Current Offender

All White Zetsu are the same, but to Yuzhen, they were anything but.

Through this encounter, gaining Water Release chakra transformation from a White Zetsu, he realized they might hold a wealth of diverse possibilities.

If he could accidentally acquire Water Release from a White Zetsu, then what about Wind Release, Lightning Release, or even...

Just as he succeeded in ambushing the White Zetsu, far away from the scene, one White Zetsu moving toward its main body suddenly stopped in its tracks.

"A fellow's signal just vanished. What's going on?"

Clearly, this White Zetsu, acting as a communicator or "leader," differed from ordinary ones—it could sense the "signals" of distant kin, a rare individual with some information-processing ability.

After all, White Zetsu weren't so easy to kill. Had someone been taken out right after the meeting? No matter how he thought about it, it didn't add up.

But before this White Zetsu could ponder what it had discovered, another "White Zetsu's" signal disappeared... That was Yuzhen exiting his White Zetsu Transformation.

"A second one's dead too!"

Two White Zetsu had died almost simultaneously, their signals coming from the same direction. The White Zetsu Leader quickly figured out which two had perished.

All other White Zetsu were acting alone, but the two assigned to monitor Area 037 were together. So the pair that died together could only be them.

The severity of the situation exceeded the White Zetsu Leader's imagination. Without hesitation, it turned and chased toward the direction of the vanished signals, determined to find out what had happened there.

White Zetsu were creatures that couldn't live without darkness and felt restless without schemes. Losing two White Zetsu was nothing, but the leader worried they'd been targeted deliberately.

If targeted attacks were possible, it meant the existence of White Zetsu might have been exposed. As a hidden hand lurking in the ninja world for a millennium, once discovered, could it still remain in the shadows?

Since the White Zetsu Leader only knew a vague direction and feared becoming the next target, it moved with excessive caution, dawdling for seven or eight days before finally reaching the site of the battle.

By then, so much time had passed that most useful traces at the battle site had been destroyed. The scorched earth from Yuzhen's Fire Release had even begun regrowing grass. What could still be discerned?

The White Zetsu Leader could only conclude that the fight had been brief, intense but not prolonged—accurate but lacking detail. With such scant information, it was hard to tell if someone was targeting White Zetsu or if the two had simply stumbled into a ninja skirmish.

Don't think the White Zetsu Leader's caution was excessive. They'd lived so long that they'd seen every kind of unlucky death imaginable—there was even a case of a White Zetsu being crushed by a falling meteorite while walking normally.

Compared to that, being burned to death by a sudden Fire Release was nothing.

The only problem was that they'd died too cleanly. The White Zetsu Leader searched for a long time but found no trace of the two corpses. That alone all but confirmed its suspicions.

It never occurred to it that someone could disguise themselves as a White Zetsu. It simply assumed someone had detected the White Zetsu's presence and eliminated them on the spot.

Either way, the leader decided to report everything that had happened here to its main body in detail.

Yuzhen knew his actions might draw White Zetsu investigation, so he retreated promptly.

Arousing White Zetsu suspicion was inevitable, but "someone detected the White Zetsu's existence" and "someone can disguise as a White Zetsu" would provoke entirely different levels of concern within the White Zetsu collective.

The former would hardly harm Yuzhen. The White Zetsu would first suspect those already riddled with doubts—like Red Eye Disease Sufferers, Sage Body Inheritors, Out-of-Spec Sealing Ninjas, and so on. They'd never suspect Yuzhen.

Unaware that the White Zetsu Leader's investigation would be so sluggish, Yuzhen didn't immediately return to camp after leaving the assassination site.

His earlier talk with his companions about scouting the battlefield and searching for supplies wasn't empty words. So on his way back, he kept to the edges of towns and war-torn regions.

Small and mid-sized clans had their own ways of waging war; powerful large clans had theirs. Yuzhen wanted to map out the main battlefields of the ninja world to avoid being caught in the crossfire of the strong.

The ninja world was a grand stage—dare to step up if you had the guts. For now, Yuzhen was the type who knew his limits.

After gathering information in a few towns, the intel left him speechless...

Small and mid-sized clan battlefields "bloomed at the center," scattered everywhere; large clan battlefields "exploded at the edges," concentrated near what would later become the Land of Fire's borders.

Yuzhen's camp was now hidden in the primeval forest north of the Land of Fire. Strictly speaking, it wasn't far from some of the ninja world's main battlefields.

Though most of his intel came from commoners and lacked accuracy, it still confirmed one view—nowhere in the ninja world was safe.

Yuzhen also faced a very real predicament: he had no money, so he couldn't restock supplies in towns.

He had to focus on the battlefields, hoping some kind-hearted ninja might leave behind useful supplies in less dangerous skirmishes.

Food, medicine, ninja tools—his camp lacked everything. If some generous delivery ninja happened to be handing out charity, he certainly wouldn't refuse their kindness.

And sure enough, three days after leaving the town, Yuzhen witnessed a fight between two groups of ninja.

Having watched from start to finish how they encountered each other and started fighting, he even figured out why they were brawling—over supplies.

Supplies!

Originally just planning to watch, Yuzhen carefully avoided their chaotic battle while cautiously approaching the scene.

The two sides were evenly matched in numbers, each with over a dozen ninja. One side called themselves the Ishiwa Clan—Yuzhen had never heard of them and didn't recognize their crest—but he knew they must be a major clan.

Because they were the ones doing the robbing. And the robbed side—Yuzhen recognized their headbands.

The robbed ninjas wore distinctive headbands. One of them carried a massive supply scroll, sealed with a large amount of urgently needed goods for their clan.

Both the scroll and their headbands bore a highly conspicuous emblem: five circles connected by some lines.

Five circles didn't mean they were from the Olympic Clan. In fact, these ninjas were famous—they came from...

The Sarutobi Clan.