Pursuing Black Zetsu

"That's truly spectacular!"

Looking at the huge, dark, empty cave in front of him, Orochimaru, who had replaced the Great Thunder with the Small Thunder, reached out and stroked the cave wall.

The guards looked around at the scene before them, wondering what secrets this cave held that could attract Orochimaru, the head of the Konoha Research Bureau and one of the Orochimaru Sannin.

By this time, many years had passed since Madara Uchiha went to the Pure Land. In addition, due to factors such as Yaowan's defection to Isshiki, the wealth he left behind was no longer in the stronghold where Madara Uchiha lived.

What Orochimaru could study were only some withered White Zetsu corpses and some clues about where Madara Uchiha had once lived.

"Where is Aburame Ryoma discovered this place?"

Orochimaru asked a Konoha Ninja with great interest.

The other party was initially startled, then revealed Aburame Ryoma's whereabouts. "Minister Ryoma discovered some suspicious traces and went to track him down."

"Is that so?" Orochimaru nodded, then squatted down, looking at the withered White Zetsu on the ground, seemingly lost in thought.

Meanwhile, Black Zetsu, carrying those precious Rinnegan, was evading the pursuit of Aburame Ryoma from behind.

"A troublesome fellow."

Seeing the Kikaichū appearing behind him, Black Zetsu was both angry and furious.

He was angry that he had lost even his last hiding place, and furious that the reckless ninja behind him dared to follow him.

Even though he had already separated from the White Zetsu's main force, and even handed over Madara Uchiha's corpse to those guys, why was that guy wearing sunglasses still clinging to him so stubbornly?

What angered Black Zetsu more was that no matter where he hid, he would be discovered by the other party.

If you hide underground, the enemy will send out burrowing insects to track you.

If you jump into the water, the opponent can send out swimming insects.

Even if you possess a bird and escape into the sky, your opponent can still send out giant flying insects capable of swallowing the bird whole to follow you.

As a flawed creation made under Kaguya's emergency, Black Zetsu lacks the abilities of the Hagoromo and Hamura brothers. Apart from being able to run away and survive, it doesn't have any powerful means of defeating enemies.

With no other option, he could only continue his escape, relying on the unreliable method of prayer to evade Aburame Ryoma's pursuit.

But what alarmed Black Zetsu was that the distance between them seemed to be getting closer and closer, and he could sometimes even hear that damned buzzing sound.

However, Black Zetsu's mindset quickly changed.

As he fled, the surrounding scenery began to change; the once dense jungle gradually thinned out, and the dominant green color began to turn yellow.

Black Zetsu's long escape took him across the Land of Grass and into the Land of Land of Wind.

And soon he encountered Sand Ninja patrolling the border.

Black Zetsu looked at the two unlucky guys with some surprise, thinking that he had finally found someone to possess. He was about to dive into the yellow sand to find a suitable opportunity to strike when a Kunai across the sky and shot straight at his location.

Immediately following was a flash of yellow light, and a large chunk of Black Zetsu's body was sliced off with it.

"Who?!"

Black Zetsu instinctively shouted, and then recognized the enemy attacking him through this conspicuous attack method.

This is bad, it's Minato Namikaze!

Without turning his head or caring about his severed body, Black Zetsu immediately tried to flee back the way he came.

Damn it, that Yellow Flash has mastered the Uzumaki Clan's Sealing Jutsu. I'm not afraid of any other Ninjutsu, except for Sealing Jutsu!

"They actually managed to escape?"

Minato Namikaze's eyes narrowed; he clearly hadn't expected the unidentified black substance to be able to escape after suffering a heavy blow.

However, Minato's combat experience led him to subconsciously launch a new attack while he was thinking.

The Flying Thunder God Kunai was once again inserted into the ground along Black Zetsu's escape route, and just as Minato had predicted, Black Zetsu appeared in that spot.

With his right hand outstretched, Minato placed his hand on Black Zetsu's body.

The unique tactile sensation evoked an indescribable emotion in Minato.

Somewhat disgusting?

Slippery, eerie, and a little bouncy.

Moreover, his own Flying Thunder God Mark—

The Flying Thunder God Mark disappeared into Black Zetsu's body, but when Minato sensed the location of the mark, he found that he could not sense anything at all.

This thing is a bit strange.

"That's... Yellow Flash?!"

At this moment, the Sand Ninja on patrol belatedly noticed Minato's figure.

"Quickly, let's go! Just pretend we didn't see anything."

The cooperation with Konoha during this period allowed the Sand Ninja to experience firsthand what it means to have ample supplies.

To put it simply, since the village was founded, Sunagakure's granary has been so poor that rats could starve to death.

However, after Konoha and Sunagakure signed an unequal treaty that humiliated the village, Sunagakure's granaries were directly filled by Konoha.

It wasn't that Konoha was being merciful and helping them, but rather that the troops stationed there simply couldn't get used to the food from Sunagakure, so Konoha sent all sorts of supplies to Sunagakure for the sake of their own ninjas' health.

Therefore, the Sand Ninja Konoha will annex the Sunagakure, making them true Konoha citizens.