All White Zetsus are fundamentally the same, yet to Yujin, this one was different.
Through acquiring the ability to use Water Release chakra transformation from a White Zetsu, Yujin realized that the White Zetsu species might offer a wide range of potential.
If he could accidentally gain the Water Release ability from one of them, then what about Wind Release? Lightning Release? Or even…
Just as he successfully ambushed the White Zetsu, far away from the scene of the incident, another White Zetsu—one en route to reunite with the main body—suddenly halted in its tracks.
"A signal from one of my kind has vanished. What's going on?"
This particular White Zetsu was clearly different from the average kind—acting more like a communications officer or small-time commander. It could detect the "signals" of its brethren from afar, making it a rare individual with some degree of information processing ability.
White Zetsus aren't exactly easy to kill. For one of them to die just after a meeting? That didn't make any sense no matter how you looked at it.
But before this White Zetsu had time to process what had happened, the signal from another one disappeared too—this was when Yujin exited his "White Zetsu transformation."
"The second one died too?!"
Both White Zetsus died almost simultaneously, and their signal had originated from the same direction. The White Zetsu commander quickly deduced which pair had been eliminated.
All the other White Zetsus were operating solo—only the two assigned to surveillance in Area 037 had been moving together. So, the only pair that could've died together was them.
The seriousness of the situation exceeded the commander's expectations. Without hesitation, it turned toward the direction where the signals had vanished and began tracking it. It had to find out what had happened there.
White Zetsus are creatures that can't survive without the shadows and feel uncomfortable without conspiracy. Losing two of them wasn't the issue—the commander was concerned that this was a targeted strike.
If such a targeted strike was possible, then the very existence of the White Zetsu species might have been exposed. As the secret hand lurking in the ninja world for millennia, if they were discovered, could they still continue to operate from the shadows?
Because the commander could only determine a vague direction and was worried about becoming the next target, it proceeded with extreme caution. It dragged out its investigation for seven or eight days before finally finding the battlefield.
By then, nearly all usable evidence had been destroyed. The scorched earth left behind by Yujin's Fire Release had already begun to regrow vegetation—what clues could still remain?
All the commander could conclude was that the battle had been short, fierce, and intense, but not prolonged. While accurate, the information lacked detail, making it nearly impossible to determine whether this had been a targeted ambush or if the two White Zetsus had simply been caught in the crossfire of a clash between ninja.
Don't think the White Zetsu commander's caution was over the top—they've lived too long and seen too many bizarre deaths. There was once even a White Zetsu who was just walking around and got crushed by a falling meteor.
Compared to that, getting burned to death by a surprise Fire Release attack didn't seem all that unusual.
The real problem was how clean their deaths had been. The commander searched for a long time but couldn't even find the corpses of the two Zetsus. And that, more than anything, confirmed its suspicions.
It never considered that someone could disguise themselves as a White Zetsu. It simply assumed someone had noticed their presence and casually eliminated the two.
Regardless, the commander decided to report everything in detail to the main body.
Yujin knew that his actions would likely attract the attention of the White Zetsu, so he made a timely retreat.
Raising the Zetsus' suspicions was unavoidable. But there's a vast difference between "someone has noticed the existence of the White Zetsu" and "someone can disguise themselves as a White Zetsu" in terms of the level of alarm it would cause among them.
The former wouldn't really affect Yujin. The Zetsus would first suspect individuals already full of red flags—like those with red eyes, Sage Body inheritors, rogue sealing masters, and so on. Basically, Yujin wouldn't even be on their radar.
Yujin didn't expect the White Zetsu commander's investigation to be so sluggish. After leaving the site of the assassination, he didn't immediately return to camp.
What he had told his companions about scouting the battlefield and looking for supplies wasn't a lie. So on his return journey, he traveled close to towns and the edges of regions frequently caught in war.
Mid- and small-scale ninja clans had their own methods of waging war. The powerful great clans had their own as well. Yujin wanted to determine the scope of the main battlefields to avoid getting caught in the crossfire of high-level combatants.
The ninja world was a grand stage, and only those who dared could take part. Yujin considered himself someone who knew his limits.
After gathering information in several towns, the intel he obtained left him speechless…
The battles between mid- and small-scale clans were "blooming from the center," happening pretty much everywhere. Meanwhile, battles between the great clans were "exploding outward," mostly concentrated near what would later be known as the borders of the Land of Fire.
Their camp was currently hidden in the northern wilderness of the Land of Fire, which meant they weren't far from some of the major war zones.
Even though most of the intel came from ordinary people and lacked full accuracy, it still confirmed one undeniable truth—there was no such thing as a "safe place" in the ninja world.
Yujin also faced a very realistic and frustrating problem: he had no money. That meant he couldn't resupply in town.
So, he had to focus on the battlefield and hope some kind-hearted ninja had left behind useful supplies in areas that weren't too dangerous.
Food, medicine, ninja tools—his camp lacked all of them. If some benevolent "delivery ninja" decided to drop off a generous care package, he certainly wouldn't let their kindness go to waste.
And wouldn't you know it—three days after leaving town, Yujin actually witnessed a clash between two groups of ninja.
He saw from start to finish how they encountered each other and how the fight began. He even figured out what they were fighting over—supplies.
There were supplies!
Originally just planning to spectate, Yujin carefully avoided the chaos of battle while cautiously approaching the scene.
The two sides seemed evenly matched in number, each with over a dozen ninja. One group identified themselves as the Ishihe Clan—Yujin had never heard of them, nor recognized their crest—but he could tell they must be a powerful great clan.
Why? Because they were the ones doing the robbing.
As for the group being robbed, Yujin recognized the symbol on their headbands.
One of the robbed ninja carried a massive scroll on his back, sealed with urgently needed supplies for his clan.
Both the scroll and their forehead protectors bore an unmistakable emblem: five rings interconnected with lines.
These ninja were quite renowned—they were from the Sarutobi Clan.