Under the cover of night, Naruto and Yugito continued racing through the trees. This time, they didn't stop to rest—they pressed on without stopping toward their destination.
Ahead, an open clearing appeared. They decided to check it out.
When Yugito recognized it as Kumogakure's camp, her pace quickened immediately.
Naruto had no idea what was going on, but he followed closely behind.
As they reached the camp, the sight before them came as a shock. Corpses were strewn across the ground, blood stained the tents red, and signs of violent struggle were everywhere.
"How could this happen…" Yugito murmured, stepping into the camp. "What exactly occurred here?" She looked around, but there was no answer.
Could it be that they chose the wrong location to set up camp and were ambushed by enemies?
No.
There were no signs of a fight in the surrounding forest at all—the signs of combat were confined entirely to the camp.
Even if the enemy did launch a surprise attack, there was no way they could have executed it so cleanly, leaving no survivors.
Moreover, every single corpse on the ground was one of their own—not a single enemy body could be found.
How was that possible? Had none of them managed to take down even one opponent in battle? That was unthinkable.
"Yugito, look at this," Naruto said, carefully inspecting the wounds on the bodies.
They found that many victims had been stabbed in the back, with barely any sign of struggle.
"That's right. Our people didn't even get a chance to draw their blades before getting killed," Yugito said, her voice heavy with sorrow, seeing so many of her comrades-in-arms dead. Yet she knew that death was unavoidable in war.
"Yugito!"
A familiar voice called from a distance. Yugito turned and saw the kunoichi limping toward them, covered in injuries. A wave of relief passed over her.
"Good, someone survived…"
When the kunoichi approached, Yugito asked, "What happened?"
"I—I don't know either." The injured woman shook her head fearfully. "Everything was fine one moment… and then suddenly everything went wrong."
Her description was vague, but Yugito still frowned.
If she'd been present earlier, perhaps she could've stopped this tragedy.
Yugito quickly counted—the corpses on the ground numbered over a hundred already, and this was only part of the camp. Meanwhile, Naruto kept examining the bodies, hoping to find clues.
Still, since some had survived, there was still hope. Regaining her composure, Yugito spoke to the wounded kunoichi.
"By the way, thank goodness Mariko sent word to Konoha in time. That's how I was able to return home safely... Now, I can finally contribute to my village."
The kunoichi stiffened at her words.
"She sent a message to Konoha? This… this is impossible. Even in such chaos, she actually managed to deliver a message."
Yugito found the woman's reaction odd.
Mariko's ability to transmit messages and objects at the speed of light was legendary in Kumogakure, and no ninja ranked higher than Chunin would be unaware of it. The female ninja before them wore armor that visibly denoted her rank as at least a Chunin.
Moreover, Yugito had seen her before—she should have been aware of Mariko's existence.
Something's off, Yugito thought.
She turned to warn Naruto—only to find he had vanished.
"Naruto-kun, it's time for us to go..."
Suddenly, she felt a wave of murderous intent from behind. Instinctively, she spun around and saw one of her "teammates" lunging at her back with a kunai.
At the last second, Naruto suddenly appeared and sliced off the attacker's arm with a single stroke.
Yugito froze in shock, staring in disbelief as blood spurted from the woman's severed arm, accompanied by a piercing scream.
"Why?"
Why would her own teammate attack her? For a moment, her mind went blank until the "teammate" fell to her knees, clutching her broken arm and groaning in pain.
Just then, the woman transformed into a white monster—the exact same kind of plant-man they encountered last night.
"Again with these monsters?"
This wasn't an ordinary transformation jutsu either; jutsu couldn't change someone's chakra signature. This monster's chakra matched exactly that of the plant-men.
Fueled by rage, Yugito's fingernails sharpened into razor-like claws as she lunged forward, attempting to tear the creature apart.
But just then, Naruto suddenly grabbed the monster by the throat.
"I remember now!" he said while tightly squeezing its neck. "A few years ago, I met you and another person with two of my friends—we faced you before. You're part of Akatsuki...you're Zetsu, right?"
"What are you talking about?" Yugito asked confusedly. She stopped her attack, looking at Naruto with doubt in her eyes.
"You're a member of Akatsuki," Naruto glared coldly at the monster.
Then, turning toward Yugito, he continued, "These creatures are members of Akatsuki—they're after us..."
But their target didn't seem to be Pain.
"...And who is Tobi?" Yugito asked, narrowing her eyes at the monster in Naruto's grip. "I remember them mentioning this name. He said he wouldn't kill us."
The white Zetsu held by Naruto showed a terrified expression, desperately struggling, trying to speak.
"I'm not the real Zetsu...I'm just a clone—a mere copy. There are many of us..." Before it could finish, Naruto twisted its neck and snapped it.
Naruto tossed the corpse of White Zetsu onto the ground. At that moment, countless White Zetsus suddenly emerged from the surface, crawling out like vengeful spirits crawling out of hell itself.
"It seems like he was telling the truth—there really are many of them," Yugito said as she released her chakra, forming a glowing chakra cloak around her body.
As far as the eye could see, hundreds of White Zetsus surrounded them on all sides.
Without a word, Naruto immediately entered Sage Mode, ready to unleash destruction.
"Stop."
Suddenly, a voice echoed from the rear of the White Zetsu army. All the White Zetsu stopped and stepped aside, clearing a path.
A man wearing a mask, flanked by both Black and White Zetsu, slowly walked forward.
He stopped a short distance away from Naruto and Yugito and fixed them with a piercing gaze.
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