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Within less than ten minutes, Mabui, who had stormed out of the Hokage building, had gathered her people and departed in haste. She needed to return to the Cloud Village immediately to report to the Raikage.
Killer Bee, I'm going to make you pay!! On the road, Mabui's face remained ashen, a far cry from her usual gentle and cheerful disposition. Her entourage kept a wide berth, too terrified to approach. They could tell with their toes that Mabui was seething with rage, barely able to contain her fury. Anyone who dared get close right now would be courting disaster. This time, because of its excessive fixation on Jinchuriki and Tailed Beasts, the Cloud Village would not only suffer a significant loss but would also be the source of a monumental farce.
Meanwhile, Black Zetsu, who had been tirelessly gathering intelligence everywhere, had returned to the Akatsuki's new base. He reported his recently collected information to Nagato. "In other words, the Nine-Tails, which was split in two, is currently sealed within Uzumaki Naruto and Uchiha Kazuki respectively?"
That Kazuki had sealed the other half of the Nine-Tails within himself was crucial information for the Akatsuki, as their ultimate goal was the collection of all nine Tailed Beasts.
"Barring any unforeseen circumstances, the Nine-Tails sealed within Naruto is the Yang-attributed chakra Nine-Tails. The one within Kazuki is the Yin Nine-Tails, representing the Nine-Tails' Yin-attributed chakra. Of course, this is merely a theoretical distinction. In practical terms, whether Yin or Yang, neither half fundamentally differs from the complete Nine-Tails; they are simply weaker," Black Zetsu explained. Whether Yin or Yang, either half of the Nine-Tails could easily allow its Jinchuriki to enter Nine-Tails Chakra Mode, effortlessly launch Tailed Beast Balls, and casually chase down and pummel several other Tailed Beasts. This alone demonstrated that the distinction between the Yin and Yang halves wasn't so rigid in reality.
After all, a Tailed Beast Ball was a combined offensive formed from both Yin and Yang chakra natures. If the Nine-Tails had been truly, completely severed into separate Yin and Yang entities, how could they even utilize the Tailed Beast Ball? It was simply that the Yang half possessed a greater proportion of Yang-attributed chakra, while the Yin half held the opposite. It was impossible to completely and utterly sever and separate them.
"Will this impact the plan?" Nagato didn't particularly care how many pieces the Nine-Tails had been divided into. In fact, two separate Nine-Tails were arguably even more advantageous for the Akatsuki, as it provided two distinct targets to pursue. Targeting Kazuki held little feasibility – the risks were excessively high. On the other hand, going after Naruto was far simpler and entailed the least risk.
"It will not negatively impact the organization's plans. Both the Yin and Yang Nine-Tails can serve as viable targets," Black Zetsu replied. In truth, missing half of the Nine-Tails would significantly weaken the Ten-Tails, preventing it from reaching its full power. But Black Zetsu wouldn't breathe a word of this to Nagato. Once the Ten-Tails was born, Nagato would have outlived his usefulness. As for Obito, he too was dispensable. If they wanted to play, let them squabble.
"Mm." Since there would be no adverse impact, Nagato couldn't be bothered to waste more words. He merely grunted in acknowledgment and fell silent. The Deva Path remained as aloof and unapproachable as ever.
After leaving Nagato's side, Black Zetsu went to find Obito. When it came to being perpetually busy within the entire Akatsuki, if Black Zetsu claimed second place, absolutely no one would dare claim first. There had once been Kakuzu, with his love for money, who could contest him for the title of hardest worker.
But after a series of unfortunate incidents, Kakuzu had been left idle, stripped of the qualification to be Black Zetsu's partner. Black Zetsu was, in his own way, tirelessly diligent, running all over the world gathering every scrap of intelligence. Compared to the Akatsuki's new base, within the underground chamber Obito occupied, Black Zetsu's tone carried a hint of levity – though this levity was brought by the White Zetsu fused with him.
Obito remained his usual self, only he no longer wore a mask. He refused to continue hiding his face, even though he had yet to recover his other, rightful Sharingan. To avoid arousing Nagato's suspicion, Obito had no choice but to remove the mask, using this as a means to signal to Nagato and the others that he had already obtained a complete pair of Mangekyo Sharingan.
"Recently, Kakashi has been on duty within the Hokage building. There have been no signs of him being reassigned elsewhere. Capturing him will be exceedingly difficult, as we would need to act directly under Kazuki's watchful eyes," Black Zetsu reported.
"Not even with Kamui?" Obito asked, a hint of impatience creeping into his voice. He had waited long enough.
"Extremely difficult," Black Zetsu replied, utterly indifferent to Obito's growing impatience. He reminded him, "Kazuki's Mangekyo ocular technique is terrifying. We cannot act rashly without first ascertaining its exact nature. Furthermore..."
Without special circumstances, the Complete Body Susanoo was something only those who had mastered the Eternal Mangekyo could wield. An Eternal Mangekyo, coupled with enhanced ocular techniques, and now the Yin Nine-Tails... the more Black Zetsu thought about it, the more his head throbbed. Facing an existence comparable to Madara at his peak – and you, Obito, think you can stir up trouble relying on a single Mangekyo with Kamui? You'd likely end up dying a very messy death.
Kamui was formidable and exceedingly tricky! But once its characteristics were understood, corresponding countermeasures could be found. Since Obito's other Mangekyo was in Kazuki's possession, wouldn't Kazuki have attempted to use Kamui?
Let's not forget the incident years ago when several corpses had suddenly materialized within the Kamui dimension.
That might very well have been Kazuki's doing. When those corpses had inexplicably appeared in the Kamui dimension, Obito had been terrified for a considerable period. He initially suspected it was Kakashi's doing, but after observing for a while, he realized Kakashi couldn't even activate the Mangekyo Sharingan. The suspicion then fell squarely on Kazuki.
"If Kamui were to be countered..." Black Zetsu trailed off, leaving the rest unsaid. He trusted Obito understood the implications. Someone else possessed your eye, had even used it personally, and was undoubtedly intimately familiar with every detail of the Kamui dimension. Under such circumstances, instead of keeping your distance, you wanted to prance around right under their nose? Were you tired of living, eager for an early death?
Black Zetsu's assessment was entirely correct. Kazuki had, in fact, been waiting for Obito to come prancing under his watchful eye – similar to what had happened during the Five Kage Summit in the original timeline. Unfortunately, Obito was too cunning. After his descent into darkness, his intelligence had skyrocketed, bypassing even the need for taxes. Even presented with an opportunity, he wouldn't seize it.
"Hmph!!" Obito snorted coldly and fell silent. Because everything Black Zetsu said was the truth. Obito had no desire to court death. His plan was not yet complete, and before its completion, he was loath to die. If he couldn't retrieve his own eye, then he would abandon that pursuit for now and set his sights on someone else's eyes instead – for example, Madara Uchiha's Rinnegan!
Surely the Rinnegan surpassed Kazuki's eyes? Obito refused to believe that even after obtaining the Rinnegan, he would still fall short compared to Kazuki. It was fortunate Kazuki was unaware of Obito's internal musings; otherwise, he would surely have laughed himself to death.