Killing the remaining Zetsus was as dull as it could be. Of course, others had their fun going all out, but there was nothing for Yurei to do. Obito escaped as soon as they entered the cave. He just temporarily put barriers and protection seals everywhere to make sure no one could get into the cave so his clones could later take care of the statue.
He had the preparations done, so it wasn't going to be hard to move. So he was waiting for others to finish so they could head back. He needed to find Obito and fast. It was time to take action, not to sit idly by.
It took him two months to find Obito. He kept sending teams around to spy for any signs. Finally, he found him in Ame. Good. He was going to hit two birds with one stone. He was going to finish the Akatsuki.
He couldn't go on this mission alone. He needed to separate Nagato and Konan from Obito. So he needed people who could keep Pein busy. He was going to take Guren and two other Jonins who specialized in long-range fighting.
He couldn't risk bringing any of the Jinchuurikis along. Since he didn't want them to get recognized yet. The same went with Kisame. He didn't wish for Kiri to be at his doorstep looking for their swordsman. So he had to go with people who were less recognized.
One of the Jonins was an Uzumaki who specialized in battle seals. He was great at creating distractions and keeping the enemy away. The other one was a man with a kekkei genkai. He could control metallic objects at a certain distance from him. he usually used it to control Kunai and Shuriken to attack his enemies from multiple directions.
Overall, it was a team who could do a lot of damage. They only needed to keep Pein away long enough for Yurei to finish Obito off. The first phase of their plan was getting in Ame without triggering Pein's alarms.
Yurei was ready, and he had prepared special cloaks that hid their chakra and had genjutsu seals, a creation of Itachi, that cast a small suggestive genjutsu for the person not to look closely at the spot it was casted on.
With so many people under Pein's radar at all times, it was easy to get ignored. They were also careful to blend into civilians and not to draw attention. Yurei needed to set seals outside the tower to create a perimeter.
The seals would ensure that Obito couldn't use his Kamui to get out. he could still teleport inside the boundaries so he wouldn't notice the trap soon. But Yurei was ready and knew how to handle him. he had to do this.
After he set up the last part of the seal, he sent a small chakra pulse to the seal on his wrist. It would activate and notify others to start their part. He counted to 30, and right on the dot, he heard sounds of explosions.
His team had to get Pein to leave his tower, and what better way than to mess with his city. Of course, they've taken precautions to ensure civilians won't get hurt. They were just messing with the buildings and fighting the shinobi.
Yurei couldn't remember the time he was averted to killing. He wanted to save everybody. To change people. But the war changed him. It was kill or be killed. Like many shinobi, he became desensitized. He still was against taking unnecessary lives but he didn't get bothered by killing when the need was.
He knew that the need would be subjective. One kill that seemed necessary and justified to him may not be the same to others. But he tried not to think about it. He had a role to play. He could think about the price later.
He quickly entered the tower and followed the path to go to Obito. There was no escape for Obito, but Yurei didn't want to drag the fight with his team out there. He went to the top floor. To the giant meeting room Akatsuki typically used.
He was wearing a special custom. Black and red battle Kimono with swirling designs. His tail was out, and he had his hair short and spiky. He was wearing a Kitsune mask. The mask was black with red markings around the eyes, mouth, and nose. There were also golden whiskers painted on the mask.
The Kimono was specially designed so the top half could come off easily. He didn't want to rip his clothes every time he used his chains. He took his katana ready in hand, and after a deep breath, he entered.
Peace. That was a topic he had often thought about since the beginning of the war in his past life. What was peace, and how could a lasting peace be achieved? He once believed that it came from proper understanding. From a combination of empathy and sympathy.
But was that really enough? After the third shinobi war, the nations lived in relative peace for many years. But was that really peace? With the civil war in Kiri and Ame, could it really be called peace? Or with what happened to the Uchiha.
Was it called peace as long as it was confided to the borders of a country? What was it that he truly dreamed of? That was a question that Madara once asked him. The truth was he wasn't sure. Once you really think about it, true peace doesn't exist.
As long as there is a hierarchy in society and as long as there are people in power, there will be those who make the rules. But then there will also be ones who will disagree with those rules. It was inevitable.
If each side forced their opinion too much, it would cause the other side to react. But there was also the fact that there were more than two sides with opposing ideas. No matter how small the conflicting opinions, they could pile up.
Should all the opposing groups simply be forced into silence and inaction so the peace could last? What gave one group the right to rule over others? If it was due to their number or power, could they really be just?
If it was based on their ideals and care for the people, who were the people? Did it only mean the people who agreed with the rule?
The reality of the world is that people need some sort of governance. So, society needs its rules. But who was to make these rules, and what were their limits.
As long as there were people, they would separate themselves into groups. These groups were in all kinds of shapes. A group would be people who live in one nation. Then, people who live in a village. Then, based on their roles in the village, and finally, based on their friends.
