Capturing a Wild White Zetsu

While Ensei Uchiha was learning Izanagi, Itachi Uchiha encountered a familiar figure while on a mission outside the village.

"Obito Uchiha! What did you do to Shisui?"

At that moment, Itachi didn't know whether he was confident in his own strength or simply blinded by rage.

Either way, he charged in—and was defeated.

The gap between the Three-Tomoe Sharingan and the Mangekyō Sharingan was simply too vast. He didn't have the slightest hope of winning.

This wasn't the first time he had met Obito Uchiha. He simply hadn't known the man was Obito Uchiha back then.

At the time, Obito Uchiha hadn't revealed his identity. Wearing a mask, he had killed all of Itachi Uchiha's companions.

It was precisely because of this that Itachi Uchiha awakened his Sharingan.

After awakening it, Itachi Uchiha realized that his clan only cared about the Sharingan. His father was no exception. No one cared about the companions who had been killed.

As a result, Itachi Uchiha grew increasingly distant from his clan and instead placed more faith in the so-called Will of Fire espoused by the Third.

"I heard from someone that you had the potential to awaken the Mangekyō Sharingan."

"But now, it seems he misjudged you."

"Pass a message to Ensei Uchiha for me. If he still wants Uchiha Shisui to live, he should leave Konoha alone and come meet me!"

Obito Uchiha hadn't been idle during this time. He'd put White Zetsu's uncanny intelligence-gathering abilities to work, turning over almost the entire Shinobi World.

Although he hadn't found any clues in the legends, he'd learned the true nature of Ensei Uchiha's ability from several meetings of Konoha's senior leadership: the power to foresee the future.

Obito Uchiha himself couldn't easily infiltrate Konoha anymore, but it was still simple for White Zetsu.

That was how Obito Uchiha had gathered much of his intelligence.

The future! There were so many things he wanted to know. If he could obtain that power...

In fact, Black Zetsu, who had been lurking in the shadows all along, also hoped to obtain it.

Although such a power had never appeared before, he had already judged from the intelligence that it was most likely real.

Black Zetsu had originally planned to act alone. With his abilities, he might have been able to infiltrate the Uchiha Clan.

But Ensei Uchiha had created the Rin Nohara Model, and more importantly, it contained a portion of the Nine-Tails Chakra.

Among all the Tailed Beasts, the Nine-Tails' ability to sense good and evil had always been the most troublesome.

What's more, Konoha had now changed its barrier so it could detect Space-Time Ninjutsu fluctuations within the village. As a result, Obito Uchiha could no longer come and go as he pleased.

Fortunately, the Shinobi World had barriers that could detect Space-Time Ninjutsu, but none that could restrict it. Otherwise, Obito Uchiha would have been done for long ago.

And White Zetsu had been discovered by the Zero-Two Model, while White Zetsu's combat abilities were also insufficient.

So Black Zetsu, whose frontal combat abilities weren't particularly impressive, had decided to work with Obito Uchiha.

As long as he could possess him...

After being defeated and given a couple of harsh lessons, Itachi Uchiha was released.

That same day, ignoring his battered body, Itachi Uchiha returned straight to the village and found Ensei Uchiha in the middle of an experiment. He relayed Obito Uchiha's message.

And then... Ensei Uchiha came away with several precious White Zetsu.

Countering White Zetsu's Spore Technique was incredibly simple. All it took was a little Natural Energy, and White Zetsu would involuntarily reveal itself.

"W-what is this? How did it get inside my body?"

Itachi Uchiha stared at the few white figures emerging from his body, feeling deeply unsettled.

"These? They're precious research materials. I've been looking for them for a long time."

"Fine. In exchange for these research materials, I'll try to help you rescue Shisui."

Talk about perfect timing. The replication of the Hashirama Cells had been completed not long ago, so there were plenty of materials to work with now.

In a good mood, he agreed to Itachi Uchiha's request. Ensei Uchiha was also curious about why Obito Uchiha wanted to meet him.

It couldn't be another trap, could it?

Whatever. Even if it was a trap, it didn't matter. He'd be going with a Shadow Clone anyway.

As for his next experiments, having these few White Zetsu meant he could start work on all sorts of projects.

These were precious specimens grown from the God Tree, the trump card Kaguya Otsutsuki had prepared to fight the Otsutsuki Clan.

White Zetsu were still quite weak at this point, but Ensei Uchiha hadn't forgotten that in the original story, Yamato had once been possessed by White Zetsu and displayed combat abilities close to Hashirama Senju's own.

From this, one could infer that if the Ten-Tails had been intact and supplied them with enough energy, might those hundred thousand White Zetsu have wielded the power of a hundred thousand Hashirama Senju?

Of course, this was nothing more than a pointless flight of fancy.

But since there was already one successful example, even replicating combat abilities strong enough to use the Thousand-Armed Buddha would be more than enough.

Ensei Uchiha used restraints to control the three White Zetsu that had emerged. To be safe, he injected some chakra into them as well, then placed them in a cultivation tank.

"Come on. Let's tell this to your greatly revered Third."

"After all, Uchiha Shisui is still a Konoha ninja. We can't have our clan be the only ones making an effort. Konoha needs to show some willingness, too."

He took Itachi Uchiha to the Hokage Building, where they found Hiruzen Sarutobi.

Deep down, Hiruzen Sarutobi was strongly opposed to Ensei Uchiha's arrival, but he had no choice but to put on a kindly expression.

Back when Shimura Danzō was still alive, Hiruzen Sarutobi played the good cop while Danzō played the bad cop. Together, they could deal with most of the village's problems.

But now, with Hiruzen Sarutobi playing only the good cop, he seemed especially weak and easy to bully.

When Ensei Uchiha asked to learn the Spirit Transformation Technique, Hiruzen Sarutobi hesitated only briefly before agreeing outright.

He even asked after Ensei Uchiha with genuine concern, putting on the full act of a good Hokage.

Sometimes, after wearing a mask for long enough, a person became trapped inside it, unable to escape.

As for whether Hiruzen Sarutobi was truly kind, that was hard to say.

It was said that actions mattered more than intentions.

But Hiruzen Sarutobi's actions weren't any better. Sometimes, they were even worse than his intentions.

After all, Hiruzen Sarutobi was famous for being a coward toward outsiders and heavy-handed with his own people.

And then there was how he'd allowed Shimura Danzō to run rampant.

In short, under his leadership, Konoha's strength had declined again and again...

As for Danzō... he was even more of a lunatic.

He did nothing but harm Konoha's strength, yet always believed that everything he did was for the village.

In short, everyone in this Shinobi World was sick, and they were all seriously ill.