Outside the gates of Konoha, Uchiha Itachi didn't make Obito wait long. Before long, Obito appeared before him, the space rippling as he stepped out of the void.
"I'm in the organization, but not as a full member," Obito said flatly. "There are a few who don't even know I exist. So when you speak, keep that in mind."
On the road toward Akatsuki's base, Itachi's gaze remained steady.
"Hidden behind the scenes…" he murmured, expression calm as ever.
Obito's eyes curved with faint amusement.
"Of course. Too many people knowing that Uchiha Madara still lives would be… troublesome. One or two rumors are fine. But if there are too many, it gets annoying."
"I understand," Itachi replied, his voice still calm and unreadable.
'Yeah… keep that mask on, Itachi,' Obito thought, lips twitching into a hidden grin. 'I can't wait to see how it cracks when you finally lay eyes on my "gift."'
Soon, they arrived at the Akatsuki base. Obito stopped.
"From here, you'll go in on your own. The leader is waiting for you. He knows my identity."
Without another word, Obito vanished back into the void, leaving Itachi to step forward.
Inside, Itachi slipped on the ring engraved with "Shu" — his mark of membership and quietly entered the Akatsuki's fold.
Obito, watching from the shadows before fading away completely, smirked. The ring that once belonged to him had already been passed to Pakura.
In the end, the rings were nothing more than conduits for the Astral Projection technique — remote communication tools. Which ring you wore didn't really matter.
"Now that Itachi's in place… Kisame should be arranged quickly too," Obito muttered to himself as he drifted away from the hideout. "As for Jūzō Biwa… it's time to let him retire."
His mind worked quickly as he headed toward the Land of Snow. Jūzō was certainly stronger than the average elite jōnin, but he wasn't at the level of a true Kage, nor did he possess any unique abilities that would let him stand out among monsters like the others. In time, he simply wouldn't be able to keep up.
Still, Obito wasn't heartless. Jūzō had served the organization loyally for years, and Obito had no intention of letting him die pointlessly in the Land of Water like in the original timeline.
"No… better to give him a way out," Obito decided. "He's earned at least that much. A reason to retire, settle down somewhere, or live on as an ordinary jōnin. My subordinates will find that I'm not cruel… at least not without reason."
Meanwhile, inside Akatsuki's ranks, Itachi was paired with Jūzō, just as the story once told.
---
A day later, news of the Uchiha clan's destruction in Konoha spread through the ninja world.
Uchiha Itachi, the one who carried out the slaughter... was listed as an S-class traitor on wanted bulletins across the nations.
Back in the Land of Snow, Obito handed over the survivors: Uchiha Izumi and the still-unconscious Mikoto.
He gave Izumi into Yugao's care and Mikoto to Chihori, instructing them to calm Mikoto and explain the situation.
Obito had sealed their chakra and besides, Yugao could have easily handled them both at once if anything went wrong, so he wasn't worried.
"What?!" Yugao blurted.
"The Uchiha clan wiped out?!"
"It was the patriarch's son?"
"She survived?"
"And the other… the culprit is the mother?"
As Obito told the story, everyone listened in stunned silence. Yugao and Chihori, though, were visibly shaken.
"Well, it was done with my help," Obito said, shrugging, his voice calm.
"Yes, yes — you're amazing," Yugao managed, momentarily lost for words. She turned to look at Uchiha Izumi with an unreadable expression, then at the still-out Mikoto.
"What are you going to do with them?" she asked.
Obito glanced at Izumi; the corner of his mouth lifted into a slight, dangerous smile.
"Hmm… I was going to kill her outright."
He let the sentence hang, then added, almost lazily, "But I suddenly grew curious. I want to see the drama of childhood sweethearts who loved each other and then killed each other."
"Think about it...a young girl who watched her beloved slaughter her family." He let the image sit between them. "Don't you want to see what that love-hate boils into?"
Obito wore a wicked smile. He'd been honest with Yugao and the others from the start, there was no pretense to maintain. He never bothered hiding his nature.
Yugao rolled her eyes at him. "In that case, she's mine."
"Fine. Do as you like," Obito replied.
After that, Obito turned his attention to Chihori. She met his gaze and smiled with quiet confidence.
"Leave her to me, my lord… I will handle her," Chihori replied, eyes locked on Mikoto Uchiha.
Obito nodded in satisfaction.
In truth, he could have simply taken both women by force, yet with his experience, he knew that if he pushed Izumi Uchiha in her current state, the outcome would be troublesome.
Izumi's mind was already fractured. If he violated her now, she would collapse completely into a hollow shell. And that would serve him nothing.
No… what Obito wanted was for her to cling to life. Only if she found a reason to keep going could he truly carve his way into her body and her heart. That would be his victory.
Mikoto, however, was another matter entirely. Unlike Izumi, she was far more vulnerable weighed down by countless weaknesses, her two sons chief among them.
Obito needed her stable, calm enough to be useful. With Chihori handling her, that result was all but guaranteed.
She would feel indebted, because he had spared her life and the lives of her children when the rest of her clan had perished. That debt would make her passive, even though she had never chosen it.
