[Not only that, when Madara helped Obito heal, he had already placed a Cursed Seal Tag on Obito's heart, to prevent him from betraying him.]
"Cursed Seal Tag?"
Obito instinctively reached for his chest with his right hand. Before he could feel his heartbeat, his hand was roughly taken away by Kushina.
"Don't speak, let me feel it properly."
When it comes to sealing jutsu and Cursed Seal Tag, no one in the room was more skilled than Kushina.
She placed her chakra-infused hands on Obito's chest, and after a short while, Kushina found the Cursed Seal Tag's location.
"This is troublesome. The Cursed Seal Tag is buried deep in the center of your heart. Any method we use could affect your heart. That bastard Madara never intended for you to survive."
It was obvious.
The Cursed Seal Tag was buried so deep, Obito would either spend his life as Madara's puppet, or die with dignity.
Obito obviously didn't want to die.
The Cursed Seal Tag is in my heart, huh?
Then I'll just get rid of the heart.
In the original story, Obito used Kakashi's Chidori to destroy his heart, relying on Hashirama's cells to regenerate and keep him alive until he became the Jinchuriki of the Ten Tails.
But here, it wouldn't be that complicated.
"Don't worry, Obito. It's just a heart. If there's a problem, we'll just replace it."
After saying that, Kushina turned to Orochimaru and asked, "Shouldn't be an issue to grow a heart that fits Obito, right?"
Orochimaru smiled and replied, "Of course, no problem. As long as the money is right, I can do anything!"
"Money is not the problem."
"Then there's no problem."
After Kushina finished talking with Orochimaru, Obito felt a bit embarrassed and said, "I'm really sorry, Kushina-san, for worrying you."
Kushina rolled her eyes and responded, "You're my perfect punching bag for venting."
"Yes, yes, yes! As long as Kushina-san is willing, you can always use me to vent."
"This is what you said, huh?"
"Of course. I, Uchiha Obito, always keep my word."
[After this, Obito began executing the Infinite Tsukuyomi plan under Madara's identity.]
[His first target was to guide the piece Madara had placed long ago, Nagato.]
[When Nagato was very young, Madara had already implanted his Rinnegan in him.]
[Obito found Nagato, introduced himself as Uchiha Madara, and shared the power of the Rinnegan.]
[He invited Nagato to work together to find a way to create peace in the ninja world, but Yahiko shot him down.]
[Obito didn't force Nagato to stay but instead chose to observe him in secret.]
[Because he knew very well that only by experiencing the despair of this world could Nagato truly empathize with him.]
[Perhaps, for a moment, Obito even wanted to believe in Yahiko's method of creating peace through talks, wanting to see if the Akatsuki could truly create a peaceful ninja world.]
"Do you really believe that Yahiko's method can create peace?"
Jiraiya, the Fifth Hokage, looked at Obito in surprise.
Even he felt that Yahiko's idea was too naïve.
If talking could solve problems, then why would we need ninjas?
"I don't really believe Yahiko can achieve peace through conversation, I'm just not opposed and don't want to cause trouble. If Yahiko succeeds and peace comes to the ninja world, maybe I won't fall deeper into it."
"If Yahiko fails, I won't lose anything, and it will let Nagato and the others experience the true darkness of the ninja world."
"So, you're saying you won't suffer either way, huh?"
"Heh, everyone has to grow, right? My wisdom stat can't always be two."
Hearing this, Kakashi interrupted: "There's growth, but not much. At most, you've added 0.4 to your wisdom. Rounding it up, you're still at Wisdom Level Two."
".MDZZ, I can't be bothered with you."
In the Hokage office, Tobirama was also talking to Hashirama.
"Big brother, don't you think this kid Yahiko is a lot like you when you were younger?"
"Of course, this kid's as handsome as I was when I was young."
"I meant he's like you in his naivety."
Tobirama snorted coldly and continued: "Back when you and Madara unified the Land of Fire, if you had followed through and unified the ninja world, creating a single government, maybe the ninja world wouldn't have been so chaotic."
At this point, Hashirama's mood visibly sank.
"If that had happened, many people would have died."
"That's why I say you're naive. To put it in terms you'd understand, sometimes short-term pain is better than long-term suffering."
"It's like having a poisonous boil on your body. Every time, you avoid the pain by treating it conservatively, but this just causes the boil to keep coming back every once in a while."
"Only by enduring this intense pain and cutting off the flesh below the poisonous sore once and for all can we prevent it from recurring."
"Uh."
Hearing this, Hashirama hesitated for a moment and replied, "Well, it seems like I won't get that thing. Even if I did, my own cells would just devour it. No need to cut any flesh."
"..."
Tobirama: "←_←"
Hashirama: "→_→"
[Soon, the Akatsuki faced its first crisis.]
[Danzo's Root disguised as Iwagakure ninja ambushed the Akatsuki. Nagato activated the power of the Rinnegan, slaughtering the enemies.]
[Nagato's rampage was completely against Yahiko's ideals.]
[This scene was witnessed by Obito. Seeing Danzo's involvement, Obito understood that the situation was secured.]
[Not long after, Hanzo of the Salamander recognized the Akatsuki and extended an olive branch.]
[Yahiko and Nagato were overjoyed, believing their efforts had paid off.]
[But in reality, this was a trap set by Hanzo and Danzo for the Akatsuki.]
[Watching everything with sharp eyes, Obito naturally understood the schemes of the two.]
[The day before the negotiations, Obito found Nagato again.]
[He told Nagato that the real world was about to undergo major changes, asking Nagato to come with him, to give up on Yahiko and the Akatsuki.]
[Nagato firmly rejected this proposal.]
[Nagato's refusal only made Obito more certain that only through experiencing pain could one truly empathize.]
[He passed through Nagato's body, as if to hint to him that this world, just like the blurred version of himself he saw now, is full of falsehoods.]
[Obito: Hmph, fine. Once you've experienced pain, you'll understand which world is truly real.]
"Tch, that old dog Danzo really has his hands in everything. By the way, Orochimaru, why can't we summon the Reanimated Danzo anymore? You still don't have any clue about this?"
"Not a single clue."
"Ah~ Without Danzo getting beaten up, I'm going to die!"
As the Hokage, Jiraiya understood that Danzo's actions were mostly for the sake of Konoha.
Instigating internal strife in other countries, killing off other nations' geniuses.
Only when other countries weaken, would Konoha's safety grow.
However, as the teacher of Yahiko's group, Jiraiya was extremely dissatisfied with Danzo's actions.
Thankfully, Danzo had other sins to his name, so there was no need for any excuse to deal with him.
What really irked Jiraiya recently was that summoning Danzo had become impossible.
The perfectly good punching bag was just gone. What was he supposed to do when he wanted to beat someone now?
He couldn't go around punching Obito like he did with Kushina, could he?
Obito: "Are you sure you can hit me? You really think my Kamui's intangibility is a joke?"
*********
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