White Zetsu Reveals Himself

"Stop bothering me!"

Without turning his head, Katsuki casually slapped his left hand behind him, causing the air to vibrate violently and creating a shockwave that was so strong that it ripped a deep trench through the concrete floor.

The Sand Hand lunged at them, a giant hand capable of crushing rocks, was crushed to pieces by the shockwave.

The aftershocks shattered the barrier formed by the convergence of three layers of flowing sand in front of Rasa.

With a casual strike, he plunged Rasa's heart into an abyss.

Rasa's face stiffened as he felt the aftershocks and the howling wind. His hair danced wildly in the wind. In the instant that Katsuki roared, he felt as if he were facing not a human, but a demon in human skin. A terrifying aura surged over him like a tide, gripping his heart and making it almost impossible for him to breathe.

"Bang bang!!"

Having shattered the Sand Hands, Katsuki didn't attack again. His right hand gripped Sasori's head, and he continued to 'crack walnuts' at a terrifying frequency.

The floor vibrated rhythmically, as if an earthquake had struck.

Sasori, the Puppet Master of the Sasori of the Red Sands, was as powerless as an infant when facing Katsuki, an enemy far more powerful than he could have imagined. His head was repeatedly pounded against the ground, and his consciousness was unable to react effectively. His body convulsed instinctively, but he could not control it. He was just making biological reflexes due to the pain.

Finally, he exceeded his limit of endurance. The intense pain broke through the dam of his consciousness. The scene before his eyes lost its color and plunged into endless darkness. The taut string in his mind snapped.

"Phew! That head's hard enough."

Katsuki released her grip, flexing her slightly sore fingers.

Maintaining the balance between not being able to smash its head open and destroying its consciousness is extremely difficult.

"Damn! It really was this thing..."

After the scorpion's consciousness dissipated, its body underwent a strange transformation.

Like cheap clothes that start to fade after just one wash, Scorpion also seemed to have faded, turning pale all over, including his clothes, revealing a new look!

Meanwhile, Itachi intercepted Rasa, who had recovered and was preparing to launch a second wave of attacks.

"Rasa, please look closely. Is that fellow truly Sasori of the Red Sands?"

Rasa: "..."

The flowing sand rose like smoke and clouds, gathering and dispersing around him like surging waves. Tiny grains of sand flew and bounced all around, and not far away, the masks of the Root ninjas were hit by the sand with a crackling sound.

The shifting sands reflect the restless heart of Rasa.

He stared wide-eyed at the 'scorpion' at Katsuki's feet, his mind a jumble of mush, his thoughts stuck together.

The Sand Ninja and Root Ninja, who were in a standoff, each took a step back in unison, and everyone's attention was drawn to the white humanoid figure lying on the ground.

That was undoubtedly a human form.

It was entirely white, lacking any distinguishing male or female organs or hair, resembling... a pale doll sculpted from clay.

It's White Zetsu!

"... So they've still ended up together? Damn it, I wiped out the Akatsuki Organization, and now Sasori's still hanging out with this trash." Katsuki muttered under her breath. "The will of the world? Or the wheels of history? Tsk! Neither of them seems like a good thing."

"Caught it, this is your Sasori of the Red Sands."

Katsuki dragged the unconscious White Zetsu and tossed him to Rasa.

The flowing sand coalesced into a cloud, catching the White Zetsu and slowly descending in height before finally landing on the ground.

"What... what exactly is this thing?"

Rasa didn't rush forward to investigate rashly. Although it looked very much like a human, who knew what traps might be hidden inside?

And if the scorpion beside him is a fake, then where is the real scorpion? Is he dead? Or... is he mixed up with this mysterious creature?

In comparison, he would rather Scorpion be dead. If Scorpion were still alive, doing such a thing would be tantamount to betraying the village, so it would be cleaner for him to be dead.

He looked up at Katsuki.

His intuition told him that Katsuki seemed to know information he didn't.

"······"

Katsuki was also wondering what White Zetsu's purpose was in infiltrating Konoha while impersonating Sasori.

Judging from the fact that he was able to deceive Rasa and the others, it is highly likely that Sasori cooperated with White Zetsu to perform the Transformation Technique and instructed them on their way of speaking and their living habits. Otherwise, they would not have been able to deceive Rasa, who is extremely suspicious.

However, that is the problem.

Katsuki couldn't understand why Sasori was associating with White Zetsu. Without the Akatsuki Organization, Sasori hadn't become missing-nin by assassinating the Third Kazekage as he had in his previous life. Instead, he was renowned throughout the Shinobi World as a Sand Village genius. She couldn't figure out what had happened, or what Sasori was trying to do by associating with White Zetsu.

"Itachi, I'm counting on you. See if you can extract anything useful from this thing's brain."

As they were talking, Katsuki walked over and used Medical Ninjutsu to treat White Zetsu's damaged head. Half a minute later, White Zetsu opened his eyes.

However, before White Zetsu could utter a single word, he was met with the spinning Three-Tomoe Sharingan.

There are many similar Ninjutsu that allow you to read information from the enemy's mind. The Yamanaka Clan Konoha particularly skilled in this technique, and the Sharingan of the Uchiha Clan can also achieve a similar effect. By using Genjutsu to manipulate the opponent's mind and create loopholes, you can then explore their memories.

Only--

What will Itachi see in the White Zetsu's mind?

Is it just about Sasori, or will we come across more extensive information, such as the existence of Madara Uchiha...?

Information about Madara Uchiha remains a top secret in the village, and has not been disclosed to anyone other than a group of people who had contact with him initially.

However, recently, as they watched the new generation grow up in the village, Katsuki, Minato, Nawaki, and Otoha lamented their own aging while also considering the possibility of increasing the number of people in the know.

Kakashi, Kuyue, Shisui, Itachi, and these other kids have already begun to enter the village's power center, and their strength is enough to be considered among the top. It's impossible to keep this from them forever.

Katsuki stood silently to one side, pondering what to do next.

Time passed by, second by second.

Itachi's face turned pale, and White Zetsu began to convulse violently, but Rasa cleverly used his quicksand to bind White Zetsu's body.

Smack!

The White Zetsu's head exploded like a ripe watermelon, leaving only white, paste-like fragments of brain tissue without any blood.

Itachi let out a muffled groan, staggered back two steps, and shakily came to his feet.

"Itachi, are you alright?"

"It's nothing serious, but I didn't expect this strange thing to have such a powerful Fuinjutsu on its memories. Triggering the seal caused me a slight mental shock." Itachi rubbed his temples. "It's a bit of a headache."

The fact that Itachi's expression turned so grim indicates that it wasn't just a little bit serious.

However, it doesn't seem to be getting any worse, so there's no need to worry too much. (To be continued)