Zetsu's First Appearance

"Thank you for saving us, little brother." The first to speak was Konan, her voice exceptionally crisp. At this moment, Konan was not yet the woman who had endured the death of Yahiko and the crippling of Nagato. Though she looked a bit exhausted, her eyes were clear. Seeing her with Yahiko and Nagato now, one could tell she must be very happy.

As one of the few beauties in Naruto, combined with her formidable strength, Konan's popularity had always been high. Her true power remained a mystery throughout the series. As Pain's partner, many assumed he kept her in his group to protect her, and she only acted occasionally, retreating the moment she struck.

The only time Konan fought with her full strength was against Tobi, who wore a mask. The power she displayed then shocked many, eventually forcing Tobi to sacrifice an eye to activate the Uchiha Clan's ultimate forbidden technique—Izanagi—to turn all the explosions into illusions. Afterward, when Konan thought Tobi was dead, he pierced her through the back with a black rod, which was how she died.

If not for Izanagi, Tobi would have already been dead. One only had to look at how Madara relied on Izanagi to escape with his life from the First Hokage to understand its power.

"Little brother?" Konan called out again, looking at Ye Wuji, who was still lost in thought.

"Ah. It's nothing, it was the right thing to do," Ye Wuji replied.

"Regardless, we still have to thank you." This time it was Yahiko speaking, his tone casual and boisterous. Ye Wuji didn't know much about Yahiko, as he had died quite early.

"I think we should leave this place first. Who knows if others might come? No matter who they are, we'll be in danger if we stay," Yahiko suggested.

Ye Wuji didn't react, but he thought to himself, No wonder Yahiko was the leader of the Akatsuki; this guy has a good grasp of the big picture.

Seeing Ye Wuji's lack of reaction, Yahiko and the others didn't pay it much mind. After all, Ye Wuji was still just a child; how much could a six-year-old understand?

Konan and Nagato nodded one after another. "Then let's see if these people have anything we need. Hey, kid—right, what's your name? Never mind, we don't have time for that now. We'll teach you how to loot these ninja corpses. Remember one thing: never touch them directly." After Yahiko said this, they watched as he and Nagato went to search the bodies. Konan didn't join in; it was understandable—in the eyes of Nagato and Yahiko, such grisly work wasn't suitable for a girl like Konan.

Ye Wuji noticed Konan was the only one left by his side and was about to say something when he felt something at his feet. Looking down, he saw the puppy from earlier biting his pant leg. The dog looked up at him, let go, and let out a few "woof-woof" sounds, as if saying, "I'm right here."

Before Ye Wuji could do anything, Konan had already picked up the puppy and said to him, "Oh, I also have to thank you for saving Hua."

The dog is brown and yellow, just one color all over. I really don't know how anyone can tell it's named Hua, Ye Wuji thought to himself, though he said aloud, "How did you know I had seen this dog?"

"That's simple," Konan said, pointing a finger at Hua's hind leg. "The bandage here is the same color as your clothes. Come to think of it, Hua actually saved us. It was Hua who led you here, right?" She teased the puppy in her arms as she spoke.

Ye Wuji nearly stumbled. The credit for the rescue had suddenly shifted to the dog. Just as he was about to speak, Yahiko's voice rang out again: "Hey, kid over there! Don't just stand there, come over and join us. You need to learn this too, hurry up!"

Nagato's voice followed in agreement: "Yeah, hurry up. Don't just stand there talking." Ye Wuji even detected a hint of killing intent in Nagato's words. He looked over at the two of them and found they were both staring at him, with Nagato's eyes even flashing with irritation.

No way, is he jealous? That's too exaggerated. I only said two words to Konan. If you keep this up, you're really making me want to steal her away. When I grow up, I'll definitely poach your girl and see what you do about it, Ye Wuji thought, slowly walking toward Yahiko and Nagato. He had finally managed to talk to the idol-like Konan, only to be interrupted—it was truly unforgivable.

"These few are yours," Yahiko said, pointing to the Caobu and his two subordinates lying on the ground. He hadn't realized that in such a short time, they had almost finished looting the others. Were they professionals at this? Come to think of it, the Akatsuki started with no one; could it be that they built the organization by doing this?

"Remember, generally don't touch a corpse with your bare hands. Use a kunai or something else to perform the initial check. If you need to handle anything, wear gloves. Also, pay attention to where ninjas usually keep their items; since they need to use them themselves, they rarely hide them too deeply, though special items are an exception."

