During his short, single day of "Shinobi Observation" in Konoha, a sudden, brilliant idea struck Yūshin… he figured out how he should be using the Yomotsu Hirasaka.
His next task was to find people in the shinobi world. Since he had to look anyway, finding one person or finding two took roughly the same amount of effort.
If his memory served him right, there was still another powerful member of the Ōtsutsuki clan hidden away in this era, lurking in a half-dead, incomplete state.
The so-called "Rabbit Goddess" was supposedly a lower-ranked Ōtsutsuki. Her sole purpose and value were to be fertilizer for the God Tree. She had a superior named Ōtsutsuki Isshiki.
The stories said Ōtsutsuki Isshiki was arrogant, cold, and far stronger than Kaguya—yet he'd almost been killed by her surprise attack.
The tales claimed his intelligence, strategy, and cunning far surpassed Kaguya's—yet he'd almost been turned into a snack for the Ten-Tails.
Legend painted him as a man of conviction, ideals, and ambition, striving to unite the Ōtsutsuki clan—his vision infinitely broader than Kaguya's, who was content to hide in this little world. And still, he'd almost died to a sneak attack. Ambition was just empty words. Clinging to life was his reality.
The more they built Isshiki up as this powerhouse, without explaining how the weaker party nearly offed him, the more one word seemed to fit him perfectly…
Trash.
It was like saying the current Yūshin would next be killed by Danzō Shimura. Theoretically impossible… so yeah, Ōtsutsuki Isshiki was pretty trash.
In short, the average Ōtsutsuki IQ didn't seem high. Yūshin had already met the numerically weakened version of "Kaguya"—Ōtsutsuki Urashiki. Now, he was going to see the numerically enhanced but no-smarter version—Ōtsutsuki Isshiki.
Come to think of it, it seemed all Ōtsutsuki brains were connected to the "Kaguya Network." Their collective intelligence might even be lower than Danzō Shimura's.
Huh. If Yūshin thought this way about the Ōtsutsuki, did that make him the arrogant one?
But his opinion was based on long-term observation. The Ōtsutsuki's track record determined they weren't particularly classy final bosses.
To better protect the Rinnegan, Orii needed to hold it himself first… And that, of course, still counted as following Uchiha Madara's will.
He truly did want to execute his elder brother's command. But the question was, how could you protect a treasure in someone else's possession?
While Black Zetsu was visiting the empty hideout, Orii was already within the Land of Rain's borders. Protecting the Rinnegan was the mission Madara gave him. Of course he knew its location.
he got his hands on it.afterOrii wasn't entirely clear on the Rinnegan's operation yet. No matter. He'd figure it out
Objectively, Madara's talent in ninjutsu far surpassed his brother's. But in terms of being "human," it seemed Orii had the edge.
Since returning to this world, hearing of the Uchiha's fate, and learning of the Rinnegan's power, one thought consumed Uchiha Orii: reviving those he cherished—Shichimi and Izuna.
And familial bonds were indeed reliable. How else to explain Orii's actions?
The funny part? The intel about the Rinnegan came from Madara and Black Zetsu themselves. These conspirators—well, at least one of them—had placed too much faith in familial bonds.
.nowIf there was a miracle-working method to revive the dead, why wait for some vague future? Of course you'd use it
This younger brother was average in strength, average in thought. Precisely because of that, he'd never wanted any part of Madara's insane scheme.
To be fair, compared to the crazed, Black Zetsu-manipulated Madara, Orii's behavior was far more… normal.
"The Rinnegan! The brat is after the Rinnegan!"
Black Zetsu quickly pieced together Orii's goal. He almost shrieked it aloud:
It meant their hearts were never aligned.
Orii had always seemed placid, indifferent to the so-called "ideal." Combined with this scene… what did it mean?
Black Zetsu's mind, not the sharpest tool, began whirring.
"An attack? No… a betrayal! What is he doing?!"
Black Zetsu arrived at the hideout. The first thing he saw was the slaughtered White Zetsu.
It turned out Orii wasn't garbage. His initiative was strong. It just pointed in a direction completely opposite to what Madara and Black Zetsu expected. They were on divergent paths.
On this day, Black Zetsu returned to check on him. Even a dull blade, sharpened for two years, should be usable now, right? Otherwise, wasn't Madara's brother just garbage?
Then, he took action on his own.
Well, "extraordinary" compared to the average shinobi.
Two years ago, Orii was a teenage shinobi. Now, he was a young man. His own chakra growth, combined with mastering the Mangekyō… his power was now extraordinary.
Two years of growth for a shinobi was dramatic. Look at Naruto after traveling with Jiraiya and returning.
Orii was ordinary compared to his brother, not an actual fool. Two years was absurd… unless it was deliberate. A bought timeframe for growth.
It left Black Zetsu utterly bewildered. He was a short-term babysitter with other duties. He couldn't stay glued to Orii. He left a White Zetsu at the hideout and checked in periodically.
He took over two years to "adapt."
But Orii was the less-talented son compared to his father and brother—the only one in his immediate family who hadn't awakened the Mangekyō on his own. Now, he weaponized that perceived "slowness."
A week? A month? Three months at most. Black Zetsu thought. How long could adapting to a pair of eyes take?
Black Zetsu agreed. It wasn't yet time to send Orii to die for the "ideal." Even when harvesting chives, you had to nurture them, let them grow first.
"That… is reasonable. Mastering these eyes' abilities does require some time."
"True," Orii conceded, turning slightly. "But until I fully adapt to these eyes, I can't be considered immediate combat strength. To better execute my elder brother's mission… I need time to acclimate." He was explaining himself to Black Zetsu.
