Uchiha Madara watched their three receding figures until they disappeared completely at the end of the path. Only then did he reluctantly turn and head back into the solitude of the base.
The moment he passed through the entrance, Madara raised a steady hand, his fingers hooking into his own eye socket. With a swift, brutal motion, he plucked the Sharingan from its place and held it in his palm.
"Zetsu," he commanded coldly, "stop the bleeding."
The White Zetsu clones attending to him were stunned. "Madara! What are you doing?" one of them exclaimed.
Uchiha Madara's expression was a mask of cold resolve.
"I have no more use for another's eyes," he stated flatly. "You saw Obito's new left eye yesterday. It is only a matter of time before I have the same opportunity."
"Carrying these will only hinder the regeneration of my own. I might as well… remove them."
After hearing his reasoning, the White Zetsu clones finally understood his intention and moved to assist him. Once the bleeding stopped, Madara was left with two empty, hollow sockets. He felt nothing but a profound emptiness in his heart.
"Zetsu, where have Shiro and the others gone?"
"Nothing has happened on the way, has it?"
"It has only been a few minutes, and I am already missing him…"
"Zetsu, I want real-time reports on my son's situation! Report to me every ten minutes! No, every five!"
Shiro, meanwhile, didn't have to walk at all. To save time on their journey, Obito had, with Shiro's consent, pulled him directly into the Kamui dimension. After entering the strange, block-like space, Shiro looked around at the boundless, empty world with awe.
So this is the Kamui dimension. Not only is it ridiculously large, but there's even breathable air. It truly is a convenient ability.
I wonder what my own Mangekyō abilities will be. I'm really looking forward to finding out.
Not long after, with a ripple of distorted space, Obito's body appeared beside him.
"Shiro, we are almost at our destination. Before we arrive, there is something I must tell you."
"Obito, what is it?"
"My public identity is that of Uchiha Madara. You will inevitably meet some new people in the coming days. When I introduce you, I will say that you are my son."
Shiro patted his chest in a gesture of assurance. "No problem. Don't worry, I won't let anything slip."
Obito nodded in satisfaction. "As expected. Your intelligence is truly reassuring."
"where are we going now?"
"To the Hidden Rain Village. It is a place where the rain never stops. Our most important pawn is there. Let's go. We have arrived."
The vortex of space appeared again, and before Shiro could react, the two of them were back in the real world.
They stood in a dark, cavernous room. In the center stood seven figures wearing the signature red-cloud-on-black-robe cloaks of the Akatsuki—six men and one woman. The faces of the six men were pale and unnervingly devoid of expression, their faces pierced with black rods. The woman had short, blue hair. Her face, too, was pale, though not as deathly as the men's, her expression grim.
In a corner of the room lay a body covered in blood. Shiro recognized him instantly. It was the fallen leader of the Hidden Rain Village, Hanzō.
"After all this preparation, it seems you can finally fulfill your long-cherished wish."
As a clap of thunder roared outside, Obito's voice, warped to sound like Uchiha Madara's, echoed from behind the Six Paths of Pain.
The six figures turned in unison. The leader, the Deva Path, spoke. "You are here, Madara."
"Yes." Obito crossed his arms, nodding slightly. "The civil war in the Hidden Rain is over. Now, we must begin to fulfill our ultimate goal together."
Konan, the blue-haired woman, noticed the small child standing beside Obito. Her voice was cautious. "Who is this child?"
"He is my son," Obito declared. "Uchiha Shiro."
"Your son?" The Deva Path and Konan were both stunned.
Shiro said nothing. He simply met their gaze and activated his Sharingan.
"A three-tomoe Sharingan?"
Both Pain and Konan were shocked. The appearance of the dōjutsu was proof enough that the boy was an Uchiha, and he looked to be no more than four or five years old. To possess such talent at that age… only the son of the legendary Madara could be so gifted.
"Let us get down to business," Obito continued. "I have come to give you a list of suitable candidates. I want you to recruit them in the name of the Akatsuki. They are all very powerful."
The Deva Path replied, "That is what I was hoping for. A weak and incompetent member would only hinder the organization. Tell me, who are they?"
"The rogue ninja of the Hidden Waterfall, the immortal shinobi—Kakuzu."
"The rogue ninja of the Hidden Sand, the genius puppet master—Sasori of the Red Sand."