It was the perfect manipulation. In psychology, some might call it coercive gratitude, crafting circumstances so the victim feels they owe their tormentor.
And then, when Chihori revealed to Mikoto who her savior truly was — 'Madara Uchiha' — the trap would close. Gratitude would twist into something else...fear.
Fear of his legendary name. Fear of his authority. Fear of his power over her sons fates.
The dual weight of fear and gratitude would leave her unable to resist, even if he reached for her intimacy.
In simpler words: a form of gaslighted dependency. Her perception of the world and of him would be completely shaped by what Chihori told her. She would see him not just as her savior, but as the inescapable hand holding her life and her children's.
Obito smirked at the thought.
"It seems I still haven't changed much after all."
Mikoto Uchiha was the perfect chess piece and with her, Obito would tighten his grip over Sasuke's future. There was no way he would ever let go of such a tool.
---
A month later, in Amegakure's tower…
The room was the same as always. Pain sat in silence across the table, Konan at Obito's side.
"Jūzō is seriously injured," Pain said flatly. "He can no longer continue as a member of Akatsuki."
"Then let him retire," Obito replied without hesitation. "Have him stay in the Rain and live as an ordinary shinobi."
His calm tone carried no surprise. A few days earlier, Jūzō and Itachi had gone to the Land of Water to intervene in a dispute over a daimyo's heir, only to be intercepted by the Fourth Mizukage, Yagura.
Of course, Yagura was already under Obito's control. He had deliberately held Yagura back — ensuring the clash ended with Jūzō only gravely injured, leaving Itachi free to "rescue" him.
"Yes," Pain agreed after a pause. His eyes shifted briefly toward Konan. She remained silent, expression unreadable, so he let it be.
Konan, meanwhile, was quietly holding Obito's hand beneath the table. Her fingers traced over his palm in slow, teasing circles, making Obito's lone visible eye twitch.
Once upon a time, he had been the one teasing her. Now, it seemed, the tables had turned.
"Akatsuki needs a new member," Pain said, breaking the silence. His eyes narrowed on Obito. "Madara, do you have a candidate?"
"There is one," Obito answered calmly. His free hand slid casually onto Konan's thigh, a silent reminder that he wasn't going to just sit back and be teased.
Konan: "…"
"Like Jūzō, he's from the Hidden Mist. One of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen. Kisame Hoshigaki."
Pain's eyes flickered as he recalled the name.
"That weirdo from the Mist?"
Obito resisted the urge to roll his eyes. Says the guy who spends his days locked in a spiky walking skeleton. And he calls another weirdo?
"That's right," Obito said aloud. "I can bring him in. When the time comes, he'll replace Jūzō and partner with Itachi."
"Very well," Pain agreed without pressing further.
The meeting concluded, Obito rose to his feet. To his surprise, Konan immediately stood as well, as though ready to leave with him.
Nagato: "…"
Obito: "…"
Konan blinked, realizing too late that her eagerness betrayed her composure. Seeing him move, she had simply followed... as if it were the most natural thing in the world.
"Is there anything you want to say, Konan?" Nagato asked, puzzled, thinking perhaps she had something to add.
"No, I just remembered something important… I won't bother you two." Konan replied smoothly, then turned and dissolved into fluttering sheets of paper, leaving the tower.
The chamber fell into silence, just Obito and Nagato remaining. When they spoke about business, the atmosphere was never awkward.
But without pressing matters, with Nagato's introverted nature and his god complex, the silence hung heavy.
"How's it been going here, Nagato?" Obito finally asked after a stretch of quiet.
Nagato looked faintly surprised. Then, through one of the Paths of Pain, he answered, "Everything is fine."
"I see. That's good." Obito's voice remained calm.
"…"
"…"
After another pause, Nagato hesitated before speaking again. "Is everything alright on your side as well?" He asked the question stiffly, uncertain. Truthfully, he knew very little about this "Madara" at all.
"Yeah. It's fine," Obito replied, as if nothing ever troubled him.
"I see." Nagato accepted it without question. He knew Obito's power — almost equal to his own and that was enough.
If Obito had known what this emo was thinking, he would've rolled his eyes.
"Then, I'll take my leave," Obito said, turning as his body spiraled into Kamui's distortion, leaving Nagato alone in silence.
--
On the other side of the village, Konan stood beneath the gray sky, playing idly with a folded paper flower. Her gaze lingered on the falling rain, lost in thought, until space suddenly distorted beside her. Obito stepped out of the void.
She turned at once, her lips curving into a rare, beautiful smile.
"You came… I thought you wouldn't," Konan said, walking toward him. Her voice was calm, but Obito could hear the faint complaint beneath it. "You've been avoiding me lately."
"Someone was getting impatient," Obito replied lightly. "So of course I had to come. Be grateful, Konan — I'm benevolent."
He took her hands, and the two vanished into the swirling vortex of Kamui.
Konan's voice lingered as they disappeared, soft yet teasing, every word biting with deliberate reverence.
"Then thank you, Obito-sama, for being so generous."
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