After p it thhly, Orochimaru realized that spending 100 million ryō to hire Uzumaki Senshi t him a living member of the Uchiha seemed to be the only viable option. In more practical terms, no matter how he twisted and turned, Uchiha Obito was still the only real choice!

  Senshi waited patiently while Orochimaru stood there, lost ihought—clearly digesting all the intel. Meanwhile, Senshi woo himself, “Could Orochimaru actually fail to e up with 100 million ryō? It sounds like a lot, but really, it isn’t that much, right?”

  After waiting a bit, he saw that Orochimaru still wore a flicted expression, so Senshi took the initiative:

  “Well, Orochimaru, have you made up your mind?”

  Orochimaru paused and asked:

  “Are you absolutely certain there are only three living Uchiha left in the shinobi world?”

  Senshi nodded solemnly:

  “That’s correct. A merary doesn’t lie. Everyone in Akatsuki knows I’m hoo a fault. Don’t pretend you haven’t noticed.”

  Orochimaru tinued:

  “And about needing an inal pair of Sharingan—if it’s not the matg pair, the eyes ’t unleash their full power. Is that information reliable?”

  He had carefully weighed the idea that Obito might really be his only optioing Obito go from oo two eyes should, in principle, be easier: Senshi apparently had els to acquire Sharingan. If they captured Obito, he could simply impnt another Sharingan into him. But if the eyes had to be Obito’s inal pair, that meant going after Konoha. At the moment, Orochimaru wasn’t eager for a head-on csh with the vilge.

  Senshi answered without hesitation:

  “Yes, absolutely. Don’t doubt my professionalism.”

  Hearing that, Orochimaru asked further:

  “What if you have a pair of Sharingan already—couldn’t you simply repce Obito’s single eye with a matg set?”

  Senshi silently gave Orochimaru credit for his iive angle. Logically, if you transpnted a perfectly matched pair into Obito, the Sharingan should fun normally.

  But after a short pause, he expined:

  “Mangekyō powers vary tremendously. Some abilities are extremely useful, others fairly ckluster.”

  At that, Senshi recalled one particurly notorious Mangekyō ability: Amaterasu—legendary in name, but often underwhelming in actual bat. It burhe Fourth Raikage’s arm, sure, yet many times it got shrugged off by enemies simply discarding a piece of clothing or something simirly trivial.

  Orochimaru pondered a while but didn’t decide immediately. He looked at Senshi, speaking in a serious tone:

  “I ime to refle everything I’ve learoday before making a decision.”

  He o analyze the pros and s iail. Senshi wasn’t bothered and simply replied:

  “Take your time. Think it over ahe money ready. You pay, I deliver.”

  With that steep price tag id out, Senshi and Kari Orochimaru’s base. Orochimaru’s skill in research was top-notch, but making money was not really his forte, and he rarely sold his results. Senshi had no idea whether Orochimaru would be able to e up with the enormous sum he’d requested. Maybe, but…this was Orochimaru, after all.

  …

  Whewo exited the base, Karin asked offhandedly:

  “Senshi, is there any particur food you really want to eat? I could learn to cook it specifically.”

  Senshi shook his head.

  “Karin, the path of cooking is a long one. For now, stiple stuff—like instant ramen.”

  Karin froze for a moment and then realized he was teasing her.

  “Senshi, you’re stifling a future ary genius!”

  Pouting, arms crossed before her chest, she stuck out her lower lip in protest. Senshi found that adorable and was tempted to ruffle her bright red hair into a . Silly brat, being tsundere is so old-fashioned.

  He smirked slightly. A sudden idea crossed his mind: Why not use those ‘Scare Apples’ to bribe her?

  He’d drawn Lv80 Scare Apples earlier, a unique fruit from the aoriko. When you shock or scare them, they develop “levels” and funny facial expressions. The higher the level, the more delicious the apple. Level 100 was the max, so at Level 80 they were presumably already top-tier in taste. Curious about the fvor, Senshi decided this erfeent t them out.

  He took two of the strangely patterned apples from his iory spad handed oo Karin with a smile.

  “Karin, I have a really tasty fruit here—wanna try it?”

  Karin turned away, feigning indifference.

  “Well, if you insist orying it, I guess I manage…”

  Senshi chuckled and handed her one. Initially, Karin assumed it was just an apple, but the moment she actually looked at it, she nearly jumped out of her skin, clearly repulsed.

  “Eww! Senshi, this apple looks so gross! It’s so weird—are you sure it’s edible?”

  Seeing her rea, Senshi couldn’t help ughing. These are high-grade items only avaible from an advanced system draw—no ce they’d taste bad.

  “Karin, never judge an apple by its cover. It’s like how my handsomeness ’t be measured with normal means.”

  As he spoke, he raised his own bizarrely patterned apple and took a bite.

  ch!

  All at o felt like aric shock zippered through his mind. A fresh, sweet fragrance exploded on his taste buds, so vivid that his entire body seemed to sing with bliss. Every cell shouted in unison, “So good, so good, it’s unbelievably good!”

  Karin stared, seeing how much Senshi was enjoying that hideously colored apple, and she soon caught a whiff of a rich fruit aroma wafting her way. She swallowed hard. After traveling alongside Senshi for so long, she could tell he wasn’t faking anything—he really found it delicious. Besides, to her, Senshi was ihe coolest guy around; he wouldn’t just trick her over something like this.

