Friendly White Zetsu Delivers Warmth Online

With the plan settled, Minagawa Uchiha no longer hesitated.

"One... ten... forty-eight. Root and Anbu? Konoha's upper echelons have really gone all out, sending so many watchers. There are probably even more Anbu over by the Military Police Force. Maybe every Uchiha who has awakened their eyes has one shadowing them one-on-one!"

Like a phantom, Minagawa Uchiha silently surveyed the entire Uchiha Clan Compound. The Anbu were the elite among elites—the sharpest and most useful blade in the Hokage's hand.

Root, meanwhile, was a force that Shimura Danzō had personally cultivated: a pack of emotionless madmen who disregarded life and death, no less formidable than the Anbu under the Hokage's command.

With such a large number of Root and Anbu operatives appearing in the Uchiha Clan Compound, it was easy to imagine just how heavily the Third Hokage and Shimura Danzō guarded against the Uchiha Clan.

"Under these circumstances, I can't alert them lightly. If I kill them, it'll definitely provoke the higher-ups and trigger the Night of the Uchiha Clan Downfall ahead of time."

"Still, it looks like the Night of the Uchiha Clan Downfall isn't far off. It may even happen this month. The nearest full moon is one week away, so I need to make thorough preparations during these seven days."

A faint killing intent flashed through Minagawa Uchiha's eyes. With that thought, he concealed himself once more.

Although Minagawa Uchiha had awakened the Mangekyo Sharingan, and its dojutsu were exceptionally powerful, those eyes alone allowed him, like Obito Uchiha, to stand innately undefeated.

Yet the Mangekyo Sharingan itself had flaws. Using it too frequently or at too great an intensity could easily cause adverse effects. At best, bloody tears would stream from his eyes and burden his body; at worst, his vision would blur and he would go blind outright.

At the same time, for all its power, the Mangekyo Sharingan consumed an enormous amount of Chakra. Given Minagawa Uchiha's current condition, endurance had become his greatest weakness. Once an enemy seized upon that flaw, he would have no choice but to flee.

"Sure enough, if I want to become a true powerhouse and fear no challenge, I can't have any obvious weaknesses. The barrel theory is especially important in this Ninja World, where intelligence is paramount."

There was no point in lingering any longer. Transforming into a phantom, Minagawa Uchiha silently arrived beside a large tree with a clear view. He dispelled his intangibility, and his pair of Mangekyo Sharingan locked firmly onto the unremarkable tree before him.

After the two aspects of Minagawa Uchiha's Mangekyo Sharingan had become one, he could apply the ability to turn solid things intangible to other objects. Naturally, he could also see through the true nature of anything at a glance. Thus, he immediately pinpointed the figure inside the tree.

"Huh? Those eyes... they're actually Mangekyo Sharingan! What is he trying to do? Is he going to poop here?"

White Zetsu, wearing an excited expression, was quite confident in its own ability to hide and did not immediately realize that the person before it had discovered it.

Of course, White Zetsu remained deeply obsessed with the human act of defecation, which was why it stared intently at the person before it with eyes full of anticipation.

But the next sight instantly filled White Zetsu with terror. The Uchiha in front of it had actually smiled—at a tree?

"Oh no! He found me! How is that possible? How did he discover me?"

White Zetsu inside the tree froze in confusion for a moment, then immediately came to its senses and prepared to relocate.

But just as the thought arose, while only its gaze had shifted and before its body could react, the Uchiha youth in front of it suddenly shouted. A hand flashed like a phantom, pierced directly through the tree's outer layer, and fiercely seized White Zetsu hidden within.

Yet White Zetsu showed no awareness whatsoever that it had become a captive. It still stared blankly at the Uchiha youth before it, the thirst for knowledge in its eyes seemingly ready to burst forth.

Minagawa Uchiha felt utterly speechless and slapped his forehead.

"Tch. Even someone like Uchiha Madara couldn't do anything with them. I shouldn't have expected anything from a creature without a brain..."

Without answering White Zetsu's question, he hypnotized and controlled it with his Sharingan. Then, with faint excitement, he grabbed it and headed straight into the depths of the forest.

Capturing White Zetsu had long been part of Minagawa Uchiha's plan. If he wanted to fully unleash the Mangekyo Sharingan's power, he needed to obtain both White Zetsu and Hashirama Cells. Doing so would not only greatly increase his Chakra limit and solve his endurance problem, but also make up for the Mangekyo Sharingan's inability to restore its dojutsu power.

Just as the Chakra expended after a Three Tomoe Sharingan used Izanagi could not be restored, Minagawa Uchiha's Mangekyo Sharingan could not exploit a loophole to replenish expended dojutsu power. Based on what was currently known, there were only two ways to restore it.

The first was to advance to the Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan. However, the Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan required the Mangekyo Sharingan of a blood relative to complete it. Even though Minagawa Uchiha could fuse other Mangekyo Sharingan under his absolute control in Dream Space, he did not want to lower the upper limit of his own Mangekyo. He had to find a pair with sufficient potential, whose abilities could complement his own dojutsu.

The second was to transplant Hashirama Cells. To obtain Hashirama Cells, the only known sources still in stock were Shimura Danzō and Orochimaru. Beyond that, Minagawa Uchiha suspected that White Zetsu of the present era should also contain a small amount of Hashirama Cells.

The White Zetsu of this era had not been formed from people who had sunk into the Infinite Tsukuyomi a thousand years ago. Rather, they had been cultivated by Uchiha Madara using Hashirama Cells through the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path. Now that Obito Uchiha had inherited all of Uchiha Madara's legacy, the White Zetsu he sent out would inevitably be of this kind.

At this critical moment before the clan's downfall, Obito Uchiha would naturally dispatch White Zetsu to keep watch on the situation here. That gave Minagawa Uchiha the chance to capture a White Zetsu carrying Hashirama Cells.

Whether they were White Zetsu transformed by the Divine Tree through the Infinite Tsukuyomi a thousand years ago, or White Zetsu created by Uchiha Madara using Hashirama Cells through the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path, they shared the same origin.

As the reincarnation of Asura, the Sage of Six Paths' second son, Hashirama Senju's Rinnegan, Wood Style, and Sage Body all seemed closely connected to the Divine Tree. After all, Kaguya Otsutsuki had not possessed the Rinnegan before eating the Divine Tree Fruit.

The line inherited from the Sage of Six Paths seemed more like it had inherited the Divine Tree's traits. Therefore, no matter which kind of White Zetsu Minagawa Uchiha fused with, it would be of immense benefit to him.