"Tobi is a good boy!" Tobi cheerfully exclaimed and gave a silly wave to the disgruntled members of Akatsuki who were leaving the room after a meeting.
Most of them ignored him, deeming him not a threat or worth attention. A few, like Itachi and Kisame, watched him carefully before slipping out of the room. And Hidan glared at him with a scowl that made the silly act so worth it.
But as the door closed after the last Akatsuki member vacated the room except for Nagato in Yahiko's puppet body, Zetsu, Konan, and him, Tobi's cheerful act dropped almost instantly. He turned toward Nagato and, in a grave tone, spoke.
"The failure to put a wedge in the alliance between Konoha and Suna is unfortunate. This... Yotsuba Ren, what do we know about him?"
Nagato didn't answer. He just slightly turned toward Konan, who stood at his side.
"Not much." She impassively answered. "He is a chunin from Konoha. A seal user. And quite a competent ninja, if his performance against the Kumo and our teams was any indication. His official rank certainly does not fit his actual prowess. I don't have much more than that. There wasn't enough time to gather intel."
"Hmm. We shall investigate him further." Nagato nodded, a bit dismissively.
That assassination should have gone off without a hitch. Faced with three S-rank ninjas and two elite Jonin, the Suna team and this Ren individual should have been easily killed. Yet, the man somehow managed not only to run away with his team, but he also masterfully pitted the Akatsuki team and the Hachibi jinchuuriki against each other.
That kind of ability was dangerous.
But Nagato wasn't worried. The man didn't show anything extraordinary, combat-wise. He was a God, and some fancy seals were not going to stop him.
"It is rather curious, is it not?" Tobi tilted his head, "A day after the failed assassination, Kumo was humiliated, and the Raikage had been attacked in his office by the manchild pretending to be me."
"You think this Ren Yotsuba has a connection to the fake Tobi?" Nagato asked, his curiosity piqued, and even Konan leaned a bit forward in a quiet anticipation.
"Possibly. The sequence of events is suspicious. But it could have been just a coincidence. The fake Tobi could just as well be connected to Konoha or Suna, and the retaliation would still make sense. Still, it is suspicious, and that man is our only lead for now."
"Any chance that he might be the fake Tobi?" Konan offered a possibility. There were only so many S-rank ninjas in the world, and they were known. As Obito already said, it was very suspicious that this fake Tobi, who was obviously an unknown S-rank ninja, appeared to have some kind of connection to yet another unknown S-rank ninja.
That silenced the room as everybody contemplated that idea, but eventually, Tobi shook his head, "No. Probably not. The fake Tobi had not shown much proficiency with seals during our encounter. It is some kind of space-time ninjutsu."
The concept that a seal could copy the workings of his Mangekyo Sharingan never even crossed Obito's mind. For him, the pinnacle of sealing arts was his teacher, Minato Namikaze, and he doubted even he could come up with something that could mimic Kamui.
It just wasn't possible.
No. The more sensible possibility was something Obito found quite concerning. Enough that he tried not to think about it. After all, if it quacks like a duck, walks like a duck, and behaves like a duck, it might still be a swan, but how likely was that?
The fake Tobi had used Kamui. Or something that looked like it. What were the chances that there was a Uchiha he missed? One with Mangekyo Sharingan similar to his own? One who knew about his machinations and with a bone to grind against him?
He really did not like that assumption, but the more he thought about it, the more sense it made.
"A space-time ninjutsu." Nagato trailed off, giving Tobi a suspicious look. And with his Rinnegan, it was quite scary. Enough to make Tobi stiffen as Nagato continued speaking in a bland, yet somehow low, menacing tone. "The same as yours, perhaps?"
"What do you mean to say?" Tobi asked back in a similarly low tone, and underneath his mask, his eye narrowed. His body language switched, too, and became more aggressive.
The question made him instantly irritated. He did not want to think that he fucked up so monumentally that there was another S-rank Uchiha he completely missed.
Nagato's insinuation was throwing that fact into his face, and his mood went up in flames the second the words were uttered.
"I think you know exactly what I mean." Nagato coldly spoke, pausing for a second before he said two fateful words. "Obito Uchiha."
That gave Tobi a pause.
The cat was out of the bag. He had hoped to keep the ruse going for a bit longer, but the fake Tobi's words apparently made them investigate. This... was not all that unexpected, to be honest.
Obito would look down on them if they didn't do at least this much due diligence after getting such a blatant warning. Even if it came from an unknown source.
Calming down, he took a deep breath and looked Nagato straight in the eyes, "... Does it matter?"
"You deceived us!" Konan exclaimed in displeasure. "Ever since our first meeting. How are we supposed to trust you now?"
