Chapter 821 Masked Obito: Am I a Stand?

“You’re saying that Uchiha Obito, who ‘sacrificed’ himself during the Third Shinobi World War, has returned to Konoha?

And then ‘Uchiha Madara,’ wearing a black robe and a mask, launched a night raid on Konoha, causing widespread destruction within the Root base, and Hiruzen Sarutobi and Uchiha Obito had to team up to force ‘Uchiha Madara’ to retreat.”

Even Masked Obito, who had experienced many hardships, was momentarily stunned after hearing Zetsu’s intelligence report about Konoha.

How did he not know that he had returned to Konoha and attacked the Root base?

“Heh heh, isn’t it amazing? Now, the Ninja World not only has an extra ‘Uchiha Obito’ but also an extra ‘Uchiha Madara,’” Zetsu chuckled.

“How dare someone impersonate me.” Masked Obito’s eyes held a very malevolent look.

Even if Uchiha Obito was just an identity he had discarded, it wasn’t something any random person could exploit.

“But Obito, don’t underestimate these two imposters. Their strength is not weak. ‘Uchiha Madara’ can use Susanoo with a complete body, and ‘Obito’ can use powerful Sage Art,” Zetsu reminded him.

Although from Zetsu’s perspective as a third party, the suddenly appearing “Uchiha Obito” and “Uchiha Madara” most likely had a connection, and thus the battle process might not have been entirely real, the combat power they displayed was indeed extraordinary.

“I know that without you telling me,” Masked Obito said indifferently.

As someone who possessed the Mangekyo Sharingan, he naturally understood the significance of being able to use a seventy-meter-tall Susanoo.

This not only indicated that the opponent had the Mangekyo Sharingan but also that their eye power was quite strong; otherwise, the Susanoo’s completion wouldn’t be so high.

“Who could ‘Uchiha Madara’ be?” Masked Obito wondered.

“Uchiha Obito” hadn’t displayed a Sharingan yet, so he might not be an Uchiha Clan Ninja.

But “Uchiha Madara” even used Susanoo, so he must be an Uchiha Clan Ninja.

Very few Uchiha Clan Ninjas could awaken the Mangekyo Sharingan.

In recent years, the only Uchiha Clan members who had awakened it were Uchiha Itachi and Shisui.

But Shisui was already dead, and Uchiha Itachi didn’t have the strength to activate such a powerful Susanoo.

“Could it be Uchiha Fugaku?” A name surfaced in Masked Obito’s mind.

If forced to analyze who among the remaining Uchiha Clan members was most likely to have awakened the Mangekyo Sharingan, Masked Obito would definitely choose Uchiha Fugaku.

No other reason: besides Shisui and Uchiha Itachi, Uchiha Fugaku was the strongest and most outstanding Ninja in the Uchiha Clan at the moment.

Although White Zetsu’s intelligence gathering was unparalleled, he couldn’t monitor the entire Ninja World twenty-four hours a day, so it was normal for White Zetsu not to notice if Uchiha Fugaku used his Mangekyo Sharingan sparingly.

After all, Uchiha Fugaku wasn’t Obito’s primary focus.

“So why would he do this? To prevent Danzo Shimura from acting against the Uchiha Clan?” Masked Obito began to consider Uchiha Fugaku’s motives.

He found that this hypothesis actually made sense. If Uchiha Fugaku knew about Danzo Shimura’s plan, he certainly wouldn’t sit idly by; he would try every means to disrupt it.

“From now on, focus on monitoring ‘Uchiha Obito’ and Uchiha Fugaku!” Masked Obito commanded.

Both of them were in Konoha, and Masked Obito believed that with White Zetsu’s extraordinary intelligence capabilities, they would soon reveal their weaknesses.

…

“Those bastards must be in a panic now, with so many unexpected events,” Obito thought, imagining Masked Obito in an existential crisis and Danzo Shimura fuming, and couldn’t help but smile.

Undoubtedly, the “Uchiha Madara” who attacked the Root base was his clone.

The real Masked Obito couldn’t use Susanoo at all, nor would he attack Danzo Shimura at this point.

“Many Root Ninjas were injured or even killed, and that bastard Danzo was also severely wounded. In this situation, that bastard Danzo can only seek other ways to resolve the Uchiha coup, or confront Hokage-dono.”

“But Hokage-dono wouldn’t agree to the clan extermination plan, so Danzo Shimura’s part is half-solved.” Obito began to review his rescue plan.

Danzo Shimura wanted to exterminate the Uchiha Clan, and sufficient elites were indispensable, especially now that Uchiha Madara had “betrayed” them.

But Obito’s attack temporarily crippled most of Root’s strength. If Danzo Shimura wanted to militarily eliminate the Uchiha Clan, he could only discuss it with Hiruzen Sarutobi.

Hiruzen Sarutobi had never wanted to completely eradicate the Uchiha Clan, so Danzo Shimura’s plan to militarily resolve the Uchiha Clan was shattered.