  Steeling herself, Karin took a p:

  ch!

  Instantly, electric jolts seemed to dahrough her mind. The wonderful fvor rolled aloongue from tip to root, spreading through her entire body—she could practically feel every cell log into pce. How a fruit be this delicious? She fihe odd-looking apple in no time, and still felt like she wanted more.

  “So,” Senshi teased with a grin, “I wasn’t lying, was I?”

  “Mm,” she hummed happily, still sav the lingering taste. “Senshi, I’m gonna work even harder on my cooking skills now!”

  In his head, Senshi was thinking: That’s really not necessary. After all, he’d never known any Uzumaki who was good at cooking—quite the opposite. He even suspected that the reason Naruto didn’t get sick from expired milk was because Minato had built up a “poisoance” from Kushina’s questionable cuisine, which was then passed dowically. Still, he wasn’t about to disce Karin.

  It was right then that someone blocked their path. Senshi gnced up casually and couldn’t help smirking—a familiar face! A man in a gray robe and a tiger-striped mask stood before them. her than “Masked Man” Tobi, the very Obito they had just been discussing!

  What a pleasant surprise: He’d just been talking with Orochimaru about capturing Obito, and the man himself turned up?

  Senshi eyed him with a crafty smile, choosing not to reveal Obito’s identity.

  “Oi, if it isn’t Mr. Masked Stranger. What’s the deal—are you stoppio give me a ission?”

  Standing oh, Obito (still posing as a “mysterious masked man”) responded with a cheerful ugh.

  “Indeed I am. I’ve got a number of tasks—only a formidable ninja like you pull them off.”

  He spoke while sloroag Senshi. Had Danzo been in Senshi’s pce, he might have snarled, “Get away from me, you wicked Uchiha brat!” But Senshi merely looked on in mild i. He found Obito’s words suspicious, but let him get closer.

  “So,” Senshi said, “what sort of ission are we talking about?”

  Obito didn’t answer directly. He walked closer, speaking in an offhand tone:

  “Why don’t you guess, Senshi? After all, the mission I have in mind is—”

  He didn’t even finish his sentehe moment he was within range, he struck.

  Swoosh—

  In a fsh, he lu Senshi, aiming to grab hold of him. With a haughty Uchiha ugh, he shouted:

  “Mada-da!!”

  (“Still not done” or “I’m not finished yet,” in a rough pun on “Madara.”)

  The move t. Moments ago he’d been smiling about a mission, and now he flipped the tables pletely. He struck out with stunning speed—something that would catch most people off-guard. Obito’s single-minded pursuit of creating a world with “Rin” alive made him relentless. Once he decided to act, he was thhly decisive.

  But for Senshi—an oppo of “super-Kage” level—Obito’s speed was like child’s py. While it might have overwhelmed an average Kage-level fighter, for Senshi it was like watg someone move in slow motion. He could easily dodge or even sm Obito to the ground if he wanted.

  Yet Senshi didn’t resist. He watched with mild amusement. He reized exactly what Obito intended: He’s trying to me into the Kamui dimension. But so what? Senshi had plenty of space-time tricks of his own. Obito’s Mangekyō might be amazing in general, but Senshi had Kāma, which was at least as ve—if not more. Besides, Senshi was also curious: Why would Obito suddenly go after me? By all rights, there’s no direct flict of i between us right now.

  So Senshi simply allowed Obito’s hand to nd squarely on his shoulder. Obito was momentarily shocked but also eted at how easily he succeeded. He had read Senshi’s intel, estimatihan a 10% ce of success even with a sneak attack. Still, with Kamui’s phasing ability, he could at least remain ued if things went south.

  But who would’ve guessed it’d be so easy?

  As he activated his Mangekyō and started ing Senshi, Obito couldn’t help thinking:

  “Heh! All the intel I got from Nagato and elsewhere must be exaggerated. Acc to them, I had little ce of success, yet look at this—I caught him ft-footed!”

  In Obito’s mind, Senshi clearly didn’t live up to the hype. He didn’t realize that Senshi had briefly eained an urge to grab him by the throat and say, in a voice remi of Tobirama:

  “Evil little Uchiha brat. Is this all you’ve got?”

  But Senshi was in a good mood and didn’t want to ruin it by humiliating Obito. Once Obito’s Mangekyō power triggered, Senshi vanished into the swirling distortion of Kamui.

  …

  Ihe Kamui Dimension

  Buzz—

  A translut vortex ed within that gray, cubic space. Senshi nded lightly on one of the boxlike structures. Holy, the Uchiha ’s Sharingan was quite fasating. Depending on one’s mental state at the time of awakening, you might acquire all kinds of strange abilities. Some were mediocre, some were top-tier. Obito’s Kamui happeo be formidable, especially in the “old days of Mangekyō.” But in the era of “Karma Seals,” it wasn’t nearly as unassaible. After all, any wielder of Kāma could teleport freely. That left Obito’s once-groundbreaking Mangekyō overshadowed.

  For Senshi, being dropped into this space was no big deal. He felt no arm at all. If he wanted, he could easily make Obito sweat.

  Bleam