It was indeed quite unreasonable.
Not to mention the significant difference in difficulty between the two missions, even the distribution of personnel seemed problematic.
Sasori pointed out this issue, but he was unaware that this arrangement had been proposed by the person involved.
Ye Zi glanced at him and said indifferently, "It's reasonable. Let's go with it."
Since the person in question had spoken, Sasori paused for a moment before withdrawing his gaze and saying nothing more.
With that, the Illusionary Projection Technique was dispelled.
The core members, who were stationed in various locations, all began making their way toward the Land of Rain.
They had to gather before six o'clock in the evening, after which they would depart immediately. The time was extremely tight.
...
Takigakure Base
Ye Zi and Shin had already prepared themselves. Once the Illusionary Projection Technique ended, they left the base for the Land of Rain, leaving behind only the dissatisfied words of others.
...
Amegakure, Tower Room
Nagato slowly opened his eyes, looked at Konan beside him, and said, "You should start preparing."
Konan responded with a soft "Mm" before leaving to make some simple preparations, then waited for the others to gather in Amegakure.
In the great hall, only Nagato remained.
"It's almost time."
He gazed at the vast, empty hall and murmured softly.
It's almost time…
On the way to the Land of Rain, Ye Zi had similar thoughts.
That afternoon, Ye Zi and Shin arrived in Amegakure. At that time, none of the other members had arrived yet, except for White Zetsu.
Soon, they arrived one after another, and before six o'clock, everyone had gathered.
Unlike the others, who all wore the Akatsuki's signature black cloak with red clouds, Ye Zi alone was dressed in a plain black outfit.
"Ye Zi, I'm looking forward to the good news you'll bring," Kakuzu remarked as he looked at him.
Ye Zi didn't respond and simply stood in the rain, quietly staring ahead.
"Let's go," Konan said after scanning the assembled members.
"You'd better not fail," Ye Zi left these words behind before dashing off into the distance. White Zetsu chuckled before merging into the ground and vanishing.
"That's what we should be saying," Kakuzu said helplessly as he watched Ye Zi's retreating figure. Who knew where his confidence came from?
Konan watched Ye Zi's silhouette disappear into the rain before saying indifferently, "Let's head out too."
With that, she led her team toward another direction.
Their target was the Mizukage and the Six-Tails Jinchūriki in Kirigakure. While this mission was considered less difficult, traveling to Kirigakure required crossing the sea, meaning much of their time would be spent on the journey.
Kisame, Jūzō, Sasori, Shin, and Kakuzu followed Konan. The six of them set off toward the Land of Water.
....
The Next Day – Land of Lightning
After a day of travel, Ye Zi and White Zetsu arrived in the Land of Lightning.
The country's terrain was dominated by mountains, but thanks to Ye Zi and White Zetsu's Mayfly Technique, they could ignore the rugged landscape and maintain a fast pace.
After half a day's travel, the two arrived at a mountain peak just outside the perimeter of Kumogakure's defensive line.
Over the past year, White Zetsu had gathered intelligence on Kumogakure, including the positions of their defensive lines, providing Ye Zi with the means to infiltrate.
The mountain they were on was just one of many in the region, seemingly unremarkable. Ten kilometers to the north lay Cloud Lightning Gorge, where the Eight-Tails resided.
"Do you have a plan?" White Zetsu asked.
Just a kilometer ahead, the entire area was within Kumogakure's defensive perimeter, heavily guarded by numerous shinobi.
"We wait until nightfall, then infiltrate the village to take out the Two-Tails' Jinchūriki first, and then head straight to Cloud Lightning Gorge," Ye Zi said as he gazed at the silhouette of Kumogakure in the distance.
"That's it? That simple?" White Zetsu was momentarily stunned.
Ye Zi glanced at him and replied, "What else?"
White Zetsu shrugged, looked up at the sky, and seeing that it was still early, said, "Then we wait until midnight."
Saying this, he leaned against a protruding rock and got comfortable.
