Chapter 276: Something Strange
Deep within the forests of the Land of Water, Fu crossed several trees in rapid succession before landing beside a secluded clearing.
With a casual toss, he dropped the unconscious Yagura onto the ground.
Yagura’s face was bloodless. Only the faint rise and fall of his chest proved that he was still alive.
A figure slowly emerged from the earth ahead.
Black Zetsu glanced at Yagura and appeared reasonably satisfied with Fu’s performance.
"Well done. You moved quickly."
Fu didn’t respond. He simply stood in silence, waiting for his next order.
Black Zetsu examined him from head to toe.
The Rinnegan transplant had been extremely successful, and this modified body’s compatibility exceeded expectations.
Its original foundation was simply too weak.
Considering Fu’s chakra reserves and physical strength, the plan might drain him completely when the time came to execute it.
But that didn’t matter.
Pawns existed to be consumed.
If Fu became useless, Obito could still take his place later.
"Rest here for a while," Black Zetsu ordered. "Wait for Obito with me."
Fu obediently nodded and stood quietly beneath a tree.
Black Zetsu circled Yagura once, then abruptly stopped and looked at Fu.
"Have any strange things appeared in your mind recently?"
Fu met Black Zetsu’s gaze and held it for a moment.
"No. Everything is normal."
Only then did Black Zetsu relax.
"Very well. Take the Three-Tails back to the base first."
It had changed its mind.
"I’ll wait here alone. Be careful on the way back and make sure no one discovers your trail."
Fu bent down, grabbed Yagura, and headed straight into the forest.
The sound of his footsteps gradually faded.
After passing several massive trees, an extremely blurry face suddenly surfaced in Fu’s mind.
The sensation was astonishingly vivid, as though that person stood directly before him, saying something he couldn’t quite hear.
...
Black Zetsu concealed itself among the shadows and waited for Obito to appear.
Time slowly passed.
Other than the wind, there was no movement around it.
It began calculating.
With Obito’s ability, capturing the Six-Tails shouldn’t have taken this long.
If he still hadn’t arrived, something serious had most likely gone wrong.
A crack suddenly split the ground.
A White Zetsu clone emerged.
Black Zetsu immediately attached itself to the clone and instantly obtained the intelligence it had brought back.
Outside Kirigakure, Obito had removed his mask and stood together with Kitahara Kaede.
Nohara Rin and Hatake Kakashi were also present.
As for the Six-Tails Jinchuriki, they had already taken him away.
The black substance surrounding Black Zetsu surged violently.
"What a useless piece of trash!"
"Not only did he fail to bring back the Six-Tails, he actually betrayed us outright!"
What in the world had Kitahara Kaede done?
Why was Nohara Rin, who should have died at Kannabi Bridge, standing there alive?
Black Zetsu had repeatedly confirmed that the Three-Tails had revived in the wild.
It forcibly suppressed the fury surging inside it.
The situation wasn’t completely disastrous yet.
The Three-Tails was already in its possession, and Fu remained a hidden trump card.
The entire plan had not collapsed.
But Kitahara Kaede...
A thought seemed to occur to Black Zetsu, but it ultimately abandoned it and began considering its next move.
The Six-Tails and Nine-Tails were both in Konoha now. The village’s defenses would undoubtedly become tighter than ever.
However, Uzumaki Kushina’s delivery date was approaching.
They could collect the remaining Tailed Beasts from the other villages first.
Then, once the right opportunity appeared, they would take the two inside Konoha together.
...
Several days later, at dawn, Kaede led the group to Konoha’s main gate.
The burns on the Six-Tails Jinchuriki’s leg had already scabbed over, but he still walked with a limp.
Kakashi deliberately slowed his pace to match the injured man.
Rin raised her head and looked at the familiar gates now close at hand.
The joy of returning home in her own appearance was written plainly across her face.
Obito walked at the very rear of the group.
Because of the condition of his face, he had put his mask back on.
Two gate guards approached them.
"Routine inspection. Please present identification."
One of the guards swept his gaze across the group.
The instant he clearly saw Rin’s undisguised face, his entire body froze.
His mouth fell open and his eyes widened.
He had seen that face when paying respects at the memorial stone last month.
The photograph there looked exactly like the girl standing before him.
For a long moment, the guard couldn’t produce a single word. He even forgot to open the registry in his hands.
Kaede stepped forward and blocked his view.
Once the guard recognized Kaede, some of the shock on his face immediately receded.
Who in Konoha didn’t know that this young man was highly favored by the Fourth Hokage?
The guard didn’t dare ask another question. He hurriedly stepped aside and opened a path.
Kaede offered no explanation and led the group straight through the gate.
Konoha’s streets overflowed with the ordinary warmth of daily life.
Shops on both sides were beginning to open, their owners busy removing the wooden shutters.
At a breakfast stall on the corner, the aroma of hot soup drifted through the rising steam.
Rin slowed down.
She looked at the familiar streets with undisguised excitement and couldn’t resist sharing what she saw.
"Obito, look over there!"
Rin pointed toward a storefront on the corner.
"There used to be a little wooden stall there that sold red bean cakes. The old woman always complained that you ate too much, but she secretly gave you an extra piece every time."
Obito followed the direction of her finger.
The crude wooden stall had long since been demolished and replaced by a brand-new signboard.
However, several of the old short stools still stood outside the shop.
Obito nodded in acknowledgment.
Then he looked at the villagers coming and going.
Many of the faces were unfamiliar.
After all these years, Konoha no longer seemed like the village he remembered.
His movements became increasingly restrained.
Kakashi noticed and glanced sideways at him.
"What are you looking around for?"
His voice carried its usual lazy tone.
"Searching for an old woman who needs help crossing the street?"
Obito immediately exploded.
"Shut up, idiot Kakashi!"
"I never went looking for them! I genuinely happened to run into those old ladies!"
The moment the retort left his mouth, both of them froze.
That instinctive bickering, spoken without even passing through their minds, instantly pulled them back to the days of Team Minato.
Back then, they had walked through Konoha’s streets exactly like this, arguing noisily the entire way.
Rin stood between them and covered her mouth as she laughed softly.
The group continued along the street.
The Hokage Building’s red dome soon appeared at the far end of their vision.
Morning sunlight illuminated the enormous character for "fire" on its wall, making it especially striking.
Obito’s footsteps stopped.
He raised his head and stared at the building that symbolized the dream he had once pursued.