Capturing a Wild White Zetsu

While Uchiha Yansheng 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 in—and then he was defeated.

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

This was not his first time meeting Obito Uchiha. He simply had not known that person was Obito Uchiha back then.

At the time, Obito Uchiha had not yet revealed his identity. Wearing a mask, he had slaughtered all of Itachi Uchiha's companions.

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

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

Thus, Itachi Uchiha's relationship with his clansmen grew increasingly distant, while he instead placed greater faith in the so-called Will of Fire preached by the Third Hokage.

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

"But now, it seems he misjudged you."

"Pass a message to Uchiha Yansheng for me. If he wants Shisui Uchiha to stay alive, then he is to leave Konoha alone and come see me!"

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

Though he had not found any clues in those legends, he had learned from several high-level meetings in Konoha Village of Uchiha Yansheng's true ability—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 so many things he wanted to know. If he could obtain such power...

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

Although this power had never appeared before, based on his assessment of the intelligence, he had more or less confirmed its authenticity.

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

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

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

What was more, Konoha Village 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 Village 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 done for long ago.

And White Zetsu could be discovered by Zero-Two, on top of White Zetsu 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 someone...

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

That same day, ignoring his battered body, Itachi Uchiha returned directly to the village, found Uchiha Yansheng in the middle of an experiment, and conveyed Obito Uchiha's message.

Then... Uchiha Yansheng gained 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 looked at the several white figures emerging from his body, and his whole expression turned 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. The replication of Hashirama Cells had just been completed not long ago, and there were now more than enough materials to work with.

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

It can't still be a trap, can it?

Whatever. A trap did not matter anyway. He would be sending a Shadow Clone Technique.

As for the research to come, with these White Zetsu, many projects could finally be carried out.

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

Although these White Zetsu were still weak at this point, Uchiha Yansheng had not forgotten that in the original story, Yamato had once been possessed by a White Zetsu and displayed combat power close to Hashirama Senju himself.

From this, one could infer: if the Ten-Tails were intact and supplied sufficient energy, would these hundred thousand White Zetsu wield the power of a hundred thousand Hashirama Senju?

Of course, all of that was merely meaningless speculation.

But since there was already one successful example, even replicating combat power capable of using the Thousand-Armed Buddha would be enough.

After using seals to restrain the three White Zetsu that had emerged, Uchiha Yansheng, still not entirely reassured, injected some ocular power into their bodies before placing them in culture dishes.

"Come on. Tell this intelligence to that Third Hokage you respect so deeply."

"After all, Shisui Uchiha is still a Konoha ninja. We can't have one clan doing all the work. Konoha Village needs to show some commitment too."

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

Deep down, Hiruzen Sarutobi greatly resisted Uchiha Yansheng's arrival, but he had no choice but to put on a benevolent appearance.

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

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

Faced with Uchiha Yansheng's request to learn the Spirit Transformation Technique, Hiruzen Sarutobi hesitated only briefly before agreeing outright.

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

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

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

Though people said one should judge actions rather than intentions.

But Hiruzen Sarutobi's actions were not all that commendable either. Sometimes, they were even worse than his intentions.

After all, Hiruzen Sarutobi was famously cowardly toward outsiders and ruthless toward his own people.

Not to mention how he had indulged Danzo Shimura's reckless behavior.

In short, under his leadership, Konoha Village's strength had weakened again and again...

And Danzo... he was even more of a lunatic.

Clearly, everything he did harmed Konoha Village's strength, yet he always believed that everything he did was for Konoha Village.

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