Chapter 571 White Zetsu Appears, Terrifying War Potential

Late at night, as White Zetsu leisurely returned to his unit after delivering the intelligence, he suddenly noticed that Muzuki and Minato Namikaze had not yet gone to sleep and were walking towards him.

“Yo, Lord Mu Yue, Lord Minato, you haven’t slept either?” White Zetsu greeted them without a hint of panic.

White Zetsu didn’t think he had been exposed; his Impersonation Technique could even mimic Chakra.

He was almost a perfect copy of Hinata, just with different thoughts.

“Zhou Tian Sealing!”

Muzuki smiled as he placed his hand on White Zetsu’s shoulder and cast the Sealing Technique.

“Lord Mu Yue, what are you doing? I’m from the Hyuga Clan…”

White Zetsu initially didn’t know what Muzuki intended, but then he suddenly felt a restraining force invade his body. His expression instantly changed, and he unleashed Chakra, trying to resist.

Bang!

Minato Namikaze, who was nearby, struck swiftly and powerfully at White Zetsu’s body. A punch imbued with a large amount of Chakra directly forced White Zetsu to reveal his true form.

As White Zetsu was unable to resist, Muzuki’s Sealing Technique was completed, and White Zetsu could no longer mobilize the Chakra within his body.

“What kind of creature is this?” Minato Namikaze frowned as he looked at White Zetsu, who looked remarkably similar to a human but was entirely pure white.

After confirming that Hinata had delivered the intelligence, they first dealt with the other two spies.

Unexpectedly, they discovered that the spies they believed had betrayed Konoha were not even human; they seemed to be the result of biological experiments.

“Perhaps it’s a product developed by Iwagakure for the war,” Muzuki replied casually.

Saying it was a product developed for war wasn’t wrong, but it wasn’t Iwagakure, nor even Madara Uchiha; it was Ōtsutsuki Kaguya.

Minato Namikaze nodded in agreement.

White Zetsu’s strange appearance, coupled with the almost identical individuals, these two characteristics were enough to confirm them as products of a biological laboratory. It couldn’t possibly be albino triplets, could it?

“Judging by the current situation, they probably can’t be mass-produced, otherwise, it would be too terrifying,” Minato Namikaze imagined a large number of White Zetsu disguising themselves for assassination and couldn’t help but shake his head.

Before Muzuki arrived, just a few White Zetsu had caused a thousand-man Ninja unit quite a bit of trouble.

If there were hundreds of White Zetsu, the morale of the Konoha Ninja Force would probably collapse. If one-tenth of the Ninja might be spy assassins, who could withstand that?

If there were too many White Zetsu, even with Muzuki, it would be difficult to handle.

If Muzuki was on the battlefield, White Zetsu could target Konoha’s rear. If Muzuki was in Konoha, White Zetsu could target the units on the battlefield.

Minato Namikaze got a headache just thinking about it. What kind of heaven-defying biological product was this? It was practically born for war.

“That should be the case, otherwise, with such useful spies, Iwagakure would definitely try to embed more of them,” Muzuki nodded.

White Zetsu could indeed be mass-produced, but the current Madara Uchiha should not have that capability, as he was already an old man on the verge of death.

At this stage, Madara Uchiha was in a state where if he was left alone, he would quickly die on his own.

After imprisoning the three White Zetsu together and leaving two Ninja to guard them, the remaining Ninja, under the command of Jiraiya and Muzuki, swiftly headed towards the designated resting and gathering point.

Jiraiya and the others really wanted to interrogate White Zetsu, but time waited for no one.

They had no spies within the Iwa Ninja Force and were unsure what actions Iwagakure would take.

Would they immediately advance towards the resting and gathering point after their meeting, or would they wait until daytime to act, or would they play it safe and maintain the status quo?

The only thing Jiraiya and his team could do was to prepare everything as best as possible and then respond to all changes with no change.

As long as they arrived at the gathering and resting point first, even if they couldn’t ambush the Iwagakure Ninja Force, Jiraiya’s unit could still rendezvous normally with the support unit.

The support unit had already arrived at the gathering and resting point in advance under Muzuki’s instructions to set up traps.

It would naturally be good to ambush the Iwagakure Ninja Force, but even if the Iwa Ninja Force didn’t fall for the trap, Jiraiya and Muzuki’s combined forces could still proceed with the war normally.

Anyway, with Muzuki’s ability to sense malice, no more spies would infiltrate, and proceeding with the war normally, without even mentioning defeating Iwagakure, defending the border would not be difficult, and it would certainly meet the expectations of Konoha’s higher-ups.

Under full-speed march, the support unit and the Konoha Land of Grass unit successfully converged.

At this point, Muzuki still couldn’t sense any Iwagakure Ninja within his Perception range.

Muzuki and Jiraiya checked the traps and made various ambush arrangements.

Generally speaking, ambushing a Ninja unit is very difficult unless the plan is exceptionally well-executed or the enemy Ninja unit lacks a sensory Ninja.

