"You...!"
Black Zetsu was startled. His mind hadn't even had a chance to react. He couldn't comprehend how Tobirama had found this place? And why was he so perfectly on time?
Tobirama swung his large hand, grabbing Black Zetsu.
At the same time, he also seized the glass tube.
"Tobirama, how did you...?"
"How could I appear here? Naturally, it's all thanks to this Rinnegan!"
With one hand, Tobirama crushed the glass tube, shattering it. He also crushed the 'Rinnegan' inside.
This revealed a small fragment of bone hidden within the Rinnegan. And on that bone fragment, a Hiraishin seal was engraved!
Tobirama had relied on a hidden seal engraved on a bone fragment inside the fake Rinnegan to track and locate Black Zetsu's hiding place!
"Impossible! How could this Rinnegan be a fake? That's impossible!!!"
Black Zetsu was nearly driven mad. He even suspected he was under a Genjutsu!
Previously, when the Ninja Championship award ceremony took place, when Tobirama presented the Rinnegan in public, Black Zetsu had already infiltrated and hidden among the crowd to verify it.
He personally confirmed that the Rinnegan was the real deal!
Only after that did White Zetsu and the others truly begin to execute their subsequent series of plans.
Moreover, since the Rinnegan had been in Chiyo's hands, he had never been in contact with any Konoha ninja again. It was impossible for the item to have been swapped!
As for Sunagakure?
They wouldn't even have had the time, or the technology, to quickly fake such a realistic Rinnegan!
This fake Rinnegan—don't even mention White Zetsu—even Black Zetsu himself, at first glance, didn't notice the deception.
This shows just how realistic it was. It was even more perfect and beautiful than any replica Black Zetsu had ever created!
"Nothing is impossible. This Rinnegan is indeed a fake."
Tobirama didn't care. Or rather, everything was within his control.
He had naturally replicated this fake Rinnegan beforehand. Inside, he mixed Hashirama's cells and Uchiha Madara's blood. It could be considered a half-Rinnegan embryo.
Of course, this Rinnegan could not actually be cultivated. Even Black Zetsu himself couldn't be fooled by that.
But it was no problem to deceive the White Zetsu who had never seen a real Rinnegan.
Besides, even if White Zetsu were to carefully inspect it, there's no way he would split open the precious Rinnegan for examination. That would be equivalent to destroying the entire eye.
Therefore, as long as White Zetsu could be fooled, as long as he brought this tracking-sealed replica Rinnegan to Black Zetsu; even if Black Zetsu himself didn't show up, Tobirama would still be able to pinpoint his location!
This was the true purpose of everything Tobirama had planned so far.
This is why he followed Chiyo and the others, but never appeared; he wanted to use Chiyo's hand to deliver this fake Rinnegan into White Zetsu's hands, and then to Black Zetsu!
Even just now, he deliberately allowed the main White Zetsu to escape. If not, with his speed. Once he arrived on the scene, how could White Zetsu possibly have safely escaped?
As for the real Rinnegan? Tobirama simply used it as bait. He would absolutely not give Black Zetsu any opportunity to seize the real Rinnegan.
Otherwise, that would become an endless problem.
Moreover, if the Rinnegan were truly lost, that bastard Uchiha Madara alone would tear him to shreds!
"How did it end up in Chiyo's hands? When did you swap it?!"
Black Zetsu began to struggle, beginning to roar.
He couldn't accept a complete defeat in strategy. Especially, he couldn't accept defeat in such a confusing manner!
When did Tobirama swap the real Rinnegan?
Naturally, he managed to swap it thanks to his beloved disciple, Danzō.
Tobirama had already handed his fake Rinnegan to Danzō the night before the finals.
Therefore, when the finals ended. When Chiyo and Danzō returned to the hall to rest, there were actually three Rinnegan in their hands.
Namely: the real Rinnegan in Chiyo's hands, and two replica Rinnegan in Danzō's hands; one from White Zetsu, and one from Tobirama.
Thus, in that closed room, Danzō performed the dirty operation of a "prince substitution" twice in a row.
Consequently, the fake Rinnegan that Chiyo ultimately handed over to the attacker Uchiha Setsuna, was the one provided by White Zetsu. While the Rinnegan that Chiyo believed to be the real one, was the other replica given by Tobirama.
The real Rinnegan, the true prince, had already been swapped into Danzō's hands!
And hidden by Danzō...
So that everyone, including Chiyo herself, thought the Rinnegan in her hands was the real one. This is why she tried so hard to bring this Rinnegan back.
It couldn't be helped. If he couldn't deceive Chiyo and the others, how could he possibly deceive Black Zetsu as well?
After Danzō learned of this double-swap plan, even if he felt reluctant to deceive Chiyo, how could he dare to disobey Tobirama's orders?
