Uehara Naraku tried his best.
Even Black Zetsu couldn't find any fault.
He exhausted his Chakra to capture the Four-tailed, and faced Uchiha Obito's sarcasm, yet still used all his strength to throw out a sharp card.
In the face of Uchiha Obito's pursuit, Black Zetsu also had no solutions.
After all, not everyone possesses its Mayfly Jutsu, capable of evading Uchiha Obito's tracking; the other members of the Akatsuki would all become targets for Uchiha Obito.
"Uehara, this is not your fault."
Black Zetsu shook its head, its voice muffled as it spoke: "We need to report this first, we must figure out how to eliminate Uchiha Obito, this guy is a threat to our Eye of the Moon Plan!"
The Akatsuki has many S-Class traitors; with a collective effort, they could potentially find a way to deal with Uchiha Obito, especially since Obito's abilities have been well known in The Hidden Mist Village for years now.
Inside the Kamui Space.
Uchiha Obito felt somewhat uncomfortable.
Not because of anything else, but because of Uehara Naraku's words.
That bastard Uehara Naraku, how thick-skinned must he be, clearly it was Uehara Naraku who teamed up with Orochimaru to ambush him, and even took the chance to kill him, using Reanimation and Nohara Rin's bond to control him for evil deeds!
Yet in front of Black Zetsu, Uehara Naraku put on an innocent and generous act, and even suggested that he would forgive, despite being ambushed…
Black Zetsu even persuaded Uehara Naraku instead…
Damn it, where did Uehara Naraku learn this kind of acting?
Directly reversing black and white was nothing, but putting on a victim face as the villain…
Uchiha Obito finally understood.
Why Nagato and Konan haven't forgiven him over the years!
With someone like Uehara Naraku saying 'good words' about him year after year, it would be odd if Nagato and Konan accepted him!
The Four-tailed Jinchuriki Roshi also woke up dazedly in the Kamui Space, his face unpleasant as he spoke: "Who exactly are you guys?"
"You don't need to know too much."
Uchiha Obito didn't dare provoke Uehara Naraku, but he could handle the Four-tailed Jinchuriki. His voice was quite arrogant: "All you need to know is that I am someone who can control you, that's enough."
The future Four-tailed Jinchuriki Roshi will temporarily stay in his Kamui Space, and for this period, Obito would have to take care of his daily needs.
But just as well, Uchiha Obito could also gain a bit of freedom from this…
At least it's much better than being confined to a coffin to sleep.
Moreover, Uchiha Obito revealed a trace of joy, as he had taken the opportunity to scold Uehara Naraku, feeling a bit refreshed.
No, it was extremely refreshing!
Even if it was acting, it allowed Obito to vent some of his frustrations.
Uchiha Obito was somewhat looking forward to the next encounter.
Uehara Naraku couldn't be bothered with him, concentrating on reviewing his rewards.
Side mission: Defeat the Four-tailed Jinchuriki Roshi (1/1), mission completed, reward: 100 Gold Coins.
Haha, no surprise here.
After all, in the Naruto World, appearance and strength are most important, and Roshi didn't show any strong capability, not even able to defeat Hoshigaki Kisame…
Side mission: Defeat the Four-tailed Son Goku (1/1), mission completed, reward: Skill Vajra Indestructible.
Vajra Indestructible: Passive Skill, increases Life Energy by 1800 points, and enhances all Life Energy recovery effects by 50%.
Another passive skill.
Uehara Naraku raised an eyebrow, his current Life Energy exceeding 60,000, not short of these 1800 points of Life Energy, though he did need Life Energy recovery effects.
At least a 72 points/second Life Energy recovery effect.
In just a few minutes, the damage previously inflicted by Four-tailed Son Goku had nearly healed.
Due to the Four-tailed Son Goku being captured by Uchiha Obito, Black Zetsu was in a bad mood, brooding over how to deal with Uchiha Obito…
Honestly, Black Zetsu had no leads.
To defeat Uchiha Obito, they must catch Obito's trace, but with Obito possessing the Kamui Sharingan, if he decided to hide, no one could find him.
No, there was still one person who might find him.
"Senior Zetsu, I remember Hatake Kakashi has a Sharingan."
"I remember Hatake Kakashi has a Sharingan…"
The two spoke almost in unison.
Uehara Naraku and Black Zetsu couldn't help but exchange a glance.
A glint flashed in Black Zetsu's eyes, that Sharingan could be their opportunity, perhaps that eye was the solution to counter Obito.
Black Zetsu spoke sinisterly: "It's a pity Hatake Kakashi is not a member of the Uchiha Clan, unable to unleash its true power…"
What made Black Zetsu even more disappointed was that the remaining Uchihas in the Ninja World were all unreliable, even if it got its hands on Kakashi's Sharingan, there would be no use!
Is this Ninja World even workable anymore!
Black Zetsu stealthily glanced at Uehara Naraku beside him; it didn't say the next words it wanted to say, which was to resurrect Uchiha Madara, and truly resurrect him!
It must be Uchiha Madara in his peak period!
This requires finding a way to utilize the Reanimation.
Black Zetsu planned to find an opportunity to check the progress of Orochimaru's research, to see if Orochimaru could resurrect Uchiha Madara's body from his peak period.
Now, it also needed to return and report the situation to Pain.
Since they couldn't capture the Four-tailed Jinchuriki, and even members of the Akatsuki are at risk of being monitored and tracked by Uchiha Obito, they could only temporarily abandon collecting Jinchuriki to prevent more Tailed Beasts from falling into Uchiha Obito's hands.
