Chapter 60: Akatsuki's Plan Stalled — Orochimaru Defects Too!
After receiving the system's prompt, Oborotsuki finally understood how to deal with Uzuki Yūgure.
It seemed that getting a reward wasn't something that could be achieved in just one or two tries—he would need to persist multiple times.
But Oborotsuki wasn't in a hurry.
After all, she was locked in prison and couldn't escape.
Right now, there were more important things he needed to handle.
He already had the Reaper Mask in his possession, but using it still required help from a specific person.
Without him, even if he summoned the Reaper with the mask, he wouldn't be able to accomplish anything.
With that thought, Oborotsuki glanced at the sky and decided not to return to Mei's house right away.
Instead, he activated Flying Thunder God and vanished from the spot.
…
In a lush primeval forest on the border of the Land of Fire,
A figure suddenly appeared behind a large tree.
Uchiha Obito—wearing a black cloak and the Uzumaki mask—stumbled forward, leaning heavily against the trunk before vomiting a large mouthful of blood straight through the mask.
"Cough… cough…"
"Cough cough… cough…"
Choking on the clotted blood, Obito coughed violently. Murderous intent surged endlessly in his eyes.
At that moment, on the tree in front of him, a merged clone of Black Zetsu and White Zetsu emerged—looking almost identical to their original bodies, impossible to tell apart.
"You were careless."
"But Hōzuki Oborotsuki took the Reaper Mask. It seems his goal is also the Nine-Tails."
Black Zetsu spoke in a deep voice.
Earlier, when Obito and Oborotsuki clashed at the Uzumaki clan ruins outside Konoha,
The two of them had been hiding nearby, watching the entire fight clearly.
"This is really bad… After all, that kid and Konan both know exactly what our plan is…"
"Now they're also collecting tailed beasts. Do they want the power of the tailed beasts too?"
White Zetsu added, his voice carrying a comical tone.
"Hmph… Even if he gets the Nine-Tails, so what? He has no idea how to actually use these beasts."
"As long as we keep the rest of the tailed beasts under our control, we can gather all the members later and crush him together. He'll die without a grave!"
Obito clutched the wound on his chest—already filled and healed by Wood Release cells, leaving only a shocking, ugly scar where new flesh had grown.
Murderous rage blazed in his eyes, more intense than ever.
"That Konoha ANBU."
"She heard things she shouldn't have."
"Konoha will probably be on guard against us from now on."
Black Zetsu added.
"Hmph… Don't worry."
Obito sneered, clenching his fist. Beneath the mask, his eyes shifted into the Mangekyō Sharingan.
"Hōzuki Oborotsuki definitely doesn't want unnecessary trouble. He'll take care of that ANBU himself."
"And even if he doesn't, with Konoha's current condition, they pose no threat to us at all."
"The Nine-Tails attack already inflicted massive damage—they're severely weakened. Rebuilding the village and restoring their fighting strength won't happen overnight."
"Right now, the great nations' attention is scattered. This is our best window to act!"
"I'll continue returning to Konoha and make contact with the Uchiha clan."
"You two—carry out the original plan as instructed."
"As long as we can use the Uchiha to make them betray Konoha, the plan will be complete. After that, Konoha will no longer be a threat!"
With those words, Obito activated Kamui and vanished.
The merged Black Zetsu and White Zetsu quickly sank back into the tree and disappeared as well.
…
Meanwhile, in Amegakure, at Akatsuki headquarters—
"Leader, Orochimaru defected. He used the opportunity during our mission to escape."
Sasori of the Red Sand reported the situation.
The two of them had originally been assigned as a team.
But Sasori never expected Orochimaru to be so cunning.
While Sasori was meeting with an intelligence contact, Orochimaru slipped away. By the time Sasori returned, the man had long vanished.
The fact that someone defected right under his nose made Sasori furious.
Hearing this, Kakuzu snorted disdainfully:
"I saw through that guy's unreliability long ago. And now look—he really caused trouble!"
"If they had let me team up with him from the beginning, I would've killed him already."
Kakuzu looked toward Pain's Deva Path.
"It looks like the organization is starting to fall apart… Members keep decreasing. Not easy to lead a team anymore, huh?"
Sasori said meaningfully, his gaze drifting toward the two spots that should have been occupied by Oborotsuki and Konan.
Now those positions were empty—both of them gone.
According to Leader Pain, Hōzuki Oborotsuki and Konan had betrayed Akatsuki and fled.
A pursuit plan against them was already in motion.
And that had only happened recently.
Now, even Orochimaru had slipped away.
With three people defecting in a row, Sasori couldn't help but feel a slight tremor of doubt in his heart—what exactly was making them all leave Akatsuki?
"Let me go after Orochimaru."
"I'll turn that guy into the most perfect human puppet and bring him back."
Sasori snapped back to reality, raised his head, and looked toward Deva Path.
His bloodshot eyes gleamed with murderous intent.
Orochimaru's strength made him the perfect material for a human puppet.
"Defectors only prove they're unfit to participate in our grand plan."
"Orochimaru must also become a target of pursuit from now on."
"But there's no need to act immediately. Confirm his location and information first."
Pain's Deva Path felt quite helpless.
Excluding non-combat types like Zetsu and Madara—who never took regular missions—
The only remaining combat-ready members of Akatsuki were the Six Paths of Pain, Kakuzu, and Sasori.
The latter two clearly didn't get along. Forcing them to team up was basically sending one of them to die.
Moreover, there were still many other plans in motion. They simply didn't have the manpower to spare.
So for now, they had no choice but to temporarily abandon pursuit of Konan, Oborotsuki, and even someone like Orochimaru…
Hearing Deva Path's order, Sasori's eyes flashed with displeasure.
But he didn't voice his dissatisfaction in front of the leader. He simply fell silent.
"Until we find suitable new members, everyone will operate solo for the time being. Be extremely cautious."
"Sasori—this will be your primary task from now on."
"And this one is yours, Kakuzu."
Deva Path handed two mission scrolls respectively to Kakuzu and Sasori.
The two men accepted the scrolls without a word, turned, and walked out.
Deva Path was about to use the Thought Wave to report Orochimaru's defection to Uchiha Madara.
But at that moment, he suddenly felt a slight disturbance—he sensed intruders inside his rain.
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