In Kikyo Castle, the news that "Nameless" could perceive White Zetsu's presence was swiftly conveyed to the main body.
At this moment, the main body of White Zetsu, along with Black Zetsu clinging to him, was departing from the Uchiha clan territory. Their next destination was the Hagoromo clan. No one knew why the main bodies of Black and White Zetsu continued to linger in this area after the minor conflict between the two clans had ended and the mass of White Zetsu clones had withdrawn from the Uchiha grounds. However, one thing was certain: with this duo personally paying a visit, their intentions were far from benevolent.
"What should we do? That Nameless one can detect us. This is something that has never happened before. At least within the confines of Kikyo Castle, she will make it impossible for us to move freely... The great goal has not yet been achieved; we cannot afford the risk of exposure," the main body of White Zetsu said.
Black Zetsu was the brain, while the White Zetsus were merely the limbs. The main body of White Zetsu was, at best, a glorified transport vessel, so in times like these, the decisions fell to Black Zetsu.
"This situation is indeed unprecedented, however..." Black Zetsu mused. "That Nameless one is truly a ninja with potential. I didn't expect that even after losing her Sharingan, she could still cause us such trouble."
Black Zetsu had not anticipated such a flaw emerging during the initial stages of their grand plan.
"We must find a way to eliminate her."
He made a very standard decision, but the problem lay in the execution.
"How exactly should we proceed? Even without her Sharingan, she is a formidable shinobi. Without the element of surprise for an assassination, it is impossible for us to eliminate her with our own power alone."
The main body of White Zetsu was very self-aware. The reason their physically weak collective had survived since the era of Kaguya was precisely because they remained cautiously hidden in the shadows, never operating in the open. Occasional assassinations were feasible, but a frontal assault against a shinobi? That was out of the question.
"Let me think. According to the reports from the White Zetsu that arrived at Kikyo Castle earlier, although Nameless can vaguely sense our existence, her sensory range appears to be quite limited..." Black Zetsu analyzed. "As long as we are careful with our surveillance positions and do not step into her sensory range, we can actually ignore her for the time being. Yes, we must not put the cart before the horse. Once the plan is implemented, she will naturally find it difficult to survive on the battlefield."
Black Zetsu was not foolish; he could not force a move against Ran. More importantly, he suddenly realized that compared to his grand design, Ran's existence was merely a trivial detail. He could not allow her to interfere with the overall plan. Before the plan began, he would pay her no mind; after the plan began, there would be no need to pay her any mind at all.
"That ninja organization at Kikyo Castle is currently clearing out the surrounding forces, correct? Look, even they are silently cooperating with our actions."
"Yes, among the shinobi forces in remote areas, they are considered to be the capable ones."
"Excellent. Wait until they deal with the Takenaka clan to the northeast and the forces of the Takahashi Daimyo behind them. Then, bypass Nameless's sensory range and assassinate the leader of that organization."
Truly, Black Zetsu's wisdom was peerless. As expected of the remnant consciousness separated by Kaguya at the last moment—a mother betrayed and sealed by her own sons—his ability to formulate plans was truly peculiar. Black Zetsu found no fault in his logic. After all, it was already a significant coincidence that an Uchiha genius could vaguely detect a White Zetsu. Was it possible that within a small organization, there could be a second person capable of sensing them?
Such a possibility simply—did—not—exist!
"In short, have the White Zetsus refrain from entering Kikyo Castle for now. At the same time, keep a close watch on the movements of that ninja organization. Once the specified conditions are met, immediately find an opportunity to eliminate their leader. We... shall continue toward the Hagoromo clan."
"Understood."
Wrapped in his flytrap-like extensions, the fusion of Black and White trekked alone through the forest, quickly disappearing completely into the shadows of the trees.
"You feel that someone infiltrated Kikyo Castle and is conducting surveillance on the organization?"
After the combat operation concluded, Hane Genma returned to Kikyo Castle, where Ran informed him of the incident.
"I cannot be certain there was an infiltrator because I did not clearly sense the target. It was just that... at that moment, a vague yet lingering intuition deep in my heart told me I was being watched."
Because she had sensed something she had never encountered before, Ran could not verify the authenticity of the sensation, making her description rather ambiguous.
Genma fell into thought. After a moment, he nodded and said, "Your senses are likely correct. In times of uncertainty, you should trust your intuition even more. The organization has likely encountered an intrusion. The ninja world is vast, and there are always those skilled in various stealth abilities. You don't need to be overly concerned. If you sense them again, do not hesitate—just strike."
