Konoha Village.
When Nagato and Konan rushed to Konoha with the Pain of Six Paths, the village had already been on alert for quite some time. The atmosphere inside and outside the village was tense with the impending battle.
Only one place remained relatively calm.
The Memorial Stele in the back mountain.
Reanimated Uchiha Obito sat in front of Nohara Rin's tombstone, carefully wiping away the dust and placing a bouquet of flowers on it.
"Oh, so you remember her favorite wildflowers?"
Hatake Kakashi's voice came from afar as he slowly walked in from the outside, stopping in front of Nohara Rin's tombstone.
Every step Kakashi took was even.
As if he had walked this Memorial Stele area countless times.
"I would never forget everything Rin liked."
Uchiha Obito gently stroked his own mask, bowed his head and said, "Kakashi, why are you here? At this time, shouldn't you all be waiting for the Akatsuki's invasion?"
"It's okay, I'll be leaving soon."
Hatake Kakashi slowly squatted down, sat in front of Nohara Rin's tombstone, and looking at Uchiha Obito, spoke: "I just happened to come here to take another look at Rin. Perhaps I might die in this war!"
Hatake Kakashi looked up at the sky, softly said: "If I were to die, I could see Rin often in the Netherworld..."
"Don't even think about it."
Uchiha Obito immediately interrupted Hatake Kakashi, coldly spoke: "If you die in the war against Pain, I would give your corpse to Yakushi Kabuto or Orochimaru to have them reanimate you."
"Alright, enough about that."
Hatake Kakashi stood up, bowed to Nohara Rin's tombstone, then turned and left, heading to another grave.
After a while, Hatake Kakashi seemed to think of something and suddenly turned to ask: "Obito, I'm going to see Minato-sensei and my father's graves, will you continue staying here?"
"..."
Uchiha Obito stayed silent for a moment, then slowly turned to look at Hatake Kakashi: "I thought you would ask me about information on Pain or Nagato when you saw me here, or ask if I'm willing to turn back and help you resist the invasion..."
"Would you help us then?"
Hatake Kakashi immediately asked.
Uchiha Obito stood up, left Nohara Rin's grave, shook his head, and said: "No, I already helped you save Jiraiya, that's enough."
Hatake Kakashi tilted his head and continued to ask: "Then, would you tell us about Pain or Nagato's information?"
"Humph, still the same! Kakashi!"
Uchiha Obito snorted coldly, the Sharingan under his mask closely watched Hatake Kakashi, coldly said: "Indeed, you are the most qualified ninja of Minato's team, always so ruthless."
After saying that, Uchiha Obito spread out his hand and chuckled: "Thanks to you guys getting rid of the traitor for me, I'll tell you a secret!"
The scarlet Sharingan in Uchiha Obito's eyes revealed a strange red light, his laugh carrying a hint of sinister: "This time, the ones invading Konoha are Nagato, Konan, and the Pain of Six Paths, I believe you can seize this opportunity."
"What?"
Hatake Kakashi frowned, softly said: "So, all other Akatsuki members went to attack the Hidden Cloud Village to capture the Eight-tailed Jinchuriki?"
"That's right."
Uchiha Obito slowly lowered his arm, continued in a muffled voice: "With the power of the Rinnegan being strong enough, Nagato has absolute confidence to resolve Konoha, this information is quite helpful to you, isn't it?"
"..."
Hatake Kakashi silently nodded.
Indeed, this information coming from Uchiha Obito is quite credible and can greatly assist them in defending against the impending invasion of Konoha.
In this case, Konoha could strategically deploy ninja forces.
Just when Hatake Kakashi no longer wanted to pay respects to Minato Namikaze and Hatake Sakumo's tombstones, intending to report this potentially false information immediately.
Uchiha Obito called out to him again: "Kakashi, indeed you are ruthless in seeking information from me!"
Uchiha Obito coldly laughed, looking at Hatake Kakashi, continued: "By the way, if you're willing to place a bouquet of flowers at Minato-sensei's grave, I can give you another piece of information."
"...Alright."
Hatake Kakashi slowly adjusted his mask.
After a while, Hatake Kakashi placed two bouquets of sunflowers at Minato Namikaze's grave, softly spoke: "Can you tell me now?"
"Certainly."
Uchiha Obito, back turned to Hatake Kakashi, coldly spoke: "If you win this battle, then prepare for Uehara Naraku's revenge!
That kid is nothing like us; he's someone who will stop at nothing to avenge his teacher.
Moreover, that kid is a very diligent genius ninja, possessing a talent for ninjutsu not inferior to Nagato.
If I'm not mistaken, he might already have merged his Chakra nature change to create a Kekkeigenkai, though it's kept secret.
He might even have more than one Kekkeigenkai in his body."
"Wait..."
Hatake Kakashi's eyes showed slight surprise, asked: "Are you saying that Uehara Naraku is actually a more challenging enemy than Nagato?"
"That's right."
Uchiha Obito nodded coldly, continued speaking: "At twelve, Uehara Naraku started following Nagato and Konan, and they regard him as the successor of Akatsuki and the Hidden Rain Village, their emotions are very deep."
