Under Uchiha Obito's lead, in just a short while, the three of them arrived at a cave entrance blocked by a massive boulder.
This location was extremely conspicuous, because a red wooden torii gate stood at the cave entrance.
Around the entrance, densely packed black talismans were carved into the rock, resembling some kind of special jutsu formula.
Uchiha Obito walked up to the cave entrance and placed his hand on his chest, forming a "Release" seal.
Immediately after, Uchiha Obito let out a low shout:
"Open!"
BOOM!
With a rumbling sound, the massive boulder blocking the cave entrance began to slowly move aside, revealing the opening.
Uchiha Obito smiled lightly and, without the slightest hesitation, led the other two straight inside.
"It seems things are going smoothly."
The moment the three entered the cave, an indifferent voice echoed from within.
At the very center of the cave, a phantom formed entirely from chakra appeared in their field of vision, its form radiating iridescent light.
The owner of this chakra phantom was none other than Uchiha Madara!
"Using the rings as a medium, converting chakra into thought waves through the Six Paths power of the Rinnegan."
"Gentoshin no Jutsu? Nagato has invented quite a useful jutsu."
Uchiha Madara examined his iridescent phantom form and spoke thoughtfully.
"Did Konoha's people also appear in Sunagakure?"
Uchiha Madara raised his head to look at Uchiha Obito and asked coldly.
"That's right." Uchiha Obito nodded.
The reason Uchiha Madara knew this information was because when Uchiha Obito invaded Sunagakure and spotted Konoha's Hatake Kakashi and others in the conference room, he had immediately relayed the intelligence back.
"He's come to help you."
Uchiha Madara nodded lightly, his voice still cold and indifferent, without the slightest concern.
As Uchiha Madara's words fell, a figure slowly stepped out from the shadows.
"Sasori?" Kakuzu's face showed a hint of surprise upon seeing this figure.
How interesting!
The mission to capture the One-Tail Jinchuriki was originally planned for Sasori and Uchiha Obito. But for some reason, Uchiha Obito had chosen Kakuzu instead of Sasori.
Yet now Sasori had been sent here by Uchiha Madara, which was indeed interesting.
When Uchiha Obito saw Sasori appear, his one visible eye narrowed slightly, but he didn't say anything.
"Let's begin."
"Gentoshin no Jutsu may be useful, but the power it can project is less than a tenth of the original. Extracting the Tailed Beast will take some time."
Uchiha Madara's phantom formed hand seals and pressed his palms against the ground. The next moment, a thunderous roar erupted as the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path was summoned from underground.
Uchiha Obito also activated Kamui, dropping the unconscious Gaara from the Kamui dimension onto the ground.
"Extracting the Tailed Beast will take some time. You all just stand guard outside."
Uchiha Madara sat cross-legged atop the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path and spoke coldly. Then he turned his gaze toward Uchiha Sasuke:
"Sasuke, don't disappoint me."
Hearing Uchiha Madara's words, Sasuke clenched his fists and nodded firmly.
Their mission this time, besides capturing the Tailed Beast, had a second objective: to make Uchiha Sasuke awaken the Mangekyo Sharingan.
That was why everything had been arranged this way.
After all, if it were merely about capturing the Tailed Beast, the group could have simply left after securing Gaara. There would have been no need to come all the way here and wait for Nagato and the others to arrive.
The entire purpose was to use the eyes transplanted into Nagato, originally belonging to Uchiha Itachi, to stimulate Sasuke.
To make Sasuke evolve the Mangekyo Sharingan!
If conditions were favorable, reclaiming Uchiha Itachi's eyes would be even better.
This alone was enough to prove how much importance Uchiha Madara placed on Sasuke.
With that said, Uchiha Madara lowered his head again and focused entirely on extracting the Tailed Beast chakra from a Jinchuriki.
Uchiha Obito and the others didn't disturb him. They nodded lightly and turned to leave the cave, heading outside.
Just as he was about to exit the cave, Uchiha Obito cast a deep glance inside from the corner of his eye, a flicker of fear flashing in the depths of his gaze.
You see.
Uchiha Obito was well aware of how difficult it was to extract Tailed Beast chakra using Gentoshin no Jutsu.
In the original story, when the Akatsuki organization extracted the One-Tail Shukaku's chakra.
Nagato first used Gentoshin no Jutsu to appear at a pre-arranged location, then summoned the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path and gathered all the Akatsuki members together.
Using the combined power and consciousness of all Akatsuki members to activate the Demonic Statue's seal, they unleashed the sealing jutsu: Genryu Kyu Fujin!
And even more staggering was the fact that the extraction process took a full three days and three nights.
Yet now, Uchiha Madara was beginning to extract the One-Tail Shukaku's chakra all by himself.
Furthermore, from what Uchiha Madara had just said, it was clear that the time required would be far less.
From these few points alone, Uchiha Obito could easily deduce the enormous gulf in strength that existed between them!
This kind of absolute disparity was not something that could be bridged by a few clever schemes.
After leaving the cave, the group retraced their steps back to the valley above.
"Let's just wait here for them."
"Didn't expect to see the former leader again. It really is an interesting experience. I hope the leader's strength hasn't declined too much."
Kakuzu's voice was somewhat deep, carrying an odd note of amusement in his tone.
"Shouldn't be too boring." Uchiha Obito did a few stretches.
With that, Uchiha Obito turned his head to look at the silently standing Sasori.
"So, was this your purpose all along?" Uchiha Obito tilted his head slightly, speaking in a voice only the two of them could hear.
"My two subordinates. You used them as bait and threw them away, didn't you?"
Sasori didn't answer Uchiha Obito's question. Instead, he asked one of his own.
Uchiha Obito spread his hands, putting on a helpless expression.
"I won't pursue why you did that. And of course, there's no need for you to probe into why I'm doing this."
Sasori turned his head slightly toward Uchiha Obito, his somewhat stilted voice ringing out. At the same time, a faint sound of gears turning came from within Hiruko.
Uchiha Obito scratched his hair and feigned a helpless sigh.
So it was true. Konoha's people appearing in Sunagakure was indeed Sasori's doing.
A look of understanding appeared on Uchiha Obito's face beneath his mask. It seemed his guess was right.
Soon, the group fell silent again.
After all, everyone present was the taciturn type. Only Uchiha Obito could purposefully act a bit eccentric, though there was no need for that in this situation.
Among the four present, only Sasuke's eyes flickered with anticipation and nervousness, glancing up at the distance from time to time.
Before they knew it, about two hours had passed.
The sun overhead had climbed to its highest point.
"Are they coming or not?" Kakuzu's face was already showing signs of impatience, his hands cracking his knuckles with a grating sound.
"Yawn! Seriously, so slow..."
Uchiha Obito propped himself on the ground with his hands and let out a bored yawn.
Just then, White Zetsu's figure suddenly emerged from underground.
"Oh my, everyone, they're coming. The rest is up to you. Make sure you don't disturb Lord Uchiha Madara."
White Zetsu said with a giggling tone, then quickly burrowed back underground and vanished.
Sasuke was the first to stand up, clenching his fists and looking toward the distance.
As for Uchiha Obito and the others, they remained calmly seated, without making any movement.
Not long after White Zetsu disappeared, several figures gradually appeared in their field of vision.
(End of Chapter)
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