A Gentleman Loves Wealth, but Acquires It by Proper Means

White Zetsu possesses an ability called the "Mayfly Technique," which allows him to merge his body with the earth and vegetation, achieving a state where "the earth is my body."

Using the Mayfly Technique, White Zetsu can move at high speed underground, and can sever all traces of their presence while the Ninjutsu is activated.

Since they are integrated into one, the Byakugan would naturally be unable to detect the White Zetsu that has merged with the earth.

Even though Hinata has extremely strong Dojutsu power, as long as the White Zetsu is a little far away, it is difficult for Hinata to detect the White Zetsu's whereabouts.

In the Original Story, during the Kage Summit, Ao's Byakugan could detect Danzo's secret use of 'Kotoamatsukami', but it did not react at all to White Zetsu's approach.

While the ability to Natural Sensing is powerful, Natural Energy cannot detect the other party's whereabouts if there is no aura.

However, the Malice Perception is different.

As long as the other party harbors malice, even if only for a moment, this method of perception can clearly capture that malice.

This is another kind of perception ability besides visual perception and energy perception— Mind Perception.

Hinata had very little Nine-Tails power within her, but even with only a few seconds of perception, Hinata still noticed something was wrong.

The people of Sunagakure also harbored malice, but a certain malice was hidden a kilometer away from Hinata.

Very close!

However, Hinata had not sensed even the slightest trace of it beforehand.

Hinata suddenly turned her head to look, but in the Byakugan's vision, all she could see in that direction was soil.

It really is White Zetsu!

Hinata broke out in a cold sweat.

Hinata used to be very confident in her Byakugan, believing that even White Zetsu would be unable to escape Byakugan perception.

But this time, reality taught Hinata a profound lesson.

Hinata had no idea how many times she had been followed by White Zetsu during her missions, or how much information White Zetsu had gathered about her.

Does the Black Zetsu attached to the White Zetsu already know something, which is why it keeps targeting me?

"Hinata! What did you find?"

Kakashi looked at Hinata with a puzzled expression.

Hinata gave a low shout, "Follow me!"

After saying that, Hinata quickly ran towards where the White Zetsu was hiding.

White Zetsu: "..."

Have we been discovered?

White Zetsu was somewhat puzzled.

Ninjas are all confident, and many ninjas actually died because of their overconfidence.

Bai has absolute confidence in his abilities.

Ever since White Zetsu was 'created' from the Gedo Madara Uchiha Demonic Statue of the Outer Path, no one has ever discovered White Zetsu whereabouts.

Black Zetsu had followed Hinata many times, and although he judged Hinata's Byakugan level to be extremely high, Hinata had never discovered the White Zetsu Hinata.

So how exactly did Hinata discover him this time?

However, White Zetsu has no time to think about these things right now. He has no fighting ability and can only run away if he is discovered.

"..."

They got away!

Hinata stopped walking, somewhat annoyed.

Hinata had originally thought this was a perfect opportunity to get in touch with Black Zetsu, but White Zetsu didn't give her that chance.

"They ran away?"

Kakashi frowned and asked suspiciously, "Who is this person? You didn't seem to notice him at first?"

Kakashi has extremely sharp insight.

When Hinata first used her Byakugan, she didn't seem to notice anything unusual. However, Hinata then seemed to use other sensory abilities and discovered that someone was secretly watching her nearby.

The opponent is very good at hiding!

Hinata shook her head slightly and said slowly, "I don't know, maybe I'm just overthinking it!"

"Byakugan didn't detect anything unusual."

Kakashi frowned; he had a feeling that Hinata was hiding something.

Maybe I'm overthinking it!

Kakashi knew Hinata's personality and experiences very well. Hinata was not the kind of person who kept her feelings to herself. Apart from carrying out missions, she had never had any contact with anyone outside the village.

Kakashi shook his head and gave a self-deprecating smile.

Was it because you were too nervous?

In this perilous environment, even Hinata began to have doubts.

"Now that we have lifted the surveillance, our whereabouts are absolutely confidential."

Kakashi analyzed, "Hinata, we need to cross the Land of Rivers immediately and reach the border of the Land of Fire. Only when we reach the Land of Fire will we be absolutely safe!"

"Kindness!"

Hinata nodded, glanced at Kakashi, and asked doubtfully, "Aren't we going to leave the Sand Village behind?"

Kakashi said calmly, "They've separated from us, so they won't encounter any danger."

Hinata thought for a moment and nodded, "Then let's go!"

The Land of Rivers.

A small country with lush greenery and numerous rivers.

The Five Great Nations do not border each other; instead, there are many smaller countries that act as buffers between them. The Land of Rivers is one such country that serves as a buffer zone between the Land of Fire and the Land of Wind.

The Land of Rivers's weak national strength left it completely powerless to resist external threats.

The tacit understanding between major powers is to place wars in these smaller countries.

The Akatsuki originally had no need to worry about these things.

However, the Akatsuki currently needs to develop discreetly and secretly gather intelligence on Jinchuriki, so they can only set the ambush location within the Land of Land of Rivers, disguising themselves as ninjas from other villages.

"The leader's words sound nice, but since joining the organization, all we've done is make money, make money... yeah!"

Deidara sat on a rock, complaining, "Brother Sasori... Come to think of it, Sunagakure is your old village, isn't it?"

"But it seems like things are going pretty badly for him lately..."

"Shut up!"

Sasori of the Red Sands's true form was hidden within Hiruko, and he said impatiently, "How much longer do you want me to wait?"

Hidan said with amusement, "Speaking of which, weren't your men the ones responsible for keeping watch?"

Kakuzu said in a deep voice, "For money, it's worth waiting no matter how long!"

"..."

After a moment of silence, Deidara looked up at the sky and said with a hearty smile, "It's already dawn!"

Hiruko's tail twitched, Sasori of the Red Sands said calmly, "I can already sense it... they have entered the Land of Land of Rivers."

Kakuzu stood up from the rock, somewhat impatiently saying, "This is the first time I've ever seen a trade between major powers..."

"Huh?"

Hidan looked at Kakuzu with a puzzled expression and asked, "Kakuzu- san, haven't you lived for a very long time? You must have seen this kind of thing many times before, right? Haven't you robbed this kind of money before?"

Kakuzu said calmly, "Only money earned from working can make me feel at ease."

Hidan asked in surprise, "You seem quite excited this time..."

Kakuzu glanced coldly at Hidan and said in a deep voice, "This time it was a mission given by the leader. I am only responsible for carrying out the mission!"

Hidan scoffed with disdain, then exclaimed excitedly, "Ah! It's a new day! I'm going to offer a new tribute to Lord of Evil... Give me that girl who beat Kisame so badly. I'll use her for the ritual. I'm sure Lord of Evil will be very satisfied."