Land of Grass, somewhere underground.
"When Heaven is about to place a great responsibility upon a person, it must first make his heart suffer..."
Naruto Uzumaki leaned against the wall and muttered incoherently.
After Uchiha Obito had hacked off both his legs,
he had become what he was now.
Bloodstained bandages were wrapped haphazardly around the wounds to keep him from dying.
His blonde hair had lost its former luster and become a tangled mess.
There was almost no light in the dark underground.
Naruto Uzumaki sat there limply. Fortunately, his two arms could still move.
In these few brief days,
Naruto Uzumaki had endured pain that would be difficult to bear for an entire lifetime.
At the same time,
he also understood what Hyuga Sho had said to him back then.
To become a great ninja, one had to endure all kinds of hardships.
"What's he talking about?"
White Zetsu, standing to the side with his hands on his hips as he watched Naruto Uzumaki, asked another White Zetsu.
There were many White Zetsu.
They looked identical at first glance, but the details were actually quite different.
For example, some White Zetsu had only half a face.
Some White Zetsu had no hair.
"I don't know..."
Tobi shrugged.
"In any case...we're not giving him our cells!"
Although White Zetsu Cells had hemostatic properties,
that didn't mean Tobi and the others intended to transplant White Zetsu Cells into Naruto Uzumaki.
The White Zetsu who had originally watched over the young Uchiha Obito
had now
switched targets.
Their surveillance target had become Naruto Uzumaki.
And Uchiha Obito, who should have been under surveillance...had taken Uchiha Madara's place and become the one persecuting Naruto Uzumaki.
Naruto Uzumaki murmured with his head lowered, repeating Hyuga Sho's words over and over.
A moment later...