Chapter 292: I Really Want a Pair of Eyes

"The front is completely surrounded by White Zetsu, and our White Zetsu can't infiltrate," Black Zetsu said, shrugging.

They were stuck. After all, they're all White Zetsu, so there’s no way to break through.

Moreover, the defense on the other side was tight and intentional.

"Uchiha Fugaku is doomed!"

Uchiha Obito looked toward the mountain with anger in his eyes.

Had he known Uchiha Fugaku was this foolish, he would’ve found a way to seize the Mangekyo Sharingan himself.

He didn’t expect that as soon as they were separated, that guy would rush to his death without even giving him time to prepare!

It completely left Obito in a passive position.

Right now, he really wanted a pair of new eyes.

It wasn’t that his three-tomoe Sharingan wasn’t effective, but without a unique visual jutsu, he couldn’t clearly see the enemy.

"What about his eyes?" Black Zetsu asked. They needed a pair of powerful eyes to control the Tailed Beasts.

If they were to control the Ten-Tails, they could find a way to resurrect Uchiha Madara with Edo Tensei.

And at that point, bringing back a few more powerful figures with Edo Tensei would make sealing the Tailed Beasts easy.

But right now, Uchiha Obito is publicly posing as Madara and needs strong, stable power to walk freely in the ninja world.

Without a steady power base, it would be too easy for someone to exploit him—just like when Kakashi once overpowered him.

"Let's observe for now," Obito said cautiously.

Standing on the edge of the forest, he used his sensory ninjutsu to detect chakra.

After a brief moment, Obito's eyelid twitched, and he quickly concealed himself.

"I didn’t expect that Obito is still alive... and seemingly doing quite well," a silver and yellow figure flashed, appearing where Obito had just stood moments before.

Kakashi glanced around, observing the dense forest ahead, then gave up pursuing.

The White Zetsu surrounding Obito made chasing him difficult.

Besides, Uchiha Raijin had already warned him not to push Obito too hard.

If truly cornered, there was no telling what forbidden techniques Obito might unleash.

"The person who was just here? Now they're two kilometers away. Should we chase?" Kizaru tilted his head thoughtfully.

Clearly, Kakashi knew the identity of that person.

Yet, it was puzzling why he suddenly stopped.

Kakashi had been moving fast enough to catch up.

"After watching one family tragedy, you still want to see more drama?" Kakashi joked, referring to how they had just hidden in the shadows, observing the fight between Sasuke and Uchiha Fugaku.

The fight went as expected. Although Fugaku used the Uchiha clan's Susanoo, he didn’t unleash his unique ocular jutsu at all.

It made the fight uninteresting for Kakashi.

"Was that even a proper fight? The gap between them was too wide, and they were holding back," Kizaru yawned, waving his hand in frustration.

Fugaku didn’t even show a fraction of his strength.

Kizaru had been hoping to witness the unique powers of the Uchiha clan, but Sasuke didn’t give Fugaku the chance.

All he saw was two people going easy on each other, which was utterly boring to him.

"Fugaku had long given up. Losing to Sasuke was inevitable," Kakashi said. "You'll have plenty more chances to see such fights. Right now, there are quite a few strong Uchiha around."

"With the Mangekyo Sharingan no longer as rare as it once was, you can expect to see more of their abilities."

Kakashi spread his hands.

There wasn’t much they could do about these fights. They couldn’t exactly control Fugaku.

However, today's events hadn’t given Sasuke the intended experience they had hoped for.

Originally, they had planned for Sasuke to use Fugaku as a learning experience.

But not only did that not happen, it only made Sasuke more arrogant.

This means Kakashi would have to keep a closer eye on him. If Sasuke went off the rails, it would be difficult to manage.

After all, Sasuke was one of the few with the potential to unlock the Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan.

In the Uchiha clan, those who could unlock it were extremely rare.

In fact, there were hardly any.

After all, most of the Uchiha were from single-parent households.

