V.1-C.71│Ending War I│

"I see that something is different about you... but I cant exactly put my finger on it..." The Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi said as he looked at Obito whom had entered his office.

It has been a few days now since he allowed the boy some off time, and now here he was to get his new mission. Strangely enough, Kushina Uzumaki had requested Hiruzen to allow Rin Nohara to stay away from some missions until she says so.

Hiruzen didn't question it much, given that Kushina may be wanting Rin Nohara to train with her and Tsunade. Hiruzen wasn't without his own information sources, and may have caught on to the fact that it wasn't only Obito that was trying to gain access to Tsunade as a mentor as such.

"Haha... I don't know what you could mean..." Obito did seem a bit nervous, but Hiruzen assumed it was because this may be his first official solo mission.

These types of missions were not usually given out, but Hiruzen had gotten somethings from Danzo, and his old friend suggested to send Obito towards a certain war torn area.

Kurenai Yuhi would also not go on this mission with Obito, solely because she was not qualified for this hard mission to come.

Supposedly, there is some force within the Land of Rain, where Amegakure is currently under some stress due to the war going on. Hiruzen of course felt bad, given that Konoha was one of the aggressors in the war, and Amegakure was a place that was neutral towards the current conflict. There is also the fact that Amegakure has been bombarded by Konoha and other villages, though mostly Konoha and this has resulted in that country where Amegakure is to be one of major damage.

"I have come across information about an organization known as the Akatsuki. I want you to go there and learn more about what is going on, then report back your findings. That is all." There wasn't really anything else that he wanted Obito to do.

Neither did Danzo request anything else, other than sending Obito that way. Danzo did mention though that he should have some assistance in the form of one of the Sannin. It would seem that Orochimaru as well has taken an interest in this boy, and alongside Orochimaru coming along with Obito to investigate things, so to would Team Orochimaru go with Obito as well.

In a way, this doubled as both a training exercise and a way to help Hiruzen better understand what exactly is going on in that isolationist hidden village of Amegakure.

There was so little information about that place that Hiruzen wondered about sometimes. Thankfully there is an excuse to do so in the form of this weird organization, that while nothing too important, it was something to further look into.

"That's all? Nothing else?" Obito questioned as he was expecting something more.

Hiruzen didn't want him to do anything else anyway. "Of course that's all. There is nothing else for you to do." Hiruzen replied.

"So I'm to go by myself then?" Obito asked in return.

"No, you will be joined by Orochimaru and his team. I'm sure that you know of them." Hiruzen wanted more information himself, before he would decide on whether or not he would chose Minato or Orochimaru as his successor.

Orochimaru is a person that he was disinclined to not include in this pool, even though he is seen and well known enough by the populace, and even loved or respected enough to hold such a position. He is also powerful as well, with more experience than the current Minato when it comes having power.

Though Hiruzen right now couldn't decided which of the two had better leadership skills. Orochimaru had taken on his team later on than Minato, so it would be an unfair assessment if he chose Minato simply because he has had more time.

Then again, Minato has managed his team with some skill even though he has had to split his current responsibilities.

"Oh... Then, let me get this straight. I'm not doing this mission by myself, and instead would have some backup." Obito replied as he stated.

"Yes." Hiruzen replied.

"Understood. Though, who will be taking the lead for this mission?" Obito wondered, for it seemed likely that Orochimaru would probably be the whole to do so. Considering that Obito should technically be below Orochimaru's current level of strength, it only made sense.

"You could say that Orochimaru will be the leader. The main reason I am sending you along with them, is mainly due to the fact that you have learnt the Hiraishin." Hiruzen seemed to have been keeping up to date with Obito's Hiraishin progress.

"Is that so? I am to be used as an escape route in case anything goes wrong then." Obito replied, getting straight to the point.

"Yes, and no. You see, your mission is more than assisting Team Orochimaru. It's to help me better understand Orochimaru. As much as I know my former student, I also hardly understand him at the same time. He is... someone I want to understand when in a position that I will place him in." Hiruzen revealed. "Since you have decided you will not look to be my successor, then I can only turn my eyes to the only two candidates I really have left. Minato Namikaze and Orochimaru."

"The two of them are great, but what would be better is the one that is most suited for the position." Hiruzen continued.

Obito fell silent for a bit, understanding that now his mission composed of more than what he thought it would. It looked like his say would go a long way in the decision making process, that is if the world just doesn't decide to go with whatever change he may bring.

Right now, Obito was more than well aware of Minato's apparent dislike of him, or at least well aware of Kushina's dislike of Minato. Strange considering that these two were meant to be lovers.

It mattered not right now, as Obito was now tasked with two missions.

"I understand." Obito replied.

"Good, good." Hiruzen was still inclined to have Minato go for the position, and nominating him was something that he wished to do. It also wasn't like Minato didn't want such a position himself, but it was just that Hiruzen had no idea about whether or not he was ready.

Sure enough, there was this massive achievement of crippling Iwa's supplies, but that didn't mean that Minato himself was solely behind this. He was just another part of the 'machine,' so to speak, and what Hiruzen wanted was choices.

Choices or having options was always better than being desperate and potentially going with your only choice because its your only choice. 'Yes, expect the best, but prepare for the worst...' So far, for Hiruzen, Minato's leadership skills in terms of being able to change someone for the better is lacking.

He assigned Asuma under Minato thinking that either Asuma would change for the better because of Minato's leadership, or because of other reasons, like being away from his... problem.

So far, he has failed, even failed somewhat to help Kakashi out in his own debacle, as Kakashi was still not really interested in the way his father operated. In ways, Hiruzen could see where Kakashi was coming from, though he was actually much more accepting of Sakumo's choice in choosing to save his teammates.

