"Looks like the Will of Fire hasn't fully brainwashed everyone, huh?"
Perched atop Konoha's outer wall with one leg dangling, Gensou watched the shifting expressions of the Konoha villagers below and chuckled.
No one was going to take advantage of him so easily.
Next, he'd leave it to Jiraiya, Tsunade, and the rest to figure out how to explain the Uchiha situation to the villagers and calm the rare internal turmoil in the village.
Konoha, the proud village founded by the two great clans—now, only Tsunade remained from the Senju Clan, and the Uchiha were all but wiped out. The few remaining Uchiha had no attachment to Konoha and left without looking back.
If anyone believed the village wasn't at fault for this, they'd have to be fooling themselves.
"Also, now that Itachi's matter is resolved, it's time to tell Sasuke and the others the truth about the Uchiha massacre. We can't afford to let others with ill intentions exploit the situation and stir up unnecessary trouble."
With one last glance at the "lively" villagers below, Gensou's figure swayed like a feather in the wind before disappearing from sight.
A short while later, in a deserted alley of Konoha.
Obito and Zetsu emerged from the ground.
"I didn't expect someone as powerful as Itachi to die here," White Zetsu remarked, genuinely surprised.
Black Zetsu, now reattached to White Zetsu's body, said indifferently, "Itachi was suffering from a terminal illness, and his strength had already diminished. Facing Sasuke and the other Uchiha trained by Gensou, it's not surprising he couldn't hold his own."
"That makes sense. But..." White Zetsu turned to Obito, puzzled. "Madara-sama, wasn't Sasuke supposed to be the last Uchiha from Konoha? Where did all these others come from?"
Obito's face twitched slightly.
He was also confused by this development.
Looking back, he could only conclude that the old Uchiha survivors had been far more cunning than he'd given them credit for, hiding away and playing a long game.
Whoever said the Uchiha were only about brute force clearly underestimated their ability to scheme.
"Three pairs of Mangekyou Sharingan... Madara, have you thought about how to deal with them?" Black Zetsu asked, his eyes gleaming as he looked at Obito.
Obito's spiraled face darkened.
First Itachi, and now three more Uchiha with Mangekyou Sharingan—and he didn't even know what unique abilities their eyes held.
Obito felt immense pressure.
The only consolation was that unlike him, they hadn't implanted Hashirama's cells, meaning they'd still be vulnerable to blindness from overusing their powers.
But if Sasuke were to combine his eyes with Itachi's to awaken the Eternal Mangekyou Sharingan, it would be a whole different story.
Fortunately, the people who knew the full truth about the Uchiha massacre—Hiruzen Sarutobi, Danzo Shimura, and Itachi Uchiha—were all dead. The remaining two Konoha elders only knew bits and pieces, so they wouldn't be able to explain anything to Sasuke.
Now, only Obito himself, who had been directly involved in the massacre, knew the entire story.
Obito was confident that by revealing part of the truth, he could persuade Sasuke to turn his anger toward Konoha.
And if he could provoke a full-blown conflict between Gensou's faction, Konoha, and the other Great Nations, sparking a major war, it would be even better.
With this in mind, Obito said calmly, "Whether it's the Uchiha or the Mangekyou Sharingan, we have no direct conflict with Gensou. The Akatsuki's mission remains the collection of the Tailed Beasts. Everything else is secondary.
Of course, if we can add fuel to the fire and escalate the current tensions in the shinobi world, making them too preoccupied to deal with the Akatsuki's actions, all the better."
Obito no longer intended to have Pain directly attack Konoha and start the Fourth Great Ninja War in such a high-profile manner.
Let Gensou attract the attention of the shinobi world while the Akatsuki quietly accelerated their plan to gather the Tailed Beasts—that would be far more advantageous.
Hearing Obito's reasoning, Black Zetsu silently approved.
Though there were some unexpected developments, Obito's response was reasonable. The focus was still on collecting the Tailed Beasts, which aligned with Black Zetsu's goals.
With that settled, Black Zetsu decided it didn't need to take any immediate action. Gensou would remain a potential trump card for later. For now, Obito could continue fulfilling his mission.
Black Zetsu fell quiet.
Obito then turned to White Zetsu and asked, "Where is Uzumaki Naruto?"
To the Akatsuki, capturing the other Tailed Beasts was relatively straightforward; they already had leads on most of them.
The only major challenges were the Eight-Tails and Nine-Tails.
The Jinchuriki of the Eight-Tails was formidable and highly valued within the Hidden Cloud Village, being the Raikage's brother.
Capturing him would likely require either Pain or Obito himself to act.
As for the Nine-Tails, the most powerful and unique of all the Tailed Beasts, Obito was puzzled by Naruto's absence during the recent major events in Konoha.
He turned to White Zetsu for an explanation.
"Apparently, he's gone off for secret training somewhere," White Zetsu relayed the intelligence they had gathered.
"Secret training?" Obito frowned.
White Zetsu nodded, then seemed to remember something and added with a mischievous grin, "But we did find a substitute for the Nine-Tails—a boy with a significant amount of the Nine-Tails' chakra sealed inside him."
"Nine-Tails' chakra? A boy?"
Obito's eyes gleamed with interest.
"If necessary, we could use this substitute for now..."
Meanwhile, after their successful revenge and departure from Konoha, the Uchiha moved swiftly through the forest, feeling the freedom of the wide world once again.
Gensou soon caught up to them.
When the Uchiha saw him, their expressions immediately turned serious, and they called out in unison, "Gensou-sama!"
Gensou nodded and gave his orders, "Head three kilometers to an old, abandoned Uchiha base and rest there for a while."
"Understood!" the Uchiha responded promptly, adjusting their course.
Although their visual prowess had improved after the battle, their physical strength and chakra reserves were depleted. They needed to rest before continuing their journey.
To avoid any unexpected complications, Gensou also planned to reveal the truth to them there.
It didn't take long before the group crossed through dense, pathless woodland and arrived at an old base covered in moss and vines, resembling a small pyramid.
At its peak, the Uchiha Clan had established several secret bases across the Land of Fire, and this was one of them.
It was also the location where Sasuke and Itachi had their final battle in the original story.
Gensou gestured for Sasuke to follow him. Confused, Sasuke complied, and they ascended to the rooftop of the base.
Standing before a crumbling wall bearing the Uchiha's fan emblem, Gensou gazed out at the vast forest below and said softly:
"Itachi is dead. It's time for you to know the truth about the night of the Uchiha massacre."
"The truth... of that night?" Sasuke murmured, momentarily stunned. But his expression quickly returned to normal as he asked, "Konoha was involved, wasn't it?"
It was clear that Sasuke had already suspected this.
Gensou looked at him and replied:
"Yes, but that's only part of it."
(End of Chapter)
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