"Hey, Tobi."
"What? Nothing happened for a while, so you fell asleep or something?"
"..."
Hearing the familiar voice, the masked man turned around quickly.
As expected, it was Kuzo standing at the entrance of the cave, smiling casually.
His expression was relaxed as he leaned against the cave wall, a faint smirk on his face.
"Oh? So you didn't fall asleep?"
"Come on then—where's that guy you said cut down Uchiha Itachi?"
"Where is he?"
"Bring him out. I'll take him down in one move."
"...?"
Huh???
You're gonna take *him* down in one move???
The masked man had been fuming already, but when he heard that, he was completely stunned.
What nonsense!
Did that guy escape from Kamui's space ages ago?!
Also, aren't you being a bit *too* confident?
That guy beat Uchiha Itachi without so much as a scratch!
You're seriously underestimating him...
The masked man was incredibly annoyed and wanted to snap back.
But of course, he couldn't forget the identity he was pretending to have—the goofy Tobi.
So, after a moment of silence, he forced himself to put on Tobi's exaggerated tone and said in a deliberately silly voice:
"Well... it seems he, um, ran away somehow, Senior Kuzo..."
"Looks like it won't work out today."
"How about next time? If I run into him again, I'll call you over to fight him, okay?"
He spoke as if trying to smooth things over.
Kuzo's smile only widened, and he nodded without calling him out.
"Sure, I'll be ready anytime."
"But let me give you a little heads-up—"
Kuzo paused, stepped closer to the masked man, and smiled faintly.
"If, when that time comes,"
"You actually see the two of us fighting..."
"Don't be too surprised."
"Got that, intern?"
With that,
Kuzo reached out and lightly patted the masked man's shoulder, grinning.
"Let's go. We're heading in."
Without waiting for a response, Kuzo turned and strolled casually toward the deeper part of the cave, hands in his pockets.
His pace was slow and unhurried, like he was just out for a walk.
Watching Kuzo's leisurely back, the masked man paused for a moment.
Huh?
What did *that* mean?
I'll be surprised if I see them fighting?
I've already watched Uchiha Itachi get taken down in seconds. Why would I be surprised by anything less?
The masked man exhaled quietly, his thoughts racing.
Tch...
As expected, Kuzo is still like a cloud of fog—impossible to read.
If White Zetsu hadn't been keeping constant watch over him, I might have suspected he'd snuck out of Konoha to put on a show himself...
That's right.
White Zetsu's surveillance.
The masked man never fully trusted Kuzo.
In fact, for a long time now, he had assigned several White Zetsu clones, disguised as residents of Amegakure, to keep 24/7 surveillance on Kuzo's home.
And when the masked man returned to Amegakure this time, he immediately checked in on the latest updates.
The results were—
Kuzo never left his room the entire night.
Every White Zetsu reported that he only stepped out when the Akatsuki meeting began.
Besides, if Kuzo *had* left Amegakure without permission, he would've been detected by Pain's Vision Technique.
There was really no room for doubt.
Unless... Kuzo somehow mastered a space-time ninjutsu like Kamui, it was impossible for him to reach Konoha unnoticed.
But from what the masked man had secretly observed during the months since Kuzo joined Akatsuki, he was sure—
Kuzo's dojutsu, [Evil King's True Eyes], didn't include any kind of space-time ability.
So,
Taking all these factors into account,
Obito had finally let go of his suspicions.
Even though the fox mask guy and Kuzo were both powerful and strange, their personalities were clearly different.
It was safe to say they were two completely separate individuals.
The masked man's eyes flickered with thought.
Then, silently, he followed behind.
As for the cryptic words Kuzo had said just now, he didn't think much of them.
He already knew this guy was full of riddles—he *loved* saying things that made people overthink.
Obito thought to himself,
Maybe, next time he ran into the fox mask guy, he'd have a solid new ally to fight alongside him...
But what Obito didn't know was—
One day in the future,
He would recall these exact words from Kuzo.
Because on that day,
He would personally witness the moment when Kuzo put on the fox mask himself.
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