Chapter – 580 A Deal with the Masked Man?

One of the Training Grounds near the Uchiha Clan District

Whiish Whiish Whiiish Whiish... Tuk Tuk Tuk Tuk...

With the sound of cutting through the wind, several shurikens that were thrown from midair hit the centre of the targets.

After landing swiftly on the ground, Itachi removed the black cloth covering his eyes, and seeing that all targets were hit perfectly, Itachi smiled slightly then looked at the sky and sighed.

His younger brother Sasuke has been abducted, and there has been no news about him so far… Although Itachi believes in Kuroto's judgment and understands that they can't be hasty, he is still very anxious, and worried, and only by doing intense training and Shuriken throwing practice is he able to calm his mind…

'Sasuke… please be safe…' thought Itachi to himself.

Clap Clap Clap Clap

Just when Itachi was momentarily distracted, suddenly the sound of applause came from behind him, which was followed by a deep voice, "Wonderful technique… as to be expected of Uchiha Itachi…"

As soon as the sound of applause reached his ears, Itachi immediately leapt backwards and vigilantly watched the masked man with his three-tomoe Sharingan.

Seeing Itachi's quick reflexes, the masked man wasn't surprised and said, "No need to be nervous… I am not here to kidnap you or kill you… I am just here to have a chat with, you and probably make a deal with you…"

After leaving Kuroto's house, Obito didn't directly leave the village, but came to the Uchiha Clan with the purpose of finding Uchiha Itachi…

Itachi did not bother to do all that drama, and acting like Kuroto, he simply looked at the masked man, and after judging that the masked man was in an intangible state that would make it difficult for any of his attacks to be effective on him, Itachi concluded that making a move on the masked man was useless, so he asked blankly, "What kind of deal?"

And as exactly as Itachi judged, Obito was indeed in an intangible state, the reason is that currently he is near the Uchiha District, and Uchiha Shisui lives here… It has been unanimously agreed by everyone that Uchiha Shisui is currently the strongest Shinobi among the five great Shinobi Villages, with his Mangekyou Sharingan and mastery over Senjutsu, and Obito really didn't want to risk fighting him, therefore, even when in close presence, Obito chose to remain intangible.

Well, that aside, hearing Itachi's question, the masked man brought up a topic that he thought Uchiha Itachi would definitely be interested in, "There are two Homusubi in the Amatsukami Organization… and both of them are apparently Uchiha Clansmen… I'm just wondering… aren't you curious about their identities and who the two of them are?"

Itachi replied calmly, "Currently I am more curious about your identity… someone who is hiding behind a mask shouldn't really care about the identities of other masked people…"

"Hahaha…" the masked man chuckled lightly, then said, "The two Uchiha with Mangekyou Sharingan cannot appear out of thin air… they must have had some background with the Uchiha Clan, and they must have left some traces within the clan… I personally suspect that the two of them are probably Genin or Chunin who went missing inexplicably during the third great shinobi war… You are the eldest son of the current Uchiha Patriarch, as such, you are more than qualified to check the genealogy of the Uchiha Clan, and investigate their identities… As long as you help me find the identities of those two, I can promise to return your brother back to you safe and sound…"

Itachi was perplexed by the masked man's words, and asked again, "So you want me to help you find the identities of the two Homusubi of the Amatsukami Organization?"

The masked man nodded lightly, "Yes, just use the information you find about the possible identities of the two Homusubi in exchange for getting back your brother… I don't think it's a bad deal, right?"

Itachi stared at the masked man for a while, then nodded without any hesitation, "Sounds good… Alright, I agree."

Itachi obviously didn't trust the other party to simply hand over Sasuke, but this did not stop him from using this opportunity to temporarily ensure Sasuke's safety by agreeing to the masked man's so-called deal.

Seeing that Itachi agreed, the masked man nodded slightly, and said, "Alright then, I will come to see you again." then disappeared without leaving any trace behind.

Seeing that the masked man has left, Itachi didn't stay at the training field any longer and went in the direction of the Uchiha Clan district.

…

In a Forest area outside Konoha Village

The masked man who disappeared in front of Itachi appeared on a tree outside Konoha Village.