After saying this, Uchiha Obito slowly clenched his fist: "As for Konan, Uehara Naraku has always revered her as absolute truth, so after you defeat Nagato and Konan, you'd better not be careless, and prepare in advance to deal with Uehara Naraku's attack on Konoha."
"Is that so?"
Hatake Kakashi tugged at his mask, softly said: "I understand, but you're also just trying to use us to kill Uehara Naraku, right?"
"Yeah, I want to kill him too."
Uchiha Obito nodded, slowly releasing his grip, his voice sounding slightly elusive: "I dream about it."
This was the real truth.
Unfortunately, Hatake Kakashi didn't pick up on anything. He simply waved his hand and turned to leave, heading to report the information he obtained from Obito.
But after taking a few steps, Hatake Kakashi suddenly turned back to Uchiha Obito: "Hey, Obito, are you really not planning to come back?"
"…"
Uchiha Obito's figure turned into a space-time vortex and vanished.
Hatake Kakashi looked at the empty ground with a sense of loss, then turned and left the area around the Memorial Stele, unsure how much he had truly absorbed.
On the other side.
The clay giant dragon was still flying turbulently.
Deidara was diligently repairing his art.
Honestly speaking, if they weren't afraid Deidara would be so angered that he'd detonate the clay dragon directly, Sasori of the Red Sand and Uchiha Sasuke would have already cursed him thoroughly.
Yes, the situation had changed somewhat.
Uchiha Sasuke finally couldn't take it anymore and after ridiculing Deidara a few times, Deidara threatened to explode the clay dragon to let Uchiha Sasuke experience the taste of art.
How the hell would it taste?
It seems like they want to test it with their lives!
Isn't this leading everyone to mutual destruction!
Of course, Uchiha Sasuke definitely wouldn't back down, because he thought he was just skilled in Lightning Release Ninjutsu, which happens to counteract Deidara's clay bombs.
The question is, will it be fast enough?
If this massive clay dragon explodes, not even Susanoo would likely withstand its power, and Sasori of the Red Sand's puppet core would certainly be destroyed.
Damn it, why is this trip so thrilling!
Sasori of the Red Sand finally managed to use his senior authority to calm the two down, silencing them.
Only Uehara Naraku sat quietly on the dragon's back.
Uehara Naraku ended his control over Uchiha Obito, subtly releasing his grip and sighing softly: "Praising my own prowess is somewhat embarrassing…"
Indeed.
Earlier, while Uchiha Sasuke and Deidara argued, Uehara Naraku was remotely controlling Uchiha Obito to leak information to Hatake Kakashi.
Uehara Naraku had Uchiha Obito appear at the Memorial Stele because he happened to notice Hatake Kakashi.
All of this was Uehara Naraku's design.
Logically and emotionally, this encounter between Uchiha Obito and Hatake Kakashi was a flawless meeting of old friends.
Everything Uehara Naraku did was intended to make Hatake Kakashi realize one thing, that his bonds with Nagato and Konan were very deep.
Every word Konan and Nagato spoke, Uehara Naraku listened to.
As long as Konan and Nagato chose reconciliation with Konoha in war, Uehara Naraku could easily reconcile with Konoha too, even helping against Uchiha Obito and Uchiha Madara.
After a night passed.
Deidara's voice woke everyone up: "Hahaha… we're approaching the Land of Lightning!"
"…"
Uehara Naraku couldn't help but open his eyes to glance at Deidara.
Deidara's face was filled with fatigue; clearly he'd worked hard all night to keep his clay dragon flying.
It seems Deidara really loves his art.
Although Deidara is a foolish and idiotic art lover, his clay dragon isn't slow, slightly inferior to the Ancient Giant Dragon's speed, but not slower than other Summoning Beasts.
It's just that the safety is a bit concerning.
Flying and repairing simultaneously is really fearsome…
According to information from Uehara, Nagato and Konan departed a bit later than them, but considering the distance between The Hidden Rain Village and Konoha, by riding the Archaeopteryx Summoning Beast, they're pretty much near Konoha by now, right?
Uehara Naraku's estimation wasn't wrong.
Just as Hatake Kakashi rushed towards the Hokage Office to report his encounter with Uchiha Obito and the information gleaned, Nagato and Konan had already infiltrated the outskirts of Konoha Village's external defenses.
"Paper Person of God Jutsu!"
Konan slowly opened her hand, controlling sheets of white paper to form a robust tree concealed within the forest, completely flawless in appearance.
This would be Nagato's hiding place.
Because this infiltration into Konoha to capture the Nine-tail faces many enemies, the Pain of Six Paths are the true main force, more suited than Nagato to appear on the battlefield.
Nagato slowly entered the cave, softly asking: "Konan, are you joining the attack on Konoha? If you do, use a paper clone to act with the Pain of Six Paths!"
"Alright."
Konan nodded.
She happened to want to meet a few people in Konoha.
The next moment, countless sheets of paper split from Konan, forming an indistinguishable paper clone, which joined the Pain of Six Paths.
Nagato slowly sat cross-legged inside the tree cave, raising his fingers gradually, a glint shining through the Rinnegan in his eye sockets.
"Then let's begin!"