"Sorry to trouble you, Aunt Mikoto. I should get going."
As Uchiha Izumi said her goodbyes, Mikoto asked, "Izumi, leaving so soon? Why not stay for dinner?"
"Thank you so much for inviting me, Aunt Mikoto!" Izumi thanked her politely, then hesitated. "It's just that my mother..."
Remembering that Izumi's father had just passed away and that she only had her mother left, Mikoto didn't press her. "All right, then. Make sure you come by often, or little Sasuke will miss you."
"I... I..." Izumi glanced at Sasuke, and Mikoto's earlier joke came back to her. At a loss, she finally bowed slightly. "Goodbye, Aunt Mikoto, Itachi, and... little Sasuke."
Then she fled out the door.
Mikoto couldn't help covering her mouth as she giggled. "Izumi is so cute."
"Mom," Itachi said, "did you mean what you said just now?"
Seeing how serious he looked, Mikoto ruffled his hair and smiled. "What do you think, Itachi?"
"Me?" Itachi paused, then thought of the harmonious scene when Sasuke and Izumi were together. "Judging by how they get along, they seem like a good match."
A good match?
Mikoto blinked. Wasn't he supposed to be wondering whether she was joking?
How had he already gotten to whether they were suited for each other?
"Sasuke is still little. He doesn't understand that sort of thing yet. Mom was only joking," Mikoto explained, then added meaningfully, "But Izumi is a good girl."
"So it was a joke..." Itachi hadn't noticed the point his mother was making at all. Looking at Sasuke, he murmured, "That's true. Sasuke is still little. It's not the time to think about that..."
Mikoto gave Itachi a long look but didn't pursue the topic.
She'd only been teasing her child in a playful, motherly way.
She'd gone through childhood herself and had been teased plenty by her parents and other adults.
Besides, she knew all too well that friendships between children could change easily. Childhood playmates might suddenly stop getting along and become strangers.
So she hadn't taken her own words seriously.
"All right, Itachi. Sasuke's getting sleepy. Take him back to his room."
"Oh, okay. I understand, Mom." Itachi came back to himself and nodded.
After placing Sasuke in his crib, Itachi waited until his breathing was steady and he was sound asleep, then quietly left the room.
A little while later, after confirming through Setsuna's senses that Itachi had gone far away, Sasuke opened his eyes.
Finally, I have a chance to be alone...
As he thought this, he focused his mind.
Extract White Zetsu's abilities.
Ding!
Extraction and fusion in progress... Fusion successful.
Once the fusion was complete, Sasuke felt his energy rise. His vitality and healing ability had both improved noticeably.
White Zetsu was a human transformed after falling under Infinite Tsukuyomi, then awakened by Hashirama Cells...
I wonder if there's any Asura Chakra left in these cells, enough to draw out the power of the Sage of Six Paths and awaken the Rinnegan...
Even he thought the idea was wildly far-fetched.
When the two opposing powers are brought together as one, all things come into being.
At the very least, the two types of chakra had to reach a certain proportion before they could be transformed into Six Paths Chakra and awaken the Rinnegan.
Madara had obtained a large piece of Hashirama's flesh, yet only managed to transform the chakra in his body into Six Paths Chakra and awaken the Rinnegan when his life was nearly over and he was on the verge of death.
Then he summoned the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path and bought himself more time.
And that tiny remnant of Hashirama Cells had gone on to divide again and again, producing a huge number of White Zetsu.
Who knew how many generations of divisions Sasuke's White Zetsu cells had gone through?
Besides, Asura's chakra had already been reincarnated into Naruto...
There was no telling whether any Asura Chakra remained in these tiny, tiny traces of cells from who knew how many generations ago.
And even if there was, the amount would be minuscule.
How could he possibly succeed at that ratio? It was pure wishful thinking.
Without dwelling on it, Sasuke shifted his thoughts.
I thought I'd have to wait three to five years, until my body had developed a little, before I could secretly start making plans for the Uchiha Clan.
But now that I have White Zetsu's abilities, I'm no longer limited by my body...
I can set some plans in motion early...
And there's Minato and Kushina...
I can put Naruto on the board, too...
Once he had a general idea, he focused his mind and connected to the Soul Space.
"Setsuna, I need to borrow some of your chakra."
Sasuke's body was only three months old and hadn't developed yet, so he couldn't extract chakra from it.
Even if he could, his chakra pathways hadn't finished growing, and they couldn't carry chakra through his body.
Under normal circumstances, he couldn't even borrow Nine-Tails Chakra.
After all, using Tailed Beast Chakra to perform a jutsu still required it to pass through the body's chakra pathways.
But now, he had the White Zetsu Constitution!
White Zetsu had no human chakra pathways, and its jutsu didn't need to travel through them.
Inside the Tailed Beast's private space,
Setsuna, still childlike, was bouncing after butterflies, having the time of her life.
Hearing Sasuke, she answered casually, without a care.
"Sure, Master. Go ahead."
With her permission, Sasuke first drew a little chakra and used the Levitation Technique. His presence blended with nature, and his body slipped through the crib and the floor, sinking deep underground.
Then he drew more of Setsuna's chakra and used the Spore Technique!
!!!!
In the private space, Setsuna had just leaped after a butterfly when her chakra was drained in an instant. Her legs gave way, and she face-planted.
"You bastard, Master!"
She shook the grass clinging to her fur and shakily got to her feet, glaring furiously. "How much chakra did you take from me?!"
"Huh?" Sasuke blinked, looking innocent. "Setsuna, didn't I tell you first?"
"You bastard! You didn't say you'd take this much! Are you trying to destroy Konoha?!"
Konoha was the Uchiha Clan's future stronghold. How could Sasuke destroy it so easily?
"Come on, come on. I'll give you some milk later."
Hmph. He thought a little milk would buy her off?
What did he take her for, a fox?
"Hmph!" Setsuna snorted disdainfully and held up her paws to indicate a height. "I want half a bottle!"
"Fine! Half a bottle!"
"Don't go back on your word!"
"I won't, I won't."
As he soothed Setsuna,
spores filled with tremendous chakra split from his body. They swelled and grew, taking on Sasuke's appearance—well, in baby form.
But that didn't matter!
The Spore Technique created White Zetsu clones, and their size and shape didn't affect their ability to move.
Ordinary White Zetsu couldn't split off many spores, limited by their own chakra.
But Sasuke had Setsuna's chakra as a power bank. He could make dozens, hundreds, or even thousands!
Still, since he was using Setsuna's chakra, the Spore Clones weren't complete. They couldn't produce or replenish chakra on their own, so he only made five.
Three of the five Spore Clones had 10% of Setsuna's chakra, while the other two had 20% each...
The five clones had drained 70% of Setsuna's chakra in one go...
As long as they didn't fight and only maintained the Levitation Technique to stay hidden, the five Spore Clones could last a year or two.
When their chakra ran low, they could find a few lone shinobi and slowly absorb theirs.
Putting those thoughts aside, Sasuke focused his mind.
The five Spore Clones immediately used the Levitation Technique and scattered in different directions.
Two of them even left Konoha, heading at full speed toward the Land of Wind!
Before you continue