Chapter 96: Stabbing the White Zetsu Nest
After thoroughly chewing someone out, Asuka felt refreshed.
He returned to the Uchiha compound and saw someone teaching a group of children how to draw across from his house.
He knew that person. Apparently, he was Ryoichi's bodyguard and had only arrived here recently.
Although Asuka was curious about Ryoichi's identity, no matter how many times he asked, the old man refused to reveal anything.
Ryoichi hadn't said a word either. He had merely stared at Asuka with an unhappy expression.
Asuka walked closer and looked down at the person drawing. He instinctively shook his head.
He had absolutely no talent for drawing, but he loved it.
In a certain sense, being able to draw ice cream so that it looked like a pile of shit was itself a talent.
Looking at the pile of excrement sitting on top of the ice cream cone, Asuka patted him on the shoulder and sighed.
"Doesn't Kana live here? Haven't you learned from her?"
Uzumaki Zetsu glanced at the large hand resting on his shoulder, then looked up at Asuka and grinned.
"She kicked me out."
"Forget it. I'll teach you when I get the chance."
After saying that, Asuka looked at the Uchiha children.
They were watching him draw the ice cream with great enthusiasm, occasionally praising him.
The corner of his mouth twitched.
Hypocrites.
A bunch of hypocritical children.
Isn't it just because I gave you some snacks?
After glancing back at Asuka as he prepared to leave, Uzumaki Zetsu enthusiastically resumed teaching the children drawing techniques.
If Black Zetsu hadn't insisted on staying beside Lord Madara at all times, he might have been somewhere continuing his studies right now.
After handing out today's snacks, Uzumaki Zetsu touched his empty wallet before quickly walking over to Uchiha Madara and speaking quietly.
"Lord Madara, Uchiha Asuka has already begun gathering information about Orochimaru."
"Hmm."
Uchiha Madara slowly opened his eyes.
He stared at the newly appeared stars outside the window for a moment before speaking weakly.
"This old man feels that he doesn't have much time left."
"Considering how strict the security there is, this old man probably won't live long enough to see the first step of the plan succeed."
"Go help him."
Looking at Uchiha Madara's pale face, Uzumaki Zetsu scratched his head and hesitated.
"Oh. Alright. I'll try."
"Hmm."
After saying that, Uchiha Madara closed his eyes again.
Asuka is merely a supporting piece here.
The real pawn is Obito.
But... a side piece can only become a useful piece after it has been put to use.
In a cold, damp cave.
To conceal the stench of rotting flesh, the air was thick with the smell of disinfectant.
Uzumaki Zetsu had returned here once again.
It poked its head out from behind a wall and carefully surveyed the surroundings.
What came into view was a dark and spacious area that resembled an underground tomb.
Burning torches had been embedded in the distant rock walls, their flickering light illuminating the horrifying surroundings.
Uzumaki Zetsu saw numerous patrols moving back and forth.
Several corpses were scattered across the ground, lying messily among the damp soil, puddles, and rocks.
Condensed droplets dripped from the ceiling of the cave.
From somewhere in the distance came the faint sound of wastewater flowing through an underground river or drainage channel.
Sigh.
Uzumaki Zetsu sighed.
There weren't many options left.
One option was to lure the people inside the cave out.
Another was to use a camera to photograph what was happening here.
But after taking the photographs, how was he supposed to deliver them to Asuka?
That was a major problem.
And if he lured the people out, what would happen if Asuka became trapped inside?
At this moment, Uzumaki Zetsu was like a babysitter, trying to figure out how to accomplish both objectives at once.
This situation was completely different from Obito's era.
Back then, the goal had simply been to kill people.
This time, the goal was to obtain evidence.
???
Evidence?
Uzumaki Zetsu suddenly struck his left fist against his right palm.
He had a revelation.
So this is what Lord Madara meant.
He wants me to personally gather the evidence and report it.
Then, once the village reveals the truth to the jōnin, Asuka can personally witness the darkness hidden within the village.
Having understood Lord Madara's intentions, Uzumaki Zetsu immediately took action.
It dragged a researcher wearing a white lab coat into a dark corner, then disguised itself as the researcher and infiltrated the area using Transformation Jutsu.
Half an hour later.
Above ground.
Following the address provided by the old man, Asuka easily found the secret base.
After avoiding the sentries, he crouched on the trunk of a tree and stared at the entrance of the cave ahead.
His expression gradually became serious.
This gloomy cave didn't look particularly safe.
He could smell the strong odor of disinfectant even from outside.
Infiltration...
Boom!
Before Asuka could continue thinking, a fireball suddenly burst out of the cave entrance.
