Konoha Notes

Chapter 282 Variables
When they saw black smoke rising and the forest stopped advancing, the advance reconnaissance team of ninjas had already assembled.

The advance reconnaissance team of ninjas has assembled and is preparing to set off to provide support.

However, before they even set off, the person who should have been being met had already appeared inside the base.

“Sir…Shuji…” Maki looked at the person who appeared behind him and stopped the vanguard from setting off. “Are you…the demon?”

Shuji said, "No, it was an unexpected person who appeared."

He didn’t elaborate on what he meant by “unexpected,” but Maki sensed something unusual from the way he returned so quickly.

"Reorganize the lines and strengthen the defenses," Xiu Si instructed succinctly.

"Understood." Maki naturally obeyed the order and immediately turned to make arrangements.

Shuji's gaze briefly met Kakashi's, who understood immediately. The two walked one after the other toward the temporary command post.

"Send a message back to the village, telling Zhishui to come to the front line as soon as possible to join us."

"Shisui... has that 'Madara' appeared?" In order to deal with the joint operation of the five villages, most of Konoha's high-end combat forces were on standby. Shuji specifically designated Uchiha Shisui. The only source of threat he could think of was that mysterious masked man.

Shuji glanced at him. What was the point of letting Kakashi know beforehand that the masked man was Obito? After much deliberation, he still said nothing.

He simply nodded and then gave a general account of the battle, explaining Obito's abilities, including Izanagi.

In any case, for Kakashi and for Konoha as a whole, the most important thing right now is to understand and deal with these abilities, rather than obsessing over the face behind the mask. Or rather, we should "thank" Obito for currently controlling everything.

If Madara had followed his plan before his death, he should have been resurrected by Nagato's Rinne Rebirth technique long ago and personally descended into the world. In a sense, Obito single-handedly defended against Madara for many years.

Thinking of this, Shuji added, "Regarding the Sharingan, there is an even greater power that can be awakened beyond the three tomoe. Perhaps you need to know about it."

"The Mangekyou Sharingan?" Kakashi raised his hand and lightly touched his left eye, which was covered by his headband, his voice low. After taking over Root and having access to some of the classified files, he already knew something about it.

"Hmm, give it a try. If it works, be careful not to use too much, or you'll go blind."
-
An ominous aura permeated the depths of the dark underground palace.

The body of the demon changed one after another. The bodies of ordinary people, after receiving its power, would only lose their vitality and age rapidly.

It could not find any trace of the priestess, yet it could still sense her presence.

In the midst of this anxious wait, a barely perceptible ripple appeared in the space. The figure wearing the tiger-striped mask, as if blending into the shadows, silently appeared in the center of the underground palace hall.

"Where is Maitreya?" the demon asked.

"You covet my power. If so, why not bring the priestess to me?" The demon tried to bewitch the person before it. "Once I control the priestess's body, the undead army will be fully revived and reveal its true form!"

"By then, the power I will be able to demonstrate will be far greater than it is now."

"I do have a suggestion that better suits our current needs."

The space around Obito began to distort, and he took a pale humanoid object out of the Kamui dimension and casually threw it on the ground.

“Since your current temporary body cannot stably support your existence, then use this,” Obito said. “The life force contained in this body is enough for you to squander for a while.”

"Not enough!" the demon's consciousness roared in fury, causing the shadows within the dungeon to churn violently. "Only the priestess's body can perfectly contain my soul and power! This pale thing is nothing but an inferior substitute!" "That's enough," Obito Uchiha said coldly.

The monster remained silent for a moment before its churning shadow finally entered White Zetsu's body.

Before leaving, Obito uttered a warning, his figure blurring as he said, "Don't underestimate the ninja world now. This era is completely different from the one before you were sealed away."

The demon did not reply. Possessing the body of the white zeolite, it sensed the life force within this vessel, which was far more resilient than that of ordinary people, but its core desire had not subsided.

Only a priestess could ever completely destroy it; and only a priestess was truly needed by it.

Since we can't get Maitreya, let's find another one.

Having obtained the White Zetsu's body as a temporary vessel, the demon drove the stone statue army forward.

It needs more room to maneuver and greater strategic depth in order to find the whereabouts of the little witch named Shion.

However, the situation on the battlefield did not develop as it had hoped.

The Stone Statue Legion not only failed to achieve the expected breakthrough, but the resistance from the Allied Shinobi Forces became even stronger, more organized, and more aggressive.

On the Sand Village's front, the ninjas were no longer content with merely making brief interceptions and then retreating; they even began to accumulate strength and occasionally launched small-scale counterattacks.

Shuji has been unusually active lately.

He and the elite ninjas of the allied forces took turns attacking. When the ordinary ninjas felt their chakra was running low or they were exhausted, his signature Wood Release would descend fiercely, overwhelming the stone statue army's counterattack and even pushing them forward a distance.

Only when the seemingly endless gray-white tide surged in from the rear again would the battle line temporarily stabilize and enter a new round of tug-of-war.

Amidst this stalemate and repeated battles, Uchiha Shisui finally arrived at the front lines.

Accompanying Shisui was a timid little girl—Shion, the young priestess of the Land of Demons.

"This child already has the ability to deal with the demons?" Kakashi frowned as he looked at Shion.

Shisui shook his head, turning his gaze to Shuji, awaiting his instructions.

“Since the village sent her here, let’s keep her,” Shuji said after a moment’s thought. “We don’t expect her to be of any immediate use.”

"But her very appearance might provoke the demon to act differently than it does now, instead of hiding its whereabouts like this."

This wasn't the main reason he'd been lingering here. Obito's appearance meant he could no longer launch high-risk raids as freely as before, and even searching for the location of the core demon's hideout would become extremely difficult.

Aster may prompt the demons to take action.

The arrival of Zhishui would free him from his constraints.

As for safety... even Naruto, who hasn't mastered Sage Mode yet, can protect someone like Shion. Now that he and Shisui are working together, there's no way Shion will be harmed.

We can start the counterattack.

(End of this chapter)