“However, that bastard will probably still try to cause trouble, so I need to be careful.” Obito recalled Danzo Shimura’s past deeds and personality, and felt he still needed to be wary.

Actually, Obito initially wanted to directly kill Danzo Shimura during the attack; he had the strength to do so.

After careful consideration, Obito decided that letting Danzo Shimura die so easily would be too lenient.

If he were killed by Uchiha Madara attacking Konoha, Danzo Shimura could even gain the reputation of dying for Konoha.

Obito estimated that Danzo Shimura might even feel self-satisfied before his death, thinking he had dedicated his life to Konoha and was truly magnificent.

To prevent this from happening, Obito decided to collect all of Danzo Shimura’s crimes and expose them before killing him.

He wanted Danzo Shimura to die amidst everyone’s scorn.

“Next, as long as I handle the Uchiha Clan, it will be largely successful.”

Although Obito’s attack on Root deprived Danzo Shimura of the ability to militarily resolve the Uchiha Clan, if the Uchiha Clan still proceeded with their coup as originally planned, they would definitely be severely wounded by Konoha’s iron fist, though not to the extent of leaving only Sasuke alive as in the original story.

So, Obito’s next priority was to eliminate the Uchiha Clan’s thoughts of a coup.

Regarding how to eliminate it, Obito already had a plan in mind, and even his act of impersonating Masked Obito to attack Root had this consideration.

Because the Uchiha Clan’s reason for wanting a coup was due to complex, multiple factors.

One very important reason was that the current Konoha truly was targeting the Uchiha Clan, and it wasn’t just the Uchiha Clan suffering from paranoia.

The reasons for the Uchiha Clan being targeted, besides Danzo Shimura vigorously promoting the Uchiha threat theory among the higher-ups, was the serious criminal suspicion of the Uchiha Clan during the Nine-Tailed incident.

What Obito wanted to do was to separate Masked Obito from the Uchiha Clan.

The Nine-Tailed incident was indeed carried out by an Uchiha Ninja, but that was a rogue Uchiha Clan Ninja, and it had nothing to do with the Uchiha Clan itself.

If the external targeting of the Uchiha Clan wasn’t resolved, even if Obito defused this Uchiha coup, another one would soon follow.

“Finally, he’s here.” Sensing a rapidly approaching Chakra, Obito patted his backside and stood up.

“It’s you!” Uchiha Itachi saw Obito and quickly looked around vigilantly.

Not long ago, a stranger inexplicably handed him a note that read, “If you don’t want Konoha to erupt in war, come to the depths of the South Border Forest.”

Uchiha Itachi immediately took that person aside to inquire about information.

But Uchiha Itachi quickly discovered that the person who delivered the note was under a genjutsu and didn’t even know what he was doing.

Uchiha Itachi had no choice but to go alone to the depths of the South Border Forest as requested.

“Why can’t it be me?” Obito asked with a smile.

“Who exactly are you? And what do you mean by Konoha erupting in war?” Uchiha Itachi questioned in a deep voice.

He had suspected before that Obito had some unspeakable secret, because Obito actually knew about the clan extermination plan.

“Of course I’m Uchiha Obito. As for war, now that Root’s strength is damaged, do you think Danzo Shimura’s clan extermination plan can still work?” Obito asked.

Uchiha Itachi fell silent.

Without Danzo Shimura’s help, he alone certainly couldn’t complete the extermination mission.

If the Uchiha Clan wasn’t exterminated before their coup, then a civil war would break out, and the other great Ninja villages might take advantage of the weakness.

“As long as you do as I say next, not only will there be no civil war, but there won’t even be a need for clan extermination,” Obito said.

“Give me a reason to trust you.” Uchiha Itachi didn’t agree immediately.

Obito was full of suspicious points. It was already good that Uchiha Itachi didn’t report Obito, so how could he obey him just because of a single sentence from Obito?

“You have no choice.” Obito burst with Chakra, flashed beside Uchiha Itachi, patted Uchiha Itachi’s shoulder, and said.

“So fast!” Uchiha Itachi’s pupils rapidly dilated. In his shock, he unconsciously activated his Three-Tomoe Sharingan.

Obito didn’t pay attention to Uchiha Itachi’s blood-red eyes. He continued, “Even without this attack, Danzo Shimura’s clan extermination plan wouldn’t succeed, because I would stop it.”

“You want to support the Uchiha coup?” Uchiha Itachi secretly gathered Chakra.

“Why are you so extreme? Stopping the extermination means supporting the coup?” Obito said speechlessly.

“I won’t support the Uchiha coup, nor will I let civil war break out.

What I want to do is mediate the conflict, make the Uchiha Clan abandon the coup, and truly integrate into Konoha.”

“That’s impossible,” Uchiha Itachi subconsciously said.

