Chapter 86

Silent moonlight pierced the thinning mist, streaming in through the massive floor-to-ceiling window, casting its glow on an orange mask with black stripes, illuminating the single scarlet eye behind it.

Uchiha Obito stood alone at the window, his thin frame unmoving.

His lone eye gazed upon Kirigakure beneath the night sky.

"The plan isn't going smoothly."

A voice from behind shattered the silence.

Zetsu, shaped like a pitcher plant, emerged from the ceiling. His black-and-white yin-yang face peered out, bathed in cold moonlight.

"Just a minor, harmless setback."

Uchiha Obito replied without turning his head. "Though it's delayed a bit, I killed a few disobedient ones. They're finally behaving. The war... has begun."

He spoke casually, but the truth was far from simple.

No matter how formidable Kirigakure once was, they had been battered during the Third Great War by Konoha. Then came Uchiha Obito's manipulation of the Fourth Mizukage, plunging the village into the era of the Bloody Mist. For years, he had bled the village dry, weakening it with relentless internal purging. The Fourth Mizukage had faced no fewer than thirty assassination attempts.

Severely weakened—that would be an understatement for Kirigakure's current state.

And now, the Fourth Mizukage suddenly announced war against Konoha. To be frank, most of the village's shinobi were on the verge of collapse. If not for the Mizukage being a Jinchūriki, which limited the effectiveness of sheer numbers, and the restraining influence of Elder Genshō and the noble families, the Mist might have torn itself apart before even engaging Konoha.

When brute force failed, deception followed.

Two-faced compliance infuriated Uchiha Obito. After a long period of political maneuvering and covert struggle, he finally managed to strike a fragile balance with Genshō and the noble houses, cobbling together a large enough army for the Fourth Mizukage to command.

Yes—command.

To Genshō and the nobles, the increasingly unhinged Fourth Mizukage was squandering the village's already thin resources.

Thus, some were hoping he would... disappear alongs side with this "war" of his.

"Obito, I'm sorry to interrupt your mood at a time like this, but I have bad news."

"Bad news?"

Uchiha Obito turned his head, his scarlet eye locking onto Zetsu.

"What happened?"

"The Third Hokage, Sarutobi Hiruzen, is dead," Black Zetsu rasped.

"Sarutobi Hiruzen... is dead?"

Uchiha Obito repeated the message.

His brow furrowed under the mask; his expression darkened. This was undeniably bad news. On the surface, it might seem like Konoha had lost a revered Hokage—a broken pillar—but from his perspective, he would have rather that "Shinobi Hero" stayed alive. As long as Sarutobi Hiruzen lived, the divide between the Uchiha and the village would persist. A Konoha constantly at odds with itself was the ideal Konoha for Obito.

Hiruzen's death extinguished the fire of Konoha's internal strife.

From now on,

No one would oppose the Uchiha as firmly as Sarutobi Hiruzen or Shimura Danzō. While new internal conflicts might arise, Konoha could now realistically claim to be united, especially under the threat of external war.

In fact,

That external pressure might accelerate the unification of Konoha's fragmented factions.

Realizing this, Uchiha Obito's mood soured.

He hadn't even been gone from Konoha that long, and yet that old relic, Hiruzen, had already died. He had placed so much hope in the "Professor's" continued meddling, hoping it would keep Konoha unstable.

"And it wasn't just Sarutobi Hiruzen. Shimura Danzō is also dead. According to Konoha's intel, Hiruzen was assassinated by Biwa Jūzō," White Zetsu added, piling on.

"Biwa Jūzō?"

Obito narrowed his eye sharply in confusion.

"How is that possible? How did that worthless Biwa Jūzō manage to kill Hiruzen?" Obito knew Jūzō had once tried to assassinate the Fourth Mizukage. He understood the man's capabilities—not weak, but still far below the level of a Kage.

"That's what Konoha's official notice says. I sent a clone to confirm—it wasn't a lie. Shimura Danzō was killed by a ninja named Hatake Kakashi. Sarutobi Hiruzen really did fall to Jūzō's Executioner's Blade. Jūzō also died at Hiruzen's hands—they went down together."

Uchiha Obito trusted Zetsu's intel-gathering ability.

So, he knew it must be true.

Hiruzen had definitely died by Jūzō's hand. How it happened was unclear, but the fallout was undeniable: the upcoming war between Konoha and the Mist would be far more difficult.

Not that Obito expected the Mist to win.

His target from the beginning was Uchiha Rēn and the Uchiha clan. His aim was to annihilate the Uchiha, using either the Mist or Konoha as the tool. The Mangekyō Sharingan... such a dangerous power was best kept rare.

"Besides the bad news, there's also good news."

"Get to the point. Don't drag it out."

Obito glared at Zetsu—the embodiment of Uchiha Madara's will.

"The good news is that the top commander for the Konoha side this time is Uchiha Rēn," White Zetsu said cheerfully. "So, how about it, Obito? Isn't that great? Uchiha Rēn has gone to the front lines. With a little luck, you might even snag a pair of Mangekyō Sharingan."

Obito didn't respond.

But yes—this was good news.

Uchiha Rēn heading to the front made him far more accessible to Obito.

After all, Obito had no intention of revealing himself just yet. Neither the name Uchiha Obito nor Uchiha Madara was public knowledge. In a place like Konoha—full of familiar faces and Byakugan—it would be dangerous to engage Rēn and risk exposure during a prolonged encounter.

That wouldn't fit the plan.

"Uchiha Rēn... In that case, all this effort won't be in vain. The Mist's trash still has its uses." Obito glanced at the lifeless Fourth Mizukage, unmoving like a puppet in his chair.

"What's the plan? You want the Mizukage to personally take the field?"

Black Zetsu rasped.

"Exactly. Without that, the Mist is no match for Konoha. I never expected them to win, but if they fall too quickly, I won't have time to act against Uchiha Rēn. The longer this war drags on, the better."

Obito shifted his gaze away from the Mizukage and looked up at the bright moon in the sky.

One day,

He would create a world where Rin existed—

A world without conflict, free of pain, where everyone could live in peace.