Actually, Black Zetsu didn't care whether Obito betrayed the Akatsuki or not. As long as Obito remained a useful tool for the "Eye of the Moon" plan, that was enough.
However, over the past few months, Black Zetsu noticed that Obito's focus was drifting further away from the plan. That's why he pressured Nagato to start capturing the Tailed Beasts ahead of schedule.
But Nagato was useless—out of the nine Tailed Beasts, he had only managed to capture six.
Now, with the organization on the verge of being destroyed by the Allied Shinobi Forces of the Five Great Nations, Black Zetsu had no choice but to attack Nagato and take back Madara's Rinnegan.
It hadn't expected Nagato to have a backup plan—he had hidden one of the Rinnegan eyes in advance.
On top of that, the so-called "ally" Hiruko wasn't entirely cooperative.
Even after being offered the Rinnegan, he refused it, saying that relying on external power was untrustworthy. People should depend on themselves.
Damn it, his idea of "depending on himself" was stealing other people's Kekkei Genkai and making them his own.
How was that not relying on external power?
But then again, once he fused with those Kekkei Genkai, they did technically become his own.
In a way, what he said wasn't entirely wrong.
Still, Black Zetsu felt exhausted. None of his pawns ever listened to him. If it weren't for his mission to revive his mother, he really wouldn't have the patience for this.
"Zetsu, you have to trust me. I've never forgotten the plan."
"Then tell me, why are you going to Konoha?"
"Obviously, to go undercover."
"Undercover?"
"Yes."
Black Zetsu's expression showed doubt, making Obito internally complain:
Forget you—even I don't believe that excuse.
Of course, no matter what he was thinking, he wasn't dumb enough to say it out loud.
"Think about it. The Akatsuki has already been destroyed. If we want to continue the plan, which power in the ninja world is the strongest and most likely to stop us?"
"Konoha?"
"That's right, it's Konoha."
Obito gave Black Zetsu a thumbs-up to confirm, then continued, "The reason I returned to Konoha is to gain their trust. That way, when you're ready to execute the next phase of the plan, I can get intel immediately and report back to you."
Obito, after years of playing a role, grew more confident as he spoke. The initial nervousness faded, and he was getting so into it that he almost convinced himself he was actually an undercover spy in Konoha.
"What about Nohara Rin? Are you really willing to let her go?"
Black Zetsu knew Rin was Obito's biggest weakness.
Back then, it had worked with Uchiha Madara to orchestrate Rin's death at Kakashi's hands, ensuring Obito witnessed it firsthand—all to awaken his Mangekyō Sharingan.
Looking at the results, the plan was flawless.
Not only did they achieve their goal, but it also fueled Obito's determination to complete their grand plan.
At that time, Obito was so driven to create a world where Rin existed that even Black Zetsu had to admit—what a dedicated worker!
So now, if Obito truly was just an undercover agent in Konoha as he claimed, Black Zetsu was curious—what did he plan to do about Rin?
Obito had already prepared his answer.
"This world is false. Everything in it is fake. Once we complete our plan, the world will be perfect. Rin won't have to continue suffering in this filthy, false existence—she'll be with me in a perfect, eternal world."
Hearing this, Black Zetsu muttered in his heart: As expected, Uchiha are all insane. Completely delusional.
A perfectly fine reality, and they insist it's fake.
And then they take an actually fake world and treat it as perfection.
Yeah… they're beyond saving.
What?
"So you're saying... I just made all this up?"
"Then there's no problem."
"Alright, I'll believe you for now."
Seeing how sincere Obito sounded, and considering that his explanation about being an undercover agent made logical sense, Black Zetsu ultimately decided to place some trust in him.
After all, it wasn't like he had many options left.
White Zetsu might seem numerous, but thanks to Konoha's White Zetsu detection tag, infiltrating the village was nearly impossible.
Even if they managed to possess a chunin or genin, it wouldn't be long before they were exposed.
The detection paper wasn't as rare as it had been a few months ago.
With Orochimaru continuously improving and simplifying the production process, the paper was now so common that every ninja could receive one for free.
It was terrifying.
Of course, possessing civilians was still easy—no matter how mass-produced the test paper was, it wasn't luxurious enough to be used on ordinary people.
The problem was, possessing civilians was useless.
Other than occasionally taking on some low-level missions that involved contact with ninja, getting close to them was incredibly difficult.
This was one of the main reasons Black Zetsu was willing to trust Obito.
He desperately needed intel from Konoha.
"You've been undercover in Konoha for a while now. Do you have any information for me?"
After initially gaining Black Zetsu's trust, Obito wasn't in a hurry to ask about White Zetsu's hiding place.
Rushing things wouldn't help—only after Black Zetsu fully believed in him would it be the right time to ask.
As for how to make Black Zetsu trust him faster, the answer was simple—leaking Konoha's intel.
Some harmless information could be shared to gain its trust.
"I'm already a rogue ninja from Konoha. Earning their full trust will take time, but I didn't come empty-handed. After some investigation, I found that Konan is currently living in Konoha Village."
"Konan?"
"Yes."
"No wonder. I sent out so many White Zetsu clones, yet none of them could find her. If she's in Konoha, that explains everything."
Konan wasn't Black Zetsu's main target—what it truly wanted was the Rinnegan that Nagato had hidden away.
A single Rinnegan could be used, but it placed a much heavier burden on the wielder.
Now that it knew there was a high chance Konan had taken the Rinnegan to Konoha, Black Zetsu temporarily abandoned the idea of retrieving it.
"You're back, Zetsu."
"This is the Uchiha Madara you told me about?"
Following Zetsu into the cave, Obito ran into Hiruko, who had just finished his research and was about to head back to rest.
With just one glance, Obito immediately recognized him.
He had recently watched a video about Hiruko—there was no way he could forget.
Especially with Hiruko's flowing white hair, a rarity in the ninja world.
Pretending not to recognize him, Obito maintained the demeanor Madara should have and simply nodded indifferently.
"Tch~"
Hiruko, having just fused his second Kekkei Genkai—Dark Release—was feeling smug. Seeing how "Madara" carried himself so arrogantly, he wasn't about to flatter him.
Even if this was the legendary Uchiha Madara, he didn't care.
"I'm going to rest. Don't bother me unless it's important."
Watching Hiruko leave, Obito finally turned to Zetsu and asked, "This is the replacement you found?"
*********
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