After all, he also knew that doing this was most beneficial for Konoha and Sunagakure.
This was one of the true reasons why the Tobirama clone praised Danzō just now. Danzō really did exceptionally well. Without him, he wouldn't have been able to deceive Black Zetsu so smoothly!
Of course, Tobirama wouldn't tell this truth to Black Zetsu.
Tobirama didn't have the habit of explaining reasons to his enemies. He also wouldn't give his opponent the slightest chance to turn the tables!
"Die!"
A Truth-Seeking Ball began to expand, slowly devouring and destroying Black Zetsu.
"Wait, wait a minute..."
"Don't kill me!"
"I have information! I have a lot of things you want! We can negotiate..."
Black Zetsu realized Tobirama's murderous intent. He immediately began to plead, starting to offer various deals.
But Tobirama was completely uninterested in anything Black Zetsu possessed.
The only thing Tobirama was interested in was completely erasing Black Zetsu from this world!
Otherwise, its very existence was an unstable threat factor to him and to the entirety of Konoha.
Moreover, when Parallel World Tobirama 2 spoke to Parallel World Tobirama 1 about Black Zetsu earlier, he faintly heard extreme hatred and caution from his other self towards Black Zetsu.
He knew himself well.
He immediately guessed that his other, younger self must have suffered a great loss at the hands of Black Zetsu, a loss so great that he couldn't bear it.
Therefore, to avoid repeating the same mistake, and being disgraced at the hands of Black Zetsu, the best way was to kill it thoroughly and cleanly!
"Don't scream anymore. Calm down and go to hell."
"No... I should say, calm down and return to the Pure Land."
"Not really... you don't even have a soul, I don't think you can enter the Pure Land..."
"In short, you are a very cunning opponent."
"Unfortunately, you still lost to me."
Tobirama muttered to himself.
If not for the possibility that Black Zetsu would cause him another scandal, he would be very interested in this strange Yin-Yang Release creation.
Unfortunately, no matter how much interest he had, it shouldn't cause him to lose face again and be mocked by the other young Tobirama.
So, Black Zetsu must die!
Even if he one day truly needed the secret information Black Zetsu possessed, he could get it from his other, younger self.
There, Parallel World Tobirama 1 was still torturing that Black Zetsu severely.
So, this Parallel World 2 Black Zetsu on his side didn't need to be kept anymore.
"Aaaah!"
"Tobirama, I curse you!"
"May you die badly!"
"You!"
Black Zetsu, in a very pathetic roar of hatred, was completely destroyed into ashes by the Truth-Seeking Ball.
Not a single drop, not a single piece remained.
"Huuuh—!"
Tobirama took a long breath. He had finally gotten rid of this major problem.
The threat of Black Zetsu might not be very lethal, but just sending a bunch of White Zetsu to incite people, trigger rebellions, and create animosity... that was enough to cause a headache.
It was like a boil on the butt. It wouldn't kill you, but it made you unable to sit comfortably, and difficult to sleep.
Often, long-term vigilance and suffering are much more painful than a knife slash to the neck.
Therefore, after getting rid of Black Zetsu, Tobirama felt much more relieved.
As for the lantern-like White Zetsu next to him, it was also killed by Tobirama in a single swing.
And the remaining ordinary White Zetsu that escaped, without the control and command of Black Zetsu, would not be a major threat. They just needed to send people to hunt them down slowly later.
This could also provide more training opportunities for the new generation of ninja in the future.
With that, Tobirama looked around one last time and activated his sensory ability. After ensuring nothing was missed, he activated the Hiraishin no Jutsu again and immediately left the cave.
This was just a secret cave temporarily sought out by Black Zetsu to facilitate its actions. There was nothing special about it.
◆━⊰✧⊱━◆
On the other side.
Koharu and several others, after clearing the battlefield.
They carried the unconscious Chiyo, and the Sunagakure ninja Tsuchigi, back towards Konoha.
"You guys had been targeting us from the start?"
Tsuchigi was carried by Homura. His jaw had been reset, and he could speak.
He could see it.
This squad of a dozen Konoha Anbu was very elite. They were all Jōnin, and led by Tobirama's disciples.
A formation like this was clearly not for a regular surveillance and tracking mission.
It could only mean that Konoha was still after them, as if they knew the real Rinnegan was in their hands.
"Don't know. Don't ask."
"Did the Second Hokage follow us all this time too?"
"Don't know. Don't ask."
"What are you going to do to Kazekage-sama?"
"If you ask again, I'll throw you down!"
Homura's mouth was very tight. He didn't have the habit of chatting and leaking secrets to Sunagakure ninjas.
If Sunagakure were swallowed by Konoha in the future, he wouldn't mind chatting with the opponent. But right now, Homura didn't have time for that.
He just wanted to complete this mission quickly and then train hard on the moon.
