Black Zetsu's Scheme

"Notification: Successfully killed enemy (Level 45 White Zetsu Clone), gained 80 experience points."

Kyosuke, having successfully "stolen the kill," unexpectedly gained 80 experience points. In theory, he should have been happy.

But the notification about the "White Zetsu" clone really soured his mood.

"This incident was actually manipulated by White Zetsu? Isn't he dead now?" Kyosuke's expression behind his mask was incredibly grim.

He then carefully recalled the "original" storyline, realizing that White Zetsu's main body had indeed been killed by the Ōtsutsuki brothers in the "ancient era."

But then he remembered that White Zetsu's main body had been resurrected by Madara Uchiha using the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path, only to be killed again by Sasuke.

However, even though White Zetsu's main body was dead, his clones still existed.

From this, it was clear that White Zetsu's clones probably had the ability to survive independently and did not rely on the "main body."

If that was the case, then the appearance of White Zetsu this time could be explained.

Or, in other words, the White Zetsu clone was also being "controlled" by someone; it shouldn't be doing something like this on its own.

And the only person capable of controlling it, besides the Black Zetsu hiding in the shadows and stirring up trouble, was beyond Kyosuke's imagination.

"Haa..." Kyosuke rubbed his aching head and sighed helplessly in his mind, "I never thought that such an ordinary mission would reveal traces of Black Zetsu. This is really..."

Just as Kyosuke was racking his brain, Ankoku, as the team leader, had opened the sealed wooden box.

When he saw the scene inside the box, his breathing paused slightly.

Because the "child" inside the box had completely stopped breathing.

"Damn it, we were one step too late." Ankoku clenched his fist and slammed it against the wooden barrel, but then he noticed something was wrong: "Strange, if they had already killed the hostage, why would they go to so much trouble to seal it?"

Filled with doubt, he carefully "examined" the poor child again.

"This isn't the Daimyo's child... what exactly is going on?" Ankoku realized something was wrong, took out the photo of the mission target, carefully compared it, and couldn't help but mutter to himself in confusion.

Kyosuke also noticed this, and a certain thought gradually became clear in his mind.

"It uses White Zetsu to impersonate Sand Ninja to steal the Daimyo's child, luring Konoha into a trap."

"Then it 'dies' at our hands in the guise of a 'Sand Ninja'..."

"The Daimyo's child is missing, and the corpse of an unfamiliar child appears..."

"Sand Ninja reinforcements..."

"Not good!!!"

Just as Kyosuke finally understood Black Zetsu's true purpose, a roar suddenly interrupted his train of thought.

"Konoha scum, how dare you... how dare you..."

Hearing this voice, the group couldn't help but turn their heads towards the entrance of the cave.

Several ninja dressed as Sand Ninja were standing there, glaring at them.

At the same time, one of the ninja was holding the corpse of a "Sand Ninja" in his arms.

"Damn it, did it succeed after all?" Kyosuke felt his heart sink as he watched this scene.

If Black Zetsu could kidnap the Land of Fire's Daimyo's child to lure them here, why couldn't it use the same method to lure the Sand Ninja?

After the two sides met "unknowingly," a fierce battle would inevitably break out.

No matter who won, they would eventually take the "corpse" of the hostage back to report.

Then the hatred between the two villages, or rather, the two countries, would deepen again, and war... would naturally break out.

"Lord Rasa, what should we do now?" A ninja in the Sand Ninja team looked at the "corpse" beside Ankoku and asked with a painful expression.

"What should we do?!" Rasa turned his head to look at him, then turned back, looking fiercely at Ankoku and the others, and said, "Of course..."

"Tear these Konoha scum into pieces!!!"

After speaking, his hands suddenly clasped together, instantly releasing his signature ninjutsu.

"Magnet Release: Gold Dust Wave."

As he performed his ninjutsu, layers of extremely dense gold dust suddenly surged forward on the ground, rapidly attacking the group.

"Not good, it's Rasa of the Sand, everyone be careful of his Magnet Release." Ankoku shouted, and at the same time, his hands quickly formed hand seals, hoping to use ninjutsu to counter his Magnet Release.

But at this moment, Kyosuke, who was beside him, stood up and used the ninjutsu he had prepared long ago.

"Earth Release: Earth Flow River."

The earth in front of Kyosuke suddenly flowed like waves, and then, with a large output of his chakra, it eventually formed a wave of earth several meters high.

It turned out that Kyosuke had been secretly forming hand seals when he recognized the Sand Ninja's arrival, preparing to counter the enemy's sudden attack.

Because he understood that fighting Rasa in this cave was a very unwise choice.

So, while Kyosuke was controlling his ninjutsu to fight against Rasa, he shouted to Ankoku, "Break through the rock wall and get out, we can't fight him here."

Ankoku nodded, and then used his signature ninjutsu on the rock wall not far away.

"Water Release: Water Dragon Bullet Technique."

"Boom."

With a deafening roar, the rock wall was successfully breached by the Water Dragon Bullet Technique, leaving a gaping hole.

Nightshade stepped forward, scooped up Kyosuke, who was still locked in a ninjutsu clash, and the group escaped through the opening.

"Hmph, let's see where you run," Rasa scoffed, then with a flick of his wrist, he and his Sand Ninja pursued them.

"Something's not right," Lin suddenly said as they ran.

The others nodded in agreement.

"Indeed, what happened earlier was strange, especially..." Ankoku paused, then continued, "that Sand Ninja's expression."

"Right, now that you mention it, I felt it too," Nightshade said mockingly, recalling Rasa's behavior. "It was like... we kidnapped their daimyo's child."

Nightshade stopped speaking abruptly, stunned, and involuntarily exchanged glances with the others.

Because they simultaneously remembered the child who had died in the box for some unknown reason.

The Sand Ninja's emotions had only spiraled out of control after seeing that child.

"Damn it, we've been set up this time," Nightshade cursed bitterly, then, noticing movement beside him, he asked Kyosuke, "Snake, what are you doing?"

"Nothing, I'm just checking if there are any other enemies," Kyosuke said casually, masking his summoning jutsu.

His purpose, of course, wasn't just to scout for enemies, or rather, it was more than that.

Because the system hadn't yet indicated that the "mission" had failed, which meant the two children might still be alive.

Even with faint hope, Kyosuke was willing to try, as it concerned his mission.

But something extremely unexpected happened.

In less than two minutes, one of his summoned creatures informed him that it had discovered a strange wooden box not far ahead.

Based on his little snake's limited description, Kyosuke could confirm that the box matched the description in the intelligence report perfectly.

"What's going on?" Kyosuke frowned in confusion, then shared his discovery with his companions.

"Whether it's true or not, we need to check it out," Ankoku decided after a moment's thought.

After all, based on their direction of travel, the location of the wooden box was just ahead.

But this only intensified Kyosuke's growing sense of foreboding.