And not everyone had the ability to awaken the Mangekyo.

But Sasuke came from a family of four, with three members awakening the Mangekyo Sharingan.

Now, having transplanted Hashirama’s cells, Sasuke even had the potential to awaken the Rinnegan.

"Is it really necessary for an Uchiha to lose a parent to awaken the Mangekyo?" Kizaru asked with a hint of unease, looking at Kakashi.

If that were the case, would he have to die once himself?

That idea didn’t sit well with Kizaru.

"No, no! Intense emotional trauma is usually enough," Kakashi reassured him. "You don’t have to die. Besides, here in Dressrosa, we have advanced cloning technology."

"Even if you did die, you could be cloned and resurrected, probably even younger."

"What are you afraid of?" Kakashi scratched his head, feeling that the Uchiha clan had an undeservedly bad reputation.

It seemed like everywhere, the Uchiha were viewed in a negative light.

When they were still in Konoha, the Uchiha had tried to improve their reputation but failed.

Even after entering the world of pirates, Uchiha Raijin hadn’t improved the Uchiha’s image.

Now, anyone familiar with the Uchiha knew them as one of the most sinister clans around.

"Well, that’s a relief!"

Borsalino nodded—just staying alive was good enough.

As for cloning, he'd deal with that when he was bedridden and unable to move.

Right now, he was quite satisfied with himself—who knows what problems might arise?

When it came to technology, Borsalino only trusted Vegapunk.

Everyone else? They were just bad people.

"That chakra earlier, it was Kakashi!"

"Damn it, Kakashi, you actually dared to appear in front of me."

"You bastard, you should die for failing to protect Rin, and you even took my Mangekyo Sharingan!"

In a dark corner, Uchiha Obito was venting his anger, punching the wall repeatedly.

The moment Kakashi got close, Obito had already sensed him.

But it was Kakashi's presence that made him this furious.

Kakashi was the source of all his misery—the one who destroyed everything.

He lost Rin, and he lost his only Mangekyo.

And now Kakashi was ruining his plans again.

"Now that Kakashi has appeared, if I can take back the Mangekyo from him," Obito thought.

"Wouldn't that mean you could finally have both Mangekyo Sharingan, Obito? Isn't this the time to start the plan?" said Black Zetsu, watching as Obito raged, waiting for him to calm down a bit before speaking.

Obito was practically spent, but they couldn't move forward without someone to act in his place.

The Nine-Tails was missing, but there was still chakra left from the Nine-Tails in the world.

If they pieced things together, they could probably manage something.

But the Rinnegan had already been taken by that group.

Now they needed to defeat Kakashi and extract information from him.

Information about Nagato—that was the key.

So, Kakashi showing up wasn't necessarily a bad thing.

"Who are you?! Summoning Uchiha Madara?"

Obito’s eyes flickered—he was smart enough to know that once Madara was involved, he’d be under his control.

Madara’s power was overwhelming, far beyond anything he needed Obito for.

Summoning Madara now would probably just get him scolded.

But Madara could help him get his revenge, at the very least help him reclaim his lost Mangekyo.

In an instant, he weighed the pros and cons.

"Investigate Sasuke’s movements first! It’s obvious that Kakashi is revolving around him!"

"If you want to capture Kakashi, you’ll need to focus on Sasuke."

"And by the way, it seems like there's been less activity than usual this time. Have you found anyone close to Uchiha Raijin?"

"The last time Uchiha Raijin's people appeared, it caused quite a commotion in the ninja world."

Obito thought for a moment and concluded that this was in his favor.

At least he had a chance to reclaim his Mangekyo.

Once he had both eyes back, he'd be unstoppable.

Even against Madara, he felt like he could be bold enough to challenge him.

"I'll send White Zetsu to investigate."

Black Zetsu nodded, pleased.

If Madara were to reemerge, all their problems would be solved.

