Trees Chapter 334 Obito: Damn It! Where’s Amegakure?

Naruto was seriously starting to suspect that Uzumaki Stark was trying to stir up trouble just to piss him off enough to punch him into oblivion.

Jashin + Bug = ?

Even if he didn’t know exactly what kind of disaster this equation would lead to, he was sure it wasn’t anything good!!

"Come on!"

"If you think I messed up, then just punch me to smithereens!"

Uzumaki Stark, dangling in mid-air, looked almost excited as he saw Naruto’s clenched fist. His tone was a mix of righteous fury and theatrical self-reproach.

"Main body… this time, it’s all my fault!"

"Feel free to blow me up with a single punch to vent your anger!"

"And as for all the knowledge I’ve accumulated over the years… take it! Take it all!"

"I, Uzumaki Stark, swear I won’t complain even once!"

With his eyes shut tight, Stark struck a martyr’s pose, fully prepared to be annihilated.

"Naruto-kun, I’ll head back first."

Hinata gently poked Naruto’s shoulder. She wasn’t stupid… she knew her man had business to deal with and didn’t want to get in the way.

"Alright."

Naruto acknowledged her before turning his glare back to Uzumaki Stark.

"Move it!"

"Take me to see Shino first!"

Truth be told, he could just obliterate Stark right now, absorb all his memories, and later summon a bunch of research-specialized shadow clones.

But…

Naruto knew himself well enough.

If one Uzumaki Stark could cause this much chaos on a regular basis, he didn’t even want to imagine what would happen if he left multiple shadow clones unsupervised. The next morning, he might wake up to find the entire Shinobi World in flames.

"Tch… fine."

Uzumaki Stark clicked his tongue in disappointment before gesturing for Naruto to open a portal.

Naruto didn’t waste time… he tossed out a glowing gate, grabbed Stark, and dragged him through.

Sasuke, sensing the severity of the situation, followed as well.

He needed to see just what the hell was going on with that Aburame Clan’s member.

…

Meanwhile, Obito appeared on the outskirts of the Akatsuki’s hideout.

"Obito, with your current strength, Nagato stands no chance against you."

"Hehehehe..."

Black Zetsu emerged from the ground, cackling like a proper villain.

But internally, he was sweating bullets.

He wanted to hurry and free its mother, but at the same time, it was terrified that the increasingly monstrous Shinobi World might spawn something capable of harming her.

"Nagato…"

"He’s nothing more than a pawn."

Obito snorted coldly, and the trademark arrogance of the Uchiha Clan flaring up once more.

A few days ago, he had single-handedly fought Kakashi and his father to a standstill.

If those two hadn’t run away, he was confident he could’ve taken them down.

But when he thought of Sakumo who suddenly came back to life, Obito felt a little angry again.

‘It must be that damn Nagato!’

‘He actually resurrected people who had been dead for so many years like it was nothing.’

Still, Obito couldn’t help but feel a twisted sense of relief.

‘Good thing…’

‘I hid Rin’s remains well. No one will ever defile them.’

‘Rin… just wait for me.’

‘I’ll definitely create a world where you exist.’

With that thought, Obito turned his gaze toward the Akatsuki’s hideout, his body dissolving into swirling black mist as he advanced.

But when he and Black Zetsu arrived in Amegakure, they froze at the sight before them.

"…Huh?"

‘Where the hell is Amegakure?!’

‘Where did such a huge village go?’

Obito refused to believe it. He and Black Zetsu scoured the ruins, turning over every scrap of debris, but there wasn’t a single soul in sight.

"What the hell!!!"

"Where’s the Akatsuki!?"

Obito ripped off his mask and hurled it to the ground in fury.

After all the effort he’d put into devouring the negativity-charged Reibi and training for days just to come take Nagato’s eyes…

This is what he found?!

Amegakure… The Akatsuki…

All gone!!

“Damn it! Damn it!!”

"Where the hell did Nagato run off to!?"

Obito roared at the sky, his voice echoing through the ruins. Black Zetsu wisely kept his mouth shut.

After a long silence, seeing Obito had somewhat calmed down, Black Zetsu cautiously offered a suggestion.

"Uh…"

"Maybe just send a message and ask?"

"Kisame’s still on our side."

Hearing this, Obito's eye lit up, and he smacked his thigh.

‘Right!’

‘How could I have forgotten about this?!’

"I'll just call Kisame directly."

"Hmph! Let’s see where the Akatsuki ran off to."

Obito snorted coldly, pulling out his phone and dialing Kisame for a voice call.

Beep… beep… beep…

The line rang for about thirty seconds before Kisame finally picked up the call.

"Hello, this is Kakuzu’s 'Have You Eaten Yet?' Delivery Service speaking."

"Sir, if you’ve placed an order, please wait a moment. I’ll do my best to deliver your meal within the promised time."

Obito: "…?"

Black Zetsu: "…?"

‘Wait… what???’

‘What kind of nonsense was this?’

Obito recognized Kisame’s voice immediately, but the words coming out of his mouth made zero sense.

For a second, Obito wondered if he’d dialed the wrong number. He even pulled the phone back to double-check the contact name.

And when Obito saw that the other person's username was ‘Hoshigaki Kisame’, his brain short-circuited.

"Hello? Sir?"

"Why are you not saying anything?"

"If you don’t speak, I’m hanging up."

Kisame, who was still in the middle of a delivery, muttered under his breath. He had five more orders to drop off and no time for idle chatter.

If he got delayed and the food arrived late...

Kakuzu would dock his pay for the whole day.

"It’s me… Uchiha Madara."

It took Obito a solid few seconds to process that this was indeed the Kisame he was looking for.

He had no idea what kind of stupid act this idiot was putting on, but right now, all he needed was intel on Nagato.

"Pfft… Hahahahaha!"

Kisame burst out laughing the moment he heard Obito’s words.

But just as quickly, his voice turned cold.

"Uchiha Obito, you think everyone is an idiot like you?"

The mere thought of this pissed Kisame off.

‘I once believed in this man so much, believed in his grand vision of a ‘better world’.’

‘I had even swallowed all that crap about ‘I would never lie to you’.’

‘And what did I get in return?’

‘This bastard had the audacity to open with ‘I am Uchiha Madara’…’

Especially after this guy's identity was exposed by Kurosaki Ichigo, he actually still dared to use such words to deceive me!!’

‘I, Hoshigaki Kisame, felt betrayed!’

‘And besides...’

‘Did Uchiha Obito really think I was that stupid?!’

Getting cursed like that left Obito stiff with rage, his blood boiling.

‘It’s all that damn yellow-haired guy’s fault!!’

‘If it weren't for him...’

‘No one would’ve known my true identity!’

Obito wanted to snap back, but Black Zetsu yanked on his sleeve, shaking his head furiously.

Right now, Kisame was their only lead to Nagato.

No matter how angry he was, Obito had to swallow his anger.

"It’s… complicated. I can explain…"

"Kisame, just tell me… where is the Akatsuki now?"

"Dumbass!!"

Kisame cursed into the phone before hanging up, and immediately blacklisted Obito’s number.

"You're trying to scam information from me!"

"Dream on!"

Even after hanging up, Kisame was still fuming, grumbling curses under his breath as he rushed to his next delivery.

Ding dong…

Halfway through the run, Kisame's phone rang again. Thinking it was Obito again, he picked up the phone and was about to curse, but when he saw that the sender of the message was Itachi-san, Kisame suddenly laughed.

[Beloved Little Brother: Kisame, lend me some money… 5 million ryo.]