Land of Fire, Northern Region.
Deep within the Mountains' Graveyard, a massive underground cavern.
Accompanied by a distortion in the void, Obito, wearing a white one-eyed mask, appeared in the pitch-black cave.
Almost instantly.
As Obito sat upon Uchiha Madara's former throne, countless White Zetsu came scurrying over, chattering away.
"Obito, you're back!"
"Is the Hidden Mist Village fun? Why didn't you take me with you?"
"I wanted to go too, the human world is so interesting!"
"I want to eat fish balls, deluxe ramen, and barbecue. I want to go to the human world too!"
"I'm more curious about what it feels like to poop."
"..."
A cacophony of voices flooded into Obito's eardrums.
Having just sat down and removed his mask, Obito felt like his head was about to explode.
He had a splitting headache!
If not for the fact that these White Zetsu were useful—and because they had no concept of life or death, making them impossible to intimidate—he really would have wanted to kill them all right then and there!
He had been exhausted these past two years. To avenge his beloved Rin Nohara and to weaken the ninja villages for the Eye of the Moon Plan, he had been busy working over in the Hidden Mist.
As for Konoha?
He had only arranged for dozens of ordinary White Zetsu to be there, with White Zetsu commanding and monitoring them. Unless the Uchiha were on the brink of extinction, he didn't have the time to wait there constantly.
After these two years, he had gained much from the Hidden Mist!
Although that old fogey Genji was troublesome, by using his pawn Yagura Karatachi—the controlled Fourth Hokage—he had forcibly implemented the Bloody Mist policy.
Now that the Hidden Mist was thoroughly depleted, a slightly relaxed Obito naturally returned here.
But, damn it.
Before he could even catch his breath, these chattering White Zetsu made him feel like he'd have been better off staying in the Hidden Mist.
"Enough, all of you shut up!"
"Who can tell me where Black Zetsu is right now?"
Obito let out a furious roar, causing the many White Zetsu to freeze.
However, in the blink of an eye.
All the White Zetsu began chattering and making a racket again. Simple-minded to the point of being idiots, they didn't understand what anger was and continued their moronic idle talk as they pleased.
"Obito is so scary, he actually yelled at us!"
"Poor us, not only are we used as cannon fodder by Black Zetsu and sent on all sorts of missions, but now we're being yelled at by Obito!"
"Obito isn't cute at all anymore!"
"..."
The various White Zetsu spoke up one after another.
But at least one of them managed to mention to Obito: "Black Zetsu is on a mission over with Nagato. It seems Orochimaru suddenly disappeared, so Nagato sent Black Zetsu to find him."
"Orochimaru disappeared?" Obito froze on the spot.
However, he shook his head, too lazy to think about such a'small matter.' After a moment of silence, he said, "Tell Black Zetsu to return immediately!"
"Okay, Obito," White Zetsu nodded.
Immediately after.
White Zetsu used the Mayfly Technique to merge his body into the earth, transmitting through trees, plant roots, and underground mycelium like 'biological wires.' He instantly contacted Black Zetsu far away in Konoha and briefly relayed the information.
Then, a short while later.
Black Zetsu grew out from the ground. He was pitch black all over, but only those familiar with him could sense his anger.
"Black Zetsu, you're angry?"
"Did you find Orochimaru? Or did Orochimaru betray the Akatsuki Organization?"
Sensing that Black Zetsu's mood was off, Obito couldn't help but ask a couple of questions.
Clearly.
Having dealt with Black Zetsu for so long, he could naturally detect his rage.
And to this.
Hearing the inquiry, Black Zetsu said through gritted teeth, "Orochimaru has indeed defected, and he has rejoined Konoha."
"How can that be?" Obito was stunned, then shook his head. "But, forget it!"
"He's just one Orochimaru. If he defected, so be it."
"Since he's rejoined Konoha, there's no need to pay him any mind for now. The Akatsuki Organization is still in its dormant phase, and the Six-Tails hasn't been revived yet. It's not the best time to collect the Tailed Beasts."
"Next, it's the Uchiha's turn!"
"The Uchiha's Sharingan is too much of a counter to the Tailed Beasts. To prevent more Mangekyo from being born and to continue weakening Konoha's strength to provide a better environment for the Eye of the Moon Plan..."
"The Uchiha must die!"
"Since you've just come back from Konoha, give me a brief summary of the situation there. Is the Uchiha Radical Faction still not ready to revolt?"
At this moment, Obito's tone was extremely cold.
Clearly.
He didn't have a single shred of goodwill toward the Uchiha Clan!
After all, he had been careless and outspoken since childhood, a personality that simply didn't fit in with the Uchiha. Consequently, he had suffered all kinds of exclusion from them since he was young.
If not for the fact that the Uchiha clansmen were too arrogant to bother bullying a 'dead last' like him—resorting only to cold treatment—and the fact that Obito was naturally carefree, his personality would have turned twisted long ago.
But, similarly.
The old Obito might not have cared because he had his grandmother, Rin, Kakashi, and the Minato Namikaze couple as friends and family. He didn't care about the Uchiha's nonsense anyway, as he didn't want to associate with them.
So after his descent into darkness, he naturally didn't care about the Uchiha!
Coupled with Rin Nohara's death, which left him in total despair regarding the world, he naturally wanted to completely wipe out the Uchiha for the sake of the Eye of the Moon Plan.
On the other side.
Hearing Obito's question, Black Zetsu became even more infuriated.
Then.
Under Obito's puzzled gaze, he spoke through gritted teeth.
"The Uchiha?"
"They are living quite well right now. They succeeded in their rebellion long ago and have even managed to become the Hokage."
"And more importantly, the Uchiha Clan has now firmly secured the position of Hokage!"
"The original Konoha High Command, including Hiruzen Sarutobi, has been completely controlled, suppressed, and broken apart. They've lost all value for being used."
"Current Konoha is as solid as a monolith!"
"All the Ninja Clan and Civilians have been gathered under the Uchiha. It's going to be difficult for us to move against them now!"
Hiss!
As Black Zetsu spoke, Obito instantly froze in place.
What the heck?
Is there something wrong with my ears?
The Uchiha revolted long ago—they even damn well succeeded—and they've already secured the seat of Hokage, with all the Ninja Clan completely submitting?
Am I still dreaming?
How is that possible?
As a member of the Uchiha Clan, Obito knew his clansmen's personalities very well.
They might revolt, but how could they possibly succeed?
Let alone making all the major Ninja Clan submit completely... to Obito, this sounded like an April Fool's joke!