Naruto: I am Uchiha Fugaku

"A White Zetsu clone? "

Uchiha Fugaku's gaze subtly flicked in that direction.

With the enhanced vision of his Sharingan, he saw only a single tree in that direction—no people, no creatures.

His sensory perception didn't lie, but the Sharingan couldn't detect anyone.

He immediately understood: the enemy must be inside the tree.

Because they were hidden within the tree and the Sharingan lacked X-ray vision, it couldn't expose them.

Only a White Zetsu clone from the Akatsuki was capable of hiding this way.

Without revealing his intentions, Fugaku slightly adjusted his course to move closer to the tree.

Just as he was about to pass by it—

"Susanoo—"

His eyes transformed into Mangekyō Sharingan as he activated Susanoo.

A black skeletal arm materialized and reached out, grabbing the tree in one swift motion.

Then, with a mighty heave, he ripped the entire tree from the ground.

The sudden action startled the White Zetsu hiding within—it never expected that even with its mayfly technique to suppress chakra, it would still be discovered.

The clone tried to retreat into the ground, but before it could fully escape, a hand caught it by the neck mid-air.

The White Zetsu struggled, clawing at Fugaku's grip with both hands—

—but then its eyes met Fugaku's blood-red Mangekyō Sharingan.

The struggle stopped immediately.

Its expression went blank—it had fallen under hypnosis.

"Someone's been watching us! "

Just as the others were confused by Fugaku's sudden outburst, they saw a pale white figure pulled from the tree—seized in his grasp.

Their expressions all changed.

They were being watched!

And it confirmed that they were indeed being targeted.

"Clan head, what kind of creature is this? "

Uchiha Asami curiously examined the pale humanoid being, clearly not quite human.

"It's likely some surveillance creature used by the organization the two I killed belonged to. Our movements may already be compromised—and someone from that group is probably on their way."

Fugaku responded.

At this time, even the Five Great Shinobi Nations knew little about the Akatsuki, so he kept his explanation vague to avoid revealing too much.

"What should we do now? "

Asami frowned.

Fugaku didn't answer immediately. Instead, he turned to the White Zetsu clone and asked,

"Is someone from your organization coming here? "

"Yes."

The hypnotized White Zetsu replied dully.

"Who?"

"Pain."

"Pain…?"

Fugaku's pupils contracted.

Pain was the name Nagato used to mask his true identity.

He had expected the Akatsuki to send someone, but he didn't think Nagato himself would come.

"This is troublesome."

Fugaku frowned.

He didn't know which of the Paths of Pain would appear. If it were a lesser path, he could probably handle it. But if it was the Deva Path, things would get dangerous.

He was confident in his ability to escape alone, but not in escaping with the others.

"Maybe…"

Staring at the hypnotized White Zetsu, a plan suddenly formed in his mind.

If Nagato was using the clone to track their location, then in reverse, Fugaku could use the clone to mislead him.

He increased the output of his ocular power to strengthen the hypnosis and issued a command:

"Send back a message saying: 'Target found, tailing them now, moving together with them.'"

"Then head straight toward the Land of Fire. When you encounter pain, self-destruct and end your life."

"Understood."

The hypnotized clone nodded stiffly and sank slowly into the earth.

"We're taking a detour back to the Land of Fire."

Fugaku turned to Asami and the others and gave the order.

Having witnessed the entire hypnosis and command sequence, they quickly understood his plan.

The group set off again—not in a straight line, but taking a roundabout path toward the Land of Fire.

Over an hour later—

The Deva Path of Pain arrived at a rocky wasteland near the Land of Fire.

He had followed the guidance of the White Zetsu clone to this location.

But there, he saw no sign of the target.

Even the clone that had been leading him had abruptly cut off communication just moments earlier.

Hovering above the barren terrain, he frowned deeply.

"Banshō Ten'in—" (Universal Pull)

A powerful gravitational force erupted from his body, drawing everything on the ground upward.

Crash—

As if gravity had reversed, the earth, rocks, and soil all floated into the air.

A large crater formed in the ground where the debris had been pulled up.

Among the floating debris, he spotted a familiar white figure.

With a wave of his hand, he pulled it to him.

It was a White Zetsu clone, one he knew all too well—only this one was now dead.

And the manner of death was deeply disturbing—

Its hands clutched its own throat, the trachea crushed, killed by its own hand.

"Suicide…"

Pain's voice carried a trace of surprise.

This clone hadn't been killed by another—it had strangled itself to death.

And this very clone had been feeding him directions all along.

"It was hypnotized."

His expression darkened.

He knew a fair bit about the Uchiha clan's Sharingan—and its hypnotic abilities.

Clearly, this clone had been placed under genjutsu long ago.

It had sent him false information and, when he arrived, killed itself to prevent any further use.

"Pain."

Suddenly, a voice rang directly in his mind.

Zetsu was contacting him remotely through the ring.

"What is it? "The Deva Path replied mentally.

"Just now, I lost contact with several more clones—simultaneously."

Zetsu's voice was tense.

"…"

The Deva Path's expression grew even darker.

Based on the body of this White Zetsu clone, it wasn't hard to guess—

Those other clones had likely also fallen under hypnosis.

They too had been feeding him false information… and would probably self-destruct at a predetermined moment.

Boom. Boom. Boom!

He canceled Banshō Ten'in.

The floating debris plummeted back to earth, shaking the land with thunderous impacts.

His face grim, the Deva Path flew away from the scene.