As the masked man come out of a spiralling whirl, the pitcher head of the Zetsu also phased out of the tree and said, "It appears that Konoha Village has changed their Sensing Barrier, and this time, they have added a mechanism that makes it difficult for me to pass through without being noticed… with this, I can no longer enter and exit Konoha Village like before…"

As one of the five great Shinobi Villages, Konoha has always had a Sensing Barrier around the perimeter of the Village that is managed by the Barrier team of Konoha.… In fact, the sensing barrier around Konoha has always been much more advanced and high-tech compared to the other Shinobi Villages because of the Fuinjutsu knowledge that Konoha inherited from the Uzumaki Clan…

Despite this advantage, because the previous Sensing Barrier had been in operation for a very long time, so its frequency and passcodes were known to many people like Orochimaru and others who were able to enter and exit Konoha at will…

This time, since the village was being rebuilt from the scratch, the sensing barrier that was also destroyed along with the village was built anew with added mechanisms that would make it difficult for others to infiltrate the village…

The masked man smiled slightly, and said, "It doesn't matter… this sensing barrier will never be able to stop me… moreover, the problem we have been facing in regards to having a good spy on Konoha Village might also be solved soon enough…"

Hearing the masked man's words, Zetsu asked, "Does that mean your plan worked smoothly?"

"Well, I did initiate the plan of developing spies in Konoha and came in contact with two shinobi today. One of them is the captain of an elite Anbu unit, while the other guy is the eldest son of the Current Uchiha Patriarch…" said the masked man, then added after a short pause, "Given their identities, and the positions they hold, they should be able to inquire and pass me something that might prove to be useful for us…"

Zetsu nodded, then asked doubtfully, "But are they credible enough?"

When asked such a question, the masked man recalled his conversation with Hyuga Kuroto and Uchiha Itachi…

The anger that Hyuga Kuroto had when he was put under duress, and the surprise and excitement that Hyuga Kuroto expressed upon hearing that he might be able to get rid of the Cage Bird Cursed Seal, at the same time, the worried expression that Uchiha Itachi showed when remembering his younger brother Sasuke, all these scenes kept flashing in the masked man's mind, and after some time he said to Zetsu, "Of course, I can't be sure if they are credible enough or not, at least not yet, but I think we might just be able to obtain some useful intelligence from them using the hostages we have… After all, these people have yet to let go of their fetters, as long as the lives of their loved ones are in our hands, they will comply…"

White Zetsu nodded, "In that case, I hope that your informants can really help us find some information about the Amatsukami Organization…"

But Black remained silent and didn't really have much hope from these two informants, after all, he has lived very long and knows a lot more than the masked man and the White Zetsu, it is just that he can't reveal his knowledge so easily… as that will bring trouble in his final plans…

The masked man didn't know about Black Zetsu's thoughts, so after agreeing with White Zetsu, he thought about something, and asked, "Did you find any new information about that guy Orochimaru? The Kyuubi's Jinchuriki is in his hands… we must obtain the Kyuubi's Jinchuriki as soon as possible…"

White Zetsu shook his head helplessly, and said with a frustrated tone, "No… Orochimaru seems to have abandoned all his previous bases. I am using my Clones to find his new base, but as of yet, there is no lead… So, where exactly he is currently and what exactly he is doing is a complete mystery…"

The masked man knew Orochimaru's cautious and cunning nature, so he didn't blame Zetsu, and after a little thinking, he said, "Continue to try contacting him through the Black Market with the excuse of hostage exchange… so long as he covets Uchiha Sasuke, he might get tempted and as a result, end up showing some flaws that we will be able to take advantage of…"

Zetsu nodded lightly, "Alright."

The masked man thought about something again, and said, "Also, assign Tobi the role of contacting the two informants and obtaining intelligence from them at regular intervals…"

"Got it…" Zetsu nodded, then asked, "Is there anything else?"

"Nothing for now…" said the masked man as he took one look in the direction of the village, then disappeared into the spiralling whirl… Zetsu too looked in that direction and phased inside the tree.

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