Jūzō ran his hand along the cold backrest of the interrogation room chair, his eyes flickering with suspicion as they shifted from Jiraiya, to Uchiha Keizumi, and finally to the ninja cat.
"Huff…"
Why did it feel like Uchiha Keizumi was the one truly in Akatsuki, while he himself was just some dispensable outsider?
The corner of Jūzō's mouth twitched. Even though he was technically a member of Akatsuki, he actually knew less than Uchiha Keizumi did.
That realization left him with a strange, stinging sense of defeat.
The worst part was—this meant he couldn't even use the bits of Akatsuki intel he was allowed to share in exchange for information on "Uchiha Madara." By accident, he had even overheard secrets he was never supposed to hear, and it gave Jūzō a splitting headache.
It was then that he noticed Uchiha Keizumi's gaze fall directly on him.
And once more, Keizumi spoke. This Lava Release beast didn't demand an exchange of crucial intel at all.
Instead, bypassing the topic of Konan and Nagato, he went straight to the heart of the matter, speaking coldly: "The so-called 'Uchiha Madara' in Akatsuki isn't the real Uchiha Madara. The true Uchiha Madara died many years ago."
Just as Keizumi had no responsibility or obligation to keep Konan and Nagato's secrets, he had even less reason to keep Uchiha Obito's.
Keizumi spoke with the casual indifference of discussing the weather: "The 'Uchiha Madara' within Akatsuki is actually named Uchiha Obito. He is a heinous villain, one that must be purged in the name of justice."
"He merely borrows Madara's name to cooperate with Nagato and Konan. Or rather, he's exploiting them, trying to use Akatsuki's power to achieve his own goals."
Tachibana Jirō chimed in with a flick of his tail: "Meow, that cowardly rat Uchiha Obito also has a very strange Mangekyō Sharingan. It can make his body intangible—no one can touch him."
"Keizumi-sama already said it was a pretty shameless ability. Meow, I think it was called something like…"
"…Kamui Intangibility?!"
Jūzō: "!!"
Hiss! So that woman Konan's so-called "Uchiha Madara" was a fake!
Even she had been deceived by the man named Uchiha Obito!
No—
She must have suspected something was off, but hadn't found the proof yet. That was why she sent him to Konoha to make contact with Uchiha Keizumi, and ordered him to pry information about Uchiha Madara from him!
Suddenly, Jūzō saw it all clearly.
But…
He also realized he had just heard yet another secret he was never supposed to know.
If the events inside this interrogation room leaked out, not only would Konan discard him once he outlived his usefulness, but that man called Uchiha Obito would likely try to kill him as well.
Because now—he knew far too much.
Uchiha Keizumi continued calmly: "It's true, the ability is quite shameless. But it's not without weaknesses. His intangibility can only last five minutes. After those five minutes, he has to go through a cooldown period before he can use it again. As for exactly how long that cooldown lasts… for now, that remains unknown."
Jūzō drew in a deep breath, his expression carrying a trace of unease.
"You… just laid out so much critical information like that—and without demanding any exchange from me?"
He couldn't decide whether to call Uchiha Keizumi too generous…
Or suspect that Uchiha Keizumi was actually trying to harm him.
To make him die faster the more he knew?!
Uchiha Keizumi replied coolly, "In my eyes, none of this is a secret, nor even intel. It's simply the basic information about a criminal that justice must execute. Tell me—when the Police Force issues a wanted poster, does the list of crimes and details about the criminal count as a 'secret'?"
"On the contrary," he paused, then continued.
"The Police Force would rather list every detail about the criminal as clearly as possible. They'd rather see the world know everything there is to know about that criminal."
Jūzō opened his mouth but didn't continue.
He felt that his way of thinking wasn't on the same wavelength as Uchiha Keizumi's.
Or rather…
Keizumi's scope was simply broader than his own.
His own thoughts were still those of a shinobi. But the other—he seemed to have already stepped beyond what a shinobi was. That was the sudden thought that sprang up in Jūzō's mind.
"Uchiha Obito…"
Jiraiya's face grew hot. The name struck him as oddly familiar. Then, as a flash of realization lit up his mind, he reacted instantly: "He was Minato's student! The same generation as Hatake Kakashi!"
Uchiha Keizumi cast him a sidelong glance.
"Jiraiya, the first Child of Prophecy you sought has already embraced an extreme ideology—making the shinobi world feel pain."
