White Zetsu: Recently, There's a Brat in the Clan Compound Who Keeps Chasing After Me So He Can Help Me Up...

White Zetsu were the products of Uchiha Madara awakening the Rinnegan.

—At least, that was how Uchiha Madara saw it.

Though these white humanoid creatures did not seem particularly intelligent, they had always acted according to his will. Aside from them, Uchiha Madara trusted no one.

Moreover, while the White Zetsu were not especially powerful, they excelled at disguise and infiltration. Even ordinary Jonin found it difficult to detect their traces. They were practically natural-born scouting tools.

Thus, after his body suffered a precipitous decline with age and his movements became inconvenient, Uchiha Madara hid himself in this base and sent only the White Zetsu out across various regions.

Following his will, they acted as his eyes to monitor the Ninja World. Every so often, they would return underground and report everything that had happened in the Ninja World during that time.

So, Uchiha Madara had long grown accustomed to White Zetsu's chattering.

Especially this White Zetsu before him, who was responsible for monitoring the Uchiha clan compound.

Every time, it brought back a pile of meaningless intelligence—how many children had been born to the Uchiha this year, how many more pairs of Sharingan there were, which bookstore had published an adapted story about Senju Hashirama and himself...

Uchiha Madara had no interest in any of it, except for the last item.

Therefore, when White Zetsu Agan said that its mission progress had not been going too smoothly, Uchiha Madara immediately felt somewhat displeased.

You bring back useless intelligence every day, and now you cannot even handle your actual job?

Uchiha Madara had only asked it to awaken the kind heart of that brat named Obito while monitoring the clan compound. Could it not even accomplish something so simple?

Seeing Uchiha Madara's tightly furrowed brow, as though he were considering how to turn it into fertilizer for the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path, White Zetsu Agan's survival instinct instantly surged forth.

It hurriedly explained, "I have always followed your instructions, Lord Madara. I disguised myself as an Old Lady and waited for Obito to help me up, but..."

It paused there.

"But what?" Uchiha Madara asked calmly. "Were you discovered?"

"Not exactly, but..." White Zetsu Agan looked like it wanted to speak but hesitated. "One of your clansmen has recently been interfering with my work."

A clansman?

Interfering with White Zetsu?

Uchiha Madara was somewhat confused. He looked at White Zetsu, signaling for it to continue.

White Zetsu recalled the events as it organized its words.

"Last week, as usual, I disguised myself as an old person and fell down along Uchiha Obito's usual route. In the end, a brat with instant noodle hair passing by helped me up."

Uchiha Madara nodded in understanding. "Sounds like another foolish brat with a kind heart."

"It was not as you think..." White Zetsu Agan shook its head, gloomily rejecting Uchiha Madara's conclusion. "If it had only happened once, that would have been fine. But every single time, he helped me up!"

"Several times, I had not even found a suitable spot yet, and that brat was already standing nearby. The moment I landed, he would run over and help me up..."

By this point in its recollection, White Zetsu Agan's voice was already trembling, clearly from anger.

He did nothing all day except wander around the clan compound. Was he not far too idle?!

Uchiha Madara showed no reaction as he listened to White Zetsu Agan's complaints. He merely closed his eyes, as if he had fallen asleep.

Just as White Zetsu Agan was debating whether to provide a wake-up service, Uchiha Madara slowly opened his eyes. "He noticed you."

"How could that be?"

White Zetsu Agan was baffled.

Its disguise was something even Uchiha Fugaku, the current head of the Uchiha clan, could not see through.

And that irritating brat was merely a Genin who had just graduated from the Ninja Academy. How could he possibly see through its Transformation Technique?

Uchiha Madara neither confirmed nor denied White Zetsu Agan's doubts. He merely stroked the cold armrest extending from his stone chair and pondered aloud.

"Noticing your existence does not mean he saw through your disguise. A brat who grew up in the clan compound and has never left Konoha could never guess your true identity.

"He likely only noticed certain phenomena but could not understand them. He may even mistake you for a Ninja secretly investigating Uchiha intelligence... That would not harm our plan in any way."

From the Warring States Period to the era of hidden villages, he had met all kinds of people and experienced all kinds of things. No matter how strange the situation, it would not surprise him too greatly.

After all, his name itself was a miracle of the Ninja World.

"By the way, what is this brat's name?" Uchiha Madara suddenly asked.

White Zetsu Agan held its chin and replied, "I remember... Uchiha Chi."

Uchiha Madara nodded slightly and gave White Zetsu Agan a new instruction. "Continue your plan as usual. In your spare time, keep an eye on this Uchiha Chi as well..."

He paused. "If he is truly as perceptive as you say, then after realizing someone is watching him in secret, he will immediately go into hiding."

Two days later.

Uchiha clan compound.

In a dilapidated courtyard stood a towering banyan tree.

A sandbag weighing several dozen pounds hung from one of its branches. Its burlap surface was covered in dents and marks, making it clear that it had been bought for practicing Taijutsu and strength.

Uchiha Chi stood in the corner of the courtyard, rapidly forming hand seals with Both Hands.

Rat—Tiger—Dog—Ox—Rabbit—Tiger.

"Fire Style: Phoenix Sage Fire Technique!"

With a soft shout, Uchiha Chi spat out three blazing fireballs shaped like phoenix flower pods.

"Rabbit—"

He formed the Rabbit seal with one hand, and the three fireballs flying toward the opposite wall instantly changed direction, shooting toward the banyan tree in the middle of the courtyard!

Bang! Bang! Bang!

The three fireballs struck the sandbag beneath the banyan tree with precision. Sand poured from the ruptures like flowing water, piling up into a small mound on the ground.

Uchiha Chi formed hand seals again.

Boar—Horse—Tiger.

He used the Body Flicker Technique to arrive beneath the banyan tree, raised a gleaming cane high in the air, and drove it straight into the raised mound of sand.

After doing all this, Uchiha Chi straightened up and looked at the System Panel floating in the air.

[Name: Uchiha Chi]

[Age: 14]

[Chakra: 700 (+300) (Lower Chunin Standard: 1000)]

[Skills: Three Basic Jutsu, Body Flicker Technique, Body Immobilization Jutsu, Fire Style: Great Fireball Technique, Fire Style: Phoenix Sage Fire Technique]

[Traits: ...]

Seeing that the skill list was no longer just a single line, Uchiha Chi nodded in satisfaction.

Over the past two days, he had practiced the three Ninjutsu he had exchanged from the Point Store.

Thanks to the Fire Style Ninjutsu talent he had obtained from Uchiha Fugaku, he had mastered the Fire Style: Phoenix Sage Fire Technique in just one night. Not only could he fire five fireballs at once, but he could also freely alter their attack directions.

The two D-rank Ninjutsu were not Fire Style techniques, so learning them naturally did not go as smoothly. It took him a full day and night to learn the Body Flicker Technique and Body Immobilization Jutsu.

"I wonder whether the Body Immobilization Jutsu really counts as learned..."

Looking at the cane in the mound of sand, Uchiha Chi spoke with some regret.