Oh No! Where Are the Hashirama Cells?

"I suspect someone else is pulling strings in the shadows of the ninja world."

Black Zetsu's hoarse voice echoed through the dark, damp cavern.

The words made the Rinnegan in Pain's pale purple eyes narrow slightly as he stood atop the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path's thumb.

Obito's lone eye behind his mask shrank to a pinpoint.

It wasn't Hyuga Seisen?

When had another monster capable of silently devouring over a thousand White Zetsu appeared in the ninja world?

"Hehehe..."

A low, hoarse, sinister laugh shattered the cavern's deathly silence.

Orochimaru slowly stepped out from the shadows. Under the purple glow of chakra, his pale face looked especially eerie.

He extended his unnaturally long tongue and licked his cracked lips.

"I don't care who's causing trouble. I only care about my experimental materials."

Orochimaru's reptilian eyes fixed firmly on Black Zetsu.

"Now that those two bases have been destroyed, can you still provide enough White Zetsu for my research?"

Without giving Obito a chance to speak, Orochimaru began pacing on his own.

"The Hashirama Cells on the leader's side have been almost fully absorbed. Next, we can move on to White Zetsu cells."

A feverish thirst for knowledge gleamed in Orochimaru's eyes, as if he had discovered an unparalleled treasure.

"This thing truly is fascinating."

"It clearly possesses the exact same traits and vitality as Hashirama Cells, yet its microscopic DNA expression is vastly different..."

Orochimaru paused, a teasing curve forming at the corner of his lips.

"It's like a mass-produced inferior product forcibly catalyzed by some higher power."

Obito shot Orochimaru a cold glance, but for once, he did not refute or warn him.

In the past, he would never have tolerated Orochimaru so brazenly touching upon the God Tree's secrets.

His original plan had been to proceed