Chapter – 568 A New Approach

In a Dark and Dingy Room.

Sasuke who was tied to one of the two wooden posts twisted his body slightly; then questioned Neji who was tied to the other wooden post next to him, "Hey, Neji… you don't seem to be moving at all… don't you feel numb even after being tied up for the past 3 days?"

Neji glanced at Sasuke for a moment, then turned back without giving any answer… it didn't seem that he was in the mood of doing so.

"Humph…" Sasuke snorted, then muttered to himself, "That's right, I get it, they must have tied you much looser compared to me… after all, I am different, I have awakened the Sharingan… To them, I am a much bigger threat compared to you!"

Neji coldly said, "Yes, you have awakened the Sharingan… and you are a different type of genius from everyone else… but so what? Aren't you also tied up here just like me?" Neji then took a pause, and whispered lightly, "Besides, if we are talking about our ability to remove these bindings and escape, then as a Hyuga who is capable of seeing nearly 360 degrees and having an innate ability to expel chakra from every Tenketsu in the body, I am much more of a threat to them compared to you… That's why they took the trouble of using Chakra Sealing Cuffs on us…"

"You…!" Sasuke was left speechless, and fell into silence.

Neji didn't say anything either.

With the two kids not speaking anything, an awkward silence stretched into the room, and in this quietness, the two kids were able to hear each other's breathing and heartbeat.

After a long time, Sasuke couldn't bear it any longer and broke the silence, "Don't be afraid… my Otou-san and nii-san will definitely come to rescue me, when they do, you will be safe too…"

Neji opened his mouth and seemed to be wanting to say something, but in the end, he couldn't find any right words and said with a sigh, "Then, perhaps I should say… thank you, I guess?"

Although the two kids regard each other as rivals, they did not forget that they are companions from the same village and have been caught up in a difficult situation.

Communication has always been one of the best ways to relieve stress and fear that are out of control, so after this brief conversation, the pent-up anxiety of the two seemed to be relieved a little.

Moreover, at this time, Sasuke is far from becoming the introverted and brooding kid as shown in the Canon, so after his anxiety was somewhat relieved, he immediately opened up the chatterbox, and questions with a curious tone, "Hey Neji, you seem to be worried about something other than escaping here, right? What is it?"

Neji muttered lightly, "I am worried about Hinata-sama."

"Oh, so you are worried about your sister?" Sasuke nodded in realization, and muttered, "Now that you mention it, I am also worried about Kiyomi… I just hope she is safe with Okaasan…" Then he shook his head and said to Neji, "Hyuga Hinata should be with Naruto, although Naruto is an idiot, he is still trustworthy… I believe Naruto will definitely not let anything happen to her… Moreover, isn't she the heiress of the main family of the Hyuga Clan? So, your Hyuga Clan will also try their best to rescue her… so you don't really have to worry about her…"

"Yes, the clan will try their best to rescue Hinata-sama." Neji nodded in agreement, at the same time, a lonely look appeared on his face.

Neji knows that between him and Hinata, the entire Clan will give priority to rescuing Hinata, even his father wouldn't be an exception, and this is perfectly understandable, after all, the branch family exists to protect the main family. Whether as a brother or a member of the branch family, Neji too hopes that Hinata remains safe, and safely returns back to Konoha… but, at the same time, the such difference also made him feel uncomfortable and lonely… Because…

Seeing Neji's state, Sasuke realized something and whispered lightly. "Does that mean… no one… will come to rescue you?"

Neji didn't really have an answer to Sasuke's question, and can only say in a self-convincing tone, "Maybe my Sensei will come…"

Sasuke's ears perked up, and he asked curiously, "Do you already have a Sensei? Who is it, is he good?"

"Of course… he is good, rather, he is amazing! My Sensei is Hyuga Kuroto, he is one of the strongest Jonin in Konoha!"

As Kuroto's disciple, Neji has obviously done his fair share of research about Kuroto's deeds, as such, he does have some information about Kuroto, moreover, Neji's father also greatly respects his Sensei and often mentions Kuroto, so Neji also has great respect for his Sensei.

Be that as it may, Neji also knows that no matter how great his Sensei is, no matter how powerful his Sensei is, it would still be impossible for his Sensei to save him… After all, the ones who have kidnapped him are the Akatsuki Organization… the very same Akatsuki Organization that has frightened the entire Shinobi World…

So, unless his Sensei is a member of Amatsukami, rescuing him will be impossible for Kuroto!

Before Sasuke could say anything, suddenly a voice came from the corner wall of the room, "So it turns out that the guy Hyuga Kuroto is your Sensei?"

The sudden voice shocked Neji and Sasuke because they couldn't even sense the presence of the other party.

