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Madara Uchiha? Sounds somewhat familiar...
Ayamaru's mind was full of question marks, but his gaze never left the "weirdo" before him. "What is it?"
"Could I borrow your head?" Obito said.
Ayamaru immediately drew a kunai and shouted, "Who are you really!?"
"Ah, don't be so tense. I was only joking," Obito spread his hands. "Look, I don't have any weapons. How could I attack you?"
"What do you actually want?" Ayamaru didn't dare relax, his eyes fixed intently on Obito.
"I want you to deliver a message for me..." Obito said.
"What message?" Ayamaru asked.
"What did the note you took from under the wine barrel say?" Obito inquired.
Ayamaru suddenly dropped his guard and, simultaneously, took the note from his pocket and handed it to Obito.
Obito took the slip, glanced at the content—seeing only the two characters for "Six-Tails"—and scratched his head.
"Zetsu."
From a branch on a large tree to the left of the road, Zetsu's voice came. "What?"
"Get me a piece of paper," Obito said.
"I'm not Konan; I don't carry paper," Zetsu shook his head.
"Then go find some."
"Search his body. He might have some toilet paper on him."
"Go get a pen then."
"Seriously, why not just kill him?" Zetsu was puzzled.
"Stop talking nonsense!" Obito turned and glared at Zetsu in the tree.
Zetsu shook his head helplessly, vanished from the tree, and reappeared shortly after with a pen and a sheet of paper in hand.
"What are you going to do?" Zetsu asked.
"Just watch." Obito unfolded the paper and wrote a line of text.
The Six-Tails Jinchūriki has been captured but has not surrendered. Come quickly. If delayed, there will be no further opportunity.
The handwriting was crooked, but the message was simple and clear.
Obito tore off the blank part of the paper, neatly folded the letter, and placed it back into Ayamaru's pocket.
"You tell your leader they must seize the time. If they're late, the chance will be gone."
Obito lightly patted Ayamaru's shoulder. As if regaining consciousness, Ayamaru sheathed his kunai, walked around Obito, and continued on his way to the Land of Water.
"You're not killing him?" Zetsu asked, perplexed.
"Killing him is easy. But doing that would be tantamount to telling the rebels their movements have been detected. Do you think they'd come out again after that?" Obito countered.
"But not only are you not killing him, you're giving him more detailed information. Why?"
"I want to see a bloodbath. In other words, I want to see Igawa Bu and the rebels annihilate each other. It's like catching mice: block off all other exits, leaving only one hole. To survive, the mouse has to crawl out through that single 'hole.' That 'hole' represents the only chance for survival. In this context, the 'hole' is the period before the Six-Tails Jinchūriki fully submits to Igawa Bu. If they have any sense, they'll launch an offensive against Kirigakure during this window."
"But Igawa Bu is already planning to abandon using the Jinchūriki and wants the power for himself," Zetsu reminded.
"It doesn't matter. They'll still inflict heavy losses on each other. And even if Igawa Bu obtains the Six-Tails' power, without being able to control it, he's just trash. By the way, what does the 'Akatsuki' say? Will they send people?"
"They will."
"Who?" Obito asked.
"Hidan and Kakuzu," Zetsu said.
"Those two..." Obito stroked his chin. "Me, Kisame, Hidan, and Kakuzu... This is quite the lineup... We might achieve unexpected results."
"What about those 'spies' inside Kirigakure? Should we inform Igawa Bu?" Zetsu asked.
"No." Obito waved his hand. "Don't 'scare' the rebels. The rebels' 'main force' is our target; these 'small fries' are insignificant. If we can secure two Tailed Beasts at once, our plan might be accelerated."
"But I still think it's better to eliminate Igawa Bu early, to avoid complications. Besides, our goal is the Tailed Beasts. There's no need to let Igawa attempt..."
Obito wagged his finger. "You need to take a longer view. The Six-Tails—we can retrieve it anytime. But you must understand, our target this time isn't just the Tailed Beasts. Acting early, killing Igawa Bu, seizing the Three-Tails and Six-Tails—that would indeed achieve our immediate objective. But at the same time, because we acted prematurely, it would alert the rebels to the danger, causing them to abandon their attack on Kirigakure. Do you know what that means? It means we'd lose control over Kirigakure. After we leave, the rebels might reconcile and reintegrate with Kirigakure. After the 'Bloody Mist' era, Kirigakure's strength has been greatly diminished. But by integrating the rebels' forces, Kirigakure could still maintain a considerable level of power. When we attack other ninja villages, Kirigakure would still be able to dispatch ninja for support."
"However, if the rebels and Igawa Bu clash in armed conflict, both sides' strength will be drastically depleted. The victor, whether it's the rebels or Igawa, will inevitably win a pyrrhic victory. Even if the winner integrates the loser's forces, the increase in strength would be extremely limited. There's even another possibility... both sides could annihilate each other. In that case, Kirigakure wouldn't be able to recover its breath for 20 years. When we launch attacks on other ninja villages, Kirigakure wouldn't be able to send out a single ninja! So, I want to... uproot them completely!"
Zetsu stared at Obito.
He could sense thick, palpable hatred in Obito's words.
Obito didn't just want to acquire two Tailed Beasts; he wanted both sides to destroy each other, to annihilate Kirigakure's viable fighting force.
If all ninja above the age of ten in Kirigakure were to die, Kirigakure could be effectively erased from the ranks of the Five Great Shinobi Villages. (T/N: Seriously, what a loser...)
Even worse, if the battle were particularly devastating, significant casualties could extend to ninja under ten as well.
As expected... it's still because of that woman, isn't it...
An image of Rin Nohara surfaced in Zetsu's mind.
"Oh, tell Kisame not to keep too close a watch on Igawa Bu. Give him some room to maneuver. Otherwise, if he fails to deal with the rebels, we'll have to step in ourselves," Obito said quietly.
Zetsu nodded, then vanished.
Obito looked in the direction Ayamaru had departed. "I hope you won't disappoint me."
Ever since Obito arrived in Kirigakure, Igawa Bu constantly felt as if someone was watching him from the shadows. It left him with no time to deal with Utakata.
The longer Utakata remained, the higher the probability of something going wrong.
Therefore, once the feeling of being watched disappeared, he hurried to the dungeon.
Earlier, he had deliberately ordered that no food be given to Utakata. So, after two days without eating, Utakata was on the verge of collapse.
"So, have you considered it? Promise to obey me from now on, and I'll release you immediately." Igawa Bu stood a full three meters away from Utakata.
He didn't want to get spat on again.
Utakata let out a cold sneer. "Get lost."
He still wanted to spit at Igawa, but at this moment, he lacked even the strength for that.
"In that case, I can only say... the Six-Tails is mine." Igawa Bu's lips curved into a smile.