22 Chapter 22: Mountain Graveyard

In this world, there are thousands of ninjutsu, which can be categorized into nine types: Water, Fire, Wind, Lightning, Earth, Yin, Yang, Sealing Jutsu, and Space-Time Jutsu. Among them, mastering Space-Time Jutsu is the most challenging, standing at the top of the ninjutsu pyramid.

As far as Dan knew, all Space-Time Jutsu only involved space and couldn't touch the dimension of time. Techniques like the Flying Thunder God, Almighty Push, Universal Pull, and even the Kekkei Genkai of Kamui and Shinra Tensei were all space-based jutsus, having nothing to do with time.

If there were any techniques related to time, Izanagi and Izanami, two Sharingan techniques, could achieve effects similar to "time reversal" and "time loop," but they were only similar.

In other words, there were no real time-based jutsus in the world of Naruto. Itachi couldn't guess that Dan's ability was time stop because, in his conscious and subconscious mind, he wouldn't think in that direction. People can't be aware of things beyond their cognitive range.

However, Dan decided to use time stop as little as possible in the future to avoid exposing his ability. Although he didn't consider himself a ninja, he agreed with a phrase often said by ninjas: "A ninja's battle is a fight for intelligence."

The members of the Akatsuki, who possessed various strange abilities, proved this point. They all seemed formidable when they first appeared, but once their abilities were understood, they were quickly defeated. Even Pain, who proclaimed himself a god, lost in the information war.

In the world of JoJo's Bizarre Adventure, the invincible Dio Brando, once everyone in the world knew he could stop time, he often suffered in battles, being ambushed and attacked, and was eventually killed by Enrico Pucci. Dan didn't want this to happen to him.

Once they knew he could stop time, with the ninjas' talents and wisdom, they would definitely come up with many ways to deal with him.

After parting with Itachi, Dan returned to the gym.

"Boss, you're back."

Samui was diligently manning the front desk. As soon as he greeted Dan, who had just walked in, he saw the pair of arms in Dan's hands.

"Don't be scared, they're fake. See, they don't bleed."

Dan saw Samui's frightened face and explained while holding up Obito's arms.

How to deal with Obito's arms was a problem. If he wanted to utilize them, to research Hashirama's cells and Wood Release, it probably wouldn't be possible, at least Dan was clueless about this.

However, these two arms didn't bleed or rot, so they should be able to be stored for a while, and he could slowly figure out how to research them later.

With that thought, Dan, under Samui's stunned gaze, took the arms into the kitchen, opened the freezer, and casually threw them in.

They were mixed with beef, sausages, and other food.

"This isn't... for eating, right?"

Samui murmured, praying in his heart.

Outside the Leaf Village, in a forest, Obito appeared and fell to the ground with a ripple in space.

"Heh...heh..."

He was panting and kneeling on the ground, his tiger-striped mask had fallen off, revealing a pale face devoid of blood.

Since the night of the Nine-Tails, he hadn't tasted defeat for a long time.

This time, it was worse than

when he lost to the Fourth Hokage.

The most frustrating part was that he couldn't figure out how he lost, even after racking his brain.

Never mind, he thought, he needed to focus on finding a safe place to heal.

A day later, in the northern part of the Land of Fire, there was a peninsula that was unclaimed territory. Uchiha Madara's former hideout, the "Mountain Graveyard," was located here.

As the name suggests, this graveyard was filled with the remains of many large animals, a dangerous place that ordinary people dared not approach.

Obito, familiar with the route, quickly arrived at the main entrance of the Mountain Graveyard.

This was a mountainside with many man-sized holes. Only one of them was real and led to the underground hideout.

"Huh, Obito, what happened to you?"

A surprised voice rang out as Zetsu emerged from the ground. His face was half white and half black, with a Venus flytrap-like structure on his head.

Zetsu was a fusion of White Zetsu and Black Zetsu, each with their own consciousness.

Seeing Obito's disheveled appearance, Zetsu was shocked, asking incredulously, "How did you lose your arms again?"

Before this, Obito had lost his arms twice. The first time was at the Battle of the Kannabi Bridge when a rock crushed his right arm. The second time was when Minato Namakazi hit his left arm with a Rasengan.

This time, both his left and right arms were gone.

"I encountered an enemy and was careless," Obito said with a grim face, heading into the hideout.

Inside the mountainside, there was an armory, library, operating room, meeting room, living area... all kinds of facilities were available. It was an underground palace that Madara had spent decades building.

When Madara left the Leaf Village, he took with him a large number of historical books and ninjutsu scrolls from the Uchiha clan, all of which were stored here.

Because of this, many of the Uchiha clan's traditions were lost, and their overall strength had declined significantly over the past few decades.

If the Uchiha wanted to regain their former glory, they had to retrieve the items stored in the Mountain Graveyard.

Unfortunately, Obito wouldn't agree to that.

"Obito, did you encounter an enemy more troublesome than the Fourth Hokage?" Zetsu asked curiously as he followed Obito.

The current Obito was no longer the naive boy he used to be. He had grown a lot over the years. Even when facing Nagato, who possessed the Rinnegan, he could calmly deal with him.

After all, Obito's Kamui was invincible.

Zetsu couldn't think of anyone in the current ninja world who could injure Obito so severely.

"I've said it, I was careless! It's not that the opponent was particularly strong," Obito emphasized again, still stubbornly refusing to admit his defeat.

Soon, they arrived at the operating room.

"Black Zetsu, prepare for surgery to transplant new cells. White Zetsu, infiltrate the Leaf Village immediately and keep an eye on the Uchiha clan, especially a guy named Uchiha Dan," Obito ordered as he lay on the operating table.

Uchiha Dan, you wait for me.

Once I've healed, I'll definitely get my revenge.

Obito swore in his heart, his gaze icy.

In the Leaf Village, at the underground base of the Root.

Two Root ninjas knelt on one knee, heads bowed, waiting in silence.

Tap, tap, tap.

With the sound of a cane

hitting the ground, an elderly man with a grim face and half his face wrapped in bandages slowly walked out of the darkness.

He was Danzo Shimura, the current Hokage's advisor and the leader of the Root.

At this moment, Danzo's complexion wasn't good. The bandages on his face and right arm were freshly changed, as if he had just undergone some surgery and needed to recuperate.

That's why he had been staying in the Root and hadn't gone out.

"How has Itachi been doing recently? Has he done anything noteworthy since joining the Anbu?" Danzo slowly asked.

"Sir, Itachi has been normal in the Anbu. However, he has been spending a lot of time with his uncle, Uchiha Dan, recently. After work every day, he goes to Dan's gym and stays there until late at night," a Root ninja reported.

"Uchiha Dan?" Danzo frowned slightly at the mention of the name. It sounded familiar.