“I haven’t even tried yet, how do you know I can’t do it?” Obito’s words made Uchiha Itachi fall silent.

He didn’t understand Obito, so of course, he couldn’t explain why.

Uchiha Itachi just felt that if even he and so many Konoha higher-ups couldn’t do it, it was impossible for anyone else to achieve it.

“How arrogant,” Obito saw through Uchiha Itachi’s inner thoughts.

“Since you’re so confident in yourself, how about we fight and see?” Obito’s super intelligence told him it was time to use his super strength.

Uchiha Itachi agreed after half a minute of thought.

Obito’s mysteriousness was no less than Uchiha Madara’s. Even just information about his abilities was very important.

“Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique!” Uchiha Itachi quickly formed hand signs and exhaled a huge orange-red fireball.

The Great Fireball Technique consumed little Chakra but had great power, making it very suitable for an opening probe.

“Flame Breathing Chakra Mode!” Obito focused his breathing to the extreme, entering Sage Mode of the Breathing Technique in an instant, and simultaneously activated the Chakra Mode of the Breathing Technique, his body emitting a red glow.

“Sage Art: Great Fireball Technique!” Obito clapped his hands together and exhaled a large amount of flames, forming a giant fireball over ten meters high.

In front of Obito’s Sage Art: Great Fireball Technique, Uchiha Itachi’s Great Fireball Technique was like an egg in front of a soccer ball, instantly swallowed.

Uchiha Itachi also had no choice but to burst with Chakra and flee.

“Is this Sage Art? So strong!” Uchiha Itachi’s expression was solemn.

His most powerful Fire Release was not as strong as Obito’s casually used Great Fireball Technique.

In terms of Fire Release, Obito could completely overpower him.

Whoosh!

As Uchiha Itachi dodged, Obito took the opportunity to charge forward.

The enhancement from Sage Mode combined with the Breathing Technique Chakra Mode made Obito incredibly fast. Uchiha Itachi’s Three-Tomoe Sharingan couldn’t even clearly see his movements, forcing him to upgrade to the Mangekyo Sharingan.

Bang!

Even with the Mangekyo Sharingan activated, Uchiha Itachi still fell into a disadvantage. After a few exchanges, Obito caught a weakness and punched him, sending him flying backward to crash into a tree.

“Even if my eyes can see, my body can’t quite keep up,” Uchiha Itachi’s face was grim.

His mastery of Taijutsu was not as good as his Genjutsu and Ninjutsu, but that was relative to himself. Uchiha Itachi’s Taijutsu had always dominated his peers, and even most adult Ninjas were not as good as Uchiha Itachi in Taijutsu.

But in front of Obito, his Taijutsu seemed to have become an inferior level, making it difficult even to block Obito’s attacks.

Uchiha Itachi also tried using Genjutsu, but it was useless.

“Can I only use the Mangekyo Sharingan?” Uchiha Itachi showed a hint of hesitation.

Although Obito was very strong, Uchiha Itachi believed that as long as he used the Mangekyo Sharingan, the situation could be reversed.

No matter how strong Obito’s Fire Release was, could it be stronger than Amaterasu?

Could Obito ignore ordinary Sharingan Genjutsu and even the Mangekyo Eye Technique Tsukuyomi?

But the Mangekyo abilities were Uchiha Itachi’s trump card, information he hadn’t revealed to anyone.

“Don’t hesitate. Even if you use Tsukuyomi and Amaterasu together, you won’t hurt me,” Obito said nonchalantly.

Obito indeed couldn’t ignore Tsukuyomi, but his eye power was superior to Uchiha Itachi’s, allowing him to instantly break Tsukuyomi.

As for Amaterasu, if it couldn’t even hit him, what damage could it cause?

“How do you know?!” Uchiha Itachi was dumbfounded. How did Obito know about his Mangekyo Sharingan abilities? He had clearly never revealed it to anyone.

“Because I am Sage Obito,” Obito said righteously.

Uchiha Itachi surrendered.

If there hadn’t been the initial overwhelming display of Ninjutsu, Taijutsu, and Genjutsu, Uchiha Itachi might have thought Obito was just bluffing.

But now, Uchiha Itachi was indeed more inclined to one possibility: Obito was monstrously strong, and even if he used his Mangekyo Sharingan abilities, he couldn’t win.

After his defeat, Uchiha Itachi thought for a long time and finally agreed to help Obito.

Obito didn’t want the Uchiha Clan to be exterminated, so Obito definitely wasn’t from Root.

Obito was too strong; he couldn’t be a brainwashed spy.

With Obito’s strength, if he wanted to weaken Konoha, he wouldn’t even need an Uchiha civil war; he could cause destruction by himself.

So Obito wouldn’t be a war fanatic either.

He wasn’t this, nor was he that.

Uchiha Itachi thought long and hard and finally realized that Obito might truly be a pure Konoha hero.

He just wanted to resolve the Uchiha problem as best as possible, nothing more.