Could White Zetsu Really Fuse?
Takayama Haru was equally shocked and immediately stood up.
He had heard that this being, created using Hashirama's cells, was of great interest to him. He vaguely remembered that later, Kishimoto changed the setting, making White Zetsu a being that had fallen under Kaguya's Infinite Tsukuyomi long ago.
No matter what, Haru was incredibly curious!
"You guys step back, let me handle this!"
Kakashi, Obito, and Rin quickly moved aside when they saw Haru standing up. They all turned their eyes towards him.
All along, they had been curious about Haru's true strength. Now, their hearts were filled with unease as they worried that this strange white creature might kill Haru.
"Come on, Sensei, you can do it!" Rin cheered, gathering all her courage to support Haru.
Haru took the chance and patted her head.
Kakashi and Obito remained silent, exchanging uneasy glances.
At that moment, White Zetsu was closing in, its spiky body appearing even more grotesque.
"Shuriken Shadow Clone Jutsu!"
Haru infused chakra into the shurikens in his hands, throwing them forward. The shurikens multiplied into countless illusory copies, shooting towards White Zetsu.
Rin, who was hiding behind Haru, couldn't help but gasp in awe at the sight of the shurikens filling the sky.
"Wow!"
"Whoa!"
"I wanna learn that jutsu!"
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
But the shurikens all struck White Zetsu's body, yet they seemed to have no effect.
"It seems physical attacks aren't effective, and its physical defenses are quite strong?" Haru muttered to himself.
"Seems like White Zetsu's defense is pretty good. Would my wood-style technique work against it?"
"If the wood style doesn't work, then it's going to be a tough battle. We need to figure out how to break through."
With White Zetsu about to pounce, Haru vanished in a blur, already carrying Kakashi, Obito, and Rin as he retreated.
"Sensei, are we not strong enough to fight it?" Rin, held in Haru's arms, was on the verge of tears.
Most of all, that white creature was just too hideous!
"You're too weak. I'm worried about hurting you," Haru replied, placing them down carefully.
At that moment, the Seventh Squad realized they had crossed the bridge.
They had crossed the thousand-meter-long bridge in the blink of an eye?
Was this the true power of their teacher?!
Kakashi, Obito, and Rin stood there stunned.
But the next second, Haru was already standing right in front of White Zetsu.
"Oririn Hwa, First Form!"
Haru suddenly appeared beneath White Zetsu, kicking upward and striking it under the chin, sending it flying.
Of course, Haru quickly stopped as the next moves were a bit too strange. A binding followed by an embrace was his intended follow-up, but he decided to cancel the next part.
"Sensei is amazing!" Rin's eyes sparkled in awe.
Kakashi, deep in thought, wondered, "Is this the strength of a true Shinobi?"
Obito couldn't help but say, "I'll definitely be better than Sensei in the future!"
"It's not—Wood Dragon Jutsu!"
Haru would not give White Zetsu any chance to react. He formed a hand sign, channeling chakra into the seeds he had planted in the ground, summoning a massive wooden dragon that wrapped around White Zetsu in midair.
As the Wood Dragon bound White Zetsu, Haru could feel it drawing not just chakra, but a bit of life energy from White Zetsu!
It should be the cellular structure of Zetsu!
Indeed, White Zetsu was composed of cellular structures!
In mere seconds, White Zetsu was drained, leaving only a puddle of clear liquid on the ground, marking its once existence.
The three members of the Seventh Squad watching from a distance shuddered. Haru's power was terrifying, having drained the life force of the white creature.
Haru glanced down, seeing that his fusion rate had reached 57.9%. The absorption from White Zetsu had increased his rate by 0.3%.
If he absorbed a thousand, his fusion rate would jump straight to 100%!
Looking at the puddle of water on the ground, Haru sighed, a bit disappointed.
If he had failed to figure anything out, White Zetsu would have been completely gone.
Haru turned around and noticed that the Seventh Squad was looking at him differently now. They seemed somewhat frightened, and he couldn't help but laugh at the situation. It seemed the earlier display of draining White Zetsu had scared them.
"Let's go," Haru said, thinking about the appearance of White Zetsu. If it showed up, then Madara might appear too, but that seemed unlikely.
Madara Uchiha had been too cautious since the battle at the Shinobi Bridge, and he hadn't dared to appear in front of Minato Namikaze.
When Haru and the others saved Obito, Madara seemed to be on his last legs.
At this stage, with the beginning of the Shinobi World War approaching, it wouldn't be long before the chaos began, maybe 3, 5, or at most 10 years.
In any case, Madara was probably already in his elderly stage. It made Haru wonder if Madara had faked his death to escape, and maybe he was already gone, just holding on for some unknown reason.
Otherwise, why wouldn't he show his true self during the chaos of the First and Second Shinobi World Wars?
Even when the Second Hokage died and Sarutobi took over, the situation in Konoha was chaotic, yet Madara didn't dare to show himself directly.
He only dared to manipulate things from the shadows, nurturing his successors like Nagato and Obito.
Perhaps Madara wasn't confident in his own power anymore and preferred to hide.
With his fusion rate above 50%, Haru knew he wouldn't be worth fighting Madara in his current elderly state.
Somewhere deep inside a cave, in complete darkness, an old man sat on a stone throne, holding a broken wind candle. Behind him, numerous huge pipes connected to a massive demonic statue.
This old man was Uchiha Madara.
White Zetsu walked out from within the wall, saying, "Madara-sama, that Takayama Haru is very strong."
"You're talking about the one who is recognized as the last bloodline of the Senju clan, the one known as Uzumaki Mito's successor?" Madara replied.
"Yes... His strength is impressive, and he was able to absorb us. In just ten seconds, three White Zetsu were gone..."
Madara's eyes gleamed with a sharp light, "Is he heading to the village of No Seal?"
"Yes."
"White Zetsu, if he can absorb three, what do you think will happen if he absorbs a thousand? Ten thousand?"
As soon as he finished speaking, in the darkness beneath the Outer Path statue, a countless number of White Zetsu's eyes suddenly opened, at least tens of thousands of them.