He was already far behind Danzō and the others. He had to work hard!
It couldn't be helped. They were all in the same team, Tobirama's disciples.
Hiruzen was already motivated, Kagami was already motivated, even Danzō was also motivated; he couldn't not be motivated. He had to fight!
Otherwise, he would be ashamed to say they came from the same team.
"Fine, I won't ask anymore. It's just that Kazekage-sama..."
"Koharu is a medical ninja. With her tending to him, the Kazekage won't die. If he dies, someone will blame us..."
"Who?"
"Asking again?"
"No, no, no. I'm quiet!"
The journey home felt relaxed. They didn't need to rush anymore.
But, they hadn't walked for more than a few minutes.
They heard the familiar sound of air tearing again.
Tobirama returned instantly. He used the Hiraishin seal left on Homura's body and appeared directly in the middle of the team.
"Sensei!"
"Second Hokage?"
Tobirama nodded: "The enemy leader has been killed by me. After this, you don't have to worry about any more attacks."
"Hooray! The Second Hokage is great!"
"Sensei, what about Tanaka?"
"Danzō is fine. Uzumaki Ryuji brought him back to the village." After the matter subsided, Tobirama naturally no longer concealed Danzō's identity.
"Thank goodness!"
"Wait, you guys knew Tanaka was Danzō? Then..."
The Sunagakure ninja Tsuchigi was stunned. His heart became even more shocked.
Why were the Konoha side not surprised at all after knowing Tanaka was Danzō? Did they already know for a long time?
In that case...
Tobirama didn't have time to explain to a regular Sunagakure ninja. He continued his orders:
"You continue to bring the Jinchūriki back. Don't pass through the main gate. Send the Jinchūriki secretly directly to Laboratory No. 2."
"Understood."
"Also, give Chiyo to me. I will take her back to the village first. Tonight's action, we still need a living Kazekage to restore the village's reputation."
Tobirama pointed at the unconscious Chiyo, who was being carried by Koharu.
He signaled that Chiyo should be taken back by him first; first, so she could receive more stable treatment. Second, to put an end to tonight's riot.
Tobirama did not forget Danzō's sincere plea last night for him to spare Chiyo.
Having promised his disciple, he certainly wouldn't break his word.
Besides, looking at it from another side.
If the current Kazekage died tragically on the way home after winning the Ninja Championship, it would be an inappropriate thing.
Although it wouldn't affect the great trend of Konoha uniting the world, it would definitely reduce prestige and affect the scale and income of the future Ninpo-kai (Ninja World Summit).
Tobirama didn't like to do business that resulted in a loss.
Even for the sake of his beloved disciple's hard work, Tobirama wouldn't be so cruel as to directly kill Chiyo.
"Alright."
Koharu handed the unconscious Chiyo to Tobirama.
Tobirama took Chiyo with one hand, but as he lifted her, he immediately felt that something was wrong!
The weight wasn't right!
Tobirama, who had been involved in research for a long time, was very familiar with the structure and density of the human body. The basic weight and structure of a ninja's body, both male and female, weren't different.
But the Chiyo he was holding right now weighed far below the normal human limit.
Unless, this wasn't human at all!
Tobirama's eyes sharpened. Under the horrified gaze of several people, he immediately drew his samurai sword and stabbed the abdomen of the Chiyo in his hands!
"Kazekage-sama!"
"Sensei?"
"Second Hokage, this..."
Tobirama ignored the horror of the others. He was still staring at the 'Chiyo' in his hands.
'Chiyo' did struggle violently and slowly transformed into a White Zetsu, revealing its true form.
Clearly, this Chiyo was also a White Zetsu disguise!
This scene not only shocked Tobirama but also stunned everyone around him.
Especially Tsuchigi, whose worldview and sanity were almost destroyed.
Their own Kazekage was an enemy in disguise?
How was that possible?
If this was true, then what else was real in this world?
"Sensei, how did this person, how did he become Kazekage-sama?"
"No need to worry too much. He must have been swapped midway."
"Swapped? When? The enemy showed no mercy when ganging up on this Kazekage just now!"
"I guess he might have been swapped then."
Tobirama recalled the white steam fog released by the Five-Tails Jinchūriki as it fled, which obscured the surrounding vision.
Most likely, utilizing that opportunity, White Zetsu kidnapped the real Chiyo and left a decoy to replace her.
How cunning and malicious!
"But why did the enemy kidnap the Kazekage? Didn't she already hand over the Rinnegan? Shouldn't she be worthless now?"
Homura frowned in confusion. He completely didn't understand what the enemy actually wanted to do.
But his question woke Tobirama up and made him consider a worse situation.
"Not good, we have a problem!"
Tobirama crushed the White Zetsu in his hand to death, then immediately activated the Hiraishin no Jutsu. He rushed back towards Konoha.