Chapter 126: Obito’s Method

After Uchiha Li and Minato had left, it wasn’t long before Obito appeared in a secluded corner of Konoha. Although Konoha was just a village, it was quite large in scale, so the outskirts were quite far from the village center. Obito deliberately kept his distance, not wanting Minato to find him again.

From this corner, Zetsu’s body emerged, watching Obito intently. “It seems your plan has failed,” Zetsu remarked.

He had been observing Obito’s movements from the start—how Uchiha Li had quickly caught on, and later when Obito was forced to reveal his intentions. He had heard everything clearly.

“Hmph,” Obito snorted coldly. “I was already making contact with Uchiha Li, but with that guy’s arrival, I had no choice but to pause for now.”

At the mention of this, Obito’s mind flashed back to the chaos of the Nine-Tails’ rampage, and a flicker of unease crossed his eyes.

Back then, he had intended to use the Nine-Tails’ uprising to deal a heavy blow to Konoha, hoping to remove obstacles for his future plans. But he had severely underestimated Minato. His Kamui ability had no real advantage against the Flying Thunder God Technique.

On the contrary, due to his carelessness, he was gravely wounded by Minato and forced to retreat. This allowed the Nine-Tails to break free from his control. Coupled with the subsequent intervention of the Uchiha, his plan for the Nine-Tails’ rampage was utterly foiled.

This time, Minato’s swift arrival caught him off guard. By all logic, no one in Konoha should have discovered his presence so quickly. After all, the entire confrontation with Uchiha Li had lasted only a few minutes.

Even if the Anbu had detected something suspicious and tried to alert the village, it would have taken time. Based on that timeline, Minato should have needed a while longer.

Yet Minato had locked onto him almost immediately after he made his move, as if he had been expecting it all along.

And now, Obito still wasn’t confident he could defeat Minato with his Flying Thunder God Technique, so he had no choice but to put the recruitment plan on hold.

Zetsu’s eyes flickered as he absorbed Obito’s words, speaking softly, “After all, he is your teacher. Your abilities are indeed no match for him.”

Though Zetsu hadn’t participated in the Nine-Tails’ chaos directly, he had been watching from the shadows and was deeply impressed by the battle between Obito and Minato.

Both were ninjas skilled in space-time ninjutsu, and their fight was a contest of who controlled space-time better.

Without a doubt, Minato was far more experienced than Obito, so it was unsurprising that Obito was gravely wounded in the end.

“Once my teacher,” Obito replied coldly as he glanced at Zetsu.

“Enough about that,” Zetsu shifted gears, “When do you plan to approach Uchiha Li again?”

After a pause, uncertain, Zetsu added, “I don’t think Uchiha Li is someone easily convinced. He’s extremely wary, and we have nothing that can truly sway him.”

Obito first nodded, then shook his head. “You’re right. Under normal circumstances, persuading Uchiha Li to defect and join us will be difficult.”

“So?”

“So we need to provoke him.”

Obito folded his legs and sat down, continuing, “His talent exceeds what I expected. Someone like him, if pushed to despair, might take the next step...”

Hearing this, Zetsu’s eyes flashed. In a low voice, he asked, “What do you intend to do?”

Beneath his mask, Obito’s face revealed a chilling smile. “Doesn’t he have a sister he’s close to? What if we let his sister die at the hands of Konoha?”

Zetsu instinctively lowered his head, a faint, almost imperceptible sneer crossing his lips.

He hadn’t expected Obito to go so far—and this method was exactly what Madara Uchiha had done to Obito once.

Only, Obito was unaware of the truth back then and believed it was all an accident.

And now, Obito himself was about to use the same tactic, aiming for Uchiha Yao.

Was it fate, or was Obito truly the heir Madara had chosen?

At the thought, Zetsu couldn’t help but smile darkly, though the smile quickly vanished.

“What’s wrong? Do you think the plan won’t work?” Obito noticed Zetsu’s sudden downward glance and asked curiously.

Zetsu looked up, his expression calm once more. “No. If he truly witnesses despair, he might indeed take a further step and join us.”

“Prepare yourself. Find Uchiha Yao, then we’ll begin.”

Obito waved his hand, his gaze returning toward the heart of the village.

Zetsu followed his gaze, his expression strangely solemn. “I’m going now.”

With those words, Zetsu disappeared.

Obito watched him vanish, his mind filled with the cold image of Uchiha Li.

...

Meanwhile, after bidding farewell to Minato, Uchiha Li walked thoughtfully toward his home.

Orochimaru had just visited him yesterday, and now Obito had come today.

From this, it was clear that Akatsuki placed great importance on him—perhaps excessively so.

No matter how he looked at it, they seemed anxious.

Uchiha Li couldn’t quite understand why.

“Logically, Akatsuki’s operation is still years away, and I’m not necessarily the only candidate,” he mused.

By his estimation, Akatsuki should still be in the preparatory stage, and he shouldn’t be so vital as to require immediate recruitment.

“Could it be because of Terra?” The thought suddenly struck him, growing more plausible with each passing moment.

Terra’s presence in the ninja world was only notable during the incident at Kamuro, and through its self-promotion.

This merely informed everyone that such an organization existed.

But what Terra truly was, how many members it had—these remained unknown.

However, Terra boasted two Mangekyō Sharingan users from the start, a force enough to command respect.

Nagato possessed the Rinnegan and was naturally unfazed by the Mangekyō, but the other Akatsuki members were not so assured.

Especially now, with Akatsuki still lacking most of its members, it appeared somewhat “weak.”

In this situation, Akatsuki’s desire to accelerate recruitment was understandable.

“Too bad they’ve targeted the wrong person,” Uchiha Li sneered coldly.

Akatsuki could have recruited anyone else, but they had chosen him.

This meant Obito and the others’ efforts would be in vain.

Approaching his small courtyard, Uchiha Li ceased his thoughts and stepped inside.

As he entered the living room, he saw Sara sitting alone on the sofa.

“Sara, where’s Yao? Why are you alone?” Uchiha Li scanned the room, puzzled by Yao’s absence.

Since Yao had taken responsibility for Sara, the two had been inseparable, and Uchiha Li rarely saw either of them.

He didn’t know whether Yao truly had a close bond with Sara or if she was merely keeping an eye on him.

But today, Sara was here, and Yao was nowhere to be found.

Sara came to her senses and replied, “Yao just went out. She said the guards had an urgent matter to attend to.”

Uchiha Li stroked his chin thoughtfully. “Is that so...”