White Zetsu's Thought Process, Child Bride?

Soul Space, Cell No. 3.

Wait, didn't I die?

White Zetsu was full of question marks.

It remembered following a young man, and then vaguely seeing a fox-like summoning beast pierce directly through its body.

Then, it ended up here.

"How strange."

"Could it be that being pierced was just a medium for some kind of technique?"

Unable to figure it out, White Zetsu activated the Mayfly Technique, attempting to leave this cell.

Unfortunately, even though the technique activated successfully, it could not merge with the environment here...

"This place is truly magical." White Zetsu looked astonished.

At this moment, Sasuke's consciousness arrived at Cell No. 3.

Noticing the newcomer, White Zetsu asked curiously, "Did you lock me in here? That's really impressive; even I can't break free."

As it spoke, it touched the left side and then the right, acting like a curious child.

... As expected, White Zetsu's thought process was just different.

Strange, why isn't he talking? Seeing Sasuke remain silent, White Zetsu rubbed its chin, then tapped its right fist into its left palm as if it had figured something out. "You must be the mute responsible for watching me!"

... I'm speechless.

Sasuke spoke up, "It was indeed I who locked you in here."

"Oh my god, you're not a mute?" White Zetsu was shocked.

!!! Is that the point?

Veins bulged on Sasuke's forehead.

Not noticing Sasuke's expression, White Zetsu scanned the cell again and rubbed its chin once more. "Strange, there isn't even a toilet here. What are people locked in here supposed to do if they need to poop? Just go on the floor?"

!!! As expected of White Zetsu, truly peerless!

Sasuke took a deep breath, then forced a smile and said, "Want to know?"

"You can tell me?" White Zetsu's face was full of anticipation.

"Of course!" Sasuke nodded and said, "I follow the principle of equivalent exchange here. You give me your abilities, and I will tell you."

Truly equivalent!

"You want my abilities?" White Zetsu didn't seem to mind, asking in confusion, "What do I need to give you?"

Sasuke said, "It's very simple. You just need to think in your heart that you are giving all your abilities to me."

Hearing this, White Zetsu thought about it, and a sound rang out in its mind:

'Ding!'

'Do you wish to grant all abilities to the Lord of Souls?'

"How magical!" White Zetsu looked amazed, then thought a 'Yes' in its heart.

'Ding!'

'Congratulations to the host for obtaining: White Zetsu Constitution and all ninjutsu mastered by White Zetsu!'

??? That's it?

Sasuke was also stunned!

He knew White Zetsu was simple-minded, but he didn't know it was this simple!

'Ding!'

'Detected that the host has obtained all of White Zetsu's abilities. Do you wish to release it?'

'Note: Since White Zetsu has no true soul, its consciousness will vanish from the ninja world once released.'

This was one of the mechanisms of the Soul Prison.

The ten cells did not mean that only ten fixed souls could be held.

As long as Sasuke willed it, any soul imprisoned in the Soul Space could be released.

The released soul would return to the Pure Land.

Of course, there was no need to worry about information leaks; the Soul Space had a special mechanism where all souls that had entered here were unable to speak of its secrets.

"Eh? I really could give them away?" White Zetsu vaguely realized that its abilities had truly been granted to the so-called Lord of Souls. This mysterious, profound feeling made it startle.

It had only been trying it out, but it hadn't expected such a magical ability to actually exist.

But since it had already given them away, regret seemed useless. It could only look on eagerly and ask, "I gave them to you, can you tell me now?"

"Fine!" Adhering to the "equivalent" exchange, Sasuke naturally wouldn't go back on his word. He replied, "Those who come here are all souls, so they don't need to poop."

"Is that it?"

White Zetsu was stunned.

"Alright, the transaction is complete, so bye-bye!" Ignoring the bewildered White Zetsu, Sasuke naturally had no reason to keep him now that the equivalent exchange was finished.

Release White Zetsu.

Ding!

White Zetsu released successfully!

Seeing White Zetsu vanish completely from Cell No. 3, Sasuke shook his head and chuckled.

It's a good thing this White Zetsu isn't very bright. With the way White Zetsu's brain works, it would have been difficult to make them produce intense emotional fluctuations...

Putting his thoughts aside, Sasuke's consciousness returned to the real world.

