According to the characteristics of the Uchiha Clan, there are simply no perception-type ninja among them.
So, spying on Uchiha was the easiest task in his eyes.
Looks like he'll be able to report back to Lord Madara soon. This White Zetsu was feeling rather pleased.
Just as he was about to keep moving, a cold shiver—the sense of being secretly watched by some creature's gaze—made him stop his white body from burrowing further in the earth.
He turned his head—and almost screamed in terror.
A pair of pitch-black eyes suddenly squeezed out of the earth layer beside him, staring at him without any warning.
What the hell is that?
White Zetsu had just finished that thought when the dirt beside him began to squirm and contract, growing soft as if it were a swamp. White Zetsu felt a suffocating pressure—and then lost consciousness.
Everything happened so suddenly that this White Zetsu didn't even get a clear look at what the enemy actually was.
—When he woke up, White Zetsu found himself sitting on a stone chair, bound tightly with restraining tools from head to toe.
The place was a secret chamber. The light was dim and yellowish, barely illuminating the room.
In front of him stood a boy and a girl, both around fifteen or sixteen years old.
The girl was dressed in black, tight ninja suit, her expression cold. Just standing there radiated a powerful sense of pressure.
The boy wore a white cloak, his strange, chilling gaze roaming constantly over White Zetsu's body.
Staring at White Zetsu with those bizarre eyes, his body couldn't help but tremble.
Although he felt the girl was stronger, for some reason, the boy was far more dangerous.
The boy and girl—were Hakushi and Ruri.
"Hello there."
White Zetsu exaggeratedly tried comedic antics, hoping to thaw the icy atmosphere and relieve his own tension.
But Hakushi and Ruri paid zero attention to White Zetsu's forced, clownish act.
After the awkward silence, Hakushi turned to Ruri and said:
"We caught a live one this time. I'm going to use Spirit Transformation Jutsu to inhabit this guy's spirit world and dig out intel from within; I'll leave my body to you."
Seeing Ruri nod seriously, Hakushi immediately formed seals with both hands, closed his eyes, and his body started to glow. An ethereal human figure identical to Hakushi floated into midair.
This ethereal figure was Hakushi's soul.
With his soul out, Hakushi ignored White Zetsu's frantic thrashing and charged straight at him, merging with White Zetsu, connecting to his spiritual world.
Sitting in the stone chair, White Zetsu struggled more fiercely, cold sweat running down his face.
No matter how he struggled, he couldn't shake off Hakushi's soul possession or stop Hakushi from exploring his spirit world—it was completely useless resistance.
Wandering through White Zetsu's spirit world, Hakushi found himself in a space that was utterly blank—he couldn't help but be stunned.
Any time he'd used Spirit Transformation Jutsu to explore someone else's mind, the scenes were never like this.
There would always be some memory fragments present.
But…a spirit world devoid of everything? Does this guy have literally nothing inside his head?
How could such a strange creature exist?
"Could his memories be elsewhere, stored in some other 'object'…?"
It sounded impossible, but it seemed the only answer.
Even animals without intelligence have their own spiritual world—and theirs aren't completely blank.
So Hakushi could conclude: the memories at the root of this white creature are sealed somewhere else.
Hakushi was about to leave when, out of nowhere in the empty mindscape, a massive scarlet eye suddenly appeared.
A surge of chakra—stronger than anything Hakushi had ever felt—came crashing in.
Cold, dark.
He felt like a tiny boat in a tsunami, about to be capsized at any moment.
"Sharingan…Impossible!?"
Hakushi was first shocked out of his wits.
The gigantic scarlet eye, with its signature three black magatama, was clearly an enlarged Sharingan.
The donjutsu—its darkness and cursing aura—was even more oppressive than what Ruri brought him.
—Outside, White Zetsu suddenly began to scream, his face twisted and savage, blood vessels rupturing in his eyeballs, as if they were about to explode.
Hakushi's ethereal spirit jerked away from White Zetsu's body, returning to his own.
When he got back to his body, his face was drenched in cold sweat. He stared at the screaming White Zetsu, his face pale, frozen silent.
The screaming stopped abruptly. White Zetsu sat with his mouth stretched open, motionless, eyes rolled up to the max—dead.
"What happened?"
Ruri didn't know what Hakushi had just experienced, her voice worried as she helped him aside to sit down.
When he sat, Hakushi's fingers—resting on the armrest—trembled slightly, still rattled.
After a while, his voice dry and hoarse, he squeezed out a sentence:
"Sharingan…"
"Sharingan?"
"A Sharingan donjutsu…stronger than yours… A real monster…"
Hakushi slowly closed his eyes, as if he still hadn't recovered from the fright.
When Hakushi spoke those key words, Ruri's brow furrowed hard.
"You mean you encountered a Sharingan illusion technique in that guy's mind?"
"Yeah. Their Sharingan genjutsu was incredibly strong—I've never seen a Sharingan like that…"
Hakushi reopened his eyes, glanced at Ruri, and nodded.
His words also naturally included Ruri herself.
The opponent's grasp of Sharingan was far above Ruri's.
"I know my clan well enough. I won't claim my donjutsu is the strongest in Uchiha today, but there are absolutely no more than two pairs of Sharingan that can rival mine."
"But it's just as it seems. The person who set the Sharingan illusion technique in this guy's spiritual world—their donjutsu is far above yours."
Hakushi wasn't trying to shake Ruri's confidence, but it was simply the truth.
Ruri heard Hakushi confirm it several times, realized she was being unreasonable, and calmed herself to think.
But no matter how she thought, she couldn't figure out who in the current Uchiha Clan could possess donjutsu above her own.
"Looks like my initial guess was wrong. This level of protection isn't just Wood Style or Tailed Beast—Sharingan is involved as well. This guy's presence might not be related to the village elders at all…there's someone else behind the scenes."
Hakushi exhaled, eyes heavy with concern.
They'd have to be more careful from now on.
The Land of Rain was best marked forbidden for now—avoiding contact with Akatsuki.
He had no desire to be targeted by unknown enemies over something like this.
◎
"Lord Madara, the White Zetsu investigating the Uchiha Clan Land is missing."
Within the dim, massive cave, a White Zetsu surfaced from underground and reported to the old man sitting on a wooden chair.
"I know. The illusion technique I placed in his mind was triggered; clearly, he was caught."
The old man's gaze flickered, lost in thought.
"Will our intel be leaked?"
White Zetsu was worried.
"No. The moment the illusion was triggered, a suicide curse connected with it—the White Zetsu is already dead."
The old man replied calmly.
"As expected of Lord Madara. Pity about that White Zetsu, though."
White Zetsu chuckled, not at all grieving for the dead one.
Because their whole purpose was to serve their master's ends, nothing more.
"Pull the operatives out of Konoha. I didn't expect that after I left, such outstanding ninja would appear among the clan. We can't act rashly."
The old man's face was full of regret.
"Are we really going to abandon watching Uchiha?"
"Not abandon. When the dust settles, send White Zetsu in again. Or wait for the next Ninja Realm war—that'll be a great chance."
After all, among his clan, someone could now detect White Zetsu—even if he didn't know how. It meant he couldn't easily get all Uchiha intel, nor hand-pick his perfect 'representative.'
Seeing the old man in a bad mood, White Zetsu tactfully burrowed into the ground, vanishing from sight.