The enormous fireball slammed into the rock wall beside the entrance and exploded violently.
Asuka stared at the flames blazing at the cave entrance.
Before he could figure out what had happened, a figure wearing a white laboratory coat suddenly burst out of the flames.
He looked like a researcher.
Only...
Asuka blinked.
His eyes landed on the safe clutched beneath the researcher's arm, and several question marks appeared above his head.
Did they get robbed?
"There are spies!"
At that moment, a shinobi wearing a jōnin vest followed closely behind.
Looking at the fleeing researcher, he immediately ordered the people around him,
"Catch him!"
"Yes!"
More than half of the guards immediately rushed away.
Asuka was just about to make his move when another figure wearing a white lab coat—almost identical to the researcher's—walked out from behind the jōnin standing at the cave entrance.
The man in the white coat raised his leg and kicked the jōnin hard in the back.
Pfft!
Blood sprayed from the jōnin's mouth.
He stared incredulously at the person behind him before once again shouting at the surrounding guards,
"Catch him!"
This time, Asuka could only watch helplessly as the man in the white coat ran away again, carrying something that looked like a money box.
"Is that... embezzling research funds?"
Asuka's gaze fell on the shinobi sitting on the ground.
The jōnin struggled to stand, spat out some blood, and stared grimly in the direction where the two men in white coats had disappeared.
"Tonight's trouble..."
Bang!
Before he could finish, he felt another kick land in his back.
His entire body flew forward, blood spilling from his mouth.
Asuka's gaze landed on the researcher who had appeared at the cave entrance.
His expression was utterly bewildered.
Danzō definitely withheld their salaries, right?
Why are all of them running out with boxes?
Ten minutes later.
Asuka crouched on the tree and counted.
Around a hundred people had run out of the cave.
Every single one of them was carrying something.
It looked like a company had gone bankrupt and its creditors were hauling away everything they could find to make up for their losses.
After waiting for a while and seeing no one else emerge, Asuka jumped down from the tree.
He slightly altered his appearance and walked straight into the cave.
Once inside, Asuka followed the passage deeper into the cave.
After walking for a while, he reached the first large cavern.
The place was a complete mess.
Various documents were scattered everywhere.
There were also numerous corpses lying across the floor.
Asuka lowered his head and looked at the corpse lying beside his feet.
It was a middle-aged man with a haggard face and ragged clothes, looking like a beggar who had been living on the streets.
He had been dead for quite some time.
Yet his wide-open eyes still contained a trace of anger, as though they were telling the story of his struggle and despair during the final moments of his life.
Asuka continued forward.
He soon saw an old man.
Judging from his unusual clothing, he appeared to be from another village.
There weren't many corpses lying on the ground here.
It seemed they had originally intended to dispose of these bodies tonight, but for some reason, they hadn't had time.
The things inside this cave would have been far too disturbing for an ordinary person.
For Asuka, however, they were completely bearable.
The first scene he had witnessed on the battlefield had been far more shocking.
An area the size of a football field...
Covered entirely in human remains.
Asuka shook the image out of his mind and continued deeper into the cave, taking photographs with his camera.
In his previous life, he had already learned about the dark side of Konoha through manga.
"Heh heh."
Orochimaru's way of the shinobi is completely inhumane.
At this moment.
Outside.
Uzumaki Zetsu was sitting cross-legged, wearing a carefree expression as it watched the people chasing it.
People always said that to gather information, you needed power and connections.
The largest intelligence organization in the shinobi world was the Akatsuki—no, the Zetsu organization.
It was said that its White Zetsu subordinates numbered in the tens of thousands.
This time, Black Zetsu had left a thousand White Zetsu behind to accompany Uchiha Madara, just in case Madara caused any trouble in Konoha.
Sigh.
Thinking back to the moment it had entered the base, Uzumaki Zetsu's mouth stretched almost to its ears.
It really had.
It had originally intended to faithfully carry out Lord Madara's plan.
But then it discovered the money boxes.
As the temporary commander of these thousand White Zetsu, it had been prepared to send its subordinates out to work just so it could hear the Uchiha children praising it.
Then, if each subordinate gave it one hundred ryō...
That would be one hundred thousand ryō.
Now, there was no need to work at all.
Earlier, it had already led more than a hundred White Zetsu, using their superb disguises to launch a surprise attack against the enemy.
They had then carried a large amount of easily sellable goods out of the base.
"Hmm?"
At this moment, Uzumaki Zetsu, who had been counting its money, suddenly looked confused.
It slapped its own head.
"Didn't Zetsu report that Uchiha Asuka went inside?"