"It's finally here."
At daybreak, Nagato received word from Orochimaru.
He rose to his feet and personally formed the hand seals for the Animal Path's summoning.
Konan also pulled herself together and stood up.
Summoning Technique!
Bang! Bang!
Amid the white smoke, Orochimaru and Kabuto descended into the Jizo Temple.
Orochimaru stepped forward and greeted him hoarsely. "Yo, Nagato. Did you finish the masterpiece 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 brightened. He licked his long tongue. "Oh my, this is truly marvelous~!"
Nagato said, "You had results on your end too, didn't you?"
Orochimaru smiled. "Yes. Thanks to Kabuto's help, I was able to make progress this quickly."
Nagato turned his gaze toward Kabuto.
Kabuto instinctively edged closer behind Orochimaru.
Even though Nagato had shown him goodwill, the personality he had developed since childhood still kept him from letting down his guard.
Nagato smiled and paid it no mind.
"This doesn't seem like the best 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 intended to establish a ninja village here, so I built a base."
"Then let's go."
An hour later, they arrived at a swamp in the northern part of the Land of Rice.
With a splash, Orochimaru's snake-like hand shot from his sleeve into the swamp and tore away the buried "forbidden seal"!
With a churning splash, the entrance buried deep in the swamp emerged before them.
At that moment, Nagato's gaze shifted to the shadow beneath a tree behind them. He had discovered a hidden White Zetsu.
This was the first time he had encountered a White Zetsu since warning Obito in the cave. It knew I could detect it, yet it didn't leave immediately. Was it too shocked by seeing Orochimaru and me together?
No, I have to deal with it immediately!
He was about to raise his hand.
Orochimaru smiled. "Leave it to me, Nagato."
Oh? Orochimaru had already mastered a way to sense White Zetsu?
A snake-hand burst from Orochimaru's sleeve, wrapped around the White Zetsu, and dragged it before him!
The White Zetsu's eyes widened. "Nagato, you and Orochimaru are working together? Are you trying to create..."
Orochimaru formed hand seals with both hands!
Crack!
The White Zetsu shuddered 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 abilities. There's a certain delay in the exchange of information between it and its companions, and the length of that delay depends on the distance."
"This White Zetsu must have discovered my base and stayed here to wait for me to appear."
"It seems I'm not the only one on your mind, Nagato~."
"We handled it in time. It hasn't passed the information along yet."
Orochimaru dragged the unconscious White Zetsu into the base with his snake-hand.
Nagato and Konan exchanged glances, then each nodded.
"Let's add another layer of security... What we're about to discuss is no laughing matter if it gets out."
The Deva Path Pain remained outside the base and set up the Five-Seal Barrier, turning the place into a completely isolated domain.
In the base's innermost room, dim candlelight flickered.
After taking his seat, Orochimaru formed hand seals.
White Zetsu emerged from the ground.
"This White Zetsu is the test subject Nagato provided me."
Nagato studied it closely. "It doesn't look any different from before."
Orochimaru smiled. "That's right. I made almost no changes to its body. I altered its soul instead. First and foremost, I ensured that this individual would be loyal to our side. That is the 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 I defected from Konoha, I had already gained a preliminary grasp of the Impure World Reincarnation. To obtain a long life, research into souls was necessary."
"Using that as a foundation, I modified the talisman originally meant to control the Impure World Reincarnation so that it could be applied to the souls of living beings. I successfully rewrote this White Zetsu's allegiance!"
"I see." Nagato asked curiously, "Then what is its connection to the original White Zetsu? White Zetsu shares information, so an individual betraying them should have been exposed, shouldn't it?"
Orochimaru did not answer right away. Instead, he looked toward Kabuto, who was approaching the doorway with a tea tray.
"Kabuto makes excellent tea. The two of you must try some~."
Kabuto first served Orochimaru tea, then Konan, and only afterward approached Nagato, carefully lifting the teacup.
Nagato noticed that Kabuto's hands were trembling slightly. He's terrified just seeing me. Young Kabuto really is adorable...
Let's tease him a little.