"Alright, I understand."
Ran nodded. She didn't overthink it. If Genma told her to attack directly upon detecting an intruder, she would simply obey and attack.
If Genma's prediction was correct, the entity Ran had sensed was a White Zetsu.
He hadn't expected such an unexpected harvest after she lost her Sharingan; this could be counted as a blessing in disguise. Honestly, Genma felt that if Ran could sense White Zetsu while she still possessed a Mangekyo Sharingan, he would have been shocked. But the fact that she could sense them in her current state... for some reason, Genma didn't find it all that strange.
The reason Genma was convinced Ran had sensed a White Zetsu was that, at this very moment, several White Zetsus were squatting not far from Kikyo Castle. Although his sensory abilities and range were far inferior to Ran's, the mutual induction between White Zetsus did not rely on ordinary sensory skills—it was a biological instinct.
So, the White Zetsu had indeed come here. Their target would no longer be Ran, who had lost her Sharingan; it should be Nanami. Genma's previous ominous conjecture had come true.
However, Genma was in no rush to clear out the few White Zetsus outside, as he felt these creatures would likely appear one after another in the coming days. To prevent an endless stream of harassment, he decided to deal the White Zetsu a heavy blow, ensuring they wouldn't constantly covet this place.
Frankly speaking, Ran's ability to sense White Zetsu was a pleasant surprise. It wasn't just that she could help solve the White Zetsu problem, but rather that history tends to repeat itself. When the White Zetsu collective learned that there was one person who could sense their existence, the appearance of a second such person wouldn't be a big deal.
Once the "Indestructible Golden Body" was broken, others could come and go as they pleased. If Ran could sense White Zetsu, then Genma could too—this was perfectly logical. The White Zetsu would assume he was in the same situation as Ran, rather than guessing the actual truth.
Good, this was excellent. Genma could now openly trouble the White Zetsu. No, it should be said that he could trouble them both covertly and overtly. A win-win; he would win twice.
At this time, Genma did not yet know that Black Zetsu had already placed him on the assassination list. But it didn't matter. When the time came, all assassination attempts would turn into "open slaughter." A White Zetsu executing an assassination mission might be worth a hundred soldiers; a White Zetsu executing an "open slaughter" mission had less combat power than a maggot. A White Zetsu approaching Genma with a blade was equivalent to a five-hundred-watt lightbulb approaching him in the dark; there was no reason he wouldn't notice.
The only issue now was that once the combat plan was initiated, it could not be easily stopped before the established objectives were met. While conducting external military operations, he also had to be wary of White Zetsu spying from the shadows. With threats both open and hidden pointing at the small Firefly organization, its strength was being stretched thin.
But there was no other way. Battles that needed to be fought must be fought; he just had to remain vigilant about defending Kikyo Castle.
Subsequently, Genma noticed that the White Zetsus seemed deterred by Ran's sensory abilities. The number of White Zetsus in Kikyo Castle did not increase, and the few stragglers remained honestly stationed on the outskirts of the city. Neither fighting nor retreating—were the White Zetsus just here to fertilize this feng shui treasure land?
Genma suspected their mission was still the standard surveillance, just as they had monitored Uchiha Madara, so he continued his work as normal.
Five days later, they once again cleared a ninja clan force from the surrounding area. When Genma returned to Kikyo Castle that day, he discovered that the White Zetsu had finally begun to act.
A single White Zetsu had cautiously entered Kikyo Castle. It was extremely careful, practically walking around Ran... but what use was that? It could bypass Ran's senses, but it couldn't bypass Genma's vision. After circling the city a few times, it seemed to make contact with certain ninjas unilaterally, without their knowledge. Then, it found a corner and squatted down quietly.
By evening, Ran got off work on time.
Genma remained in his office at the Firefly administration building, discussing the gains and losses of the recent operation with several ninjas. At this moment, he noticed that the White Zetsu had begun to move again. It went directly to the street and then walked swaggeringly toward the administration building.
"Lord Genma? Is something wrong?"
Nara Hideyuki, seeing Genma distracted, spoke up to remind him. He was a very serious man; since they were in a meeting, even the leader shouldn't be daydreaming.
