An Unexpected Windfall: White Zetsu's Abilities / Kurenai Yuhi Takes a Blow

Along with the pain and the taste of blood in his throat.

The countless figures vanished from all around him.

Beneath his mask, he couldn't help smiling as he breathed a sigh of relief.

But-

The next moment, his smile froze.

At some point, enormous vines had emerged from the ground and bound his limbs.

A giant man-eating flower grew and bloomed behind him.

It swallowed him whole.

"Ah-!"

A terrified scream rang out.

He lost consciousness and sank into endless darkness.

"Thud-"

A figure lay there, his eyes rolled back.

Chiya Rikuto, who had remained motionless and never left his original spot, stood with his hands in his pockets. "You went down that easily? A mere double Genjutsu was enough to take you out..."

"Not professional at all!"

He couldn't be bothered to care who the masked man was.

Even with his eyes closed, he knew the man had been sent to test him by either the Third Hokage or Shimura Danzō. There was nothing to guess about.

He was Princess Tsunade's disciple now, after all, and had someone backing him.

There was no need to keep as low a profile as before.

"Huh?"

On the trunk of a tree more than ten meters away, concealed from view.

A white figure watched the scene in bewilderment. "What... just happened?"

He had watched the entire encounter and realized that the kid, who was only eight or nine, had never moved from beginning to end.

The masked guy who had suddenly appeared and charged up to him.

Had simply screamed and collapsed for no apparent reason.

Chapter 26: An Unexpected Windfall: White Zetsu's Abilities

"Never mind..."

"I'd better go back and report to the original. This kid's not simple!"

The white figure watched for a moment.

He studied the child ahead, who was only eight or nine.

Then he began to sink slowly into the tree trunk.

"Hey, what's your hurry?"

A soft chuckle came from below.

"Body Flicker Technique?"

The White Zetsu Clone jumped in fright. "You could actually detect me?"

He stared in disbelief at the small, thin figure that had suddenly appeared beneath the tree.

He could hardly believe it.

His ability to hide was first-rate.

Even ordinary sensory ninja couldn't easily detect him.

When he infiltrated the village, he had deliberately absorbed a Konoha Ninja's Chakra and replicated its fluctuations.

Even Konoha's barrier, which could identify unfamiliar Chakra and prevent intruders from sneaking in.

Had failed to detect him.

"You talk too much!"

Before White Zetsu's astonished eyes.

Rikuto thrust his right arm straight into the tree trunk.

"Ah... what did you do?"

White Zetsu, who had been about to flee, cried out in terror.

To his horror, he found that he was completely unable to move while hidden in the tree.

What was more, a terrifying force was devouring his Chakra.

But before he could say anything else.

The white figure vanished from the tree.

"This little bit of nourishment isn't even enough to fill the gaps between my teeth..."

Rikuto withdrew his right hand from the trunk.

As though he had done something insignificant.

Without so much as looking at the masked figure who had fallen unconscious after being caught in his Genjutsu.

He put his hands in his pockets and strolled away.

"Hm?"

Suddenly.

He stopped in his tracks.

Surprise appeared on Rikuto's face. "Mayfly Technique? Impersonation Technique?"

"Now this is an unexpected windfall..."

He frowned in thought for a moment, then couldn't help chuckling. "Was it because he was a special plant life-form, a product of the God Tree itself, that I absorbed even his abilities?"

Just as he was about to sleep, someone had brought him a pillow.

Although White Zetsu's strength was nothing special.

His outstanding ability to hide was first-rate, unmatched throughout the Shinobi World.

Even Konoha's heavily guarded barrier had failed to recognize his disguise, allowing him to slip in easily.

The Mayfly Technique allowed its user to merge their body with the earth and vegetation to move at high speed.

The user could become one with the earth, then travel at high speed to any location by entering the network of organic matter formed by underground plant roots, groundwater flows, and the like. While the technique was active, it also concealed the user's presence entirely.

The Impersonation Technique was even more astonishing.

Unlike an ordinary Transformation Technique, it allowed the user to absorb another person's Chakra and replicate it exactly, making the disguise impossible to detect even for someone closest to the person or a sensory ninja.

During the future Fourth Shinobi World War, Zetsu's clones would absorb other people's Chakra, take their appearances, and infiltrate the Allied Shinobi Forces to attack them from within, causing considerable casualties.

If Naruto Uzumaki, the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki, had not successfully mastered Nine-Tails Chakra Mode through his training at the Falls of Truth, allowing him to directly sense the malice White Zetsu couldn't conceal, things would have been very troublesome indeed.

These were abilities unique to White Zetsu.

Even if someone captured White Zetsu and extracted the secrets of these two techniques through interrogation.

An ordinary ninja would be completely unable to learn such Ninjutsu.

But for Rikuto, a user of the Logia Woods-Woods Fruit, these kinds of techniques seemed made for him.

"I was just struggling to figure out how to sneak into the Uchiha unnoticed..."

He hadn't expected to gain White Zetsu's abilities simply by devouring an ordinary White Zetsu Clone.

Rikuto couldn't help being overjoyed.

By his estimation.

If nothing unexpected happened, the Uchiha's downfall would most likely come within the next few days.

He had been wondering how he could get a share of the spoils on the coming night of the massacre.

There were so many Sharingan; he couldn't let those two, Shimura Danzō and Obito Uchiha, have them all.

But at this stage, he was only an eight-year-old kid.

Before he had fully grown, it was still not time for him to act without any real restraint.

He didn't want to expose himself too soon and put himself in danger.

He couldn't simply barge in openly.

After all, even if he used the Transformation Technique, he couldn't change his Chakra, and his identity would be easily exposed.

Whether it was the Konoha High Command, Obito Uchiha hiding behind the scenes, or that "filial son" Uchiha Itachi, none of them were easy to deal with.

"Just because ordinary physical attacks don't work on me doesn't mean I'm truly invincible..."

Rikuto gazed at the distant sky and thought, Although Senjutsu containing Natural Energy can hurt my true body, as a user of the Logia Woods-Woods Fruit, I can basically ignore ordinary Taijutsu and Ninjutsu.

But Obito Uchiha's space-time Dōjutsu, Kamui, is impossible to guard against, and there's also the endless variety of Sealing Jutsu and Barrier Ninjutsu. These still pose a major threat to me.

Rikuto, who had mastered Perfect Sage Mode, had once tested it on himself.

The Woods-Woods Fruit's elemental transformation did not make him truly invincible.

Senjutsu Chakra could indeed hurt his true body.

Besides, there was something else he had to watch out for.

If he was accidentally transferred to another dimension, trapped in a barrier like the Four Violet Flames Formation, or even directly sealed, he would be in trouble.

For now, he still had to keep a low profile when necessary.

White Zetsu's abilities had come at just the right time.

Chapter 27: Kurenai Yuhi Takes a Blow [Support appreciated]

Late at night.

Kurenai Yuhi returned after completing a mission.

She had just entered her room when she felt the hairs on her body stand on end.

She instinctively went on guard.

But in an instant.

A dark figure appeared in front of her.

Without hesitation, she flung several Shuriken at it.

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!

In the blink of an eye.

The Shuriken missed.

Kurenai Yuhi had just drawn a Kunai and was preparing to rush forward.

When she saw the masked figure in black form a hand seal with one hand.

Bringer-of-Darkness Technique!

The next moment-

Kurenai Yuhi's attack hit nothing.

All she could see was darkness.

It was as though her sight had been taken from her.

"What?"