Obito clutched his aching chest, his eye beneath the mask filled with shame and fury.
'This bastard dared to mock my intelligence.'
However, he quickly thought of his current identity. He was now Uchiha Madara. Even if he was embarrassed, it was Madara who was embarrassed.
Obito growled in a hoarse voice: "I am Uchiha Madara. I have always acted straightforwardly. Why would I care about such petty schemes and traps?"
"Strength is the foundation that decides everything! I simply didn't expect that besides Hashirama, Konoha could produce a strong man like you!"
Sasuke looked him up and down with considerable surprise: "The legendary Uchiha Madara has this level of intelligence?"
"..."
Night wind blew through the cemetery, carrying a few fallen leaves.
Obito stood frozen, his face beneath the mask alternating between red and purple.
Sasuke didn't mock him further. He slowly took out a glass vial containing two eyes… Nagato's Rinnegan.
"You're looking for this, aren't you?"
Obito's breathing quickened slightly: "Give it to me!"
Sasuke sneered: "Give it to you? If you want it, come and get it yourself."
"Arrogant brat!" Obito growled, no longer hesitating.
The Sharingan in his right eye suddenly spun, his form leaving an afterimage. His true body, utilizing the property of his phasing state, appeared behind Sasuke like a ghost.
The moment he solidified, he lunged for the vial.
However, Sasuke seemed to have anticipated this. He struck backward with his left hand, his elbow slamming squarely into Obito's chest.
Obito didn't even have time to feel the pain. He only felt an indescribable, terrifying force pour into his body from his chest like a tsunami.
The next moment, his entire upper body exploded as if packed with explosives.
Bones, flesh, organ fragments, mixed with blood, turned into a scarlet, glaring rain of blood.
Sasuke shook his head lightly, his tone full of contempt: "Utterly useless."
However, just as his words fell,
That flesh suddenly disappeared. The masked figure's form appeared before Sasuke, grabbed the vial, and then vanished into the Kamui Dimension at top speed.
Obito's movements were seamless. As he appeared in the Kamui Dimension, he burst into triumphant laughter:
"Foolish Uchiha Sasuke, stupid enough to show the Rinnegan right in front of me. Now, who is the fool? Hahahaha..."
Though he had used a Three-Tomoe Sharingan to cast Izanagi, it was worth it.
Meanwhile, at Konoha's cemetery,
Sasuke, whose Rinnegan had been stolen, didn't show anger. He simply tilted his head slightly: "Master, was my straight hook too obvious?"
With his words, the nearby shadows rippled like water.
Setsuna silently emerged from the shadows, softly chuckling: "Don't worry, Sasuke. With his intelligence, he wouldn't think of that."
After a moment's thought, Sasuke nodded in agreement.
The fact that the man had walked so readily into such an obvious trap as Konoha's cemetery suggested his intelligence was indeed lacking.
As for why his master wanted him to do this, Sasuke didn't think to ask.
His trust in his master was absolute.
Sasuke thought for a moment, then laughed: "Hah, who would have thought the legendary Uchiha Madara was so stupid."
"But it makes sense. For someone to end up isolated and without allies, with no one from his entire clan willing to follow him, it's reasonable that his intelligence is low."
Setsuna, however, shook his head slightly: "Though Uchiha Madara's intelligence is indeed debatable, the masked man earlier wasn't Uchiha Madara."
"When I recently returned to the Underworld, I saw Uchiha Madara's soul. He died over a decade ago."
Sasuke was quite surprised: "He isn't Uchiha Madara? Are there other survivors from our Uchiha Clan?"
Setsuna nodded: "I probed Madara's memories without his awareness. That masked man is named Uchiha Obito. He was the one Madara chose before his death to inherit his will."
"As expected of Master, able to probe Uchiha Madara's memories without him noticing!" Sasuke first marveled at his master's power, then asked in confusion, "Uchiha Obito? I don't think I've heard that name."
"It's normal that you haven't," Setsuna shook his head slightly. "According to Madara's memories, Uchiha Obito was just a peripheral figure in the Uchiha Clan. He was the dead last in the same graduating class as your Jonin Instructor, Hatake Kakashi."
"Dead last?" Sasuke was somewhat surprised. That masked man earlier seemed quite strong.
Setsuna continued: "He was valued by Madara for his special talent. For example, he evolved his Sharingan directly from Two-Tomoe to Mangekyo."
Sasuke gasped, 'Jumping directly from Two-Tomoe to Mangekyo?'
He had only awakened his One-Tomoe Sharingan when his entire clan was slaughtered.
'What kind of unforgettable pain had Uchiha Obito experienced to jump from Two-Tomoe to Mangekyo?'
"That Uchiha Obito," Sasuke couldn't help asking, "What kind of painful experience did he suffer?"
Setsuna was silent for a moment, then said: "He witnessed the girl he secretly loved being killed by his own teammate with his own eye."
Sasuke was stunned, 'That was it?'
He wasn't cold-hearted. He understood the pain of losing someone important.
But wasn't jumping from Two-Tomoe to Mangekyo just for that a bit much?
Sasuke suddenly thought of Itachi and sighed inwardly: "Right, those in our clan who could awaken the Mangekyo were never exactly normal."
"Not normal..." A sudden thought struck Sasuke, and he connected the dots: "Master, that Uchiha Obito, he used Izanagi earlier, a forbidden technique that requires sacrificing the vision of a Three-Tomoe Sharingan as a cost..."
"Does the ease with which he used it mean he has spare Three-Tomoe Sharingan? Does that mean he also participated in the Uchiha Massacre?"
Setsuna said slowly: "Uchiha Madara has been dead for over a decade. In his memories, there's no direct information about the night of the Uchiha Massacre."
"However, based on Madara's understanding of Uchiha Obito, his 'successor's' personality and modus operandi, such a thing is indeed very possible."
Sasuke's heart sank heavily. He had suspected as much!
Setsuna gave an example: "For instance, the Nine-Tails Incident was a plan Madara and Obito had devised and put into practice."
"One of its purposes was to deepen the fear and suspicion of Konoha's leadership and villagers toward the Uchiha Clan, exacerbating the conflict."
Sasuke gritted his teeth. It seemed, after Itachi, he had finally found another target to vent his pain and hatred upon.
"Master!" Sasuke looked up, his eyes burning with anger. "Please tell me everything in Madara's memories related to Uchiha Obito!"
Setsuna nodded: "Very well."