Ye Zi stood facing the wind for a while before finding a sheltered rock to sit against, closing his eyes in a light rest.
Once night fell, he would infiltrate Kumogakure and begin the mission. If everything went smoothly, they would complete it by tomorrow. With that, they would be just one step away from the final phase of their plan.
The Nine-Tails… Kushina Uzumaki.
Even if capturing all the tailed beasts wasn't enough to accomplish his goal, he wouldn't know unless he tried.
Regardless of the outcome, the plan had to continue. Kushina's fate was sealed, once the Nine-Tails was extracted... she would die.
That was an unavoidable step in the process.
Thinking of the Nine-Tails inevitably led to thoughts of Kushina. And once he thought of Kushina, past memories surfaced.
However, Ye Zi no longer hesitated or wavered.
There was only one path forward, to see it through to the very end.
Every effort made so far… how could he stop now?
As time passed, second by second, the sky slowly darkened.
As night approached, White Zetsu suddenly spoke, "If this infiltration goes as smoothly as your last one at the Uchiha compound, then there's no problem. But if you cause too much commotion, when it comes time to capture the Eight-Tails, you might have to face the full military force of Kumogakure."
Ye Zi's tightly shut eyes opened slightly as he replied indifferently, "And then?"
"Are you confident you can capture the Eight-Tails Jinchūriki right under the eyes of all of Kumogakure's forces?" White Zetsu's gaze flickered slightly, as if he were deep in thought.
"I'm not entirely confident," Ye Zi admitted.
"If you fail, the next attempt won't be as easy," White Zetsu warned.
Ye Zi responded calmly, "That's why I won't fail."
It wasn't that he couldn't fail, it was that he wouldn't fail.
Even without absolute certainty, he could still say such words. It wasn't blind confidence but rather a mindset of absolute refusal to accept failure.
White Zetsu was silent for a moment before suggesting, "You could use the Edo Tensei technique. At the very least, it would help mitigate the risks."
"Unnecessary," Ye Zi replied coldly.
If Orochimaru were here, he would have him manipulate Edo Tensei bodies to hold off the Kumogakure forces while Ye Zi went alone to capture the Eight-Tails Jinchūriki.
Moreover, the Edo Tensei army was one of his trump cards, one he would not easily reveal unless it was absolutely necessary. Even during the previous invasion of Konoha, he had only exposed a small fraction of his power intentionally.
And though he didn't have absolute confidence, Ye Zi still firmly believed that he could accomplish this mission.
Seeing Ye Zi reject his suggestion, White Zetsu said nothing more. He simply leaned against the rock quietly.
From the moment of his birth, he had been like a rootless weed drifting aimlessly. Though he had his own consciousness, he had never understood the true meaning of his existence.
From the very moment he came into being, he was destined to be someone who could only follow orders. Perhaps that was the meaning of his existence.
Before, it was Madara. Now, it was Ye Zi. But in the end, Madara's orders still took precedence.
If Ye Zi was someone who operated from the shadows, then White Zetsu was hidden even deeper than him. And further back in the chain was Madara.
He knew the whole truth. He understood that from the moment he had saved Ye Zi, the boy had already become a chess piece in Madara's hands.
As both an assistant and an observer, White Zetsu had been following Madara's orders for a long time, watching Ye Zi's journey from the shadows. Once the plan was set into motion, his role expanded from an observer to an assistant.
At some point, however, he had become genuinely interested in the future that Ye Zi was striving to create.
Perhaps, this was the closest thing he had found to a purpose. Not just blindly following orders, but something he wanted to see for himself.
Because he knew Ye Zi's fate was ultimately doomed to failure. But he was curious, would something unexpected happen along the way? That was his own personal thought.
A story with a predetermined ending… wasn't interesting at all.
The mountain winds blew, white clouds drifted, and wisps of mist passed before White Zetsu's eyes.
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Currently on Chapter 548 - A Wave of Despair