Uchiha's personal opinion

There are too many White Zetsu...

Perhaps feeling that there were no outsiders in the mountains, many White Zetsu were lazily lying around sunbathing, while some White Zetsu, disguised as Iwagakure, were practicing their conversations in a very professional manner. As for the supplies collected from various counties, they were casually left aside to be exposed to the wind and rain, their purpose unknown.

Ashura counted them briefly and found that there were more than 300 White Zetsu or suspected White Zetsu along the way. As the gourd toad continued to go deeper, more White Zetsu appeared before his eyes.

"This is……"

As a peculiar aura appeared, Asura immediately manipulated the gourd toad to stop hopping around.

He sensed his own presence!

Although faint, it was indeed his own aura, or rather, the aura of power originating from his own bloodline!

"It's actually Hashirama's power..."

Ashura felt extremely uneasy watching Afei swagger out of a cave surrounded by a group of White Zetsu.

The perception derived from bloodline is mutual, so Asura could only do his best to suppress his aura and make the gourd toad enter a state of silence.

Then, he saw a mass of "black mud" surging out of the cave, gesturing wildly towards the special white Zetsu that possessed its own aura.

Because he was fully focused on controlling his aura, Ashura did not sense anything special about Black Zetsu, assuming it was just a mutated product of the White Zetsu group.

"Stop it, Afei!"

Black Zetsu continued to earnestly persuade him, "Stop playing around, turn back before it's too late!"

"Go back? When will we ever accumulate enough power to seize the Tailed Beast if we stay holed up in this mountain valley?"

Ah Fei said impatiently.

"But your White Zetsu... are definitely no match for the Shogunate's ninja army!"

Black Zetsu is still relentless.

"We White Zetsu also want to enjoy the water and light under the sun!"

Afei raised his arms and shouted, "The greatest ninja in the world, is he born with a special destiny?!"

"Are they born with a special destiny?!"

In broad daylight, the White Zetsu cheered and jumped for joy.

Chapter 420 Each with their own ulterior motives

People's joys and sorrows are different from each other's. Although Ashura didn't know why the White Zetsu were cheering and jumping for joy not far away, he felt as if he had fallen into an ice cellar.

The appearance of White Zetsu signifies that many things have changed...

But at this moment, Asura dared not make any rash moves and could only silently control the gourd toad to record the scene before him.

"Ah Fei, you should listen to my advice..."

Black Zetsu continued to persuade him earnestly, "Even if it's just to go back to the main base in the Bird Country and hide for a while, that would be good!"

"rua!"

Ah Fei let out a strange cry and resolutely refused: "Now that I've finally built such a large empire, how can I give it up so easily!"

"But you should at least be mindful of the impact!"

Black Zetsu was quite helpless. "We can't just let White Zetsu reveal his true form in broad daylight, can we? What if the Shogunate's scout ninjas discover it!"

"They won't find out! I've already deployed over a thousand White Zetsu to keep watch on the perimeter!"

Afei said smugly, "Besides, it won't be long before we're part of the shogunate!"

"Lord Madara's body is barely cold, and you actually..."

Black Zetsu immediately became furious and shouted loudly.

"Isn't it all frozen solid under the permafrost?"

Afei immediately retorted, "Could it be that you let..."

"Wait a minute! Something's not right!"

Afei immediately stopped talking and turned to look in the direction where Ashura and the gourd toad were lurking.

"not good!"

Ashura, who had inadvertently revealed his aura, immediately sensed something was wrong and decided to retreat.

The mention of "Madara" by Black Zetsu immediately awakened the part of Ashura's mind that belonged to Hashirama Senju, causing some of his aura to leak out and be sensed by Tobi, who had a keen sense of smell.

However, he did not intend to show himself, lest these White Zetsu of unknown origin discover his true identity!

"They might be spies from Mount Myōboku!"

As Afei rushed over, he saw a light red toad darting away and immediately exclaimed in alarm.

"Kill it! Kill it!"

Black Zetsu panicked immediately. "We must kill it! We can't let it report our existence back!"

Ordinary civilians or even Iwagakure ninjas wouldn't care much if they saw the true form of White Zetsu. They wouldn't understand the meaning it represented and would just think they were a bunch of weirdos.

But Mount Myoboku is different!

Black Zetsu clearly remembers the memories he brought from his mother, Kaguya Otsutsuki—the rebellious son Hagoromo Otsutsuki sealed his mother Kaguya Otsutsuki, and it was the toad sage of Mount Myōboku who played the trick!

