Tobi
"Yes, Lord Madara."
Black Zetsu spoke in a hoarse voice, his attitude still respectful.
'Finally, I can come out and about openly! It's been so long since I've stood in the sunlight like this.'
Black Zetsu sighed inwardly.
If it weren't for the fact that the current situation was unfavorable for Madara, he wouldn't have dug this exceptionally powerful White Zetsu out of the Golem and made Madara control it.
It's even less likely that they'll step out of the shadows and into the open, as that would only bring unnecessary trouble upon themselves.
However, the Rinnegan was too important, so he had to take charge of everything himself.
Erasing this parasitic, special White Zetsu consciousness, guiding Madara to imbue it with will using Yin-Yang Release, allows it to parasitize again, perfectly forming a closed loop.
"Test your skills."
Black Zetsu, upon hearing Madara's instructions, said nothing more, walked a short distance away, and slammed his fist into the ground.
Boom!
The ground beneath its feet suddenly crumbled, scattering a large amount of dust.
When the smoke cleared, a shocking hole with a diameter of more than ten meters was revealed.
Judging from Black Zetsu's calm and composed demeanor, it was clearly just a casual strike that unleashed its power.
"As expected of Hashirama's power."
A smile crept across Ban's lips.
While this level of strength isn't as great as Hashirama's, it's still quite astonishing.
If we capture a Wood Release ninja from the Senju Clan in Konoha later, another powerful Wood Release weapon will be created.
'This is clearly Mom's power.'
Black Zetsu silently replied in his mind.
However, it didn't argue with Ban; some things are best left unsaid.
Let this guy drown in his fantasies of Hashirama Senju and Infinite Tsukuyomi.
In the end, it was just a sacrifice for it to see its mother again.
Before that, it has to make sure the plan doesn't go wrong.
"Now share the information with White Zetsu, then go to Konoha and capture a Wood Release ninja."
Ban spoke again.
"Yes, Lord Madara."
Black Zetsu walked to the side and touched White Zetsu. They didn't need words; they could share their thoughts and memories simply by exchanging Chakra.
Of course, it was only White Zetsu that shared all the information with it unilaterally.
After sharing his story, Black Zetsu merged into the ground and disappeared into the cave.
"Next..."
Madara watched Black Zetsu leave, then his gaze returned to the White Zetsu.
"... It's time to probe how much intelligence the Land of Night has gathered..."
◎
Let's go back to the present--
A small town with only a few hundred inhabitants, silent in the misty rain.
Ryoma and Sakumo arrived at a high point near the town and looked out over the town, which was shrouded in mist and rain.
"The target they're after is right here in this town. Red hair, a child, Nagato... We identified this target through mobile relief efforts."
Ryoma spoke succinctly.
After listening, Sakumo wondered if this child named Nagato might be a member of the Uzumaki Clan.
Then he shook his head. There are plenty of red-haired people in the Ninja World; red hair isn't exclusive to the Uzumaki Clan.
The surviving Uzumaki Clan ninjas and civilians have all moved to the Land of Night; they are no longer wandering outside.
Moreover, the fact that the Uzumaki Clan avoided the Land of Fire and the Land of Night, and instead precisely wandered to the Land of Rain, a land of Fourth Shinobi World War... their behavior is just too bizarre.
only...
Is there anything noteworthy about this child named Nagato?
Sakumo found this strange.
The fact that so many high-level combatants were mobilized just for a child was something he couldn't understand.
However, neither he nor Ryoma, who had arrived in the Land of Rain well in advance to plan the operation, knew much about this.
Their mission was simply to bring the other party back to the Land of Night.
"The target hasn't left, has he?"
A deep, steady male voice suddenly came from behind.
Sakumo and Ryoma turned around and saw a man and a woman standing not far behind them, wearing raincoats.
The man was in his thirties, with short black hair and wearing black gloves. He was none other than Flying Kite, the commander-in-chief of the Land of Night stationed in the Land of Rain.
He is also the Minister of the Materials Transport Department of the Land of Night.
The woman had short red hair and wore a fox mask to cover her face.
Oda Sakura Hime.
The Princess of the Land of Night is also the head of the Special Support Department, one of the fourteen departments of the Military Bureau.
"No, the target has been inside that house the whole time, being watched over by a red-haired woman."
Ryoma answered.
"Let's get started, lest things get complicated."
Flying Kite waved his hand, deciding to take action immediately.
Sakura Hime, Sakumo, and Ryoma all had no objections. Based on the hints given above, this operation was highly likely to encounter unexpected factors.
The four of them vanished from the high ground with a whoosh and quickly arrived at the town where their target was located.
The townspeople were completely unaware of the four people's arrival.
They braved the rain to reach a shady spot, gazing at a concrete house with half-open windows, where they could vaguely make out a red-haired woman holding something in her arms.
"Do it!"
Flying Kite charged ahead, followed by Ryoma and Sakumo, while Sakura Hime stood still, keeping watch on the surroundings and ready to provide remote support at any time.
"Watch out, there's someone underground!"
Just then, Sakura Hime suddenly realized something and loudly alerted the three people in front of her.
Flying Kite and the other two were a beat too slow for this, and quickly dodged backward.
Bang bang bang!
Several large, tree-like wooden vines broke through the ground; originally intended to entangle the three of them, they now struck nothing but thin air.
As if to verify the truth of what Sakura Hime said, where the wood and vines appeared, the mud writhed, and a strange person with a pale body and a white spiral-shaped face emerged from the damp mud.
"Wow, that's impressive Sensory Ninjutsu. They detected my presence so quickly... Good afternoon, everyone from the Land of Night."
A warm and lively voice came from the head of the spiral-faced man.
He scratched his head and continued spouting his self-righteous nonsense:
"However, one, two, three... it's four against one! This is really bad news, haha..."
He chuckled, seemingly unconcerned about the hostility of Sakura Hime and the other three, as if he were a long-lost friend chatting with them.
"That's Wood Release, and its power..."
Ryoma paused for a moment before speaking, adjusting his sunglasses.
He looked at the towering trees that stood upright, twisted into an intertwined shape. This level of Wood Release exceeded the upper limit of the Wood Release ninja he knew of from the Land of Night.
If you had been even a step too late, getting entangled in those big trees would have made escape very difficult.
"You all go around me, I'll deal with this pale-faced monster!"
"I'm not some pale-faced weirdo, my name Tobi!"
"Spiral-faced monster!" Tobi shouted angrily.
Flying Kite ignored him, took out a scroll, and spread it out. Countless ninja tools shot out from it and then floated in the sky in a static state.
"Haha, this is spectacular!"
Tobi looked up at the various ninja tools that blotted out the sky, like dark clouds descending from above, and let out a heartfelt exclamation.
"Great, then I'm going too!"
"Wood Release: Wood Human Technique!"
Boom!
The earth shook violently, and large amounts of wood broke through the ground, shaking the entire town.
As the shadows fell, Tobi stood atop the head of a giant wooden figure tens of meters tall, looking down at the crowd.
Each step he took caused the ground to shake violently.
"A monster!"
"Run!"
Upon witnessing this scene, the town's residents dropped what they were doing and fled out of town.
A young couple was exercising and, without having time to get dressed, simply wrapped themselves in the curtains and ran out of the house naked.