What on Earth Had Danzo Been Researching?

"Enemy attack!" The moment Uchiha Yi charged out, the samurai reacted, drawing their weapons and scanning their surroundings.

"Well, well, you found me." Forced into the open, White Zetsu showed no panic at all. He just grinned.

So it was White Zetsu. Was Black Zetsu watching the area too? What about Madara Uchiha?

Who had White Zetsu come to watch?

Those nobles? Impossible. They weren't worth his attention.

Hyuga Rinka? She was a Hyuga, not an Ōtsutsuki. Madara Uchiha and Black Zetsu probably didn't give the Hyuga Clan a second thought. Even the Hyuga Main Family wouldn't be worth their attention.

Tsunade? That seemed unlikely too. She wasn't like other shinobi; she'd often taken missions outside Konoha before. If Madara Uchiha had wanted to make a move against her, he would have done it long ago.

Me? Uchiha Yi had a bad feeling. Don't tell me he really came for me.

Had awakening the Three-Tomoe Sharingan at such a young age caught Madara Uchiha and Black Zetsu's attention? Or had Black Zetsu noticed Indra's Chakra inside me?

But the most likely target was Kushina Uzumaki. She might become the future Nine-Tails Jinchuriki. Madara Uchiha couldn't possibly ignore her.

Then another possibility occurred to Uchiha Yi. Could Madara Uchiha have been the one who killed Kagami Uchiha?

The Mangekyō Sharingan didn't make someone invincible, but an Uchiha who awakened it would rank among the Shinobi World's strongest. Even against a powerful enemy, he should have been able to escape.

Yet Kagami Uchiha had been killed with ease. Only a handful of people in the Shinobi World could have done that.

Betrayal by someone close to him was possible. Uchiha Yi had previously suspected Shimura Danzō or the Uchiha Clan Head. But now, that old bastard Madara Uchiha seemed just as likely!

At the thought, killing intent flashed through Uchiha Yi's eyes. He hadn't been especially close to Kagami Uchiha, but the man was still his father.

If Madara Uchiha had killed Kagami Uchiha, then Uchiha Yi would have to kill Madara Uchiha in return.

Faintly, Uchiha Yi's Eye Power seemed to rise at that moment.

Szzzt! The Sword of the Thunder God in Uchiha Yi's hand pierced straight through White Zetsu's chest.

"Oh, oh, oh... I've been stabbed right through. Am I supposed to die now?" White Zetsu poked the sword in his chest with a finger, then tipped his head to one side and collapsed.

"What exactly is that thing?" Tsunade moved quietly to Uchiha Yi's side and stared gravely at White Zetsu on the ground. "He doesn't seem afraid of dying at all. And there's no blood. Could this be some kind of clone?"

With all the strange techniques in the Shinobi World, Tsunade's guess wasn't unreasonable.

"When he was hiding, my Byakugan couldn't see him," Hyuga Rinka said, her expression darkening.

As a member of the Hyuga Main Family, Hyuga Rinka had always been confident in her Byakugan.

The Byakugan was considered one of the Shinobi World's three great dōjutsu. That reputation was a point of pride.

The legendary Rinnegan was another matter. Hyuga Rinka had never seen one, so she didn't know how powerful it truly was.

But once a Sharingan evolved into the Mangekyō Sharingan, it was indeed far stronger than an ordinary Byakugan.

Of course, the Byakugan had a trump card of its own. But using it brought a backlash they could not withstand.

The Byakugan was renowned for reconnaissance, yet this time she hadn't even noticed an enemy hiding right beside them. Hyuga Rinka couldn't help feeling discouraged.

"Even the Byakugan couldn't detect him?" Tsunade's expression turned grave.

If there were more creatures like this, able to slip by undetected, what was to stop them from infiltrating everywhere?

"No." Hyuga Rinka nodded grimly.

"Kushina, are there any more?" Tsunade turned to Kushina Uzumaki.

"Yep. Here, here, over there, and over there." Kushina Uzumaki closed her eyes and sensed her surroundings for a moment, then pointed in several directions.

Before Uchiha Yi could react, several White Zetsu emerged.

"Oh no, they found us! Can the Uzumaki Clan's Sensory Ninjutsu detect us?"

"That makes no sense. Nobody found us when we infiltrated Uzushio Village!"

"It's the Nine-Tails' power! That girl is the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki!"

The White Zetsu talked over one another as they appeared, then fled in every direction.

"Don't let them escape!" Tsunade shouted. She led the charge, rushing straight at one of them.

Uchiha Yi, Kushina Uzumaki, and Hyuga Rinka hurried after her, attacking the White Zetsu around them.

Even Kushina Uzumaki, as carefree as she was, understood now that these White Zetsu were bad news.

She might be a little naive, but she wasn't stupid. She could clearly feel their malice toward her. There was no way she would let them go.

Fortunately, Black Zetsu and Madara Uchiha seemed to have assumed Uchiha Yi's group couldn't detect the White Zetsu, so they hadn't sent many. Working together, the four of them easily captured or killed every last one.

"What are these things? They don't bleed, and it looks like they don't have any organs." Kushina Uzumaki stared, dumbfounded, at the White Zetsu she had killed.

Kushina Uzumaki had learned a great deal as part of the Tsunade Squad. Tsunade had been training her as a younger version of herself.

That included some Medical Ninjutsu. But the sight of a creature like White Zetsu left Kushina Uzumaki utterly baffled. Was this really a person?

"These things..." Tsunade's face darkened. If she hadn't been mistaken, they carried traces of Wood Release. One White Zetsu had even tried to attack her with a wooden spike.

Could they all be Wood Release Experiment Subjects?

Tsunade knew something about Hiruzen Sarutobi and Shimura Danzō's research, but she hadn't intervened. Her grandmother, Mito Uzumaki, had turned a blind eye to it. Besides, the first person in Konoha to research Wood Release Experiments had been the Second Hokage Tobirama Senju.

Even Tsunade couldn't easily object to that.

What kind of monsters had that bastard Danzo been creating?