Jue's strangeness made Ōnoki highly vigilant.
It's a technique similar to the legendary Wood Release, and at first glance, it doesn't resemble a human, with no trace of aura leaking out, and it even has the Akatsuki's attire.
When all of this came together, it gave Ōnoki an indescribable sense of eeriness.
"Who are you? What is your purpose? Why are you accusing me of wanting to attack Konoha?"
Before distinguishing between friend and foe, Ōnoki was quite cautious and directly denied having any designs on Konoha.
"There are quite a few questions, I will answer them one by one, and I believe that we will reach a consensus afterward."
Ōnoki didn't react at all; he wouldn't let his guard down just because Black Zetsu had shown his attitude.
Black Zetsu didn't care and immediately began to introduce himself.
"Tsuchikage may address me as Zetsu."
After introducing themselves, the other half of their body began to speak.
"I am White Zetsu."
"I am Black Zetsu."
Black Zetsu then continued the explanation.
"As you can see, I am one of the core members of the Akatsuki, responsible for gathering intelligence on the entire Shinobi World for the Akatsuki."
Black Zetsu briefly introduced himself.
"The next question is about cooperation with the Tsuchikage to deal with Konoha. The Shinobi World Tsuchikage under the surveillance of White Zetsu."
He then deliberately demonstrated the White Zetsu's ability to hide and infiltrate.
Ōnoki was equally shocked, his eyes wide as he stared at the dozen or so White Zetsu that had appeared around him.
If he hadn't seen it with his own eyes, Ōnoki would never have believed that someone could conceal their presence to such an extent.
The guy in front of me who calls himself an expert, judging from his incredibly relaxed demeanor...
What the other party said is true; perhaps they really do have the ability to monitor the entire Shinobi World!
However, this only confirmed Zetsu's intelligence capabilities; Ōnoki remained reserved about the rest.
"If I remember correctly, your Akatsuki just rejected me, and it was your leader who personally gave the order."
Ōnoki wanted to see what the other party's explanation would be, while at the same time having a vague guess in his mind.
After all, they had some understanding of the Akatsuki's strength. If so many missing-nin gathered together and worked together, the sixth great ninja village would probably emerge in the Shinobi World.
In Ōnoki's eyes, Zetsu became a rebellious opportunist who dared to challenge the leader and attempt to rise to power.
But Zetsu's next answer completely overturned Ōnoki's guess.
"The leader? He's just a pawn!"
It was rare to hear disdain in Black Zetsu's tone.
Dropping a bombshell announcement first, and then explaining it slowly, can increase the credibility of your words.
Black Zetsu a time traveler like Ren, but he clearly understands communication studies.
"The Akatsuki is merely a target publicly announced by a powerful figure, and its leader is a chosen puppet. The true mastermind is someone else entirely."
"On the surface, I am an intelligence officer for Akatsuki, reporting to the leader, but in reality, I am under the control of the person behind the scenes."
Whether Ōnoki believed it or not, Ōnoki was shocked once again.
In Ōnoki's view, with a little effort and by uniting the members, they could match or even surpass the Akatsuki of some of the Five Great Shinobi Villages in terms of high-end combat strength.
There's actually an even deeper layer of control behind it all!
Ōnoki racked his brains, trying to deduce the person behind it all from some clues.
His own Iwagakure, was ruled out first, as were Hidden Sand Village and Kirigakure. It wasn't that Ōnoki was arrogant, but rather that he genuinely looked down on those two villages.
Ōnoki saw a sliver of possibility in both Konoha and Hidden Cloud Village, yet there were aspects of each that didn't quite make sense.
Aside from the Five Great Shinobi Villages, Ōnoki couldn't think of anyone else who could control the Akatsuki from behind the scenes.
None of this makes sense!
It was precisely because it was illogical that Ōnoki began to trust Black Zetsu's words to some extent.
If everything happens naturally and logically.
Ōnoki would only think that the other party was using their intelligence capabilities to their advantage and knew a great deal about him, and was trying to fool him.
"So you mean that there's someone else behind the Akatsuki, that the Akatsuki rejected me, but the person behind them wants to cooperate with me?"
Black Zetsu nodded slightly upon hearing Ōnoki's question.
"That's right, exactly."
"Snort!"
Ōnoki immediately snorted coldly, his face turning angry.
"You think you can fool this old man with words that even a child can't believe? I'm not senile yet!"
"I have other matters to attend to, so I'll let you off the hook for now. But if you dare to obstruct me again, be prepared to pay with your life!"
After saying that Ōnoki waved his hand, intending to leave immediately.
Of course, all of this was just a test, with a deeper purpose.
After all, no one would believe it if a complete stranger suddenly appeared and said they wanted to cooperate with you.
At this point, Ōnoki, who believed to some extent, only wanted to know more information and to gauge the other party's level of need for this cooperation.
"Tsuchikage, please wait!"
Ōnoki, who had just turned around and hadn't gone far, was called back. He immediately turned back and glared angrily at Zetsu, his Chakra exploding as if he was about to attack at any moment.
But then he froze.