Of course, this was only one way of categorization. The problem of groupings arose when each group would look for the benefit of their group. Their ideals and goals. Since people inside a group would usually have similar ideals and conditions, they would try to improve it.
But sometimes, what might help one group can hurt the other. For example, if two groups were two villages near the same river and there was a drought, if the village that is upstream used more water to battle the drought and save its people, the village downstream would have less water and would suffer consequences.
There were so many similar situations. You couldn't ask people to sacrifice their lives for others they didn't know. People would always do their best to survive, and it was against their instincts not to do so.
He could think about this for a lifetime. Considering all the small details and aspects, the truth of the matter was there was no simple answer. You couldn't expect people to live without any disagreements. You couldn't expect everyone to abandon their personal ideals and beliefs.
Understanding and talking could get you so far, but you need more to make sure the peace lasts. Because not all talks will lead to agreement. So, there must be a higher power. A sort of consequence system.
But this consequence system would raise other problems. How severe should the punishments be? If you treated it as a hierarchy where penalties would get heavier with crime, it would be the most reasonable.
But the problem was those who would abuse the system. For example, you couldn't force people to treat everyone with kindness and generosity. And people could be quite cruel. The situation of most Jinchuuriki was an example of this situation.
While the treatment of villages of their jinchuuriki wasn't against the law, it didn't mean that the isolation and mistreatment didn't cause so many of them to resent their homes. While there were those like Naruto, Gaara, and B who earned the respect of their villages, it didn't mean that they came to love the people who treated them that way.
They did what they did for those whom they cared about. Not the people of the village. There were so many more examples of these mistreatments. Orochimaru, Kisame, and some others were examples of people who were mistreated just because they looked different.
You couldn't punish people for these behaviors, but the reaction and resentment they caused were the reason these people turned into monsters in the eyes of many. So, would the blame solely be on them?
It was hard to decide the punishments when you were actually aware of the reasons for their behaviors.
But somewhere along the way, you should draw a line. You can not justify people's actions just because of their situations. No matter how cruel it could be. The punishment should be the same for everyone for the same crime and condition.
So, in order to have peace, some cruelty was needed. It would seem unfair, but it is just. You cannot ensure that everyone will have the same condition and life or be treated the same by others, but you could ensure they will be treated the same by the rules.
This could cause resentment and conflicts.
No matter how you adjust your system, there will be those who will suffer. Simply considering all facts and knowing all the truth about every situation was impossible.
If the conflicts pile up or if some consequences are deemed too severe, the situations can escalate, and there can be wars. Civil or mass scale. Or even a war between two people or groups of people.
With war, inevitably, more and more people could get involved. Innocent parties who got caught in the crossfire, family, and friends of those involved, people who choose a side they believe to be correct, or those who just want to put an end to it.
The scale of the conflict can quickly arise, and a more drastic ending will be needed to end it.
So, to end a war, you must make sure it never begins or gets beyond a certain point.
Yurei would not let a war like the fourth war happen again. To do so, he had taken many measures over the years. One of his first moves was destroying relics and artifacts that could grant the user too much power.
There were many extinct clans, and some of their techniques and secrets still remained hidden. He had his spy clones and later his ROOT agents to find them. Of course, Danzo wouldn't let him destroy many if he deemed them useful for his agents. But if they were considered too dangerous, they were destroyed.
Before leaving Konoha, he made sure to destroy them all. There were many things among them. Scrolls with jutsu, knowledge, secrets, and information. Items such as weapons and tools that could be weaponized. There was even some clothing. One that he remembered was a Kimono.
The Kimono had built-in seals in the fabric, and the fabric itself was made so that it was chakra conductive. The scrolls on how the materials were obtained and how the Kimono was made were destroyed from decay, but the Kimono was functional.
When you channel chakra into the fabric, it could act as a shield to protect you from attacks, but at the same time, the seals would allow you to control the fabric. It could make fabric tendrils that could be controlled and used to attack or grab things.
He was upset that he had to destroy the Kimono, but he couldn't risk it falling into the wrong hands. There were also armor and other outfits that granted the user some abilities.
But this was not all. Not only did he get rid of objects, he got rid of people. He couldn't let those with the power and motivations against people to live.
He got rid of the remaining Jashinists after their attack. He got rid of Kakuzu, Zetsu, Sasori, and so many more. He got rid of Gato and other corrupt businessmen. He got Rid of Danzo. There were so many more.
He killed them all without regret. He couldn't risk them being alive. Just as now, he was standing above the headless body of Obito. He couldn't let him live. He had clear instructions to create infinite Tsukuyomi.
While he knew he could be convinced if he tried hard enough, he didn't trust him. Obito was unstable. If left unchecked, a single incident could set him on this path again. Even if he had all his chakra and powers sealed, there was nothing to stop him from making another person do his deed.
Obito was smart, and no matter what measures he could take, Obito could find a way to get around it. So he had to die.