Turning Heaven and Earth Upside Down!

"It was finally here."

At daybreak, Nagato received Orochimaru's message.

He rose to his feet and personally formed the Animal Path's summoning hand seals.

Konan also pulled herself together and stood.

—Summoning Technique!

"Poof!" "Poof!"

Amid the white smoke, Orochimaru and Kabuto arrived at Jizo Temple.

Orochimaru stepped forward and greeted him hoarsely, "Yo, Nagato-kun. Did you finish that piece you had your eye on?"

"Yeah. It took some trouble, but it's more or less complete."

Pain A's burly figure emerged from behind a stone pillar.

Orochimaru's slit pupils suddenly lit up. He licked his long tongue. "Oh my, this is truly... subarashii~!"

Nagato said, "You got results on your end too, didn't you?"

Orochimaru smiled. "Yes. Thanks to Kabuto here. Without his help, I wouldn't have gotten results so quickly."

Nagato turned his gaze to Kabuto.

Kabuto instinctively edged closer behind Orochimaru.

Even though Nagato had shown him goodwill, the personality he had developed since childhood kept him from letting down his guard.

Nagato smiled and paid it no mind.

"This doesn't seem like a suitable place to display your results. Do you have a base in the Land of Rice?" he asked, though he already knew the answer.

Orochimaru nodded. "Yes. I originally planned to establish a ninja village here, so I built a base."

"Then let's go."

An hour later, the group arrived at a swamp in the northern Land of Rice.

"Splash!" A snake hand shot from beneath Orochimaru's sleeve and reached into the swamp, tearing away a deeply buried "forbidden seal"!

"Splash, splash!" After a bout of churning, the entrance buried deep within the swamp appeared before them.

"..." At that moment, Nagato looked toward the shadows beneath the trees behind them and spotted a hidden White Zetsu.

This was the first time he had encountered a White Zetsu since giving Obito that "warning" in the cave. It knew I could detect it, yet it didn't leave immediately. Was it too shocked to see Orochimaru and me together?

No, I have to deal with it right away!

He was about to raise his hand.

Orochimaru smiled. "Leave it to me, Nagato-kun."

Oh? Orochimaru had already figured out how to sense White Zetsu?

"Hiss!!" A snake hand emerged from Orochimaru's sleeve, wrapped around the White Zetsu, and dragged it before him!!

The White Zetsu's eyes went wide. "Nagato, you and Orochimaru have joined forces? Are you trying to create..."

Orochimaru formed hand seals with both hands!

"Crack!"

The White Zetsu jolted violently and lost consciousness on the spot!

Nagato clenched his fist. "This is bad. The information has probably already leaked."

Orochimaru lowered his hands and smiled. "Don't worry. I've already deciphered the truth behind White Zetsu's ability. There is a certain delay in the exchange of information between it and its companions, and that delay depends on distance."

"This White Zetsu must have discovered my base and remained here, waiting for me to appear."

"It seems I'm not the only one you have your eye on, Nagato-kun~."

"We handled it in time. It hadn't passed the information along yet."

Using his snake hand to drag the unconscious White Zetsu, Orochimaru entered the base.

Nagato and Konan exchanged glances, then each nodded.

"Let's add another layer of insurance... What we're about to discuss is no laughing matter if it leaks."

Deva Path Pain remained outside the base and set up the Five-Seal Barrier, turning the place into a site completely isolated from the world.

In the base's innermost room, dim candlelight flickered.

After taking his seat, Orochimaru formed hand seals.

"Gurgle, gurgle, gurgle!" A White Zetsu emerged from the ground.

"This White Zetsu is the test subject Nagato-kun provided me."

Nagato examined it closely. "It looks no different from before."

Orochimaru smiled. "That's right. I made almost no changes to its body. What I altered was its soul. First, I ensured that this individual was loyal to our cause. That is the fundamental prerequisite for everything!"

The White Zetsu dropped to one knee before Nagato. "Lord Nagato, you are my respected master!"

Nagato looked at Orochimaru in surprise. "How did you do it?"

Orochimaru smiled. "Before defecting from Konoha, I had already gained a preliminary grasp of the Impure World Reincarnation technique. To obtain a long life, research into souls was necessary."

"Using that as a foundation, I adjusted the talismans originally meant to control Impure World Reincarnation so they could be applied to the souls of living beings. I successfully rewrote this White Zetsu's allegiance!"

"I see." Nagato asked curiously, "Then what connection does it still have to the original White Zetsu? White Zetsu shares information, so an individual betrayal like this should have been exposed, shouldn't it?"

Orochimaru did not answer right away. Instead, he looked toward Kabuto, who was approaching from the doorway with a tea tray.

"Kabuto makes excellent tea. You two must try it~."

Kabuto first served Orochimaru tea, then Konan, and only then did he walk over to Nagato and carefully lift the tea bowl.

Nagato noticed that Kabuto's hands were trembling slightly. He starts shaking the moment he sees me. Young Kabuto really is adorable...

