Everyone breathed a sigh of relief to know Madara couldn't be brought back.
Leaving aside how powerful Madara was, the fact that he had awakened the Rinnegan and prepared resurrection techniques decades in advance showed his terrifying foresight!
While the three exchanged glances, they couldn't help but feel lucky inside, "Thankfully Madara chose a weakling as his proxy!"
If Shiki had been the proxy instead, Madara's plan might have already succeeded… they thought, before suddenly changing their minds, "Wait, that might not be right either. If it had been Shiki, Madara might've been completely devoured without leaving even a trace!"
Looking at it this way, it was fortunate Madara had chosen such a weakling as his proxy!
After a moment of silence, Seiki asked again, "How does the Akatsuki control those monsters? Do we have any chance of seizing control?"
Obito shook his head, "Actually, the Akatsuki can't control them either!"
Seiki feigned surprise, "Even they can't control them?"
"Only Black Zetsu can control the monsters!"
"Black Zetsu? Not just Zetsu?"
Obito explained, "Zetsu is a combination of Black Zetsu and White Zetsu. White Zetsu are those monsters you're referring to, while Black Zetsu is the consciousness Madara infused into White Zetsu!"
"To be capable of such things—truly worthy of being a legendary ninja!" Seiki exclaimed.
"What about Black Zetsu then?" Itachi asked excitedly. "If we capture him, can we end this demon disaster?"
"I killed him!" Obito grinned awkwardly.
Fugaku and Shisui just stared blankly.
Fugaku instead asked, "Was the purpose of starting this demon disaster to force Akatsuki into war?"
"Black Zetsu was worried that my senior was growing too powerful too quickly, so…" Obito began, but suddenly paused. Thinking about Black Zetsu secretly capturing the Three-Tails behind his back, his voice dropped with sadness, "No, actually, he was probably worried I'd discover that Rin wasn't really dead. That's why he forced Akatsuki to start the war early!"
Not even in a million years could Fugaku connect the dots between that little girl surviving and starting a war.
Pretending to have a headache, Seiki rubbed his temples. "What about the operation to capture the Jinchuriki? Don't tell me that was your idea and Black Zetsu's again?"
Obito chuckled uncomfortably. "Haha, you saw right through me, senior!"
Fugaku and the others didn't even bother to comment anymore. So this was what 'puppet master' meant—it interfered in everything but couldn't actually handle anything properly!
So that's what the mastermind was like—always meddling, never actually getting anything done.
After another awkward chuckle, Obito added, "Black Zetsu and I tricked Akatsuki, claiming that placing the nine Tailed Beasts into the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path could allow those monsters to be recontrolled. In reality, our goal was to revive the Ten-Tails and make the resurrected Madara its Jinchuriki!"
"What? Ten-Tails?" Fugaku felt like all his shocks for his entire life had been packed into just today. Such an absurd existence as the Ten-Tails actually existed!
Obito continued, "The first Ten-Tails Jinchuriki was the Sage of Six Paths himself. Worried that no one would be able to balance the Ten-Tails after his death, he split it into the one-tailed to nine-tailed Tailed Beasts."
"This is just too…" Although Obito spoke as if everything were true, Fugaku and the others still struggled to believe it.
Seiki said, "Putting aside whether the Ten-Tails and Sage of Six Paths are real, since you fabricated the story about collecting Tailed Beasts to control monsters, and now you've defected from Akatsuki, doesn't that mean Akatsuki will abandon their plan to collect Tailed Beasts?"
"Well..." Obito thought for a moment before slightly shaking his head. "I'm not sure. Aizen is supposedly a monster who survived from ancient times. If he has seen the Ten-Tails, with his intelligence he could likely deduce the possibility of creating a Ten-Tails Jinchuriki from my attitude and the current balance of power among the Nine Bijuu."
"A human from ancient times?" Itachi couldn't help but ask.
"Perhaps he's been asleep until now through some method," Obito speculated.
Seiki pondered for a moment. "Then we definitely can't stop protecting the Jinchuriki!"
Seeing Seiki's furrowed brows, Fugaku spoke. "Actually, I believe there's no need to worry. Although Akatsuki is powerful, as long as we take them seriously, they're hardly a threat... At least, Kushina's Nine-Tails won't be taken from them!"
"No, they actually might be able to do it!" Obito took a deep breath. "They could simply use Kinkaku and Ginkaku from Cloud Village as substitutes!"
"Kinkaku and Ginkaku?" Fugaku said, his face changing mid-sentence. "But weren't they long dead...?"
"You got it," Shisui realized. "Could it be Impure World Reincarnation?"
"Precisely, it's Impure World Reincarnation," Obito confirmed.
"But four years ago, they hadn't obtained Impure..." Shisui suddenly understood. "I see, it must be that Danzo promised to secretly trade the Impure World Reincarnation technique to them after returning to the village!"
"No, it's not him," Obito said seriously. "Before he was even released, Aizen had already obtained the Impure World Reincarnation technique from Konoha!"
Fugaku's expression turned grave. "So that means there's a traitor in the village, and one who has access to the Scroll of Seals at that!"
Obito warned, "If Akatsuki uses the power of Impure World Reincarnation, the defensive strength of the other villages may not be sufficient!"
"Clan Leader Fugaku, please go inform someone to check the tombs of the First and Second Hokage," Seiki strode out with determination. "We must notify the other ninja villages as soon as possible!"
...
This takes us back slightly in time to a virtual conference of Akatsuki.
As soon as everyone logged in, they noticed two of the ten spots were now empty!
Yahiko looked around, relieved to see Uncle Aizen had managed to log in, and quickly asked, "Uncle, what exactly happened? I heard from someone that Tobi and Zetsu ambushed you in Konoha?"
Aizen nodded. "That's correct. Fortunately, they underestimated my abilities, allowing me to escape."
"Escape?" Sasori's eyes narrowed. Although he had only witnessed a fraction of Aizen's power, it was more than enough to realize that it was Tobi and Zetsu who ended up fleeing.
"It's fortunate that you escaped," Konan sighed with relief, then asked in confusion. "What were Tobi and the others thinking? Why would they attack you?"
"I suspect they wanted to trap me in Genjutsu," Aizen *speculated*. "After all, I have a certain amount of influence in Akatsuki, and I still had quite a few connections before joining the organization!"
"Control with Genjutsu?" Yahiko's expression turned strange. "That doesn't make sense. They were there when you defeated Hanzo and controlled him with your Genjutsu. They should know how powerful your illusion arts are. It shouldn't be easy for anyone to control you!"
"The key must be that Uchiha boy they brought," Aizen said warily. "He can suppress Genjutsu within a certain radius! If Genjutsu becomes ineffective, it's possible for them to manipulate me!"
"Those two were suspicious from the start," Nagato muttered darkly. "Unlike how you were invited to join, those two sought us out on their own and requested entry into the organization!"
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