To Be Lost On The Road Of Life (Continuation)

Chapter 24 - Dwindling Promises

Chapter 24 - Dwindling Promises

"How do you feel about being the last Uzumaki?"

Obito watched as Kushina turned around to him, eyes wide, her hand frozen mid-stir.

He had been rather thankful when he had seen a return of the homely normalcy he associated with living there, but he couldn't afford to dawdle more than he had before. He had no idea when the Kannabi Bridge mission would come up; he remembered the exact date it had before, but it was possible that the date changed this time around. There was an even higher possibility that their team wouldn't even receive the mission, a worry he found his mind revisiting often, to his irritation.

'I'll just find another mission close by,' he reminded himself constantly. He could figure something out to get them close to Madara's hideout to infiltrate, or he could fake his death in the case of it being another mission. He had to get there before Madara somehow found someone else to carry out his plans. Before Black Zetsu made its move, if it hadn't already done so-and as the day crept closer and closer, Obito found himself cursing himself for never questioning the being whenever it went off on its own. He had so foolishly assumed once before that, because it was Madara's will, it wouldn't do anything that wouldn't coincide with their plans.

But it isn't Madara's will.

No. For now, his priority was Madara. There were few individuals who could successfully become the Jinchūriki of the Jūbi, him being one of them-as long as Madara was taken out of the picture, not only would Black Zetsu's plans be halted for a good while, but Madara wouldn't be able to find some progenitor to carry on his goal of gathering the bijū. Entering Madara's hideout, killing the man and storing away the Gedō Mazō statue in his Kamui dimension. That was the plan.

Obito turned his attention outwards again, watching Kushina as she blinked in confusion and grasped for words.

His question had a reason behind it. His plan had been in the works for a while, but he had finalized it recently-only, there was a certain detail he had yet to determine, one that would be decided depending on Kushina's reply.

He could store the Gedō Mazō statue in his dimension, and he would be relatively safe from anyone using the husk for nefarious purposes.

But Nagato still had Madara's Rinnegan.

Ideally, it would be easier to kill the boy and destroy the eyes or simply extract the Rinnegan to destroy them and leave the red-head blind, and then Obito's only gamble would be on the off-chance someone else later on manifested the dōjutsu. But he had found out about Naruto's compassion towards the two Ame-nin, towards Nagato, who held Uzumaki blood as strong as Naruto's. If only because that boy had been the one to save him, Obito would give the red-head a chance.

And now, Nagato's fate was held in the hands of a relative that didn't know he even existed.

Kushina's mouth set in a grim line and she turned back to her pot of soup stock, her eyelids weighing heavily. "I... It's just..." She released a disgruntled sigh, pulling her hair out of her face with a hairband in a quick movement. "I'm over it. Really, I am. Uzushio will always have a place in my heart, but Konoha is my home now."

She resumed her stirring, a tad bit over-zealous, a frown marring her features. Obito watched as her shoulders eventually relaxed, and she paused, reaching out for a container of spices.