Judging from Mito Uzumaki's reaction, this seemed to be her first time encountering a White Zetsu—she clearly didn't know what it was.
That made sense. Although White Zetsu's stealth abilities were top-notch, the Uzumaki clan's sensory techniques were just as mysteriously powerful. There was no way White Zetsu could get close without being noticed at all.
If that was true, then why had they appeared now?
Maybe they'd simply been too careless? After all, they had only wanted to take a quick look from afar. Who could have predicted that two swift Konoha ninjas would come rushing over and cut them down without even uttering a word?
"Lady Mito, should we bring the body back to Konoha?"
After inspecting the remains of the White Zetsu multiple times but detecting nothing unusual, an Anbu finally suggested this to Mito Uzumaki.
In the field, their ability to investigate was limited, and there was no specialist in the group for handling corpses. To conduct a proper examination, bringing it back to the village made more sense. With complete facilities and professional personnel available, maybe something useful could be found—at the very least, it would provide more insight than Haseo's rough dissection.
The Anbu's thinking was straightforward, showing their sense of duty. After all, any enemy with interest in the Nine-Tails or its Jinchuriki should be thoroughly investigated by the village to determine their identity and origin.
But Mito Uzumaki frowned at the suggestion. Though she knew nothing about White Zetsu and couldn't extract any useful information from the corpse right now, her instincts screamed that the thing was dangerous—better not to touch it at all.
She shook her head and said, "There's no need. Just dispose of the bodies here."
Had Anbu ninja really become this careless lately? The basic rules were simple—never touch an unknown technique, never approach an unidentified person, and never bring anything strange or unnatural back to the village. These principles weren't hard to understand, were they?
Mito Uzumaki didn't understand White Zetsu, so she assumed the worst-case scenario out of caution—what if this thing was bugged with tracking or eavesdropping devices? What if it was some kind of human bomb? What if its controller was nearby?
"But, Lady Mito…"
The Anbu tried to speak again, but Mito Uzumaki waved him off and ordered firmly, "Step back, all of you. Leave the rest to me. There are things I've dealt with before—things none of you have any experience with."
They exchanged looks at first, but quickly stepped back several paces—no one dared question her command. Whatever else might happen, once Mito Uzumaki gave an order, everything followed her lead.
At this moment, Haseo suddenly found himself curious. What exactly was the elder's "professional disposal method"? Did handling two corpses require experience beyond what young people could manage? Couldn't they just burn them to ashes?
Just as he thought this, his eyelid twitched violently.
Because in that instant, he saw the outer robe on Mito Uzumaki suddenly stained with a bright yellow hue, followed by an indescribable chakra surging and rising from her body. Although it wasn't as exaggerated as when she had intentionally revealed herself atop the sea surface earlier, concentrating such highly-dense chakra around her body rather than dispersing it recklessly was indeed the real "battle mode."
Without any warning, Mito Uzumaki activated the Nine-Tails Chakra Mode.
She might have felt her normal Sensor abilities weren't sufficient, so she directly activated this enhanced state to further boost her awareness of the surroundings...
However, this seemed somewhat excessive—even Haseo thought her response was overly dramatic. Just dealing with White Zetsu didn't warrant this level of response.
Mito's sensing capabilities increased further, yet still, she detected nothing unusual. However, that lingering intuitive sense of being watched refused to fade; she couldn't shake the feeling that someone really was monitoring the Konoha group.
Guided by instinct, she searched but found nothing... Maybe they should just leave it at that?
Mito waved her hand, and the Nine-Tails' corrosive chakra immediately surged toward the two corpses of White Zetsu. Then, just like butter hitting a red-hot skillet, those two bodies quickly turned blackened and charred before melting away completely.
Yet, things didn't end there. Mito hadn't withdrawn her chakra yet. She bent her knees slightly, crouching down as she pressed one of her palms onto the ground. As Haseo curiously wondered what she was up to, he suddenly realized something.
"I think we..."