As for Madara's revival plan, that was distant. They'd cross that bridge when they got to it.
Even if they did meet, it could be concealed.
He wasn't overly worried about Madara finding out. Madara was critically weak, reliant on Black and White Zetsu for information. He likely wouldn't meet his brother again in this lifetime.
To make this younger brother useful quickly, Black Zetsu had provided Tajima's Mangekyō eyes.
He'd been playing babysitter lately. After all, his current cover was as Madara's "Will Manifestation."
Uchiha."true"Naturally, the Mangekyō stage is fundamentally different from the tomoe stage," a voice oozed from the shadows behind him. Black Zetsu's form materialized. "An Uchiha who possesses the Mangekyō Sharingan is a
He was praising the eyes' strength. To put it bluntly, this was the most useful his father, Tajima Uchiha, had ever been.
"So this is the power of the Mangekyō Sharingan…" Orii murmured, his voice tinged with awe. "Indeed. I've never felt this depth of ocular power in my own eyes before."
It was common knowledge that Uchiha didn't need sterile operating rooms for eye swaps. Orii, by lying low in a cave for a few days, was already being respectful to the theory of evolution. At least he hadn't gone for the "pluck-and-plug" method.
.powerAlong with the light came
The daylight was sharp, stinging. He raised a hand to shield his face instinctively. As he gradually adjusted to the outside brightness, a profound joy—the joy of regained sight—washed over him.
Uchiha Orii stepped out of the entrance, one deliberate footfall after another. He reached up and began unwinding the bandages covering his eyes.
Somewhere, in a cave.
...
He settled in to observe, watching Jiraiya play house with the three children.
At this moment, Yūshin just thought Madara and Black Zetsu were utterly inhuman. He didn't feel any particular urge to intervene… His bloodline had been diluted over generations; he didn't have that kind of deep emotion to spare.
Black Zetsu was good at picking targets. Theoretically, a black-haired Uzumaki could adapt to the Rinnegan's ocular power better than some red-haired ones.
Even if they didn't gouge out "Nagato's" eyes to implant the Rinnegan, his own native eyes might develop tomoe and turn red after a while.
one, huh?this Uzumaki, you'll mess with thatIf you can't mess with
Yūshin wasn't deeply versed in the Uzumaki clan's "self-purification" history, but a moment's thought clarified this timeline's "Nagato."
Damn. Madara was a real piece of work.
. His hair color was too plain—not red, but black.enoughThe problem was, the punk wasn't punk
At first glance, it all matched his memories. Yūshin started to look away—then stopped. His eyes snapped back, locking onto the punk.
Teaching kids and killing Rain shinobi. He managed both without conflict, no mental illness, no schizophrenia. His psychological state was… worth studying.
His gaze shifted to Jiraiya, playing the spiritual mentor. The man was interesting. Here he was, teaching ninjutsu to Rain orphans, hoping they'd create a utopia of "love and peace." Meanwhile, he'd periodically leave to execute Konoha missions.
No doubt about it. The Rinnegan possessed spatial attributes. The Asura Path could summon modern weapons from another dimension. The Animal Path was exceptionally skilled with summoning.
Yūshin immediately sensed something off about the punk. Using the Yomotsu Hirasaka's power, he detected a spatial distortion around the kid…
The student configuration was familiar. Two boys, one girl. One of the boys had his eyes covered, a little punk. Hidden White Zetsu monitored them.
When Yūshin traveled to Amegakure and found Jiraiya—who was, as expected, "aiding the enemy"—he saw the man had separated from his team. He was alone, teaching three orphans from the Land of Rain.
But there was a question. With the Uzumaki clan still alive and kicking in Konoha, where exactly did Madara and Black Zetsu plan to find a suitable vessel for the Rinnegan?
Too bad the shinobi world's future was a vague, shapeless thing. Jiraiya couldn't grasp it.
Madara was frail. The eye-bearer was untrained. Black Zetsu lacked power. Honestly, they were no match for Jiraiya…
Imagine if Jiraiya were less contemplative. If he saw the Rinnegan as just a weapon of Amegakure, treated its wielder as an enemy, and destroyed those eyes preemptively. The future might not have gotten so complicated.
The key to the world's survival or destruction was likely in Jiraiya's hands right now.
"Jiraiya…" Yūshin's lips formed the name softly.
So far, Yūshin hadn't interfered much with Madara's plans. Madara had never sensed any leak. So, following timeline inertia, those eyes were probably in the Land of Rain right now.
The key to executing the plan was the Rinnegan. Doing the math, Madara's Rinnegan should have hatched and been transplanted by now.
The reason Orii could vanish so completely was likely that Madara had already linked up with his younger brother. Assuming Madara had pulled Orii into his "Eye of the Moon" plan, then finding Orii wouldn't be too hard.
Not finding his target was fine. Yūshin would switch to a "wait by the tree" strategy.
He discarded the thought the moment it arose. He didn't believe in "coincidences."
Was he overreacting? Maybe the person who reappeared wasn't Orii after all?
Finding nothing unusual at the Uchiha ruins, Yūshin spent some time circling the Land of Fire. Still, no sign of Uchiha Orii.
Who in their right mind took day trips to a latrine?
Had he come earlier, he might have caught the White Zetsu hiding there. But he'd never had much regard for the Uchiha. Their old grounds were essentially a latrine to him.
Yūshin left Konoha. His first stop was the old Uchiha compound grounds. A coincidence, aligning with Madara's own thoughts… Unfortunately, he was a step late.
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