"Right, I'll be starting at the Ninja Academy this April. Itachi, you'll be going too, right?"

"Yes."

"Maybe we'll be in the same class."

"Perhaps."

Because she was holding Sasuke, Izumi had come to Itachi's home.

The two sat on the garden walkway, exchanging idle chatter.

However, Itachi was clearly distracted, occasionally fixing a strange gaze on Izumi. This made her feel a bit uneasy, and she only wished that Sasuke, who was still clutching her clothes tightly, would wake up soon.

Perhaps the heavens had heard her prayer?

Sasuke's eyelashes fluttered, and he slowly opened his eyes.

"Oh, Sasuke, you're awake?" Izumi's face lit up with surprise.

"Ahem~" Itachi coughed twice and said, "Sasuke, come here. Izumi-san needs to go home, let big brother hold you."

As he spoke, he reached out to take Sasuke. Seeing this, Sasuke immediately shrank back, burying his head in Izumi's chest while his tiny hands gripped her clothes even tighter.

Itachi's movements froze... Was that recoil movement of yours for real?

Seeing Sasuke's intense reaction, Izumi hesitated. "Itachi-kun, did you... um, scare Sasuke?"

I scared Sasuke? Am I that terrifying?... Itachi was left petrified.

"Uh~" Izumi hurriedly waved her hands. "That's not what I meant, I meant... well, it's just..."

Fine, she didn't know how to explain it either, so she eventually fell silent with an awkward expression.

"Perhaps." Itachi roughly understood what Izumi meant, and his expression dimmed. "Sasuke was fine until last night. Maybe I didn't look after his emotions well enough when I took him to the shelter..."

"This..." Izumi comforted him, "The situation was critical yesterday. It's normal for Sasuke to be frightened since he's still so young; he'll forget about it soon."

Itachi shook his head, dejected. "But that doesn't change the fact that I didn't take good care of Sasuke, does it?"

Izumi patted Itachi on the shoulder. "You've already done very well. Not only did you look after your little brother, you even saved me..."

Stare!

Itachi stared at Uchiha Izumi.

In truth, he suspected that it was the house collapsing when he saved Izumi that had frightened Sasuke.

He knew he shouldn't blame Uchiha Izumi, but he couldn't help but think that way...

"Or perhaps it wasn't fear?" Not knowing what was going on in Itachi's mind, Izumi still tried to comfort him. "Maybe Sasuke just likes girls? Aside from Mikoto-san, no other girls have looked after him before, right?"

Itachi said expressionlessly, "He cries whenever other aunts try to hold him."

"Uh~" Izumi was at a loss for words, finally blurting out, "Maybe he likes those closer to his own age?"

Seeing that Itachi didn't deny it, but instead fell into deep thought, Izumi breathed a sigh of relief. "Itachi-kun, maybe it's not that you didn't look after him well, but that his nature is just to prefer girls closer to his age? It's just that he hasn't had contact with any before, so you never noticed?"

Stare!

Itachi stared at Uchiha Izumi again, his face devoid of emotion. "Why would Sasuke like a girl who is closer to his age but a total stranger?"

Oh my god!

Just let it end!

Why is that question asked so matter-of-factly?

A three-month-old infant doesn't even have a fully developed mind yet, where is the logic in his behavior?

Uchiha Izumi no longer knew how to answer Itachi's questions!

Fortunately, Uchiha Mikoto returned home at that moment. "Oh, Izumi is here."

"Yes, hello Mikoto-san." Izumi stood up and greeted her politely.

Uchiha Mikoto glanced at Sasuke in her arms and smiled. "Looks like our little Sasuke is bothering you again?"

"No, no bother at all. Little Sasuke is very well-behaved." Izumi hurriedly waved her hands.

Mikoto approached Sasuke with a smile, bending down to gently tap his nose with her finger as she teased, "Little Sasuke, you love sticking to Izumi so much—how about we make her your child bride when you grow up?"

A child bride?

Uchiha Izumi's eyes widened!

A burning sensation seemed to ignite beneath the skin of her cheeks, the heat spreading all the way to the tips of her ears.

The mixture of shyness and embarrassment made her delicate face appear even more radiant and adorable.

No wonder Sasuke likes her... Itachi blinked, feeling as though he had found the answer.