Even if he suffered enough to near kill himself in the end. 'Which thanks to Obito here, I didn't have to worry about.' Hiruzen though, sighing, thinking about why Obito didn't want to become Hokage. 'He did say he didn't want to become the Hokage next, so maybe after the fourth, he could be the fifth...'

[]

Sitting down, a girl with blonde hair was currently meditating as she usually does before she would open her eyes at the presence of one of her teammates. "Mabui?" This girl in question was Yugito Nii, while her teammate, Mabui, had come into her room as she was meditating.

"Yugito... Samui has found something... something regarding Tobi." Mabui knew that this would get Yugito's attention, just as it had sort of gotten her own.

Over the years since first seeing the boy known as Tobi, Mabui didn't have the same objective anymore and no longer needed to spy on him to find out his identity. Even after not seeing Tobi within a long time, considering her own and her teammates current lifespan, they still held him within their thoughts.

Especially his identity.

Mabui herself was unawares at the time, but Tobi had kind of left her out of showing her a piece of himself. Samui was the only one, and even though she felt a little... hurt, she could also understand that he was suspicious of her and others.

How could he not be when he could be in a encampment of people that may wish to capture him or kill him. 'No. I couldn't blame him for his decision, but I also couldn't stop that small amount of... hurt I felt.' It was strange to her, though she knew that she is not like the cold and stoic Samui, she was still similar enough to the girl.

"Really!?" Yugito got up, not caring anymore for what she was doing.

"Yes." Mabui responded, before Yugito dashed past her, undoubtedly going towards wherever Samui may be located.

Mabui would follow along, and before long a scene of three girls, all within the same team would formulate, as the three of them had come together, allowing each other to be trusted into the secret identity of Tobi.

"So...?" Yugito asked as she looked at Samui, the same could be said for Mabui. The three girls were older now, more experienced in combat, and had all been developing their own skillsets, though Mabui would consider that she should probably become a housewife.

She didn't consider herself a fighter, but she did consider herself to be appropriate for the position of housewife.

Yugito had long, straight, blonde, hair bound with taut bandages, dark eyes and as she grew, she started to wear red lipstick. She wore a short-sleeved black and purple blouse and black pants, both of which had a design similar to clouds on them, purple fingerless gloves and a chain of blue beads wound around her left hand.

She also wore the standard Kumogakure forehead protector, sandals and a kunai holster, which was strapped to her right thigh. Yugito also wore bandages around her arms and legs as well as a red belt around her waist.

Her outfit alongside the other two relatively remained unchanged, with all of the shinobi ranks also being elevated to that of chunin.

Samui is taller now, fair-skinned, and has started to develop a curvaceous figure. Yes, she still has her generally worn stoic and aloof expression on her face. She has blue eyes and straight, shoulder-length blonde hair cut in an asymmetrical bob style.

She wears a very low-cut outfit which displays her sizeable cleavage, with mesh armor underneath, a short skirt and red hand guards, high boots, and what appears to be a modified Kumogakure flak jacket that covers her stomach only, similar to a girdle. She also carries a tanto strapped horizontally to her lower back.

Last was Mabui. A dark-skinned young woman with green eyes. She had started to wear very formal attire consisting of a long-sleeved, high-collared dress shirt and skirt, along with a pair of long earrings and high-heel sandals. She wore her light grey hair pulled back into a bun with two bangs that fall on either side of her face.

Though she wouldn't just wear her attire like this, but as their team was now more restricted within the village for now, she would be mostly wearing this.

Their team as well was split off a bit more, not really taking on missions together as they would usually do. However, the three of them still kept in touch as they have a common goal.

A common goal that found them all finding out who Tobi was, or is, and their curiosity was not something that could be easily satiated. Nor quelled, even after all this time.

All three of them did however miss him a bit.

"Well, I have only been able to break it down into a few people, both around our own age, and is an... Uchiha." Samui replied, as at some point she did reveal to both Mabui and Yugito that Tobi is an Uchiha.

What else could he be, if not an Uchiha as he had the Sharingan. There was a chance that he had the Sharingan be implanted into himself, though he wouldn't be able to deactivate the dojutsu, and hide away the fact that he is an Uchiha.

"Then? Are there any that best fit him?" Yugito further asked, making Samui pull out a small list of names, that happened to have their own files.

"Here." Samui placed the names down, and even placed the files for the names. What information they have is information mainly taken and collected from Kumogakure's own spy and intelligence networks that gather such knowledge.

Mabui started to look through the names, the same as Yugito. "Here we have... Naori Uchiha? This is a girl..." Mabui said as she looked at Samui, whom did feel a bit embarrassed as Mabui pointed out that fact.

"True, but who knows if she is somehow related given her age and everything." Samui replied.

"Sure..." Mabui replied, before she continued. "Naka Uchiha..."

"I don't know. It says from all intelligence that this boy has never been outside of Konohagakure, or at least that is the best our information has." Yugito looked through it, and decided that there was another way to search and narrow down the list. "What if we look at only the Uchiha that have been somewhere, anywhere out towards the border between the Land of Fire and Lightning."

"Hmm... I didn't know you could have a good idea." Samui stated with her stoic face, making Yugito shout back in indignation.

"Hey!"

"Here then. I believe these are the only ones that have come to the front lines, specifically posted somewhere at the border." Mabui stopped them before an argument could ensue, specifically pointing out and further narrowing down the list.

"There is only one..." Yugito said as she looked at the name. Given that the Uchiha usually once awakening the Sharingan become a part of the Uchiha Police Force of Konoha, one that went outside of the village is rare.

"Obito Uchiha..." The three looked towards this name, all three of them thinking that this was their only option possible.