"I don't need your trust. I just need you to do your job." Obito said as he stared Konan down, but the woman did not relent and stared right back.
"If you have lied about something as simple as your identity, you might have easily lied about something more important. Like the purpose of gathering the bijuu?" Konan asked in a dubious, leading voice.
She had her misgivings about the whole 'gather the bijuu' plan from the very beginning. But Nagato was her friend. The only remaining close person she had in the entire world. For better or worse, Konan had resolved herself to stick with him through good and bad, no matter what he decided.
Still, she decided she could at least try pointing out the suspicious points in this whole situation.
"Are you doubting my dedication toward our plan, woman? Toward lasting peace!?" Obito grew a bit agitated. "I spent decades trying to bring it to fruition!" Tempers ran high, and Obito decided to go for the jugular. "You have seen for yourself that you need power to make others stop fighting. After all, if you were strong enough, poor Yahiko wouldn't have died."
"You!" Konan's face darkened. Yahiko died because she was taken hostage, and he traded his life for hers. It was her biggest regret. To have it thrown into her face like this...
Swirls of paper rose into the air inside the room, filling its corners in preparation to attack.
Obito's stance shifted.
Zetsu watched from the sidelines with great interest and amusement as the fight almost broke out.
"Enough!" Nagato said in a commanding, calm tone, and his Shinra Tensei affected the entire tower, causing tremors to shake the entire room.
He, too, found Obito's comments about Yahiko's death infuriating, and his control slipped a bit. Instead of affecting just the tower, the tremors quickly spread, causing a small earthquake to shake the entire village.
"We, too, desire lasting peace. We are going to stick with the plan." He dryly told Obito, only to add a moment later in a warning tone, "For now."
Clearly unhappy but also aware that this was the best he was going to get right now, Obito jerkily nodded and threw Konan one last look before the air swirled around him and Zetsu, teleporting them away.
The tension in the room slowly bled out as Konan and Nagato were left behind. Nagato quickly checked the room with his Rinnegan, finding nobody hidden inside, before he turned toward Konan.
"You are right. Something is not right." He spoke before Konan could start. "But we have given this plan decades of our lives, too." That made Konan don a resigned expression. "Though... just in case, keep a subtle watch over Tobi and Zetsu. If they become a problem, I will deal with them. Nothing shall stand in the way of peace."
With that, Nagato turned around and walked out of the room.
Now alone in the room, Konan's shoulders slumped as yet more work was dumped on her. She was just so tired of it all, and now it seemed the team was going ot fracture with the slightest push.
She needed to assess which of the Akatsuki members were loyal to Obito and which were loyal to the money and benefits being a part of Akatsuki provided.
The first category was a threat. The latter one could possibly be persuaded to take their side. As Nagato said, just in case. Her mind strayed toward a possible fight against Obito, a very unpleasant thing to think of. And with that, she thought of a scroll she had found in her room a few weeks ago.
It contained a simple note of, 'Add seals to your paper jutsu, baka!', and instructions on explosive and storage seals.
She didn't need to be a genius to realize where it came from. It was why she questioned if this Ren Yotsuba was the fake Tobi. Honestly, she had a hunch she was correct.
But... both Nagato and Obito decided it was unlikely, and she found herself surprisingly unwilling to share her guess for some reason.
Looking out of the window, Konan sighed. "This isn't going to end well, is it?"
Then she noticed the panicking populace of Amegakure that had just experienced their first-ever earthquake, and almost broke her impassive facade with a groan.
Right. She had a lot of work ahead of her today.
...
"Well?" Tobi asked Zetsu.
"It wasn't an act. Nagato genuinely decided to stick with the plan. But Konan will be keeping an eye on us." A white Zetsu answered.
After they left the room, Zetsu had left one of his clones inside the wall to spy on Nagato and Konan. He couldn't have them start getting independent ideas of rebelling or changing the plan. Not when they were almost at the finishing line.
Fortunately, not even Nagato's Rinnegan could notice a hiding Zetsu. Not without knowing what to look for. Information that Obito happily did not share with the man.
"Good." Obito nodded. "I want you to keep an eye on them, too." He ordered Zetsu. "I want to be prepared for any unpleasantness that might ensue. Especially from Konan's side. That woman is starting to become a problem."
"Understood." The black Zetsu rasped.
"Oh, and send a clone to monitor the Yotsuba guy. Find out if he has something to do with the fake Tobi." Obito ordered before he left.
The white Zetsu clone looked at the black Zetsu, "Shouldn't we have warned him that Nagato is just as suspicious of him as Konan?" He curiously asked, only for the black Zetsu to chuckle.
"It does not matter. As long as their goal is to rejoin the bijuu. We just need to steer them in the correct direction." The black Zetsu said in dark amusement. "Everything else is just entertainment."