The Land of Rain...
Seeing Uchiha Shūichi ponder for a moment, Shimura Danzō spoke up.
"My lord, be careful. That Rinnegan-wielding ninja displayed terrifying strength back then. I've also tried to gather intelligence on the Land of Rain many times since, but none of the ninja I sent there ever returned."
With Nagato's Rain Tiger at Will Technique and a large number of White Zetsu, even a Kage Level powerhouse like Jiraiya couldn't infiltrate Amegakure without being detected, let alone Root's ninja.
"Then find a way to get the other hidden villages interested in the Land of Rain. You can leak the information about Nagato's Rinnegan."
"Besides, the Land of Rain has the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path. It's more powerful than an ordinary Tailed Beast, and it can suppress all Tailed Beasts."
"Most importantly, the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path can absorb the Chakra of the nine Tailed Beasts and combine it into the immensely powerful Ten-Tails, whose strength is enough to destroy the world!"
Hearing this, Shimura Danzō's breathing grew a little ragged, and his eyes widened.
"My lord, is that true?"
"Absolutely. Only real intelligence will tempt the other hidden villages. Just say you got it from the Tailed Beasts!"
"The other villages aside, those brutes from the Cloud Village should be able to get some real answers from the Eight-Tails and Two-Tails. Then the fun will begin."
That would also keep those people from sending White Zetsu to wander around Konoha every day.
A trace of coldness flickered in Uchiha Shūichi's eyes. White Zetsu were exceptionally good at hiding, but after years of research, Orochimaru had developed a secret technique to counter them. Shūichi could sense their surveillance.
Otherwise, he wouldn't have dared to make some things so obvious. If a White Zetsu happened to see something, he'd be done for.
But as time went on, Uchiha Shūichi could sense that the number of White Zetsu in the Uchiha Clan—and even throughout all of Konoha—was steadily increasing. After Uchiha Shisui's death, in particular, many White Zetsu had come to monitor the Uchiha Clan.
This made many things inconvenient for Uchiha Shūichi, especially as even more White Zetsu arrived after news of Uchiha Shisui's death spread.
Since no one had ever detected these monsters for so long, the White Zetsu were extremely brazen in their surveillance. Several times, Uchiha Shūichi had nearly let them discover his secret.
In that case, Uchiha Shūichi might as well give them something else to worry about, rather than letting them keep their eyes on the Uchiha Clan.
Just as Uchiha Shūichi was thinking about how to make trouble for the Akatsuki Organization, Uchiha Obito and Black Zetsu, the organization's true masterminds, also arrived at the Uchiha Clan Grounds.
Relying on his powerful Kamui Mangekyo, Uchiha Obito circled the entire Uchiha Clan Grounds without anyone noticing him. But after completing his circuit, he couldn't help growing irritated.
"Damn it. Did Konoha's higher-ups eliminate both Uchiha Shisui and Uchiha Itachi?"
"I don't think so, Obito!"
A white figure slowly emerged behind him. Uchiha Obito turned to look at the White Zetsu and asked with a frown.
"Weren't you supposed to keep the Uchiha Clan under surveillance? How did things get this bad? Uchiha Itachi has disappeared!"
"There was nothing we could do... We don't have enough White Zetsu, and no one was specifically following Uchiha Itachi."
"Damn it! It's a real shame to lose Uchiha Itachi and Uchiha Shisui as pawns. I wonder if Konoha's higher-ups killed them!"
"I heard Uchiha Shisui left a suicide note, so something definitely happened to him. As for Uchiha Itachi, we've activated our intelligence network, but we still haven't found any trace of him."
As it turned out, the Uchiha Clan itself didn't even know Uchiha Itachi had disappeared. The White Zetsu intelligence network had been the first to notice something was wrong. It was hard to tell whether the White Zetsu network was simply that good, or the Uchiha Clan that incompetent.
By comparing information from Konoha and the Uchiha Clan, the White Zetsu could easily see that Uchiha Itachi wasn't on a mission for Konoha and wasn't with the Uchiha Clan either. That was when they realized something was amiss, bringing Uchiha Obito here.
Uchiha Obito fell silent for a moment, then spoke.
"Go check Root in Konoha. If something really happened to Uchiha Itachi, it must have been Root's ninja."
"Root? There are too many seals and barriers there. Only you can get inside, Obito!"
White Zetsu's abilities were powerful, but he needed organic matter to move quickly and conceal his presence.
Root's bases were mostly underground, surrounded by layers of stone and protected by barriers. Even White Zetsu could easily be discovered in a place like that, with no plants around.
"Stop wasting time. I'll take you to Root's base myself!"
Obito snorted. With his Kamui Mangekyo, he could ignore any barrier; his concealment ability was just a little worse than White Zetsu's.
But if he wanted to, he could remain hidden in the Kamui Dimension the entire time. That would make Uchiha Obito an even more terrifying ghost than White Zetsu.
With a twist of his Kamui Mangekyo, Uchiha Obito and White Zetsu vanished together.
A moment later, in Root's base, Uchiha Shūichi's expression changed slightly. He muttered a curse under his breath.
"They really are like a bad smell that won't go away. Have these guys tracked us all the way to Root?"
"Is it because of Uchiha Itachi? Looks like Uchiha Obito really does care about his kinsman."
Because of their temperament and Kekkei Genkai, members of the Uchiha Clan were indeed easy to use as pawns. But their various Mangekyo also made it easy for powerful individuals beyond anyone's control to emerge.
Uchiha Obito himself was an example. Black Zetsu, the greatest mastermind behind the scenes, understood the clan's potential well. Naturally, he paid close attention to a promising figure like Uchiha Itachi.
"Forget it... It doesn't matter if they learn about Uchiha Itachi. Even if they learn about Kotoamatsukami and think it's in Shimura Danzō's hands, that's fine too."
After thinking for a moment, Uchiha Shūichi informed Shimura Danzō that White Zetsu had entered Root, then quietly left. For now, Uchiha Shūichi didn't want Uchiha Obito and Black Zetsu to discover his existence. There weren't many people in the Shinobi World he feared, but Black Zetsu was certainly one of them.
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