Muzuki and their plan this time wasn’t exceptionally brilliant; it merely exploited the information gap.

However, for the current Konoha, there was another option: fully utilizing the advantage of their sensory Ninja!

Sensory Ninja of different levels have different ranges of perception, and Muzuki, Minato Namikaze, and Hyuga Hizashi from Muzuki’s unit were all top-tier in terms of sensory range.

The regular units retreated to a distance beyond the perception of ordinary sensory Ninja and then hid. Then, Muzuki and the others dispersed to several locations to form a sensory net. As soon as the Iwa Ninja Force approached, they would be instantly discovered.

Thus, as dawn broke, Muzuki and his team sensed the approaching Iwagakure Ninja Force.

Minato Namikaze used the Flying Thunder God Technique to transfer to Hyuga Hizashi’s side and take him away.

Muzuki, meanwhile, left a Shadow Clone disguised as a stone in the forest at the resting point to gather intelligence.

A Shadow Clone couldn’t sustain the Chakra of a transformation Jutsu, but transforming into something that didn’t consume Chakra was no problem.

Finally, Muzuki’s Shadow Clone, sensing that the Iwagakure Ninja Force had relaxed, dispelled itself, allowing its memories to flow back.

Muzuki, having received the memories, wasted no time. After ordering the unit to attack, he led some Jonin, while Minato Namikaze led Jiraiya and his teammates. Both of them simultaneously used the Flying Thunder God Technique to teleport into the resting point.

Boom!

Muzuki and Minato Namikaze channeled their Chakra to detonate the pre-arranged explosive tag traps. The resting point instantly exploded repeatedly, throwing the Iwagakure Ninja Force into chaos.

They had come to ambush the Konoha Ninja, but somehow ended up being ambushed themselves. They were bombarded without even seeing a single person. In such a situation, even Ninja found it difficult to remain calm.

Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!

Minato Namikaze pulled out ten Flying Thunder God Kunai from his Ninja pouch and shot them in all directions. Every time one passed an Iwagakure Ninja, a yellow flash would occur, taking the life of an Iwagakure Ninja.

“Fire Release: Fire Dragon Flame Bullet!”

Jiraiya did not summon his toads for help. He quickly formed hand signs and unleashed a torrent of flames towards the Iwagakure Ninja in front of him.

Their unit was still struggling to rush over, and the area was full of Iwagakure Ninja. Summoning large toads would only invite trouble, and summoning Fukasaku was too early, so Jiraiya simply didn’t use the Summoning Technique and chose to attack with his own Ninjutsu.

“Fire Release: Great Fire Annihilation!”

Facing the numerous Iwagakure Ninja, Muzuki made a similar choice to Jiraiya, using a large-scale, high-damaging Fire Release.

Whoosh, whoosh!

Large sheets of flames were spewed out by Muzuki, and an intense, fiery red sea of fire rapidly formed around him, its range far exceeding Jiraiya’s Fire Release: Fire Dragon Flame Bullet.

“Water Release: Water Formation Wall!”

Some Iwagakure Ninja who had mastered Water Release tried to use it to block Muzuki’s flames.

But even the Fire Release: Great Fire Annihilation, which Muzuki used with restrained power, was not something just any Iwagakure Ninja could block.

The water streams spewed by the Iwagakure Ninja were rapidly evaporated, and Ninja touched by the sea of fire turned to ash under the scorching heat of the flames.

The Iwagakure Ninja near the sea of fire all looked horrified, desperately using their various means to try and block it, but most of their resistance was futile.

“This Fire Release…” Jiraiya was a bit surprised.

In terms of Fire Release power alone, Fire Release: Great Fire Annihilation wasn’t enough to surprise Jiraiya; he had many powerful Fire Release techniques himself.

The main thing was that Fire Release: Great Fire Annihilation was a high-level Fire Release of the Uchiha Clan.

Jiraiya quickly dismissed it. It was just a Fire Release, not a secret technique. If Muzuki wanted it, whether from the Uchiha or from Hiruzen Sarutobi, there was a high probability he could obtain it.

“Cunning, damnable Konoha Ninja!” Iwakura’s face darkened.

“Water Release: Great Waterfall Technique!”

Roshi saw this and quickly formed hand signs, spewing out a massive amount of water to counteract the flames.

Although Roshi’s Water Release level was average, with the enhancement of Tailed Beast Chakra, his Great Waterfall Technique was quite impressive. While it didn’t completely extinguish the flames, it did save many Iwagakure Ninja.

“No wonder we keep losing battles. With a bunch of good-for-nothings like you in command, it would be strange if we didn’t lose,” Roshi said with a dark expression, having almost been caught by the explosive tag trap.

At the war council, they mocked Jiraiya’s lack of strategy and Hayate Mugetsu’s foolishness, acting all high and mighty as if Konoha had already ceded territory and paid reparations.

Yet, in reality, they had been forced to march for several hours in the middle of the night without sleep, and just when they were about to rest, they were stunned by explosive tags.