"The second Child of Prophecy you found—his own disciple, Uchiha Obito—has already become one of the sources of all evil in the shinobi world. He's ranked alongside men like Orochimaru and Danzō."
"Jiraiya, and now you still want to seek a third Child of Prophecy. It makes me seriously doubt whether you'll only end up raising another villain."
"It makes me question if perhaps you yourself are the source of all evil. Maybe Tachibana Jirō's criticism of you was right."
Jiraiya: "…"
For the moment, Jiraiya couldn't refute a word.
Because right now, he too was sinking into confusion.
…
Elsewhere—
"An envoy from Amegakure? The Kirigakure rebel of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen, Biwa Jūzō?"
When Fugaku first heard the Hokage's order passed on by the ANBU, he found it difficult to connect the two identities together.
The ANBU explained, "Biwa Jūzō is suspected of having joined Amegakure. He is now considered one of their shinobi. But due to his envoy status, he is a special case. The Hokage wishes the Police Force to release him as soon as possible."
Fugaku immediately understood.
"No problem."
His face stiff and solemn, Fugaku slowly rose to his feet. Yet in the moment he agreed, his heart eased with relief.
Because if the Hokage was making use of the Police Force for such tasks, it meant that in the Hokage's eyes, the Uchiha clan's Police Force was still valuable.
And as long as they remained useful, the higher-ups of Konoha would not easily entertain extreme measures against the Uchiha clan. Which meant—the Uchiha would not be forced into a corner.
This would create a delicate balance.
And what Fugaku needed most was precisely that balance. He believed himself to be the one maintaining equilibrium between both sides. He further believed his efforts had finally borne fruit, that the course of events was not nearly as grim as he and Itachi had once imagined.
Then—
Fugaku rushed to the underground interrogation room of the Police Force headquarters, fearing that if he came too late, Biwa Jūzō might already have turned into a corpse in the blink of an eye.
Yet when he arrived, he found the interrogation room already empty.
After questioning the guards on duty, he learned that Biwa Jūzō had been released just two minutes earlier.
"Keizumi actually let him go?" Fugaku froze.
That was truly beyond his expectations.
…
"To think I'd obtain the intel in such an unexpected way."
Hoisting the broad Executioner's Blade back across his shoulders, Jūzō's face carried a trace of complexity.
"Then here's the problem—passing this intel on to that woman, is that really the right choice?"
"After all, this is a task bound to offend someone. That woman handing it to me—clearly she didn't have any good intentions!"
This would definitely offend Uchiha Obito to death!
Tangled in hesitation, Jūzō failed to notice that in the dense branches of a roadside tree not far away, a strangely shaped White Zetsu clone was suppressing its presence to the point of near nonexistence.
Having secretly infiltrated the Uchiha compound, White Zetsu was staring fixedly at Biwa Jūzō walking out of the Police Force headquarters.
White Zetsu narrowed its eyes.
"He walked out alive… does that mean he exchanged intel with Uchiha Keizumi? Does he now know far too much that he shouldn't?"
But just as the clone transmitted this intel, a faint rustling sounded behind it.
The moment it turned its head in shock, a hand seized its neck. With a twist, the head was spun a full three hundred sixty degrees. That gripping hand then turned into searing magma, which in an instant devoured the White Zetsu clone.
"Too many 'rats'."
Uchiha Keizumi dropped from the branches with a blank expression.
"Another one of those bizarre creatures, meow." Tachibana Jirō leapt down as well, eyeing the charred remnants suspiciously.
"The last time, over by Konoha's cemetery, there were the same strange white humanoid creatures. Looks like these things are tied to that Uchiha Obito."
"Keizumi-sama, does this mean Uchiha Obito might actually be near Konoha—or even inside it? Has he mustered the nerve to come back after you once scared him away?"
Uchiha Keizumi said calmly, "It's clear the one it was watching just now was Biwa Jūzō. Most likely, Uchiha Obito has already set his sights on him."
"Perhaps the matter of Konan trying to pry information about Uchiha Madara from me… was something Uchiha Obito had already anticipated in advance."
Tachibana Jirō mused, "That cowardly rat Obito definitely wouldn't want the rest of Akatsuki to learn too many of his secrets. Meow—could he be planning to silence Biwa Jūzō?"
"That's why letting him go… makes him bait to lure out the villain."
Uchiha Keizumi's voice was faint, indifferent.
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