Chapter 527: How Could There Possibly Be a Second One?

Chapter 527: Chapter 527: How Could There Possibly Be a Second One?

Developing spies within Konoha who could gain access to classified information was not an idea exclusive to Obito.

Among the Akatsuki members, Sasori, who had once held a high-ranking position in a shinobi village, had proposed planting spies within the Five Great Shinobi Villages long ago. However, Nagato had considered himself a god back then and had not thought much of the Five Great Shinobi Villages. As a result, Akatsuki had never placed much importance on its plans to infiltrate them with spies.

Now, having suffered yet another defeat at the hands of Kamigami, Nagato had no choice but to learn from his mistakes and begin taking intelligence gathering seriously.

Pulling his thoughts back to the present, Obito quietly made up his mind.

Since they had inadvertently abducted Kagami’s disciple, he couldn’t let this opportunity slip away so easily.

Besides, he had never regarded a mere Hyuga branch family member like Kagami as someone worth his attention.

In Obito’s eyes, Kagami had only managed to become an ANBU squad captain because the village was suffering from a shortage of talented shinobi, allowing him to rely on the Hyuga clan’s connections to secure the position.

Therefore, whether his plan succeeded or failed, he stood to lose very little, and there was no additional risk involved.

At that moment, Obito shifted his gaze toward Sasuke, who was standing beside Neji.

The repeated appearance of Mangekyo Sharingan wielders within Kamigami had not only put Obito on guard but also left him deeply puzzled.

"Since when did the Mangekyo Sharingan become so commonplace?"

Obito’s confusion was not without reason.

When he was young, the Mangekyo Sharingan had still been something of a legend. There had been no news of anyone awakening the Mangekyo Sharingan, whether within the entire Uchiha clan or anywhere else in the shinobi world.

Yet now, counting himself, Shinichi, Shisui, and the two Homura within Kamigami, there were already as many as five Mangekyo Sharingan wielders in the shinobi world!

If Kamigami had only possessed a single Uchiha with the Mangekyo Sharingan, Obito could have understood it.

After all, during the Third Shinobi World War, there had been quite a few Uchiha clan members who, like him, had gone missing on the chaotic battlefields, their bodies never recovered.

Therefore, it wasn’t entirely impossible that one such lucky individual had survived the battlefield just as he had and subsequently awakened the Mangekyo Sharingan.

However, the probability of such a thing happening was extremely low.

After all, the Mangekyo Sharingan wasn’t something one could awaken simply by wishing for it. Both innate talent and external stimulation were indispensable, and even then, a certain amount of luck was required.

For even one such individual to exist was already a statistical miracle. If two appeared at the same time, then it was no longer a miracle—there had to be another explanation!

Therefore, there was definitely something suspicious about Kamigami having two Homura who possessed the Mangekyo Sharingan.

And the root of the problem almost certainly lay within the Uchiha clan itself.

After all, only the Uchiha clan, with its large population of Uchiha members, had the potential to produce multiple Mangekyo Sharingan wielders. The probability of scattered Uchiha bloodlines outside the village producing two such individuals was practically zero.

"What that brat Itachi cares about most is his little brother. If I use his brother to threaten him and make him investigate Kamigami within the clan, particularly the identities of Homura, I doubt he’ll refuse me."

There were two reasons Obito had chosen Itachi as the next insider he intended to recruit.

First, Obito greatly admired Itachi’s abilities and knew just how much he cared about his younger brother, Sasuke.

Second, Itachi was the eldest son of the clan head, Fugaku. As long as Shisui did not compete with him, Itachi would undoubtedly become the next patriarch of the Uchiha clan.

With his considerable standing within the clan, he could easily investigate many of its secrets.

As for the possibility that Itachi himself might be suspicious, Obito had considered it before, but had quickly dismissed the idea.

The main reason was Itachi’s age.

He was only a little over thirteen years old.

When Obito had been that age, he had only recently graduated from the Academy and entered the battlefield as a rookie. He hadn’t even awakened his Sharingan yet!

Therefore, he simply couldn’t believe that Itachi, who had grown up during peacetime, could be so talented that he had already awakened the Mangekyo Sharingan at such a young age.

Moreover, as the eldest son of the Uchiha clan head, Itachi had been born into a position of privilege. Coupled with his reputation as a genius, he had never experienced any real hardship or emotional trauma.

"A genius like Shisui is someone who might appear only a handful of times in the Uchiha clan’s thousand-year history. How could there possibly be a second one in the clan? That simply defies common sense!"

From three different perspectives—innate talent, external stimulation, and simple plausibility—Obito simultaneously ruled out the possibility that Itachi possessed the Mangekyo Sharingan.

Having decided how he would make use of the two children, Sasuke and Neji, Obito left the room feeling thoroughly satisfied.

As for the hostage exchange, just like Orochimaru, Akatsuki had never seriously considered going through with it.

Putting aside the fact that Obito highly valued the talented Sasuke, even if it were an Uchiha clan member he had no particular interest in, Obito would never hand them over to Orochimaru, a traitor to Akatsuki.

To Akatsuki, traitors were absolutely intolerable. And a traitor like Orochimaru, who possessed considerable strength and could influence the overall situation, was even less tolerable.

Therefore, just as Kabuto had suspected, Akatsuki’s proposal to exchange hostages with Orochimaru was nothing more than a trap designed to catch the snake.

The Nine-Tails Jinchuriki in Orochimaru’s possession was Akatsuki’s target, but so was Orochimaru himself!

After Obito left, Sasuke and Neji simultaneously breathed sighs of relief.

That elusive Akatsuki member, who appeared and disappeared like a ghost, had placed tremendous psychological pressure on both of them.

Sasuke declared with certainty, "That man definitely knows your sensei. Not a single one of his movements escaped my Sharingan!"

Neji nodded gravely. "Yeah. He seems to be plotting something sinister."

Obito had made no attempt to conceal his intentions, and this had effectively sent the two children a very ominous signal.

Akatsuki might never have intended to release them in the first place. There was a good chance they would never return to the village alive.

As children of prestigious clans who had received shinobi education from their families, the two quickly realized this and fell silent.

A long time later, another figure pushed open the door and entered the room.

Upon recognizing the newcomer, Sasuke reacted like a drowning man who had finally found something to cling to. He couldn’t help but cry out, "Big Brother Shinichi! Are you here to save me?"

Shinichi shook his head, his expression dark.

"No one can save you here. Not even me."

Shinichi greatly admired this young clansman who had managed to awaken the Sharingan at just eight or nine years old.

However, he understood that rescuing Sasuke would mean sacrificing his valuable position as a spy within Akatsuki.

That was not a decision he could make on his own.

Moreover, he wasn’t even confident that he could escape safely with Sasuke. After all, Obito’s space-time ninjutsu gave him an overwhelming advantage when it came to tracking down fleeing targets.

Seeing Sasuke’s dejected expression, Shinichi comforted him.

"You don’t have to worry too much. After all, you’re a member of our Uchiha clan. I’ll do my best to ensure your safety..."