Losing a Four-tails is no different from losing all Tailed Beasts.
The Akatsuki entered a phase of collective dormancy.
The others were basically resting or training at the base, and Uchiha Sasuke's progress during this time was astonishingly fast.
It's quite normal for boys to experience rapid development after turning thirteen, and Sasuke's quick progress is quite normal, especially with the provocation from Uchiha Itachi.
Only the intelligence personnel Black Zetsu was still active outside.
However, Black Zetsu also didn't pay attention to Jinchuriki information, more keen on monitoring Orochimaru, trying to see to what extent he had perfected the Reanimation.
Unfortunately, for reasons unknown, Orochimaru was recently researching how to break the Dead Demon Consuming Seal Jutsu, showing no interest in furthering his Reanimation experiments.
Because Orochimaru wanted to acquire the Reanimation Body of the Fourth Hokage Namikaze Minato.
Only by obtaining Namikaze Minato, who was proficient in the Flying Thunder God Jutsu and extremely fast, would Orochimaru believe he had the possibility to resist Uehara Naraku, by possessing both Senju Tobirama and Namikaze Minato, two users of the Flying Thunder God Jutsu.
Orochimaru, having been engrossed in breaking the Dead Demon Consuming Seal for a long time, left the task of collecting powerful ninja corpses to Yakushi Kabuto.
Moreover, Orochimaru also realized his control wasn't strong enough, so he simply let Yakushi Kabuto learn the Reanimation technique to help him control some powerful ninjas.
After all, he already had quite enough!
The First Hokage Senju Hashirama, the Second Hokage Senju Tobirama, and after breaking the Dead Demon Consuming Seal, he could also get the Fourth Hokage Namikaze Minato.
These are the truly strong ninjas!
The Kage(s) from other villages are just a bunch of useless people.
Yakushi Kabuto didn't mind the troubles Orochimaru left behind; he was both studying the Reanimation and traveling around digging graves to collect the remains of powerful ninjas.
Time in the Ninja World passed by peacefully and slowly.
More than a year flowed by like water.
The Akatsuki remained dormant, as they only took major tasks and generally didn't make appearances in the Ninja World, everyone was waiting for the revival of the Three-tails and Black Zetsu's promised solution to deal with Uchiha Obito, to regain the Four-tails.
During this time, a few major events occurred in the Ninja World.
The first incident, the Fifth Kazekage was chosen by the Hidden Sand Village, the One-tailed Jinchuriki, Gaara of the Sandstorm, was deemed the most suitable with his power.
Granny Chiyo originally wanted to choose Kankuro, the Puppet Master, but unfortunately, Kankuro wasn't quite competent; he only repaired and maintained the puppets she had left behind and never considered making his own puppets...
Damn, how can a Puppet Master rely on others for equipment? Does equipment just fall from the sky in this world?
A true Puppet Master must learn to make their own puppets!
Even if Granny Chiyo urged Kankuro to create some puppets, they looked pathetic and were simply not presentable...
If Kankuro could exert a little more effort, Chiyo really would have made Kankuro the Fifth Kazekage. But this guy was timid, too weak; what if as soon as he became the Fifth Kazekage, he got killed by her grandson Sasori for dishonoring Puppet Masters?
Left with no choice, Chiyo had to pinch her nose and establish Gaara as the Fifth Kazekage, making him the youngest Kage in the history of the Ninja World.
A fourteen-year-old Kazekage.
Since he ascended as Kazekage, naturally a statement must be made to the Ninja World.
The Fifth Kazekage Gaara of the Hidden Sand Village widely sent out invitations to the entire Ninja World, inviting them to participate in the Chunin Examination hosted by the Hidden Sand Village; even the Hidden Rain Village, a long-time rival to the Hidden Sand Village, received an invitation.
This was truly fearless.
The invitation naturally fell into the hands of Uehara Naraku, who was evaluating the courteous words in the Hidden Sand invitation, displaying an attitude of letting bygones be bygones.
The Hidden Sand Village didn't hold a grudge against Uehara Naraku for killing the Fourth Kazekage.
Or rather, the new Fifth Kazekage Gaara didn't hold a grudge against Uehara Naraku for killing the Fourth Kazekage, since despite the deep father-son bond between Gaara and Rasa, it was nearly an enmity of life and death.
"Too bad going to take the Chunin Exam again would be absurd."
Uehara Naraku stroked his chin; at eighteen, he had already become the new cornerstone of the Hidden Rain Village, and by the customs of the Ninja World, he was of marriageable age.
Unfortunately, he was still single.
Despite the lack of progress in love, his career was flourishing.
In every Rain Village Ninja's heart, Uehara Naraku was seen as undoubtedly the next leader of the Hidden Rain Village after Lord Pain, as no one was more suitable than him.
And now, Uehara Naraku had begun slowly taking over Konan's tasks in the Hidden Rain Village, and had even started replacing Pain in issuing assignments at the Akatsuki base frequently; Nagato and Konan's roles even began to resemble those two elderly advisors from Konoha.
Uehara Naraku gently tapped the desk, turning to look at Konan, who was leisurely sipping tea. His brow couldn't help twitching; how did his teacher's life become so leisurely?
"Teacher, don't you have anything to say?"
"No."
Konan took a small sip of tea, with a faint smile in her eyes: "No matter what decision you make, I will support you unconditionally."