Nagato smiled meaningfully. "Kabuto... You didn't poison the tea, did you?"
Kabuto jolted in fright, dropping the teacup in his hand. When he came back to his senses, cold sweat poured down his face. "L-Lord Nagato, I-I-I..."
"Actually, even if you had poisoned it, I could understand your reasons for doing so."
As he spoke, he reached out, pulled Konan's cup of tea before himself, lowered his head, and took a sip. "Go make another cup for your Sister Konan."
"Y-Yes!" Kabuto hurriedly gathered the broken pieces of the teacup from the floor and retreated in a panic.
When he reached the doorway, Kabuto leaned his back against the wall and stared at the shattered teacup, lost in thought.
"As someone capable of playing many roles, I actually exposed a weakness because of my guilty conscience. Was it because his defeat of Lord Orochimaru shocked me too deeply? Or because a powerful person like him treated me so kindly that I became flattered and hesitant?"
Suddenly, Orochimaru's pupils appeared within his mind, radiating killing intent!
"Kabuto... I will not allow this kind of clever little trick 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 could never escape Lord Orochimaru's discerning eyes..."
"Forget it. Since he is someone Lord Orochimaru values, I want to see for myself... what kind of person this Lord Nagato truly is."
Before long, Kabuto returned with freshly brewed tea.
"Lord Nagato, Lady Konan, I was rude earlier... Please have some tea."
Konan looked at the cup before her with some hesitation.
Nagato smiled. "Drink it, Konan. These tea leaves are good. They'll help clear your 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 communicates through souls, and their souls share the same origin. I suspect that source is the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path you mentioned, Nagato."
In the original story, when the Infinite Tsukuyomi was undone and the Demonic Statue was sealed again, all the White Zetsu died. Even Tobi, whom he rather liked, had died this way before Yamato.
If their souls came from the Demonic Statue... then it made sense for their lives to be bound to the statue's condition.
Nagato set down his teacup. "Good. Go on."
Orochimaru said, "The exchange of information between White Zetsu is like an invisible 'information network.'"
"Then, by adjusting the wavelength of soul thought waves to encrypt them, we can construct an independent network. Was that explanation a little difficult to understand?"
No, it wasn't difficult to understand at all.
Nagato, who came from the third dimension, immediately understood what Orochimaru meant.
If the information-sharing system among all White Zetsu was compared to a "public network"...
Then the concept Orochimaru had just mentioned was like a "local area network."
Nagato glanced at the "White Zetsu" standing at his side.
"You want to remove this White Zetsu from the public network shared by all White Zetsu? Set up a private local area network instead, concealing the fact that it has already defected, so the other White Zetsu won't notice? I still don't think that's safe enough."
"Public network, local area network... Nagato, that is an excellent summary. Yes, if it were removed from the public network, the main body of White Zetsu would still notice something amiss—especially during infiltration missions. If it failed to detect soul thought waves at close range, it would be exposed immediately."
"Furthermore, if it were separated from the public network, we would no longer be able to steal information from the enemy's White Zetsu in return."
"That was precisely the problem I focused on solving over the past three days. Excluding it from the public network wouldn't work. So I changed my approach. This individual would remain in White Zetsu's public network. To prevent other White Zetsu from detecting anything, it would constantly send out 'false soul thought waves,' ensuring it remained on the same frequency as every White Zetsu individual. At least... it would appear to be on the same frequency."
Nagato could not hide the shock in his heart as he tightened his grip on the teacup.
This was... "spoofed data packets"!
As expected, once Orochimaru got serious, that so-called Amado had nothing on him!
"With this, this White Zetsu can infiltrate Obito's main base without being discovered. Orochimaru, you said earlier that you made almost no alterations to White Zetsu's body. By 'almost,' you mean you did make some changes to its body, correct?"
"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 Orochimaru had captured outside the base!
"Any of its kind touched by this hand will undergo 'assimilation,' joining our camp and being pulled into the local area 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!!"
Nagato crushed the teacup in his hand, unable to hide the excitement in his eyes!!
Hahahahaha... now this was what it meant to turn heaven and earth upside down... Obito!!
Before you continue