Moreover, after Kaguya Otsutsuki, the mother, fell into a deep sleep on the moon, it was the Greninja of Mount Myōboku who led Ashura, Indra, and others to wipe out those special White Zetsu who had managed to escape during the sealing war!

In contrast, the so-called Chunin-level White Zetsu that Tobi has trained now are completely different from the ancient God Tree version of White Zetsu soldiers, and their combat power is worlds apart!

Therefore, if the existence of White Zetsu were to be leaked, it would definitely lead to a joint pursuit by the descendants of the Otsutsuki clan and the forces of Mount Myōboku!

"and many more!"

Black Zetsu suddenly realized his own blind spot in thinking!

These days, Mount Myoboku is like a rat crossing the street!

The strongest organization in the ninja world—the Tokukō Shogunate—had long ago designated Mount Myōboku and Ryūchi Cave as "terrorist organizations" and launched a frenzied campaign to eradicate them!

Therefore, by analogy, our side is actually just like Mount Myōboku, both being "illegal residents" in the ninja world!

Thinking of this, Black Zetsu finally regained his confidence.

Black Zetsu's eyes were filled with disdain as he watched the Greninja of Mount Myōboku being surrounded and shouted at by Tobi and the White Zetsu!

Even if you knew, so what!

"At worst, I'll just go and join Deguang!"

Black Zetsu thought viciously.

"Wait, doesn't Greninja know summoning techniques...?"

The moment the thought crossed Black Zetsu's mind, the gourd toad, which was about to be caught, immediately dispelled its summoning spell, and Ashura, wrapped in its belly, vanished in a wisp of green smoke.

"Get out of here when the wind gets strong!"

Afei immediately started shouting, "Hurry! Hurry! Let's all move to the big cave in the Bird Country!"

"Oh no! We've been found out!"

At Afei's call, the White Zetsu quickly burrowed underground, emitting strange cries, and decisively abandoned their "long-established" mountain base.

"...It seems that being discovered by Mount Myōboku isn't such a bad thing after all!"

Black Zetsu immediately breathed a sigh of relief.

However, the thought of feigning allegiance to the shogunate resurfaced, and Black Zetsu became restless.

"But we still have to be wary of that idiot Afei..."

Then, Black Zetsu possessed an ordinary White Zetsu and disappeared underground.

……

"Lord Tokumitsu!"

Hyuga Hizashi, looking hurried and panting, entered the temporary central command tent and reported to Uchiha Tokumitsu: "The intelligence department reports that we suddenly lost contact with the Iwagakure righteous men today!"

"So sudden?"

Uchiha Tokumitsu, who was reviewing the latest research report sent from Orochimaru, was puzzled. "How could a group of living people suddenly disappear without a trace? Could they have been suddenly wiped out by the Iwagakure ANBU?"

"I have just taken over the Land of Earth's undercover intelligence system and have discovered that there are indeed some loopholes in the intelligence department's work..."

Hyuga Hizashi immediately chimed in, echoing Uchiha Tokumitsu's words, to sow discord between his father and his subordinates: "According to preliminary investigations, cases like this of overstaffing and perfunctory intelligence personnel have existed for a long time, but they have never been rectified, which has led to..."

"It seems the intelligence department has serious problems!"

As expected! Uchiha Tokumitsu frowned and said with great displeasure.

Hyuga Hizashi noticed Uchiha Tokumitsu's expression at that moment and was immediately secretly delighted.

"Hizashi-kun..."

Uchiha Tokumitsu looked at Hyuga Hizashi, who seemed uneasy: "I'm too lazy to pursue the past, but now that the Land of Earth's intelligence system is in your hands, you can't just be so perfunctory!"

"Yes, sir! I will do my utmost!"

Hyuga Hizashi immediately straightened his chest.

"Get back to work!"

Uchiha Tokumitsu waved his hand, signaling Hyuga Hizashi to step back.

As for the real reason behind this, he couldn't be bothered to investigate.

Anyway, they're just a group of lower-ranking ninjas. It doesn't matter whether they gain or lose them. With this case in mind, the shogunate can easily fabricate and repackage a "lost heir of Iwagakure" as a banner whenever needed. It doesn't matter whether they have that group of people or not.

However, Hyuga Hizashi, who thought he had outsmarted the situation, was actually a good pawn, and he did have some clever uses in dividing the Hyuga clan.

After reading the research report, Uchiha Tokumitsu was very pleased and summoned the Two-Tails Matatabi, intending to discuss some private matters with it.

……

Hidden Cloud Village, Raikage Building.

"Lord Raikage, Iwagakure has informed us that they intend to accept the Shogunate's terms."

A Cloud Village ANBU ninja rushed into the Raikage's office to report.