"Using a kunai or other tools to touch the body first is to prevent any traps set on the corpse, and wearing gloves is to protect against poison. These are the basics. You start, and we'll guide you. By the way, your trap setup was pretty good. These guys were all killed by those kunai. I couldn't tell, but despite your age, you've got some real skills." Under the guidance of Yahiko and Nagato, Ye Wuji collected some money, two notebooks, several kunai, shuriken, some pills, and senbon from the three bodies. While Ye Wuji worked, Yahiko and Nagato watched from the side without helping. It seemed they had only called him away from Konan to do this; otherwise, they could have finished looting these three bodies in an instant.

However, when he heard Yahiko praise his trap-setting, Ye Wuji was stunned. He glanced at the three ninjas killed by his traps, though he only gave the corpses on the ground a cursory look. While Yahiko was praising him, he kept nodding to agree.

"Alright, the main thing is we don't have time. Remember, if you have time, dispose of the bodies too. Let's go now." With that, Yahiko and Nagato quickly packed up their things and led Ye Wuji toward the other side.

Not long after Ye Wuji left, a figure slowly emerged from the tree where he had first been hiding, as if growing out of the wood itself.

"What a strange fellow," a deep voice remarked. Then, another voice chimed in, this one sounding a bit playful: "Indeed, but it really is strange. How did that guy know Nagato would cooperate with him? And how did he know Nagato could actually pull it off? It's truly bizarre."

"You're overthinking it. It was just a coincidence," the deep voice replied.

"That may be, but I was just wondering how to help them without alerting them. I didn't expect a spoiler to show up. I suppose he did us a favor," the playful voice added.

As these two voices continued to converse, a figure stood exactly where Ye Wuji had been crouching. When the figure fully emerged from the tree, its appearance became clear: two giant, tooth-like leaves extended vertically, capable of wrapping around its head. Its body was split perfectly down the middle—one side white, one side black—from head to toe, looking extremely eerie. Despite being one person, two distinct voices spoke. If Ye Wuji had seen this person, he would surely have been shocked; this was Zetsu.

Zetsu stood where Ye Wuji had been. "So, any discoveries?" asked the playful voice, White Zetsu.

"Just an ordinary kid. Seems he hasn't been training for long; his chakra reserves are pitifully small. Wait... that's interesting," Black Zetsu, who had been indifferent at first, seemed to have discovered something.

"Is there something special about this kid? There aren't many things that interest you," White Zetsu asked curiously.

"Nothing much, just that he's a kid with all-nature affinities. A bit of a shame I discovered him so late," Black Zetsu said unhurriedly.

"Oh? In that case, we could observe this guy. Maybe keep him as a backup," White Zetsu suggested upon hearing about the all-nature affinity.

"No need. While kids with all-nature affinities are rare, you can still find a few if you look. But as for someone who can host that thing, he seems to be the only one right now. The others just don't cut it," Black Zetsu said.

"That's true. After all, that thing isn't something an ordinary person can host. After so many experiments, we finally have someone who might work. So, can the plan begin now? I've waited so long, I'm really getting impatient," White Zetsu said excitedly.

White Zetsu then added, "Your move earlier was truly subtle. I bet those guys never even realized how they died. As for those others, they're probably still congratulating themselves on their good luck. But thanks to that kid at the end, we didn't have to expose ourselves so early. Though it wouldn't have mattered much if we had, that guy named Yahiko seems to have sensed something. He's been testing the waters lately."

"Don't worry about that. Perhaps he just did something on his own. Let's just focus on our own tasks. Alright, let's clean up these traces. They are in their growth phase; we need to give them some time. Besides, we have our own things to do," Black Zetsu replied.

"Do we not need to keep an eye on him? If he runs into any trouble, that would be a problem," White Zetsu asked.

"People have to go through things to grow, don't they? If he dies just like that, then it's his own fault. Besides, who knows, he might have other plans. We already have news of that person; we can go find him now."

"Fine, since you say so, we'll do it that way. But are you really sure we shouldn't keep an eye on that all-nature kid? You know, they aren't easy to find. Should we control him first?"

"No need. He's just one person; no point wasting energy on him. By the time Nagato grows up, he'll be grown too. And if we want to find him, do you really think he can run away?"

"That's true." With that dialogue, Zetsu slowly merged back into the tree. By the time he had completely disappeared, one couldn't even tell anyone had ever been there.

After Zetsu vanished, the signature jagged leaves began to emerge from beneath the Mist ninja corpses. In fact, this happened under every single body. As the leaves rose, a chilling, crunching sound echoed through the air. Soon, the leaves sank back into the ground, and all the corpses of the Mist ninjas had vanished.

Now, aside from the signs of a battle, nothing else remained. All evidence and clues had been completely erased by Zetsu.