In a deeply hidden underground base
"Konohagakure placed a bounty on me?"
Uchiha Obito's voice was tinged with confusion beneath his signature spiral mask.
For over a month now, he had remained in Kirigakure.
Using genjutsu, he had taken control of the Fourth Mizukage and, under that identity, implemented a brutal regime—the infamous Bloody Mist policy.
It was revenge. Revenge against the entire village of Kirigakure.
They were the ones who had driven Rin to her death. And he would make them pay.
Over the past month, countless Kirigakure shinobi had fallen under the weight of this policy. It had left him quite satisfied.
But the moment he returned, he was met with startling news: Konohagakure had issued a bounty on him.
"Yes. A bounty of fifty million ryō, the highest ever issued by the village. How does it feel? Honored?" Zetsu said with a touch of schadenfreude.
"What happened while I was gone?" Obito asked, eyes narrowing.
His instincts told him something significant must've occurred during his absence.
"An elite jonin named Uchiha Sen was killed. Konoha suspects you were behind it, so they placed the bounty," said White Zetsu.
"Someone framed me?"
Obito frowned behind the mask.
The bounty itself didn't concern him.
In the underworld, there were few who posed a genuine threat to him. Anyone foolish enough to try would be signing their own death warrant.
With his space-time jutsu, even a siege by multiple Kage-level opponents wouldn't faze him. Escape was always an option.
But being framed for something he hadn't done? That irritated him deeply.
"Do we know who set me up?"
"No. Aside from one wound—possibly caused by Wood Release: Piercing Technique—there were no other marks on Uchiha Sen's body."
"If I didn't know you were in Kirigakure this whole time, I'd have suspected you too," Black Zetsu added, shaking his head.
"Are we certain it was the Piercing Technique?" Obito asked.
"I can't confirm. I didn't get the chance to examine the corpse up close," said Black Zetsu.
"Looks like I'll need to make a trip to Konoha and investigate this myself. I won't let someone pin this on me," Obito said coldly.
"And while I'm there, I might as well talk to Uchiha Shisui. See if I can persuade him to join the Akatsuki."
A vortex swirled open, and Obito's body distorted like rippling water, vanishing into the spiral.
That night, deep within the Uchiha Clan's cemetery…
Rows of gravestones stood in perfect order under the moonlight.
A swirling vortex opened out of nowhere, and Uchiha Obito emerged, masked and silent.
His gaze swept across the grave markers. When his eyes landed on one that read "Uchiha Obito," his lips curled into a strange smile.
"Earth Style: Earth Flow Split."
He approached Uchiha Sen's grave, used Earth Release to part the soil, and raised the coffin from underground.
Opening the lid, he pulled aside the corpse's clothing to examine the wound.
"...It really is a Wood Release: Piercing Technique injury."
He was genuinely surprised.
He knew this wound all too well—it was identical to the injuries left by his own Piercing Technique, a Wood Release jutsu he used frequently.
"Other than me, only Black Zetsu can use Wood Release... but this wasn't him."
"That means someone else out there is using Wood Release."
"Besides myself, only a select few possess Hashirama's cells..."
A sneer spread beneath his mask. He had a strong suspicion of who it was.
Only Konoha's upper echelon would have access to the First Hokage's cells.
Someone among Konoha's leadership must have stolen and experimented with Hashirama's genetic material.
In other words, the one who killed Uchiha Sen... was a fellow Konoha shinobi.
A classic case of in-fighting within the village.
Konoha's higher-ups were always good at turning on their own.
Just like how Hatake Sakumo—Kakashi's father—had been driven to suicide by the village's scorn.
Thinking of Kakashi, Obito's expression turned complicated—filled with nostalgia, but also hatred.
Kakashi may have been forced to kill Rin... but the fact remained: he hadn't protected her.
Obito would never forgive him.
Shaking his head to push those thoughts away, he steadied his gaze, cold and resolute.
"Whoever you are… you dared frame me. I hope you're ready to pay the price."
A vortex swirled open again, and Obito vanished from the cemetery.
He reappeared in front of a secluded, run-down house on the edge of the Uchiha district.
It was old and crumbling from neglect.
This had once been his home. He and his grandmother had lived here together.
It had been a warm, comforting place... but now, it held nothing but emptiness.
He had left the village, and his grandmother—too old and heartbroken—had eventually passed away.
He stood there quietly for a long time before turning to leave.
Next stop: Shisui's residence.
Having once lived in the Uchiha district, Obito knew exactly where Shisui resided.
And thanks to intel from Zetsu, he knew Shisui was currently in the village.
Inside a bedroom—
Uchiha Shisui suddenly awoke, heart racing.
In a flash, he rolled out of bed and drew the blade hidden beneath his pillow. His eyes shifted instantly into Mangekyō Sharingan.
Years of Anbu training and his own honed instincts told him something was off. Someone was here.
"Impressive reflexes," a voice echoed from within the room.
Shisui's Mangekyō vision locked onto the intruder. "You—!"
His voice trembled with shock. "How did you infiltrate Konoha?"
The entire village was shielded by a vast sensory barrier. Even a Kage-level shinobi would struggle to enter undetected.
"For others, sure. But for me… not so hard," Obito said, a smug tone in his voice. "After all, I used to live here."
"You… lived here?" Shisui's expression turned wary. "Who are you?"
This man had once been a part of Konoha? That revelation stunned him.
"The name is Uchiha Madara," Obito declared, his exposed right eye transforming into a Mangekyō Sharingan. His voice carried the weight of history and legend.
He had fully embraced his role. In that moment, even he believed he was Madara Uchiha the one and only shinobi who once stood toe-to-toe with the First Hokage.
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