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Just as Naruto and Tsunade were arguing over the topic of "Hokage," at the same moment, within an Akatsuki hideout, Obito reappeared.
According to intelligence gathered by Zetsu, Obito knew that Kagaya had sought out Tsunade several days ago to transplant his father's eyes.
Regarding Susano'o, Obito wasn't an expert. But when it came to the evolution of the Sharingan, Obito understood perfectly. If Kagaya had truly transplanted his father's eyes, then...
"Eternal..."
The red light beneath his mask flickered incessantly. Waves of panic washed over him. An Eternal Mangekyō evolved by oneself was countless times more terrifying than a Rinnegan given by someone else, like Nagato's.
The gap between one's own eyes and another's eyes was frighteningly vast. If Kagaya's Eternal Mangekyō had been given by someone else, Obito wouldn't have been worried in the slightest; he wouldn't even have given Kagaya a second glance.
Obito's own Mangekyō, used by himself, allowed him to toy with the Five Great Nations using just a single eye. Yet, when his other eye was given to Kakashi... well, in the early stages, Kakashi even needed time to prepare just to activate the Mangekyō, let alone use it as effortlessly as Obito.
That was the difference between one's own and another's.
In the original story, Shisui's Kotoamatsukami was given to Danzō. The result? Danzō couldn't even properly control Mifune without messing up—it was utterly laughable.
And not long ago, when Obito forcibly resisted Kotoamatsukami, his success wasn't just due to his immense ocular power. A significant reason was that Kotoamatsukami wasn't being used by Shisui himself. If Shisui were resurrected and used Kotoamatsukami on Obito, he truly wouldn't have had the confidence to resist.
Now, Kagaya had personally evolved an Eternal Mangekyō. This couldn't help but make Obito's heart race, even feel panic.
It was important to remember that this wasn't the Obito of the late-stage original story. That Obito, with the Gedo Statue having absorbed seven Tailed Beasts, didn't fear a mere Eternal Mangekyō. He even helped Sasuke evolve his Eternal Mangekyō, precisely because Obito at that time possessed the world's most powerful force—the Ten-Tails!
Even though the Gedo Statue had only absorbed seven Tailed Beasts, as the shell of the Ten-Tails, it wasn't something an Eternal Mangekyō could challenge.
But now? The current Obito possessed no power capable of rivaling the Eternal Mangekyō!
The Gedo Statue was truly just a statue. Having absorbed no Tailed Beasts, it was extremely difficult to control, and doing so would exact a tremendous price.
The more he thought, the greater Obito's panic grew.
"He's surpassed far too much..."
If Kagaya truly obtained the Eternal Mangekyō, his strength would completely surpass that of the current ninja world. Obito was well aware that even Hashirama, hailed as the God of Shinobi, had only barely defeated Uchiha Madara with his Eternal Mangekyō. Even if Kagaya, upon evolving, only possessed half of Madara's strength—let alone his full power—the current ninja world absolutely couldn't handle it. At the very least, one-on-one, no one could defeat Kagaya.
For Obito, this was devastating news.
"I must stop him!" Obito muttered under his breath.
But saying it was one thing. At this point, Kagaya had already returned to the sea, making it very difficult for Obito to find him.
What should he do?
Obito felt somewhat lost. Facing a monster that transcended the era, the only way was to kill him before he fully matured. Kagaya's adaptation period for evolving the Eternal Mangekyō was Obito's final chance. But the problem was, Obito now found it hard to locate Kagaya. Even if he did, how long would it take? A month? Two months? By then, Kagaya's Eternal Mangekyō would have long since evolved. Who would be hunting whom then?
"I did underestimate you. You are even more astonishing than I anticipated," Obito sighed.
He had thought that at most, Kagaya would be like Itachi—his strength capped at the Mangekyō level, possessing at most some ability to threaten him, but nothing major. Clearly, Obito had miscalculated. In terms of strength, Kagaya had already surpassed Itachi and was beginning to climb even higher.
Standing up, Obito took a deep breath. He was genuinely afraid.
"Not even 13 years old... and the Eternal Mangekyō. Is this the second coming of Uchiha Madara?"
With that, Obito slowly faded into the shadows. He needed to find Nagato. Although Obito had never thought much of Nagato, at present, the Rinnegan in Nagato's eyes seemed to be the only thing capable of resisting Kagaya's Eternal Mangekyō.
******
Konoha, inside a room.
Sasuke clutched the wooden Sharingan in his hand tightly. The curse mark on his neck still throbbed faintly with pain. The survival rate for the Heaven Curse Mark was only one in ten. Like in the original story, Sasuke had survived against those odds.
However, Sasuke wasn't concerned about that. He had heard that the recent invasion of Konoha was a joint operation by that disgusting man he faced in the Forest of Death and Kagaya.
That man who gave him the curse mark, the one who could shed his skin, was apparently called Orochimaru—one of the Sannin. Setting that aside for now, Sasuke wasn't focused on Orochimaru. He cared about only one thing: Why had Kagaya invaded Konoha?
"That guy, completely indifferent to the Uchiha clan's destruction, now comes to invade his own village?"
Sasuke didn't have much sense of belonging to Konoha. After all, for someone whose entire clan was massacred within the village at a young age, you couldn't expect him to feel attachment. The reason Sasuke felt injustice for Konoha now was purely to give himself a reason—a reason to muster the motivation to seek out Kagaya and Itachi.
Moreover, the main point was that Orochimaru, before leaving, had sent a clone to Konoha Hospital to meet Sasuke. Sasuke had just woken up at the time. Orochimaru then introduced himself and stated he could help Sasuke take revenge on Itachi. Furthermore, Sasuke could learn everything he wanted to know. If interested, he should find an opportunity to escape Konoha; Orochimaru's subordinates would be waiting outside the village, ready to receive him at any time.
Sasuke's response at the time had been: "The targets for revenge must also include Uchiha Kagaya!"
After a moment's hesitation, Orochimaru had agreed.
But Sasuke had fallen silent, not immediately accepting Orochimaru's offer. Soon after, Kakashi arrived and destroyed Orochimaru's clone.
Now, a month had passed, and Sasuke couldn't stop thinking about it. The more he thought, the more he believed this was his only chance. He trusted that Orochimaru could help him get revenge because, from his inquiries, Orochimaru was one of the Sannin—one of the strongest individuals in the ninja world!
Having spent his entire life in Konoha so far, Sasuke didn't have a clear understanding of Itachi's and Kagaya's true strength. He believed that Orochimaru, being one of the Sannin, should at least be capable of killing Itachi and Kagaya, right?
After all, leaving Itachi aside, Kagaya was the same age as him. No matter how strong he was, he couldn't possibly be stronger than the long-established Orochimaru.
Therefore, Sasuke had decided.
He would go to find Orochimaru.