How to Survive as an Uchiha

199 – Chasing the White Ghost’s Shadow

Obito had spent a full six years in Kumo under the identity of Tobiyama.

During these six years, he had demonstrated immense patience.

With great patience, he had climbed from a low-ranking genin to a jonin.

This was far more patient than when he was in Kiri—back then, he had simply taken over as Mizukage.

Of course, with Kamui in his possession, he wasn't actually stuck in Kumo the whole time.

He had no real intention of becoming a Kumo ninja.

Using his missions as an excuse to leave the village, he still found time to meet with Black Zetsu.

And with Akatsuki.

The ninja world had changed a lot in recent years.

The military strength of the Lands of Earth, Fire, and Water had been steadily rising, leading to a surge in the power of Iwa, Konoha, and Kiri. Together, these three villages had formed a sort of iron curtain, severing most of the connections between Kumo and Suna.

Yet beneath this illusion of a honeymoon period, tensions among the three villages were growing.

The Association had swallowed nearly half of the profits from trade among the three nations and reinvested them into the Land of Fire, further widening its financial gap over the others.

This wealth, in turn, nurtured Konoha.

Meanwhile, folks in Iwa and Kiri were getting fed up with the scraps they were getting. The Tsuchikage and Mizukage were doing their best to keep things under control, but the lower ranks weren't staying quiet about it anymore.

This presented an opportunity for Kumo.

To the west, the Land of Wind remained silent.

As Konoha's ally, Suna had been on a downward spiral for years, and even the Fourth Kazekage's Gold Dust couldn't stop it.

Despite being allies, Konoha applied the Fourth Hokage's new alliance treaty to Iwa and Kiri while continuing to impose the old Third Hokage-era treaty on Suna.

Though Suna requested a treaty update, Konoha politely declined under the pretense of respecting the decisions of past Hokage.

Compared to the new treaty, the old one was a blatant method of suppression and weakening under the guise of an alliance.

The most devastating impact came from mission assignments—Konoha still controlled a third of the Land of Wind's mission quota.

Masashi had become less active in external missions since Year 56. By Year 57, he had even withdrawn from Konoha's diplomatic affairs.

Nowadays, Konoha's most prominent "mission sweepers" were Kakashi, Guy, and Itachi.

But to Obito, Masashi had merely hidden himself deeper.

While frontline ninjas gradually forgot about the White Ghost, members of Akatsuki, who took on secretive, off-the-books assignments, had repeatedly encountered Masashi.

It seemed he was also