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Zetsu notified Nagato—Pain—and successfully borrowed Kakuzu. He immediately turned around and raced back to Kirigakure.
Zetsu felt like his Spore Technique was about to smoke from overuse.
More than ten days later, he finally made it back to the mist-shrouded village and found Obito Uchiha.
Obito looked at the black-and-white face of Zetsu. The guy looked… haggard. "What's wrong with you? You look exhausted."
Zetsu was speechless. Of course he was exhausted.
He was either on the road, or about to hit the road again.
After catching his breath, Zetsu reported, "He agreed. He won't interfere when you attack Konoha."
Obito blinked in surprise. "He actually agreed?"
Zetsu nodded. "I tried to get him to help you with the invasion, but he refused. Still, this is good enough."
"It is," Obito agreed. "If Qianyu stays out of it, my pressure drops significantly. The price? It must've been high."
"The price was… manageable. He wanted a substantial amount of chakra receiver rods and ten living White Zetsu bodies."
Obito was genuinely taken aback. "That's it? I have some of Madara's receiver rods in my Kamui dimension. White Zetsu are easy to produce. But… what does he want them for?"
Zetsu had been just as puzzled. "I didn't understand either when he named his price. But if he wants them, he must have a specific use. We need his cooperation right now, so we give him what he wants. Also, to avoid raising Konoha's suspicion, we need to arrange two opponents for him during the chaos. I borrowed Kakuzu from Nagato. For the second, let Kisame Hoshigaki go."
Obito's gaze sharpened. "I've heard of Kakuzu, but I don't know his exact strength. He probably can't beat Qianyu. And Kisame? He's definitely no match. Even together, they'd be in serious danger. Kisame is my man. I don't want him sacrificed for nothing."
"Relax," Zetsu assured him. "Qianyu and I have an agreement on that point too. He won't kill them."
"So," Obito confirmed, "you and Qianyu have basically reached a full agreement?"
"Mn. The basics are settled. Next, you go to Konoha, meet him face-to-face to finalize the deal, and hand over the payment."
Obito fell silent for a moment, then asked, "Zetsu… do you think we could succeed in recruiting Qianyu into the Akatsuki?"
Zetsu nearly jumped. "Absolutely not!"
"Why are you so sure?" Obito pressed. "He's not loyal to Konoha. There's a chance."
"Obito," Zetsu said, voice deadly serious. "Kill that thought right now. You can't handle him. The man is an enigma. And while he may not be loyal to Konoha, he still flatly refused to help invade it. He has his own agenda. Recruiting him into Akatsuki would be like bringing a live explosive tag inside your clothes. It could blow up in our faces at any moment."
Zetsu was genuinely worried Obito might get a wild idea and actually try it.
Qianyu's goals were unclear. He was mysterious. He seemed to know too many of their secrets.
If Obito made an offer, Zetsu had a bad feeling Qianyu might just say yes.
Zetsu already couldn't figure out how to deal with him. If Qianyu joined the Akatsuki on top of that? Game over.
"You seem to have quite the grudge against him," Obito noted curiously.
"Of course I do!" Zetsu snapped. "When I went to see him, he almost killed me right at the start. Listen, Obito. Qianyu does not take orders. Recruit him, and you're not getting a subordinate. You're getting an ancestor. Think about it. What could you possibly do if he joined and then just ignored every command you gave?"
Obito was surprised. He hadn't realized Zetsu's visit had been that close to disaster. He'd assumed it went smoothly.
After a moment's thought, Obito conceded Zetsu had a point.
He probably couldn't handle Qianyu.
"Fine, forget it then," Obito said. "Let's go see him now and get this settled. We only have a little over a month left."
Zetsu sighed internally.
Back on the road. Not a moment's rest.
Days later.
Obito and Zetsu stood outside Konoha's walls.
Just as Obito was about to warp directly into the village to find Qianyu, Zetsu quickly stopped him.
"Don't go straight to him," Zetsu warned. "The reason I almost died last time was because I got too close to his home without warning. He made it clear—if we approach his place unannounced again, he'll kill us on sight."
Obito frowned. "If we can't find him directly, how will he know we're here?"
"No need to find me. I'm already here."
The voice came from ahead. Qianyu walked towards them through the trees.
Zetsu grit his teeth. He'd still been detected?
Obito's mind churned. How?
Qianyu stopped before them. His eyes, sharp and assessing, landed on Obito. A faint, mocking smile touched his lips. "Uchiha Madara?"
Obito deepened his voice, adopting Madara's cadence. "It is I."
Qianyu's tone turned playfully sarcastic. "How truly astonishing. Uchiha Madara, the 'Legendary Shinobi' who stood alongside Hashirama Senju… still alive. And even more astonishing, that same Uchiha Madara would seek me out for a deal, asking me to stand aside. Quite the eye-opener."
Zetsu's anxiety spiked. He was desperately afraid Qianyu would break character and expose Obito right then and there.
If Obito learned his disguise was transparent, it could shatter his carefully constructed mindset.
Obito remained calm. "I did not expect the 'Hero of Konoha' to agree to my transaction either."
Qianyu shrugged lazily. "I'm no hero. I'm a business partner to Konoha. You came to me with a deal and could pay my price. Why wouldn't I agree? Enough talk. Do you have the goods?"
Obito's single eye swirled. From the vortex of Kamui, a pile of dark chakra receiver rods clattered to the ground, followed by ten White Zetsu clones, bound and writhing.
"This enough?"
"It'll do."
Chakra rods couldn't be stored in scrolls. Qianyu bit his thumb and slapped the ground. Two massive snakes erupted from summoning smoke. One swallowed the rods, the other the squirming White Zetsu. With another puff of smoke, they were gone, returned to Ryūchi Cave.
"You have your payment," Obito stated. "The deal is struck. Correct?"
"Correct," Qianyu confirmed, his smile not quite reaching his eyes. "The partnership is active."
As Obito began to warp himself and Zetsu away, Qianyu's voice, light and almost friendly, stopped them.
"I'd love a chance to spar with the legendary Uchiha Madara someday. I hope the opportunity arises."
Obito met Qianyu's gaze for a long, heavy moment.
"It will," he said.
Then he was gone.
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