Genma turned back. He smiled, skipping over the topic everyone was discussing, and said, "You've heard about Ran mentioning the possibility of an intruder in the organization, right?"
"Yes, though I haven't perceived anything," Yamanaka Eya replied.
"Don't worry. In a moment, don't speak. A good show is about to start."
A few minutes later, "Fuma Goro" pushed the door open and walked into the office. He looked hurried, a frantic expression on his face.
"Bad news, Lord Genma, something terrible has happened..."
As he spoke, he walked quickly toward Genma's side. If an important figure within the organization suddenly assassinated the leader, what kind of chaos would ensue?
But Genma suddenly stood up. In a flash of lightning, he pressed his left hand onto the other man's shoulder and said, "Don't rush, I also have something important to tell you. It's like this..."
Before his voice fell, Genma's right hand formed a knife-hand strike and instantly pierced through "Fuma Goro's" chest cavity.
"You..."
"Did you think your disguise was good?"
"I..."
"Where was my flaw?"
"..."
I'm about to die, can't you let me finish my sentence?
The White Zetsu's disguise was rapidly stripped away. The appearance of "Fuma Goro" faded, revealing a pale white body. Genma took the opportunity to extract this White Zetsu's chakra, then involuntarily frowned.
Guess what? Damn it, Earth Release. What kind of gacha luck was this? It's either nothing or a flood of the same thing, right? Forget it, just store it for now.
"Still peeking? Have you seen enough?" Genma deliberately called out, then took a step toward a wall.
The White Zetsu hiding within the wall, observing the situation, was startled into fleeing. It was panicked not because the assassination had failed, but because a corpse of a White Zetsu had been left behind.
"What on earth is that thing..."
"It doesn't look human."
"A special puppet cultivated by some faction? Is this retaliation against us?" Nara Hideyuki actually guessed close to the mark, though he didn't know the background of the "certain faction" he mentioned was far beyond his imagination.
"Its mimicking ability is strong. I thought it was actually the Fuma Clan Head."
They had just seen Genma suddenly attack Fuma Goro and thought the leader had realized Goro was a spy for some faction.
Genma had deliberately let the other White Zetsu escape so it would take the message back, warning them not to easily tread into Kikyo Castle's territory.
"Go confirm the status of Fuma Goro... Does anyone recognize the origin of this thing?"
A ninja at the door went to find Fuma Goro as ordered. Facing Genma's question, the people in the office shook their heads; how could they have ever seen a White Zetsu? Seeing no response, Genma took out a scroll and sealed the White Zetsu away.
His heart was not at ease. The sneak attack by the White Zetsu was nothing, but the fact that they chose to move against him meant those things wanted to orchestrate something big. Genma's attempt to warn the White Zetsu collective might not have any effect. Some of their plans were likely already in the implementation phase.
The guard ninja soon brought news of Fuma Goro. The man was resting at home, and no accident had befallen him. It seemed the White Zetsu had merely stolen a portion of his chakra unknowingly.
The night's events were left unsettled for the time being. Genma pondered all night but couldn't figure out exactly what the White Zetsu wanted to do. Was it for Nanami's Sharingan? But was it necessary to assassinate him for that? However, Black Zetsu's plans were always interlinked rings; although the assassination failed, it wouldn't affect the next step of the plan.
The next day, Genma received major news.
The ninjas responsible for the final cleanup of yesterday's campaign returned to the organization, bringing back a shocking piece of good news.
"Lord Genma, after we defeated the Takenaka clan and expelled the Takahashi Daimyo, we discovered from their remaining records that there is a gold mine within the Takahashi Daimyo's territory... They had been mining it secretly, and not a word of it had leaked out."
The ninja was quite happy. Nonsense, who wouldn't be happy about picking up a gold mine for free?
However, Genma stood up abruptly in shock.
Reasonably speaking, external possessions like gold mines had little to do with ninja forces, but one could look at the problem from another angle. Who knew how large this gold mine was? With the support of such vulgar objects as a gold mine, Daimyo Shimizu's purchasing power and economic strength might soon balloon to the level of Daimyo Enchi.
But the question was: did the Firefly organization have the strength to rival the Senju clan?
Previously, the gold mine was being mined in secret. But now? After the local forces scattered and fled, guess whether they would keep the secret for Genma?
This sweet date was too big; it could easily choke someone to death.
"Withdraw," Genma said immediately.
"What?"
"I said, withdraw our people from the Takahashi territory."
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