Malphegor
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HSU: Ch. 199
🕑 Added 2025-02-14 22:03:50 +0000 UTCObito had spent a full six years in Kumo under the identity of Tobiyama.
During these six years, he had demonstrated immense patience.
With great patience, he had climbed from a low-ranking genin to a jonin.
This was far more patient than when he was in Kiri—back then, he had simply taken over as Mizukage.
Of course, with Kamui in his possession, he wasn't actually stuck in Kumo the whole time.
He had no real intention of becoming a Kumo ninja.
Using his missions as an excuse to leave the village, he still found time to meet with Black Zetsu.
And with Akatsuki.
The ninja world had changed a lot in recent years.
The military strength of the Lands of Earth, Fire, and Water had been steadily rising, leading to a surge in the power of Iwa, Konoha, and Kiri. Together, these three villages had formed a sort of iron curtain, severing most of the connections between Kumo and Suna.
Yet beneath this illusion of a honeymoon period, tensions among the three villages were growing.
The Association had swallowed nearly half of the profits from trade among the three nations and reinvested them into the Land of Fire, further widening its financial gap over the others.
This wealth, in turn, nurtured Konoha.
Meanwhile, folks in Iwa and Kiri were getting fed up with the scraps they were getting. The Tsuchikage and Mizukage were doing their best to keep things under control, but the lower ranks weren't staying quiet about it anymore.
This presented an opportunity for Kumo.
To the west, the Land of Wind remained silent.
As Konoha's ally, Suna had been on a downward spiral for years, and even the Fourth Kazekage's Gold Dust couldn't stop it.
Despite being allies, Konoha applied the Fourth Hokage's new alliance treaty to Iwa and Kiri while continuing to impose the old Third Hokage-era treaty on Suna.
Though Suna requested a treaty update, Konoha politely declined under the pretense of respecting the decisions of past Hokage.
Compared to the new treaty, the old one was a blatant method of suppression and weakening under the guise of an alliance.
The most devastating impact came from mission assignments—Konoha still controlled a third of the Land of Wind's mission quota.
Masashi had become less active in external missions since Year 56. By Year 57, he had even withdrawn from Konoha's diplomatic affairs.
Nowadays, Konoha's most prominent "mission sweepers" were Kakashi, Guy, and Itachi.
But to Obito, Masashi had merely hidden himself deeper.
While frontline ninjas gradually forgot about the White Ghost, members of Akatsuki, who took on secretive, off-the-books assignments, had repeatedly encountered Masashi.
It seemed he was also searching for the whereabouts of the tailed beasts.
Kumo had nearly lost the Eight-Tails again. Even so, Masashi managed to steal a portion of its chakra.
Obito didn't know what Masashi was planning, but he was sure it wasn't good for the Eye of the Moon Plan.
However, in recent years, Masashi's actions had seemed more restrained.
But in Obito's eyes, that only meant he was hiding his true intentions—appearing dull while sharpening his own blade.
He knew better than anyone just how stubborn Masashi was. After all, they had grown up together.
Having a family had indeed given Masashi a weakness. But that only meant he would compensate by exerting even more power in other areas.
For that reason, Obito had also been lying low for years.
He couldn't let Masashi know he was in Kumo.
He hadn't even considered targeting Masashi's children. A year ago, when Kumo managed to recapture the Eight-Tails, Masashi suddenly appeared—and the power he displayed was terrifying.
If not for certain special circumstances, many of the Kumo ninjas present that day would never have made it back alive.
Fortunately, Obito had only been a chunin at the time. From the start, he had been ordered to retreat and call for reinforcements. Otherwise, he might have been exposed.
From a distance, he had seen a fully formed Susanoo rise up, using wind jutsu to slice off one of the Eight-Tails' arms—along with half of a distant mountain.
That was a complete Susanoo.
Obito had to admit—his current strength, with only one Mangekyō Sharingan, was no match for Masashi.
He had grown stronger, but Masashi hadn't stayed stagnant either.
Kamui could keep him safe, but that was his limit.
Unless he reclaimed his other eye.
But after much deliberation—just like many times before—he avoided that choice.
To evade Masashi's power, Black Zetsu had even moved their new base to the Land of Iron.
It was remote and well-hidden.
The only thing that gave Obito some comfort was that Black Zetsu had finally recognized a simple truth—Masashi was not on their side.
Yet, despite that, Black Zetsu still had no personal grudge against him. He only found it regrettable.
Madara's Will—such an idiot! No wonder he was defeated by the First Hokage!
On this particular day, Obito accepted an assignment to escort some documents—another excuse to slip out of the village.
The mission was issued by the acting Raikage, intended for Suna.
But in reality, it was just a test.
For him, it was effortless.
The "barrier" formed by Iwa and Konoha was growing weaker by the day. He didn't even need Kamui to infiltrate it.
However, he couldn't afford to complete the task too easily—because it was too convenient.
He had other plans—he needed to visit Ame.
And he wanted to delay his return. The female ninja in Kumo were getting on his nerves.
Always asking if he'd eaten, if he was sleeping well.
What did it matter to them? Annoying.
Kumo was full of fake kindness.
Why not just admit they respected power? Then he'd challenge the Raikage right away.
They had no right to call Konoha weaklings. They were just as bad—disgusting.
First, Obito slipped into the Land of Rice Fields.
A new village had emerged there—Oto, established by Orochimaru. Because of this connection, Oto and Ame were officially allies.
Once in the Land of Rice Fields, he donned a black cloak with red clouds, put on his mask, and boldly used Oto's channels to enter the Land of Waterfalls, then into the Land of Grass.
Before leaving the country, he visited Kannabi Bridge.
Even though no traces of war remained, he always stopped by whenever he passed through the Land of Grass.
