"Then we have a deal."
Gen Takuya released the technique and withdrew his hand.
"To be honest," he added, voice still warped and cold, "I'm not like Hanzō. I don't enjoy threatening people with someone they love."
He wasn't lying.
He despised the method.
But it worked.
And when people refused to cooperate…
Sometimes you had to learn from the worst.
As his hand left the water prison, the jutsu dissolved instantly.
Nagato stared, stunned.
He'd expected Gen Takuya to take the Demonic Statue first… and then release Konan.
But Gen Takuya released her immediately.
For a moment, Nagato genuinely didn't know what to think.
This masked man felt…
Strangely honest.
Konan stumbled free, drenched and shaken.
She looked at Gen Takuya with complicated eyes, but she didn't attack again.
She understood.
She couldn't win.
And if she provoked him now, she wouldn't just die—
Nagato would die too.
She returned to Nagato's side and helped him stand.
Nagato's voice was strained.
"You can take it now. If you have a way."
The Demonic Statue towered behind him—monstrous, immovable, absurdly large.
Gen Takuya gave a careless shrug.
"That's not your concern."
He walked toward the statue.
Up close, it felt like stone beneath his palm—
Cold.
Rough.
But alive in a way that made the skin crawl.
Then—
"Watch out!" Nagato suddenly shouted.
A second masked man rose behind Gen Takuya like a ghost and reached out toward him.
Konan's breath caught.
Nagato's eyes sharpened.
Even after everything, Nagato still warned him.
Gen Takuya's mind flicked with grim approval.
Not bad.
And yet—
That warning wasn't necessary.
Gen Takuya had been guarding against Uchiha Obito the entire time.
That was why he released Konan early.
Not because he was "honest."
Because if he kept her hostage until after taking the statue—
Obito would intervene instantly to save her.
Then Gen Takuya would face three enemies at once.
So he gambled.
He gambled that Nagato would keep his word—
Because the Nagato he knew was the kind of man who would.
And he won that gamble.
Even better—
Nagato's warning proved Gen Takuya had planted a favorable impression in him.
Gen Takuya almost laughed.
If they weren't doomed by fate… these three really could have walked toward the light.
Too bad.
They weren't the main characters.
Gen Takuya spun with a kunai in hand, slashing toward Obito.
The blade passed straight through Obito's body.
Intangibility.
Kamui.
Obito still had no name for the technique yet. That would come later—when Kakashi inherited the same power and gave it a name.
But Gen Takuya knew what it was.
He just couldn't act like he knew.
That first strike had been necessary—so Obito wouldn't grow suspicious.
In the next instant, Gen Takuya's other hand formed seals.
Water erupted around his body—thin, razor-edged streams spinning like blades.
"Water Release: Revolving Water Blades!"
Obito's Kamui required touch to pull someone into the other space.
He couldn't warp Gen Takuya from a distance like Kakashi would eventually do.
He needed his hand on Gen Takuya's body.
But to touch him, Obito had to become solid.
And the moment he became solid—
Those water blades would shear his arm off.
Obito's reaching hand halted.
He didn't doubt the cutting power for a second.
If he lost that arm…
Could he still use Kamui properly?
Could he still drag this man into his space?
Probably not.
Obito's single visible eye narrowed.
Fast reaction.
Too fast.
Gen Takuya's earlier kunai strike suggested he hadn't known—
But this counter suggested the opposite.
Obito couldn't decide which was true.
Gen Takuya didn't wait.
He poured chakra into his legs and vanished with Body Flicker, creating distance.
"Looks like I'm not the only one who likes to hide and watch," Gen Takuya said, voice taunting as he retreated.
Nagato and Konan both tensed, eyes tightening.
Nagato had sensed Gen Takuya.
But Obito?
Obito had been invisible to him.
Just like before—when that masked man had appeared inside the Akatsuki's circle as if he'd always been there.
Maybe…
Maybe he had always been there.
Watching.
Listening.
Waiting.
Obito clenched his teeth behind the mask.
He hadn't wanted to reveal himself—not like this.
If he appeared now, it proved he'd been watching them.
It proved he'd allowed Yahiko to die.
It made future cooperation harder.
But he had no choice.
Was he supposed to let Gen Takuya take the Demonic Statue?
Impossible.
Still…
Even Obito felt bitter.
If he'd moved earlier—when Konan was trapped—
He could've "rescued" her and earned trust.
But now?
That chance was gone.
Because no one could've predicted Gen Takuya would release Konan immediately after the agreement.
No one.
Not even him.
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