"I think we'd better step back a bit," Haseo began, but before he could finish speaking, he felt the ground beneath his feet suddenly pulsate violently—like a contracting heart. His body was then gently flung into the air and landed clumsily a moment later.
His mind went blank for quite some time. When he finally regained his senses, he heard a powerful, deep rumble echoing through the air at that very moment—similar to the sound made when an oversized meteorite smashes into a valley basin.
Looking at the ground beneath his feet now—well, the once flat surface had transformed into a funnel-shaped crater with a radius of more than 100 meters and a depth of at least fifty meters at its center. Spiderwebbing out from the epicenter, the cracks extended even farther still.
And standing right at that epicenter was naturally none other than Mito Uzumaki herself...
At that moment, Haseo thought maybe Hashirama passing his terrible gambling addiction to Tsunade wasn't such a big deal after all—what the heck was going on with Mito Uzumaki?
Well, actually, it wasn't quite the same situation. Mito's destructive power was nowhere near Tsunade's level. This was merely a combined result of the strength enhancement granted by the Nine-Tails' mode alongside a massive outburst of chakra.
Mito could feel they were being watched, but she couldn't pinpoint where. With the terrain completely open around them, the only plausible hiding spot had to be underground—it was just never easy to track someone beneath the surface.
With that hypothesis in mind, Mito Uzumaki smashed the ground... To her, it didn't matter if anyone was beneath — smashing things could never hurt, right?
"Let's go. Keep moving forward — it's already dealt with."
After retracting her chakra and walking out from the bottom of the crater, Mito said to the scattered Konoha ninja team.
Haseo suddenly understood — Mito Uzumaki appeared gentle and kindhearted, and indeed had the bearing of an elder, but… as the saying goes, "Blood will tell." She was exactly the same as the First Hokage — both were classic terrain destroyers.
If you can't find where the enemy is hiding, isn't hitting the whole area just the smartest move?
Hmm, very understandable — deserving of applause.
But still… did all members of the Uzumaki clan secretly possess such a side to them?
That's why Mito remarked that the youths' method of handling enemy corpses wasn't experienced enough. The seasoned method shouldn't merely be about destroying bodies and erasing traces — it should also include helping the enemy dig their graves… preferably large ones.
Haseo couldn't help glancing back at the giant pit again. Other than wishing whoever inside a peaceful rest, what else could one say?
Mito Uzumaki's intention had been "caution," yet why did everyone's impression of her now revolve solely around the word "violence"?
In any case, after she handled everything with maximum caution, the team resumed their advance.
However, shortly after leaving, Haseo and Sakumo Hatake silently doubled back halfway and watched from a short distance away. They crouched there for four full hours before finally confirming there was no abnormality, then set off to catch up with the main group.
Complete silence.
Not until nightfall, when even the Konoha group had long since returned to the village, did something resembling aloe appear suddenly within the massive crater… no, rather, it should be described as seaweed that sprouted.
The seaweed was half black, half white, and somehow talking to itself.
"I thought we were really done for."
"Truthfully, we nearly were."
"Indeed, those top-notch ninja who came out of the warring era are impressive. Even though two decoys were released, they still attacked."
"What's more terrifying is the sensing ability of the Uzumaki Clan. We had completely erased our presence."
"Therefore, you acted too hastily — you know I never agreed with this surveillance action in the first place."
"It has been so many years already — we have reasons to be impatient. We originally assumed the Jinchuriki would have weakened significantly, but who knew her strength remained undiminished? Anyway, talking about this now won't change anything. In short, we must avoid approaching the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki for now… No, better yet, we should stay away from Konoha altogether."
"With our current physical condition, we wouldn't be able to get close anyway. Now what? How do we return to base?"
"We're not far from the sea surface here. For now, let's just enter the water and drift along with the current for a while."
Guess we'll just go with the flow...
Unknown to Haseo and the people of Konoha, the two masterminds who were just beginning to rise were shoved back down before they could even raise their heads. For a long time to come, they would be forced to retreat to their old hideouts and lick their wounds in silence.
White Zetsu and Black Zetsu's youth had not even truly begun before it was already over.
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