This was where his life had changed.
A day later, he entered the Land of Rain, using Kamui to appear in Ame.
---
The rain in Ame never seemed to stop.
Obito did not like the Land of Rain.
He did not like rainy days.
They always reminded him of the day Rin died.
That day, blood flowed like water—a lot of it.
As he twisted space with Kamui and emerged within Ame, torrential rain poured down, perfectly concealing the clothes he wore.
In the heavy downpour, even a ninja would struggle to see clearly.
Within this rain, he could sense Nagato's chakra.
Nagato was getting stronger.
In this era, there were few who could match Masashi in strength. Nagato might be the only one who surpassed him slightly.
After all, the Rinnegan originally belonged to Madara—a superior evolution of the Sharingan.
Obito's gaze fell upon the tallest tower in Ame.
Though Nagato had become the ruler of the village, Akatsuki still operated independently. To outsiders, Akatsuki and Ame were separate entities. Within the Land of Rain, the two remained distinct organizations that merely cooperated.
However, in reality, the Ame ninjas took pride in acting under Akatsuki's name. Even so, Nagato rarely expanded the organization's ranks.
Still so kind, Nagato...
Obito walked toward the tower.
Kindness did not save people, nor did it fulfill dreams.
Dreams were achieved through power.
Masashi's strength was not just his own—he had allies. Hokage, Mizukage, Tsuchikage.
Even those increasingly dissatisfied with Konoha did not oppose the systems he implemented.
They were displeased with the Hokage.
But Masashi? They treated him as an honored guest, eager to drink and celebrate with him.
He was the most popular Uchiha in history, with admirers across the ninja world.
Obito's enemies were everyone. Even Madara could not be fully trusted.
As he approached the tower, he suddenly looked up. His lone black eye transformed into the Sharingan.
He saw Nagato standing atop the high platform.
A cold smirk crossed Obito's lips as he activated Kamui and disappeared.
Looking down on him? Nagato was unqualified.
On the platform, space twisted, stirring the rain. He appeared before Nagato, emerging with a whirlpool of water.
"Ah, Tobi, what are you here for?" Nagato's tone was far from polite.
Cooperation did not mean trust.
Otherwise, he would not have been expelled and warned by Yahiko years ago.
"Nagato, do you really see yourself as a god?" Obito sneered. "Your subordinates are nothing but wild dogs following the strong. As for Ame, I could destroy it with a flick of my wrist. Have their empty praises made you arrogant?"
"Whether I've lost my way is one thing," Nagato countered. "But your tone sounds more and more like those from Kumo. Did a kunoichi there make you start considering yourself a Raikage?"
Who couldn't throw insults?
They kept staring at each other.
"... Let's talk about something else." Obito broke the silence.
"Go on." Nagato kept a straight face.
"You haven't started collecting the tailed beasts recklessly, have you?"
"Oh? Does the future Raikage disapprove?"
"Konoha's alliances are shifting. Things with Kiri remain stable, but relations with Iwa have soured, and Suna is even worse."
Ignoring Nagato's sarcastic tone, Obito continued sharing intelligence from Kumo.
"If we start collecting the tailed beasts too soon, it might push these villages back into a stable alliance, which would be bad for us."
"Akatsuki still lacks manpower," Nagato admitted. "I wasn't planning to act just yet. But Akatsuki doesn't need your permission to act. As long as we collect them quickly, the ninja villages won't be able to stop us."
"You're being arrogant, Nagato." Obito scoffed. "If the Five Great Shinobi Villages don't weaken each other further, how many tailed beasts can you really capture? Akatsuki's current power is still insufficient to challenge Konoha. Iwa and Kiri remain Konoha's allies, and when the time comes, even Kumo will have no choice but to side with them."
"I'll eliminate their strongest fighters."
"You won't." Obito chuckled. "There are still too many Kage-level ninjas. To get rid of them, we need them to take each other out."
Poor fool. At least jinchūriki are vessels for their Tailed Beasts.
But you? You're merely a vessel for Madara's eyes.
And yet, completely unaware of this, you look down on other vessels. How pitiful.
"What do you propose?"
"I can't act freely in Kumo right now. This will have to be handled by Akatsuki. I'll help you establish connections."
Nagato nodded without further comment.
The main reason he worked with Obito was the resources he provided.
At present, Akatsuki still lacked enough elite forces to support their tailed beast collection plan.
The power of the tailed beasts was effective against ordinary organizations, but against Kage-level opponents, it was meaningless.
Without reducing the number of these high-level threats, collecting the Tailed Beasts was futile.
For this, Nagato needed more resources. More strong allies.
Including the man before him.
As for whether Obito should be eliminated in the future, that was a matter for another time.
"I'll contact you through Orochimaru," Obito said, preparing to leave.
"Wait." Nagato stopped him.
Obito turned back just as he was about to use Kamui.
"Orochimaru is not trustworthy," Nagato said. "You should contact us directly. His ties with the Uchiha clan are unclear. He cannot be trusted. Avoid him."
"There is no trust between us anyway," Obito rejected the idea. "If you want direct contact, you'll have to come to Kumo yourself."
With that, he activated Kamui and vanished. The swirling water, caught in it, splashed onto Nagato's feet as he disappeared.
"... That Tobi."
Nagato stood on the platform for a long time, sensing his surroundings carefully. Only after confirming Obito had truly left did he turn around and re-enter the building.
Konan was making tea.
"Have some hot tea, Nagato," she said softly. "Those eyes of yours place a heavy burden on you. Try to use them less when possible."
"... Mm." The earlier intensity was gone from Nagato's demeanor. He sat quietly in front of Konan, took the cup, and sipped the tea.