Even if Kakashi had incredible abilities, he couldn’t match Madara.

After all, Uchiha Madara was the strongest Uchiha since Indra himself.

Without the Rinnegan, no one stood a chance against Madara.

And especially not an outsider like Kakashi who possessed the Uchiha's Sharingan.

"Alright, it’s up to you! Don’t mess this up."

Obito nodded, his gray-white figure disappearing from the spot.

This place was full of his pain—he couldn’t bear to stay here another moment.

Staying here would only subject him to ridicule, especially with White Zetsu's eyes full of scorn, making him feel like a useless failure.

But right now, who wasn’t a failure?

Didn’t White Zetsu lose someone too?

"Danzo, I think this is unwise. Starting a war with the Hidden Mist and Hidden Cloud isn’t a good idea!"

"Konoha has only had a few years of peace and hasn’t fully recovered."

"If we’re going to war, you need to wait a few more years. Right now is too soon."

Hiruzen Sarutobi sat in a small conference room, dressed casually, holding a pipe, and spoke with concern in his eyes. Konoha couldn’t handle this kind of chaos right now.

In the past, Konoha was large and strong—fighting three countries at once wasn’t out of the question.

But now? They were lucky if they could even gather enough troops for a single battlefield.

Uchiha Raijin hadn’t just torn apart Konoha from the inside, but also from its very foundations.

The brilliant talents Konoha once prided itself on were gone.

They had all been taken by Uchiha Raijin.

What geniuses were left in Konoha now?

Does his grandson count?

And relying on Jiraiya? Forget it.

Jiraiya needed to stay in the heart of Konoha to keep the civilians calm.

The last war had shaken Konoha to its core—its citizens felt no sense of security.

In the past, Konoha could suppress any unrest.

But since the Uchiha had left, taking with them the major clans—and even a large portion of the Hyuga branch family—Konoha's strength had been significantly reduced.

It was only marginally stronger than the Hidden Sand, which was the weakest of the Five Great Nations.

Konoha had only had a few years of peace to slowly recover.

In truth, it would take another 20 years for Konoha to regain its full strength.

Starting a war now would just push Konoha into the fire.

And besides, who could they send to fight?

Don’t expect him to lead the charge—Hiruzen just wanted to stay in Konoha and raise his grandson.

At the very least, he needed to turn that mischievous boy into someone capable.

"Hmph! Do you think the other villages are standing still while Konoha recovers?"

"Right now, the Hidden Cloud is just as weakened as we are, having lost two Tailed Beasts. Their strength is at an all-time low."

"And they’ve taken over so many of Konoha’s missions—if we want to recover, we need to take that back."

Danzo glared at Hiruzen as he spoke. He also wanted Konoha to wait, but time wasn’t on their side—he was getting old, and Konoha couldn’t afford to wait.

While Konoha was recovering, the Hidden Cloud was growing stronger by the day, feeding on their missions.

If they didn’t act now, even if Konoha fully recovered, there’d be no guarantee they could defeat the Hidden Cloud.

The most important thing now was to regain control of their mission shares.

"Who’s going to fight in this war?"

Hiruzen wasn’t provoked by Danzo's anger and calmly asked the key question.

Who could they send to fight?

There were hardly any capable leaders left in Konoha.

"I'll lead the charge myself! I’ll make that young fool admit his mistakes."

Danzo lifted his head confidently.

His strength had reached its peak.

With his Mangekyo Sharingan and an arm full of Sharingan, even the Raikage would be no match for him.

Danzo had learned how to use the eye and fully understood its power.

In a moment, he could ensure the Hidden Cloud’s defeat.

"Fine! You can go! But Konoha doesn’t have many troops for you!"

"I can only give you 50 ninjas—the rest, you’ll have to figure out yourself."

Hiruzen responded plainly.

He wasn’t bothered by Danzo anymore.

The man was born to stir up trouble.

He’d leave the job of controlling Danzo to Jiraiya.