Hiruzen Sarutobi and Itachi did not linger either, quickly departing.
The giant Wood Golem was recalled by Senju Hashirama once he regained consciousness, and most of the trees from Wood Release: Deep Forest Emergence were likewise withdrawn.
Only trees that were completely destroyed from root to leaf remained.
Immediately after Itachi and Hiruzen Sarutobi left, numerous White Zetsu emerged to erase the traces of the battle.
Their main task was to clean up scattered clothing, such as those belonging to Animal Path and Hidan.
Black Zetsu was quite loyal, and also had the White Zetsu clean up the traces left by Wood Release.
One of the White Zetsu discovered something peculiar: a large chunk of dark red earth had a clear Chakra reaction.
The White Zetsu could even distinguish that it was Hidan's Chakra reaction.
Hidan was in an extremely miserable state at this time, first disfigured by the Impaling Stake Jutsu, then enduring two Shinra Tensei, especially the later, 'PLUS' version.
He was utterly shapeless, just a puddle of flesh and blood, shattered bones, and had been pressed into the mud by Shinra Tensei.
Even the White Zetsu couldn't distinguish which parts were Hidan's body and which were mud; the entire mass, in its perception, was Hidan.
To differentiate, one would need to touch it and feel the texture to distinguish Hidan from the mud.
Such a troublesome task was certainly not something the White Zetsu would do. Seeing from its Chakra reaction that Hidan was not dead, this White Zetsu decisively dug out the entire chunk of reactive mud and took it back.
Meanwhile, on the other side.
Not long after walking, Hiruzen Sarutobi and Itachi encountered another person flying in the air.
And from underground, someone else had half-emerged.
It was Konan and Zetsu.
Except when in front of Nagato, Konan always maintained an ice queen facade when facing outsiders.
Zetsu was the first to speak.
"Gentlemen, allow me to introduce myself. I am Akatsuki's Black Tortoise, Zetsu, responsible for the organization's intelligence work."
Then Zetsu looked up at Konan.
"This is Akatsuki's White Tiger, Konan, an Akatsuki Organization combat member, and also the leader's teammate."
Black Zetsu then briefly introduced Akatsuki Organization's goals, general situation, and so on to the two.
The goal was naturally Ninja World peace; as for the method, Black Zetsu did not tell them, as Nagato had requested.
Hiruzen Sarutobi and Itachi only needed to work diligently; they didn't need to know too much else.
After listening to the introduction, Hiruzen Sarutobi realized that Zetsu had said so much, yet it seemed there was no useful information beyond the names they already knew.
It was even less detailed than the intelligence recorded in the scroll Yuuki had given them before their departure.
Hiruzen Sarutobi found this quite normal; the Akatsuki Organization leader's previous actions had been too childish.
"Next, I will ask some questions about the two of you. Please do not conceal anything; my intelligence capabilities far exceed your imagination!"
The real test was coming!
Hiruzen Sarutobi and Itachi both felt a tightening in their hearts.
Hiruzen Sarutobi even more so, because when Zetsu appeared, Hiruzen Sarutobi recognized him.
Only half of him was similar, but Hiruzen Sarutobi was still certain that it was the strange creature Yuuki had discovered when capturing the Hidden Mist envoy a few years ago.
His heart was incredibly heavy, and his brain was rapidly working, trying to perform perfectly in the upcoming situation.
Yet, he soon began to doubt life again.
After the first few innocuous questions, when some critical questions began, Hiruzen Sarutobi was still considering his wording.
The intelligence officer who called himself Zetsu, surprisingly, subtly revealed the direction of the answer in his questions.
Is this a trap?
Is he deliberately guiding me with these questions?
Hiruzen Sarutobi was in an internal struggle. Zetsu's guidance was quite consistent with his originally preconceived answers.
Had he been seen through?
Unable to remain silent for long, Hiruzen Sarutobi bit the bullet and gave his answer.
Then he secretly gathered Chakra, planning to counterattack immediately if anything seemed amiss.
The truth was, nothing happened.
The other party continued to the next question as if completely unaware of any issue, and the questions still carried a subtle but clear suggestive nature.
After a series of questions, Zetsu looked up at Konan, signaling that it was over.
Konan had observed the entire process. After a moment's thought, she found nothing suspicious.
She then began to distribute equipment to Hiruzen Sarutobi and Itachi.
The equipment included clothes, rings, and nail polish.
"These three items are symbols of Akatsuki Organization's core members. The most important is the ring, which not only bears your codenames within the organization but also has functions for positioning, transmitting information, and summoning you to meetings. You must wear it at all times."
It was still Zetsu who introduced the purpose of the equipment to them.
Their codenames and teammates had already been decided by Nagato and Konan.
When Hiruzen Sarutobi received his ring, he felt a sense of absurdity.
The ring displayed his codename in Akatsuki Organization.
Vermillion Bird!
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