I'll end you right here."

"Make your choice."

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