Iwakura heard him but pretended not to, ordering the Iwa Explosion Corps Ninja near him to gather around him.

A Jinchuriki held a special status, and a Jinchuriki like Roshi, who could fully transform into a Tailed Beast, was even more special. Even Ōnoki, the Tsuchikage, was dared to be confronted by Roshi, let alone him, the vice-captain of the Iwa Explosion Corps.

“Quick, spread out! Their numbers are very small!” Iwakura quickly ordered.

He had been observing the situation. It seemed like the entire resting point was in chaos, but in reality, most of it was due to the traps activating. The actual Konoha Ninja who had attacked were not even in double digits.

If they didn’t spread out a bit, they, the Iwagakure, wouldn’t be able to use Ninjutsu attacks effectively. One careless move and they might take out their own teammates.

There were nearly two thousand Iwagakure Ninja here.

Iwakura directed while retreating towards the rear.

Although not many Konoha Ninja had appeared yet, based on their recent performance, the so-called intelligence was a trap set by Konoha.

It was possible that the Konoha Land of Grass Ninja Force had already linked up with Konoha’s support unit, and there was a Ninja unit around them whose numbers were not much different from their own.

As soon as he thought of this, Iwakura felt the urge to retreat.

It was true that they had more numbers, but now that traps had killed some, and considering their night march, a significant portion of their Ninja were not in top condition. They might not necessarily win against Konoha in a fight.

“We’ve fallen into Konoha’s trap! Retreat quickly!” Iwakura shouted loudly.

Originally, he had wanted to fight for a while before giving the order, as retreating just because a few Konoha Ninja appeared might make him seem too cowardly in the future.

But Iwakura was also worried that a delayed retreat would lead to problems, causing Iwagakure to lose a large number of active forces.

Compared to the latter, losing a bit of face was undoubtedly a minor matter.

“Minato, transfer me to a different location,” Jiraiya immediately said, seeing the Iwa Ninja Force attempting to retreat.

Their Ninja unit was still on its way; they couldn’t let the Iwa Ninja Force escape.

Minato Namikaze understood, grabbed Jiraiya’s shoulder, and used the Flying Thunder God Technique to transfer to the direction of the Iwagakure Ninja’s retreat.

They had already made preparations for this; both Muzuki and Minato Namikaze had buried many Flying Thunder God Kunai around the area.

“Summoning Technique!”

Bang!

White smoke billowed, and two enormous toads descended from the sky, crashing into the Iwa Ninja Force.

“The intensity of recent battles is a bit high,” Gamabunta complained as he looked at the thousands of Iwagakure Ninja around him.

It was either holding back a Jinchuriki or facing a thousand-man brawl.

Gamaken silently raised his shield in front of him; some Iwagakure Ninja had already started attacking.

“Sorry, you two will have to bear with it for a bit,” Jiraiya said, feeling a little embarrassed.

Although in this kind of situation, the larger the body, the harder it would be beaten, he currently had no better way to keep the enemies from escaping.

“Earth Release: Rock Iron Cannon Technique!”

Without anyone needing to give orders, the Iwagakure Ninja silently used the Iwagakure Ninja Force’s legion Ninjutsu.

In moments, a large number of cannonball-like stones were hurled towards Gamabunta and Gamaken.

“Water Release: Teppoudama!”

Gamabunta retaliated without showing weakness, spitting out Sage Art Water Release.

His Sage Art Water Release was not weak, destroying all the stones it touched, but there were too many Iwagakure Ninja here, and too many attacks were coming.

The firepower was too fierce; even Gamabunta, with his tough hide and Chakra defense, suffered many injuries.

Gamaken was slightly better off because he had a shield, but his shield couldn’t cover his entire body, so he also got injured.

With their strength, trying to block a Ninja unit of a thousand people was truly a bit of a stretch.

“Those persistent, dead toads,” Roshi frowned.

There were too many Iwagakure Ninja around. Not to mention using a Tailed Beast Ball, he couldn’t even easily perform a full Tailed Beast transformation, otherwise, stepping on an Iwagakure Ninja with one jump wouldn’t be good.

“Roshi, you take care of the toad with the shield, and I’ll handle the other one. Let’s resolve them as quickly as possible,” Roshi said quickly, condensing Lava Release Chakra.

Although he was furious, Roshi’s mind wasn’t clouded by anger. In a situation where they had fallen into a trap, retreating was definitely the best option, and the faster the retreat, the better.

God knew what other pitfalls that intelligence contained. For example, was Konoha’s support unit really a thousand strong? Could there be more?

Roshi nodded, and his condensed Tailed Beast Chakra erupted, enveloping his entire body in dark red Tailed Beast Chakra, preparing to knock out Gamaken with his most skilled technique, a single punch.

But just as Roshi entered his Lava Release Chakra Mode and was about to charge towards Gamabunta, a sudden sense of danger struck him, and he quickly halted his steps.

The next moment, a water spear pierced the ground in front of him.