The shadow beneath the ornamental tree suddenly shuddered, as though something had scalded it.
It slipped through the gaps between the roots and burrowed deep underground, without so much as a bubble.
Sen Senju stood there without even taking his hands out of his pockets, merely casting a cold glance its way.
That sickeningly cold chakra had fled quickly, but the Divine Tree's Sensing Network spread around him had already locked onto it.
It was a clone of Absolute.
"Quick little escape artist. Just like a loach."
"But this is my turf. You think you can come and go as you please?"
Sen Senju lightly tapped his toe against the ground without making a sound.
Several hairline cracks silently opened in the concrete beneath his sole.
A dozen green rootlets, finer than needle points, plunged through those cracks into the soil, pursuing the shadow like a disease clinging to the bone.
Inside an underground cavern in the Land of Rain, where sunlight never reached.
Water dripped onto the rocks, producing a monotonous, irritating sound.
Obito stood on the enormous palm of the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path, looking down as he inspected the sealing runes on its body.
Suddenly, Absolute, who lay on the ground like a puddle of sludge, let out a muffled groan.
The white half of his face twisted violently, as though he were enduring tremendous pain.
"What happened?"
The Sharingan exposed through Obito's mask instantly turned toward him.
White Zetsu gasped for breath, his shrill voice nearly cracking.
"Konoha... that Sen Senju!"
"He was out on a street in Konoha. With just one glance, he destroyed the Spore Clone I sent to watch him!"
"I didn't even see how he hit it. The clone's chakra was drained dry!"
The black half of Black Zetsu's face