Chapter 194: Unrepentant to the End
As expected, the moment Uchiha Dali shouted the name "Obito," everyone froze—everyone except Black Zetsu and White Zetsu.
Orochimaru in particular looked toward Uchiha Obito with a puzzled gaze.
When he was invited to join the Akatsuki, the others had told him that this masked man was the one controlling everything behind the scenes—Uchiha Madara.
But now, was he just an imposter?
If this man was merely pretending to be Uchiha Madara, then what about the grand objective he had told everyone—was that also a lie?
Curiosity flared in Orochimaru's mind as he stared intently at Uchiha Obito without blinking.
As for the Akatsuki's so-called goal of using the Tailed Beasts to achieve world peace—he couldn't care less.
He had only joined Akatsuki to further his own ambitions, to gain more experimental material and ultimately become the perfect being.
Right now, he simply looked on with the expression of someone watching a show.
At this moment, Obito could only grit his teeth and respond to Uchiha Dali, "I don't know who this 'Obito' you're talking about is, but it seems you've made up your mind to go against us."
"In that case, let's go to full-scale war."
As soon as he said that, Uchiha Obito activated Kamui in an attempt to retreat.
He was definitely no match for Uchiha Dali right now. Sasori of the Red Sand had been blasted away and still hadn't returned, and Orochimaru clearly had no intention of getting involved.
As for Black Zetsu and White Zetsu, they weren't combatants—they were information specialists.
Even if it came to war, they would have to wait until they'd gathered a larger force.
Since Konoha—or rather, Uchiha Dali—wanted to unify the entire ninja world and prevent another war from erupting…
Then he would make it his mission to sabotage that goal and drag the ninja world back into the mire of war.
Let's see who has more resolve!
"Full-scale war?"
Uchiha Dali, who had initially planned to let the other side go, instantly darkened at those words.
He followed closely behind Obito as he activated Kamui. As the vortex of space-time swallowed Obito, Dali entered the Kamui dimension with him.
"Oh? That guy…"
Orochimaru was surprised to see Uchiha Dali vanish as well.
"Looks like it's time to prepare for the next phase…"
Upon witnessing Dali's actions, the merged Zetsu realized how serious the situation had become.
He had never intended to rely solely on Uchiha Madara.
Before his death, Madara had entrusted the Eye of the Moon Plan to Obito.
But now, it was clear this kid wasn't up to the task.
Which meant they had to come up with an alternative.
At this point, perhaps the only one who could stop Uchiha Dali… was Uchiha Madara himself, resurrected.
With that thought, Black Zetsu and White Zetsu quickly dove underground and disappeared from sight.
Seeing those two flee, Orochimaru realized that in the blink of an eye, not only were Uchiha Dali and Obito gone, but Sasori hadn't returned either—leaving him completely alone.
"Seems there are a lot of secrets behind Akatsuki that haven't yet come to light… Heh."
Orochimaru chuckled meaningfully and turned to leave this place of conflict.
At that moment, he had already decided to withdraw from Akatsuki.
Whether Uchiha Dali's proposal earlier had been genuine or just a ploy to make him lower his guard was no longer important.
Remaining in Akatsuki would only put his life at risk.
He had no intention of letting Uchiha Dali interfere with his scientific research.
…
Within the Kamui dimension, Uchiha Dali followed Obito in. When Obito realized what had happened, his expression darkened with urgency.
"What the hell do you want?"
He turned to face Dali and demanded, "Speak clearly—are you really planning to go to full-scale war?"
Uchiha Dali's gaze was icy, sharp as a blade, and fixed on the scarlet Sharingan beneath Obito's mask.
Peace in the ninja world was his goal.
If Obito was declaring war, then he had touched Dali's bottom line.
There was no way Dali would stand by and do nothing.
"Return the Tailed Beasts to me, and we can go our separate ways peacefully," Obito replied.
"So that's your final decision."
Dali nodded slightly, and in the next instant, his figure vanished.
"No matter how fast you are, it's useless against me," Obito said calmly, not even attempting to dodge.
Sure enough, the next moment, Dali's kunai passed straight through his body—causing no harm.
"Is that so?"
Dali chuckled softly.
The next second, Obito's eyes widened in shock, and he suddenly coughed up a mouthful of blood.
He looked up in disbelief at Uchiha Dali. "How could you…?"
He had wanted to ask how Dali had managed to harm him.
After all, at this moment, he had already used Kamui to phase his body out of the dimension—his physical form had returned to the real world.
Which meant no attack in this space should have had any effect.
Unless…
Suddenly, realization struck Obito.
He looked at Dali again—and saw that mocking, pitying smirk on the man's face, like he was looking at a fool.
"When did you…?"
Obito's eyes trembled.
Just from Dali's expression, he could tell the man must have left behind a clone or some other contingency outside.
The fact that he had anticipated this—this man was terrifying.
"Minato and Kakashi showed you mercy. And yet you've shown no signs of remorse," Uchiha Dali said, shaking his head with deep disappointment in his eyes.
As he spoke, Obito coughed up more blood.
Though hidden behind his mask, blood was now trickling down from his chin—obviously the external shadow clone was continuing to pummel Obito's body.
After taking enough of a beating, Obito finally deactivated Kamui and pulled his phased-out body back into the physical world.
"They showed me mercy? If we're being honest, didn't I also show them mercy?"
Obito was utterly unrepentant.
Even after suffering blow after blow, he remained defiant.
Hearing that, Uchiha Dali's expression turned ice-cold. "Minato and Kakashi really ought to see what kind of person you've become."
"Can you stop bringing them up?"
Obito was beginning to lose patience.
"I used to think you were a smart man, Obito. But you've truly disappointed me."
Uchiha Dali sighed as he looked at him, shaking his head.
But Obito failed to grasp the deeper meaning behind those words. He thought Dali was just disappointed in his decision.
He snorted coldly. "Even if you kill me today, it won't stop Akatsuki's plan. Someone else will carry it forward."
"The ninja world will still achieve everlasting peace in the end."
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