The black-robed figure pulled his hood back up, hiding most of his face.
"Then what do we do now?"
Kabuto returned to the bookcase, pulled out the notebook marked "X," and opened it. A map was tucked inside. The paper was high-quality, printed rather than hand-drawn, and marked every country and major shinobi village on the continent. Kabuto traced his finger from east to west, then north to south, finally stopping at a spot in the southwestern Land of Fire.
"Here," Kabuto said. "Iwami Village. On the Land of Fire's southwestern border, toward the Land of Wind. It's small, about three hundred people, mostly elderly people and children. The working adults have all left to find work. There are God Tree roots beneath this village, too. I found them last year, but I haven't touched them. Now we can make a move."
"How?"
"Send out three White Zetsu. They don't need to be particularly strong. Ordinary ones will do. Have them circle outside the village a couple of times and let the villagers see them. The villagers will get scared and report it to the local patrol. The patrol will send people to investigate. They won't send Anbu. It's too far away; the Anbu don't cover that area. At most, they'll send a chunin with two or three genin. Let them investigate. Let them discover the White Zetsu. Let them fight. Let them win."
The black-robed figure frowned.
"Let them win?"
"Yes. Konoha has to win the first encounter," Kabuto said. "If they lose the first time and people die, Konoha will raise its alert level, send more people, and investigate more deeply. I don't want that. I want them to think White Zetsu are manageable, troublesome but not frightening. Give them the illusion that they can beat these things,