Creak—

The moment Pain spoke, before Obito could react, the sound of Konan nervously scratching her rubber shoes came from the sofa.

She was curled up on the couch, not daring to look at Pain or the masked man. Her hands fidgeted at a rate of six movements per second, her entire body tense with awkwardness.

If Nagato had acted like this before, she wouldn't have minded humoring his antics.

They were comrades, after all...

Sometimes things just happened this way.

But... Couldn't he at least read the room before acting out?!At such an important meeting, and in front of outsiders no less, Nagato pulling this kind of stunt was truly more than she could bear.

Behind his mask, Obito's single eye widened in shock. He immediately turned to glance at Konan, his expression filled with utter disbelief.

In the past, Obito had never taken Nagato's habit of proclaiming himself a god seriously. If anything, he found the kid naive and easy to manipulate.

But now...

Wasn't this situation a bit off...?

The thought that a mere pawn under his control dared to speak to him in such a manner ignited a surge of fury in Obito's heart. Malice rose from the depths of his being, and his Mangekyo Sharingan had already activated, ready to teach this disrespectful brat a lesson.

Yet, in the next second, Rin's smile flashed through Obito's mind. He recalled the vision of himself becoming Hokage in Tsukuyomi, and the dream of a peaceful world where all shinobi understood one another.

At that moment, Obito fell silent.

Driven by his ideals, he chose reason over emotion...

The current state of the Shinobi World was volatile, and worse—it had slipped beyond his control.

Nagato was still useful...

The Eye of the Moon Plan couldn't proceed without this damn bastard, at least for now!

Obito repeatedly soothed himself internally, doing everything he could to avoid an outright confrontation that would leave things irreparably strained between them.

After Nagato's words, the meeting room plunged into a deathly silence so profound that even the sound of a needle dropping could be heard. Obito's heavy breathing was unmistakable in the stillness.

Pain leaned back on the sofa, his right foot propped up on it, his head held high—the arrogance of a god on full display.

He said nothing, locking eyes with Obito in a gaze that crackled with tension.

Konan, too embarrassed to speak, kept her head lowered but ultimately stood by Nagato's side.

No matter how much Nagato's condition worsened, if these two came to blows, she would undoubtedly strike at the masked man.

Obito was barely containing his rage. He stared straight into Nagato's Samsara Eye, took a deep breath, and spoke in a trembling voice.

"It's been years..."

"Have you forgotten that I am Uchiha Madara?"

"Now you won't even address me by name?!"

The more he spoke, the angrier he became, his tone rising with each word.

Logically, he didn't want to waste energy arguing with someone who was clearly unhinged.

But!

This kid was truly infuriating!

Pain kept his right foot on the sofa, elbow resting on the armrest, his cheek propped lazily against his hand—his posture exuding both nonchalance and overwhelming authority, his arrogance reaching its peak.

He remained silent, still staring unwaveringly at Obito.

To Obito, that look and attitude were nothing short of a provocation.

Obito's lungs burned with fury. He let out a roar, hoping to force this man to at least show some respect and engage in proper dialogue.

"ARGH!"

Obito's lion-like bellow elicited no reaction from Pain, who continued staring at him with the same intensity.

At that moment, a storm of emotions—rage, humiliation, and more—surged through Obito's heart.

He thought of many things: killing Nagato here and now, seizing his eyes; the hardships of carrying out the Eye of the Moon Plan alone from now on.

The taste of failure... he never wanted to experience it again.

Three seconds later.

Obito made a decision that filled him with deep humiliation.He looked at Pain, his expression suddenly softening, even letting out a few light chuckles, which drew a series of bewildered glances from Konan beside him.

"Could you pour me a drink?"

Konan: ?

At these words, Konan's small eyes were filled with immense confusion.

What was going on?

Just moments ago, it seemed like they were about to fight, and now he wanted a drink??

Pain finally moved. He raised his hand and gestured lightly to Konan, signaling her to fetch a drink for this mortal.

As for why he hadn't reacted earlier, it wasn't because Nagato had grown arrogant with his newfound power and ignored everyone—it was mainly because...

His true self was currently discussing cultivation insights with Kaito.

Throughout the entire exchange, he had only controlled Pain when the latter spoke, and now he was just instructing Konan to get the wine.

As for why the masked man suddenly wanted a drink...

Honestly, Nagato was also baffled and thought the guy had some screws loose—his thought process was nothing like a normal person's.

After all...

Who in their right mind asks for a drink in the middle of a meeting?

Roughly two hours later.

Obito stumbled out of the Akatsuki Organization's base, clutching a wine bottle, his entire body trembling.

The trembling was mostly out of anger.

Though a small part of it was from the alcohol.

BANG—

The moment he stepped beyond Amegakure's borders, Obito swung his arm and smashed the wine bottle violently against the ground, shattering it to pieces.

"Bastard!!!"

"What the hell is wrong with Nagato's brain!?"

"Does he really think he's a god??"

"He's just a pawn of mine! A mere pawn!!!"

Obito ranted and raved. Though his vocabulary was limited, his curses were far filthier than most.

Black Zetsu peeked out from his sleeve, watching the furious Obito. After a few seconds of silence, he began soothing his pawn's pawn.

"Calm down. Arguing with someone who's mentally unwell... don't you think it's embarrassing?"

"Just being in the same place as that guy is embarrassing enough for me right now!!!"

Obito continued shouting. It was clear that after not attending meetings for so long, he had truly lost his composure.

Black Zetsu organized his thoughts and then began advising the young man, lest Obito's mentality completely collapse in the future, leading him to throw his hands up and declare he was done...

"Didn't he still accept your suggestion in the end?"

Obito froze for a few seconds at these words, his mind suddenly flashing back to Pain looking down at him.

'Mortal, since you beg the god so humbly...'

'Then the god shall grant you an answer.'

BANG—

Obito raised his arm and punched a massive hole through a nearby tree trunk. His face wasn't just red with anger—his entire body was seething like a boiled shrimp.

Even though Nagato had said he would seriously consider his proposal, Obito still felt not an ounce of his rage had dissipated...

It was just too infuriating!!!

Obito spent another half-hour cursing outside before finally leaving Amegakure to continue gathering intel on the other villages.

Akatsuki Organization Base—

Kaito listened as Nagato recounted Obito's bizarre behavior of suddenly demanding a drink mid-meeting and immediately voiced his opinion.

"What!?"

"That guy actually asked you for wine in the middle of a conversation??"

"Is he out of his mind?"

Nagato nodded in full agreement. "He really doesn't seem like a normal person."

Uchiha Hikari: ...

At this moment, she was utterly speechless, unable to describe exactly how she felt.Two abnormal people were there mocking others for being abnormal...

That's already pretty abnormal!

----------------

Upload a new fic, Demon slayer : The undying Thunder Hashira

Hey there's 50 chapter ahead here : patreon. com/Pain1231

Dont forget to remove the space okay!