"Third Battalion, lock down in place!"
Neji leaped onto a supply wagon, his Byakugan reaching beyond the camp walls to lock onto the group that cast no shadows.
Forty-two shinobi stood beside the rock wall. Their forehead protectors belonged to all five villages, and their identity registrations matched the new roster. Sunlight fell from behind them, yet the ground was completely bare.
Naruto surrounded the exits with his shadow clones.
"Give the password."
The Kirigakure jonin leading the group raised his hand.
"Water formation, three-seven."
"That's the old password."
The other party gave no further answer. All forty-two bodies collapsed at once, white tissue burrowing into the ground.
Neji struck the soil with his palm.
"Eight Trigrams Empty Wall Palm!"
Chakra cut off the underground passage, squeezing more than a dozen White Zetsu out of the earth on the spot. The remaining White Zetsu scattered to flee, only to run straight into the mixed units' blockade.
Kumogakure shinobi cut off the routes with Lightning Release, Iwagakure raised stone walls, and Kirigakure enclosed the exits with water prisons. Without waiting for orders from their respective villages, the five villages' squads completed the encirclement under the new organization.
When the last White Zetsu was dragged out of the ground, Naruto shouted toward the Communication Array Stone, "Got them all. Forty-two, not one missing."
"Casualties?"
"Seven lightly wounded."
"Find out where they got the new roster."
Neji searched the pockets of the White Zetsu leader and found half of a newly issued camp defense map.
A Tsuchikage Seal marked the corner of the paper, its ink not yet fully dry.
Once Ōnoki saw the image in the water mirror clearly, he turned toward Kurotsuchi behind him.
"Why is Iwagakure's seal in its hands?"
Kurotsuchi checked the documents she carried, and her expression darkened.