Let's tease him.

Nagato smiled meaningfully. "Kabuto... You didn't poison the tea, did you?"

"Crash!!" Kabuto flinched in fright, dropping the tea bowl in his hand. Once he came back to his senses, cold sweat poured down his face. "L-Lord Nagato, I, I, I..."

"Even if you had poisoned it, I could understand why you did it."

As he spoke, he took Konan's cup of tea and placed it before himself. He lowered his head, took a sip, and said, "Go make another cup for your sister Konan."

"Y-Yes!" Kabuto hurriedly cleaned up the broken teacup from the floor and retreated in a panic.

At the doorway, Kabuto leaned his back against the wall and stared at the tea cup fragments, lost in thought.

"As someone skilled in so many fields, I actually exposed a flaw because of my guilty conscience. Was it because seeing him defeat Lord Orochimaru had shocked me too deeply? Or was it because someone as powerful as him treated me with such approachability that I felt flattered and began to hesitate?"

"Hiss!!"

Suddenly, Orochimaru's pupils appeared within his mind, blazing with killing intent!

"Kabuto... I will not allow such petty cleverness to happen a second time!"

"Ah...!!" Kabuto collapsed beneath the wall, cold sweat covering his entire body. But soon, he smiled in relief.

"Hahahaha, it seems my little thoughts truly could not escape Lord Orochimaru's discerning eyes..."

"Forget it. Since he is someone Lord Orochimaru favors, I want to see as well... just what kind of person Lord Nagato truly is."

Before long, Kabuto returned with freshly brewed tea.

"Lord Nagato, Lady Konan, please forgive my earlier rudeness... Please have some tea."

Konan hesitated as she looked at the teacup before her.

Nagato smiled. "Drink, Konan. These tea leaves are good. They help refresh the mind."

"Is that so?" Konan picked up the cup and took a sip. The exhaustion from three sleepless days immediately faded somewhat.

Orochimaru smiled. "Through my research, I discovered that White Zetsu communicate through their souls, and their souls share a common origin. I suspect that origin is the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path you mentioned, Nagato-kun."

In the original story, when Infinite Tsukuyomi was undone and the Demonic Statue was sealed once more, every White Zetsu died. Even Tobi, whom he rather liked, died this way before Yamato.

If their souls came from the Demonic Statue... then it made sense that their lives were tied to the statue's condition.

Nagato set down his teacup. "Correct. Go on."

Orochimaru said, "The exchange of information among White Zetsu is like an invisible 'information network.'"

"Then, by adjusting and encrypting the wavelengths of their soul thought-waves, we can construct an independent network. Am I explaining this in too obscure a way?"

No, it wasn't obscure at all.

Nagato, who came from the third dimension, instantly understood what Orochimaru meant.

If the information-sharing system of all White Zetsu was compared to a "public network."

Then the concept Orochimaru had just mentioned was like a "local network."

Nagato glanced at the "White Zetsu" standing beside him.

"You want to exclude this White Zetsu from the 'public network' of all White Zetsu? Establish a private 'local network' separately, thereby concealing the fact that it has betrayed them, so the other White Zetsu won't notice? I still don't think that's secure enough."

"Public network, local network... Nagato-kun, you summed it up perfectly. Yes, if it were removed from the public network, the main body of White Zetsu would still notice something was wrong, especially during infiltration missions. If it couldn't detect its 'soul thought-waves' at close range, it would be exposed immediately."

"Furthermore, if it became independent from the public network, we would no longer be able to steal intelligence from the enemy's White Zetsu in return."

"That was precisely the problem I focused on solving over these past three days. Being excluded from the public network would not work, so I changed my approach. This individual would remain within White Zetsu's public network. To prevent the other White Zetsu from detecting anything, it would need to constantly transmit 'false soul thought-waves,' ensuring it remained on the same frequency as every White Zetsu individual—at least, appearing to be on the same frequency."

Nagato could not hide his shock as he gripped his teacup tightly.

This was... a "spoofed data packet"!

Sure enough, once Orochimaru got serious, that so-called Amado was nothing!

"This ensures that this White Zetsu can infiltrate Obito's headquarters without being detected. Orochimaru, you said you made almost no modifications to White Zetsu's body. The word 'almost' means you did make some modifications, didn't you?"

"Yes."

Orochimaru revealed a captivating smile. "This is... the true essence of my experiment."

The White Zetsu beside Nagato stepped forward and placed its hand on the White Zetsu they had captured outside the base!

"Any of its kind touched by this hand will be 'assimilated,' join our side, and be pulled into the 'local network' to transmit information... Of course, only this 'White Zetsu Mother' can use this ability."

The assimilated White Zetsu woke up and bowed to Nagato. "Lord Nagato!!"

"Crack!!" Nagato crushed his teacup, unable to conceal the excitement in his eyes!!

Hahahahaha... Now this was what it meant to turn heaven and earth upside down... Obito!!