The room in which they are being held as captive is not too big, and both of them have been constantly paying attention towards the only door leading to the room, and as far as they can see or sense, no one came in or gone out in the past three days since the two of them were brought here. So, it is quite shocking for them to hear someone's voice out of nowhere.

The two kids turned their heads following the source from where the voice came and discovered that the one who spoke was a strange man wearing Akatsuki's traditional cloak and a red mask with black patterns.

The person who suddenly appeared in the room is naturally 'Madara', and the reason he came here was just out of curiosity towards the young Uchiha brought back by Kabuto. 'Madara' has also heard of the name Uchiha Sasuke who managed to awaken the Sharingan at the young age of seven and wanted to observe him.

In the Uchiha Clan, the age of awakening the Sharingan also determines the basic talent of the person in question, and the fact that Uchiha Sasuke awakened the Sharingan at such a young age made him qualified to enter the field of vision of 'Madara'.

He wanted to observe Uchiha Sasuke for a while, and then decide on what to do with him, however, what he never expected was that the identity of the other child brought back by Kabuto turned out to be quite useful. The child from the Branch Division of the Hyuga family happens to be the disciple of Hyuga Kuroto.

Neji vigilantly looked at 'Madara' and questioned, "Do you know my Sensei?"

'Madara' didn't give an answer to Neji but looked at him curiously. His cover in the Shinobi World is 'Uchiha Madara', so naturally, he wouldn't be foolish enough to admit that he knew Hyuga Kuroto in person and is a former classmate of the person in question.

And now that he has confirmed that Hyuga Kuroto is the Sensei of this child in front of him, suddenly a plan cooked up in his mind.

After their last action against the five great Shinobi Villages, and the battles against the five great Villages; the Akatsuki Organization is facing the threat of Amatsukami more and more squarely. The situation has gotten to the point that it wouldn't even be wrong to say that all members of the Akatsuki, including him and Nagato, have listed Amatsukami as the greatest threat to their goals.

Even among the members of the Amatsukami, their leader 'Yama' in particular is the most feared; a guy who can literally drop meteorites from outer space!

And the other members such as Fujin, and the two Homusubi are no less of a threat. 'Madara' understands this most deeply as he has personally experienced the horror of the three of them, once killed by the female Homusubi, then killed by Fujin, and later sealed by the other Homusubi…

After tasting so many defeats, it can be said that among the currently known members of Amatsukami, except for their leader Yama, and Suijin, the others have already brushed up the achievement of being able to 'Kill or trap Uchiha Madara'.

Therefore, among all the members of the Akatsuki, 'Madara' is more desperate than anyone. He really wants to root out the Amatsukami, but they have no lead on the said organization because of the mysterious fog surrounding it. Amatsukami is so mysterious that no matter what Akatsuki tries, they are unable to collect any information on them!

However, after their failure this time, the Akatsuki decided to change its approach.

Judging from the events on that night, the Amatsukami sent Fujin to intervene as soon as their side took the initiative, this undoubtedly shows that Amatsukami has reached some kind of agreement with Konoha in private.

Why Konoha and not the other Shinobi Villages?

It's because Akatsuki already has spies in other villages, yet they have found nothing about the Amatsukami, so it can only mean that Amatsukami is only in contact with Konoha, not the other villages.

In other words, Konoha must have some kind of intelligence about Amatsukami.

If the Akatsuki is unable to collect intelligence on Amatsukami from any other source, then it might be time for them to start with Konoha.

As far as 'Madara' knows, the guy Hyuga Kuroto is the leader of a special Anbu unit that responds only and directly to the Hokage. So, as a highly trusted subordinate of the Hokage, Hyuga Kuroto must have some intelligence on the Amatsukami. And 'Madara' plans to use Hyuga Kuroto to gain intelligence on the Amatsukami.

"If I threaten him with his disciple, will he betray the village?" muttered Madara as he tried to remember everything, he knew about the person named Hyuga Kuroto from his memories.

In their academy days, perhaps because of their poor practical abilities, the relationship between Obito and Kuroto, although couldn't exactly be regarded as a close friendship, two of them could still be considered acquaintances who were somewhat familiar with each other.

Therefore, 'Madara' believes that he still knows a thing or two about Hyuga Kuroto. In his eyes, Kuroto has a taciturn personality, and occasionally he might make one or two jokes if he is in good mood.

As for the strength of Hyuga Kuroto?

No matter how strong that guy has managed to become in the past few years, will he still be strong enough to match against his Full Body Susano'o and double Kamui?

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Translator's Note: Obito's mask has been changed… it's no longer the Spiral shaped mask, nor it is the tomoe mask, what he is wearing now is a red and black mask to match his Mangekyou Sharingan.

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