Capturing Wild White Zetsu

While Uchiha Ensei was studying Izanagi, Itachi Uchiha encountered a familiar figure while carrying out a mission outside the village.

"Obito Uchiha! What did you do to Shisui?"

At that moment, Itachi Uchiha did not know whether it was confidence in his own strength or simply rage clouding his judgment.

In any case, he charged forward, and then he was defeated.

The gap between the Three-Tomoe Sharingan and the Mangekyō Sharingan was simply too great. He did not have even the slightest chance of winning.

This was not his first time meeting Obito Uchiha. It was just that he had not known the man was Obito Uchiha at the time.

Back then, Obito Uchiha had not revealed his identity. Wearing a mask, he slaughtered all of Itachi Uchiha's companions.

It was precisely because of that that Itachi Uchiha awakened his Sharingan.

And after awakening his Sharingan, Itachi Uchiha discovered that his clansmen only cared about the Sharingan. Even his father was the same. No one cared about those companions who had been killed.

As a result, Itachi Uchiha's relationship with his clansmen grew increasingly distant, while he instead came to believe even more strongly in the so-called Will of Fire preached by the Third Hokage.

"I heard someone say that you have the potential to awaken the Mangekyō Sharingan."

"But it seems he misjudged you."

"Pass a message to Uchiha Ensei. If he wants Shisui Uchiha to remain alive, he should leave Konoha alone and come see me!"

Obito Uchiha had not been idle during this time. He made full use of White Zetsu's elusive intelligence-gathering abilities and nearly turned the entire Ninja World upside down.

Although he failed to find any clues in those legends, he learned of Uchiha Ensei's true ability from several meetings among Konoha's higher-ups—the power to foresee the future.

It was not easy for him personally to infiltrate Konoha, but it was still simple for White Zetsu.

Obito Uchiha had gathered much of his intelligence this way.

The future! There were truly many things he wanted to know. If he could obtain such power...

In fact, Black Zetsu, who had been hiding in the shadows all along, also wanted that power.

Though that power had never appeared before, based on his assessment of the intelligence, he had basically confirmed that it was real.

Originally, Black Zetsu had planned to act alone. With his abilities, it was possible for him to infiltrate the Uchiha Clan.

But Uchiha Ensei had created the Nohara Rin Unit, and more importantly, part of the Nine-Tails' chakra was sealed within it.

Among all the Tailed Beasts, the Nine-Tails' ability to sense good and evil had always been the most troublesome.

Not to mention that Konoha had now altered its barrier, allowing it to detect spacetime fluctuations within the village. As a result, Obito Uchiha could no longer enter and leave Konoha as freely as before.

Fortunately, the entire Ninja World only had barriers that could detect spacetime ninjutsu, not barriers that could restrict it. Otherwise, Obito Uchiha would have been finished long ago.

And White Zetsu could be discovered by Zero-Two, on top of lacking sufficient combat power.

Therefore, Black Zetsu, whose frontal combat ability was not particularly outstanding, prepared to cooperate with Obito Uchiha.

As long as he could possess him...

After being defeated and taught two lessons, Itachi Uchiha was released.

That very day, ignoring his battered body, Itachi Uchiha returned directly to the village. He found Uchiha Ensei, who was conducting experiments, and conveyed Obito Uchiha's message.

Then... Uchiha Ensei acquired several precious White Zetsu specimens.

Countering White Zetsu's Spore Technique was incredibly simple. All it took was some Natural Energy, and the White Zetsu would emerge on their own uncontrollably.

"Th-this... what is this thing? How did it get inside my body?"

Itachi Uchiha watched several white figures emerge from his body, and his entire expression turned rather awful.

"This? These are precious research materials. I've been looking for them for a long time."

"Fine. For the sake of these research materials, I can try to help you rescue Shisui."

What perfect timing—just recently, the replication of Hashirama Cells had been completed, and there were now sufficient materials available for use.

In his cheerful mood, he agreed to Itachi Uchiha's request. At the same time, Uchiha Ensei was also curious about why Obito Uchiha wanted to see him.

Surely it was not another trap.

Forget it. A trap did not matter anyway; he would be sending a Shadow Clone Technique.

As for the research that followed, with these White Zetsu specimens, many projects could finally be launched.

These were precious specimens that had grown from the Divine Tree, Kaguya Otsutsuki's trump card against the Ōtsutsuki Clan.

Although the White Zetsu of this era were still weak, Uchiha Ensei had not forgotten that in the original story, Yamato had once been possessed by White Zetsu and displayed combat power nearly equal to Hashirama Senju himself.

From that, one could infer: if the Ten-Tails were intact and provided ample energy, would these hundred thousand White Zetsu be able to unleash the power of a hundred thousand Hashirama Senju?

Of course, all of that was merely meaningless speculation.

But since there was a successful example, even if he could only replicate combat power capable of using the Thousand-Armed Buddha, that would be enough.

After using seals to restrain the three White Zetsu that had emerged, Uchiha Ensei still did not feel at ease. He injected some ocular power into their bodies before placing them in culture dishes.

"Let's go. Tell this intelligence to that Third Hokage you respect so deeply."

"After all, Shisui Uchiha is still a Konoha ninja. We cannot have one clan doing all the work. Konoha needs to show some attitude as well."

He brought Itachi Uchiha to the Hokage Building and found Hiruzen Sarutobi.

Deep down, Hiruzen Sarutobi was extremely resistant to Uchiha Ensei's arrival, but he had no choice but to put on a kindly appearance.

Back when Shimura Danzō was still alive, Hiruzen played the good cop while Danzō played the bad cop, and together they could resolve most of the village's troubles.

But now, with only himself playing the good cop, he appeared especially weak and easy to bully.

Faced with Uchiha Ensei's request to study the Spirit Transformation Technique, Hiruzen Sarutobi only hesitated for a moment before agreeing outright.

He even asked a few questions with great concern, fully playing the part of a good Hokage.

Sometimes, after wearing a mask for too long, one became trapped within it and could no longer free oneself.

As for whether he was truly kind or not, that was difficult to say.

Although people said one should judge actions rather than intentions.

Hiruzen Sarutobi's actions, however, were not much better either. Sometimes, they were even worse than his intentions.

After all, Hiruzen Sarutobi was famous for being cowardly toward outsiders while striking hard against his own people.

Then there was his indulgence of Shimura Danzō's reckless abuses, among other things.

In short, under his leadership, Konoha's strength declined again and again...

As for Danzō... he was even more of a lunatic.

He clearly did things that damaged Konoha's strength, yet he always believed that everything he did was for Konoha.

It could be said that everyone in this Ninja World was sick, and seriously so.