Night deepened.
A new shift of shinobi replaced the previous guards along Kumogakure's perimeter. Above, the night sky was filled with countless stars, merging like rivers into a vast ocean of starlight. The mountain winds howled through the valleys, carrying with them a biting chill.
The time for action drew near. Ye Zi slowly opened his eyes, tilting his head slightly upward to gaze at the vast, star-filled sky.
The brilliant starlight reflected in his pitch-black eyes, revealing nothing but tranquility, only calmness remained.
White Zetsu, who did not require rest, immediately noticed when Ye Zi opened his eyes.
"It's about time, isn't it?" White Zetsu turned his head, looking at Ye Zi's composed profile.
Ye Zi said nothing, simply continuing to gaze at the stars in the night sky, lost in thought.
Seeing his silence, White Zetsu curled his lips and also fell quiet.
As one of the few who knew the truth, he was curious about Ye Zi's feelings as the plan neared its final stage. However, such a question was not something he dared to ask.
The mountain winds roared past their ears, stinging their faces like needles.
Black Zetsu rarely spoke and had little presence. To both White Zetsu and Ye Zi, he was merely an extension of Madara's will. Yet, Ye Zi had never relied on Black Zetsu throughout his journey, nor had he ever valued him much.
Compared to Black Zetsu, White Zetsu had been far more useful.
Still, Black Zetsu was like an insignificant shadow, yet one with the most terrifying goal.
His eyes had always been locked onto the unfolding script. After waiting for countless years, this moment was perhaps the closest he had ever been to success.
If Ye Zi felt excitement as the plan neared its climax, then Black Zetsu's emotions would be even more intense.
After waiting a thousand years, everything had led to this, the return of the Mother to this world.
Compared to his millennia of patience, what did a mere human's ambitions even matter?
"You cannot fail." The capture mission was about to begin, and Black Zetsu silently reaffirmed his thoughts.
Everyone believed that Ye Zi's solo mission, capturing both the Two-Tails and the Eight-Tails Jinchūriki, was an incredibly difficult task. Black Zetsu shared this view.
If Ye Zi were to fall here, it would not be an acceptable outcome. As a key piece in moving the script forward, even if he were to fall, it could only happen after laying the groundwork for the final act.
Neither Ye Zi nor White Zetsu knew what Black Zetsu was thinking. Both remained fixated on the endless stars.
An hour passed. Suddenly, Ye Zi stood up, it was time.
Tonight, the sky was filled with stars, and the moon, nearly full, shone even brighter than them. With barely any clouds in the sky, the light illuminated the world below. Calling it "as bright as day" would be an exaggeration, but darkness was certainly scarce.
Even an ordinary person could see far into the distance, the landscape clear and unobstructed.
"Are we starting?" White Zetsu stood up as well upon seeing Ye Zi rise.
Ye Zi gave a slight nod and looked toward Kumogakure. Just five or six hours ago, there had been many lights visible from the village, but now, nearly all had gone dark.
Closing his eyes, Ye Zi sank his consciousness into his sealed space, coming face to face with Shokui.
"There might be a tough battle ahead. I'm just letting you know," Ye Zi said as he looked at the caged entity.
"Tch." Shokui snorted coldly, his reaction indifferent. Trapped within Ye Zi's body, he was not entirely unaware of the outside world and naturally understood the mission Ye Zi was about to undertake.
"Then let's begin." Ye Zi, unfazed by Shokui's irritation, remained calm as his form slowly faded from the sealed space.
Ye Zi opened his eyes once more, and his pitch-black pupils had turned into cold, serpentine slits. Around his eyes, eerie purple markings had appeared, Sage Mode was active.
"Let's go."
Leaving behind just that single word in the howling mountain wind, his body sank into the rocky ground, vanishing as he headed toward Kumogakure.
"Oho, this is going to be a good show." White Zetsu grinned.
At that moment, Black Zetsu spoke coldly. "Enough nonsense. Keep up."
White Zetsu shrugged before merging into the ground, following closely behind Ye Zi.
Even in times of peace, Kumogakure's defensive perimeter remained as tight as if they were still at war. From the sky, the defenses formed a near-perfect circle, enclosing the entire village.
Setting up such an airtight security network in the mountainous terrain of the Land of Lightning was an incredibly difficult task, but Kumogakure had achieved it.
This showcased not only the village's deep military foundations but also its strict and disciplined nature. Such a defense was practically impenetrable for any intruder.
Unfortunately for them… even the most formidable defenses were meaningless against the two greatest infiltrators in the entire shinobi world.
Crossing Kumogakure's defensive perimeter, Ye Zi headed straight for the village.
At night silence blanketed everything.
A few scattered lights flickered within Kumogakure, but as the night deepened, most of the villagers had already gone to sleep.
Following the intelligence provided by White Zetsu, Ye Zi carefully avoided the patrolling guards and slowly approached the residence of the Two-Tails Jinchūriki.
Despite having such a heavily fortified defensive perimeter outside the village, the internal security was just as strict. It gave the impression that Kumogakure was paranoid about being attacked.
Weaving past squads of Kumogakure shinobi, Ye Zi silently arrived at the residence of the Two-Tails Jinchūriki.
Yugito Nii, the host of the Two-Tails, was one of Kumogakure's strongest assets. Like Killer Bee, the host of the Eight-Tails, she could completely transform into her tailed beast and maintain full control over it. She was not only a perfect Jinchūriki but also an exceptional kunoichi.
Because of this, her residence had no hidden guards stationed nearby. However, Kumogakure was far more protective of their Jinchūriki than other villages. Unlike other Jinchūriki who were often sent on missions, both Yugito and Killer Bee were rarely allowed to leave the village, especially Bee, who was practically imprisoned in Cloud Lightning Gorge to keep him under control.
"This is the place."
Ye Zi silently observed the house before him.
Thanks to White Zetsu's carefully gathered intelligence, infiltrating and locating his target had been effortless.
Now came the difficult part, knocking her out and taking her away without causing any commotion. It would have been far easier to simply slit her throat, but that wasn't an option.
Still, Ye Zi was confident he could pull it off.
However, no matter how perfect a plan seemed, reality was often cruel.
The moment Ye Zi entered the room, before he could even make a move, Yugito suddenly shot up from her bed.
She was dressed only in thin sleepwear, her curvaceous figure clearly outlined in the dim light, but Ye Zi had no time to focus on such details.
For a split second, he was caught off guard, how was her awareness this sharp?!
What he didn't know was that Nii Yugito shared an exceptionally close bond with the Two-Tails, Matatabi.
Killer Bee had once remarked that Yugito's relationship with Matatabi was even better than his own with Gyūki.
The moment Ye Zi materialized inside the room, Matatabi immediately sensed him and alerted Yugito, allowing her to wake up in time.
Thus, Ye Zi's entire plan to silently knock her out and take her away was instantly ruined.
And with this one misstep, the entire operation was now in jeopardy.
Without bothering to ask foolish questions like "Who are you?", Yugito instantly activated her Tailed Beast Cloak the moment she woke up.
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Currently on Chapter 549 - The Day Konoha Fell