"It's over."
"Yes, it's over."
The Demigod and the leader of Root were dead. The other ninja who had followed them couldn't accept this outcome, but it didn't change reality. The scene, apart from the sound of rain, was deathly silent. No ninja wanted to be noticed by the two terrifying young men below.
"Amegakure has lost its leader. It won't be long before chaos erupts. This is your golden opportunity."
"Yahiko."
"I will. I'll take up the post of Amegakure's leader first, but you will still be Akatsuki's leader."
Obito's eyes flickered. Root ninja had escaped this time. As the indirect culprit in Danzō's death, he would inevitably be investigated. If a true reckoning came, Akatsuki was a decent place to fall back on.
"Water Release: Water Clearing Wave."
Deliberately controlling the jutsu to its minimum strength, he washed clean the corpses of Hanzō of the Salamander and Danzō, preventing poisonous water and gas from entering their bodies when they searched the corpses.
"Leave the matter of the antidote to me. You wait here."
From the battle just now, it seemed this person called Uchiha Obito only possessed fire-nature chakra and wasn't suited for the task of searching corpses.
Nagato wrapped a stream of chakra water around his hand, turned over Hanzō's corroded corpse, and found a scroll in his ninja pouch with the words "Antidote" written on it.
"This should be it."
"Find someone to test it on."
They found an unlucky, half-dead Root member, forced the antidote down his throat, and threw him into a distant area still lingering with poison gas.
Then they dragged him back with a steel wire.
"There are still signs of poisoning, but the effects are much milder than in others. It's the real antidote."
"Apart from the antidote, I want nothing else."
The antidote scroll greatly eased Obito's mind; this trip hadn't been in vain after all.
This incident would soon be spread by Amegakure, and it wouldn't be long before the entire ninja world knew. He particularly wanted to know the expressions on the Kakashi's and Rin's faces; they would surely be priceless.
"How about that, Kakashi? You could deal with the Seven Ninja Swordsmen; now I can deal with the ninja world's Demigod, Hanzō of the Salamander."
"How about that, Rin? I did what I said I would. I will definitely save you!"
He had even thought of his lines.
After the intense battle, his chakra was nearly depleted. His current state wasn't suitable for travel, but Obito still hastily consumed several military ration pills and, after resting for half an hour, stood up again.
"I have to go."
"So soon?"
Yahiko and Konan came to his side. Nagato, not one for words, stood behind them.
"Won't you stay a little longer?"
"I have urgent matters."
"Then Akatsuki..."
"I'll keep this cloak. You guys handle the upcoming internal strife in the Land of Rain first."
"Understood."
Yahiko and Konan were very grateful to this mysterious Uchiha Obito. If not for his warning and help today, the entire Akatsuki might have been wiped out. Now, though their losses were heavy, they hadn't suffered a crippling blow. As long as the most important people were still around, Akatsuki would surely rise again.
"What we have done is merely to brush away the dark clouds; dawn will eventually come."
Yahiko no longer tried to stop him and, after a few more words of blessing, watched Uchiha Obito speed away.
"Until he returns, Nagato will temporarily be Akatsuki's leader."
"Me?"
Nagato was somewhat astonished. He had been in the background how had this position suddenly fallen upon him?
"Because right now, no one is more suitable for this position than you."
"Also, give Lord Hanzō a grand burial."
Yahiko bowed deeply towards Hanzō's corpse from a distance.
"Wait, Yahiko."
"Konan?"
The meticulous Konan felt uneasy. She released dancing white papers that flew high into the sky to search for the missing corpse.
"The corpse of that Konoha ninja named Danzō... it's gone!"
"Lord Danzō."
"Hanzō's poison... even after using Izanagi, I couldn't completely avoid it."
Purple poison moved like a coiling snake within Danzō's right arm. Danzō's left hand rose and fell, severing his right arm. He stopped the bleeding, his face pale.
"That Uchiha brat, who is he? Have you found out?"
"It should be the deputy commander of the Land of Water warzone, Uchiha Obito."
"Is he on his way back to Konoha?"
"Lord Danzō, rest assured, we've sent two more squads to intercept him on the way."
Cutting down a section of a tree and fashioning it into a crutch, Danzō supported his body to prevent himself from trembling due to the heart-wrenching pain from his right arm wound.
"A fellow who can fight Hanzō... sending two squads is just sending them to their deaths. Call them back. Sacrifice isn't wrong, but it shouldn't be a meaningless sacrifice."
"Yes."
A Root member disappeared from Danzō's sight, going to notify the frontline interception team.
"Let him reach Konoha safely. Inform Hiruzen."
"Also, investigate who he's trying to save with that antidote."
"We already know this."
"Who?"
Danzō, with the help of the Anbu beside him, retrieved a three-tomoe Sharingan from a bottle of liquid and covered his completely dimmed right eye.
His right eye regained its sight, the tomoe spinning. The new dōjutsu power it contained slightly alleviated his pain.
"A month ago, we lost a member. Five days ago, he suddenly appeared at the Konoha stronghold in the heart of the Land of Water, suffering from Hanzō of the Salamander's potent poison. The one responsible for treating him was frontline medical team member, Rin Nohara."
"But the treatment showed no improvement. This member died the next day. Rin Nohara subsequently returned to Konoha."
The Root member took out a list of members and crossed out codename 21.
"Member 21 was originally assigned to the Land of Waterfalls, but for some unknown reason, appeared in the Land of Rain. This is suspicious point number one. According to the Yamanaka clan's investigation, this member's memories before death were confused, suspected of being manipulated. The technique used was very likely also from the Uchiha clan. This is suspicious point number two. All Jōnin-level Uchiha were fighting in the Land of Water at the time; it would be an unnecessary detour. This is suspicious point number three."
"According to analysis, unless the dōjutsu is extremely powerful, the only one who fits the capability to control this person is Uchiha Shisui."
"Kotoamatsukami."
The Anbu crossed out several more Root members who had died in this battle and put away the list.
"There's another possibility: there are unknown Uchiha masters in the ninja world."
"Impossible."
Denying this statement, Danzō clenched his left hand, and cracks appeared from top to bottom on the wooden crutch.
"No other Uchiha clan ninja must exist outside of Konoha. Send five squads to the Land of Waterfalls now to investigate the patrol location of that missing member."
"Yes, Lord Danzō."
"We're not returning to Konoha yet. We're going to the Land of Grass to find Orochimaru."
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