Identity Exposed

Because Yota struck too quickly, Obito Uchiha had barely managed to phase through it. Breaking out in a cold sweat, he steadied his racing heart and said with an air of grandeur, "Well, youngster? Am I worthy of being called Madara Uchiha now?"

"It’s just a space-time ninjutsu. You make it sound like nobody else can use it. If you really were Madara Uchiha, why not take off your mask?" Yota said flatly, somewhat disappointed that his hand wreathed in black mist had done nothing to phased Obito.

Clearly, even though the Dark-Dark Fruit possessed spatial properties, it seemed to have no effect on Obito’s Kamui.

Of course, Yota had long prepared a trump card against Obito—the other Kamui eye.

Obito had always clung to a sliver of hope, believing Yota might not realize that Kakashi’s Sharingan had already reached the Mangekyo level. Even if he did realize it, Obito doubted Yota would connect it to his own Sharingan as a pair.

What he did not know was that Yota had already seen the spoilers and knew Obito’s weaknesses inside out. He simply had not disposed of him after using him because Obito was still useful.

"Everyone has their own privacy. Digging into it so casually isn’t a good thing. Aren’t you wearing a mask too?" Obito Uchiha said in a muffled voice.

Yota curled his lip and pulled off his mask, revealing his rather youthful face. "Wearing a mask is merely a habit I picked up in the Black Market. It’s not like someone who wears one to hide his true identity!"

Obito Uchiha: "…"

Why is this guy so damn irritating? He’s driving me insane!

By taking off his own mask, Yota had undoubtedly backed Obito Uchiha into a corner. If Obito removed his mask as well, his identity would immediately be exposed. Yet if he kept it on, it would only reveal his guilty conscience.

In the end, Obito Uchiha did not remove his mask. Without saying a word, he phased through the ground and vanished in an instant.

"He sure ran fast," Yota muttered, a smile curling across his lips.

In an underground base, Obito Uchiha reappeared. At the same time, a strange plant sprouted from the ground—it was Black-and-White Zetsu.

"Who the hell is that Black Shadow Ninja?" Obito Uchiha gritted out, turning toward Black-and-White Zetsu.

Yet this time, even Black-and-White Zetsu, whose intelligence network could be considered the best in the entire ninja world, had found nothing.

"We’ve investigated many times, but we’ve never uncovered any information about his past. It’s as though he had never existed in the ninja world before."

"That’s impossible!" Obito Uchiha frowned. "Everyone has an origin. Especially a Kage-level powerhouse like him—without the inheritance of a ninja village, it would be impossible to reach that level!"

Obito Uchiha was entirely correct. He himself was an example: only through Konoha’s orthodox teachings, coupled with Madara Uchiha’s guidance, had he gained his current strength.

Otherwise, even if he had awakened the Mangekyo Sharingan, he might have been able to dominate for a while with its power, but his fundamentals would definitely have had glaring weaknesses. Perhaps one day, during battle, someone would discover them and kill him with a single strike.

Yet Yota, the Black Shadow Ninja, had slaughtered his way through Konoha before escaping with ease. Clearly, he was not a ninja burdened by such weaknesses.

"That’s true," Black Zetsu said calmly. "But there should be quite a few hidden figures in the ninja world, and underground bases are everywhere. It’s possible he was secretly trained."

Ninjas were much like burrowing rats. Any ninja capable of Earth Release could create an underground base in minutes.

Moreover, every one of them considered their own intelligence extremely important. As a result, there were simply too many underground bases throughout the ninja world to count.

Not to mention anything else, whenever White Zetsu operated in the other ninja villages, it would run into an underground base every few dozen meters. Sometimes, while a ninja village was digging out an underground base of its own, it would excavate someone else’s hideout. Such things happened all the time.

"Something still doesn’t add up…" Obito frowned. "Unless they are ninjas with innate Bloodline Limits, like the Sharingan, which can grant tremendous power once awakened, a ninja’s growth always leaves traces."

"But this Black Shadow Ninja seems as though he never had a weak period…"

"The ninja world is vast. There are always places even White Zetsu cannot enter, such as the Summoning Sanctums," Black Zetsu said reassuringly. "Fortunately, this Black Shadow Ninja has already joined Akatsuki. His threat should not be too great in the future."

Obito sighed. "I originally intended to use Madara Uchiha’s identity to find a way to demand all those Sharingan back from him."

"Forget Fugaku Uchiha’s pair of Mangekyo Sharingan—Kakashi Hatake’s Kamui Sharingan alone is my greatest weakness!"

"Unfortunately, I didn’t expect him to be so stubborn. Nagato might even be behind this… It seems I’ll have to think of another way."

"Perhaps I should bring more powerful people under my control. Akatsuki cannot become entirely Nagato’s personal domain!"

Konoha, Ninja Archives.

Jiraiya looked at the photograph in his hand, recalled Yota’s appearance, and finally confirmed it.

"That’s right, it should be him. Yota, a Konoha genin. This Black Shadow Ninja truly is a ninja who came from Konoha!"

Yota in the photograph was only ten years old, having just graduated from the Ninja Academy. He looked serious and expressionless, otherwise entirely unremarkable.

His Ninja Academy teacher’s evaluation had likewise been ordinary. His personality was somewhat more mature than the other students’, but in the Naruto World, that was hardly unusual.

Yota’s grades had merely been above average in an ordinary class. The only thing that set him apart from typical students was that he had already begun studying Medical Ninjutsu on his own and had learned the Hemostasis Technique.

After that came his mission records. Following several ordinary missions, he had suddenly disappeared without reason a few days before entering the battlefield. When he failed to return for a long time, he had been declared dead.

The current Yota had changed greatly from his childhood appearance after visiting the Pirate World, especially since he had grown much taller. Still, if one looked closely, his younger features could be recognized.

Moreover, Jiraiya had already suspected as much. After searching carefully, he had finally uncovered the secret of Yota’s identity.

However, as Jiraiya examined Yota’s records, he began to worry.

Both his parents were dead. Nearly all of his classmates had died. The ninja teacher and companions who had partnered with him for two months were dead as well. By now, he had virtually no ties left to Konoha. No wonder he had shown Konoha no mercy.