Chapter 203: White Zetsu's Frustration
"This guy's new ninjutsu development was a success?"
As soon as Li Yao left the village, a human face emerged from the ground beneath him—White Zetsu's. His expression tightened slightly as he quickly sensed the will fluctuation he had left within Li Yao's soul.
"Good, it's still there."
"Then there's nothing to worry about."
White Zetsu smiled faintly, finally at ease. As long as his will remained in Li Yao's soul, Li Yao could never escape his fate as a pawn.
Over the past two months, Li Yao had taken dozens of rogue ninjas up into the sky, but none ever came back down, nor were there any bodies.
White Zetsu had already suspected that Li Yao might be experimenting with new ninjutsu techniques.
He'd even worried for days.
He thought Li Yao might be developing a jutsu to remove the control Madara had placed on him.
Now that Li Yao had suddenly stopped developing new techniques, White Zetsu had feared he'd succeeded.
Fortunately, Li Yao was still just an ordinary man—everything remained under control.
Thump thump thump!
A few kilometers out from the village, Li Yao suddenly stopped and stomped the ground a few times. It was his secret signal to summon White Zetsu.
Without hesitation, and right as Li Yao finished stomping, White Zetsu popped his head out of the ground ahead of him.
In the past, he would have pretended to wait a moment before surfacing.
Now he didn't even bother pretending.
Because he knew that Li Yao already knew he had been following him all along.
"Who's been attacking Akatsuki recently?" Li Yao asked.
Yahiko and the others didn't know the attackers, but White Zetsu definitely did. He cared too much about the Rinnegan in Nagato's possession—if someone was targeting Akatsuki, he would know.
Li Yao was genuinely curious. Could it have been Hanzo?
"Ninjas from the three great nations neighboring the Land of Rain. They suspect Akatsuki is being secretly supported by one another, so they've come to investigate," White Zetsu replied.
"So that's it." Li Yao understood now. The simplest way to investigate whether someone was backing Akatsuki was to capture one of their members and read their memories.
The recent attacks on Akatsuki members were likely for that reason.
But for the three great nations to coordinate and investigate Akatsuki at the same time... it felt a bit too coincidental to Li Yao.
Then again, maybe he was just being overly suspicious.
No matter.
He'd leave it to Yahiko to handle.
Li Yao thought to himself.
White Zetsu continued to follow him, not submerging underground.
"What kind of jutsu have you been developing recently?" White Zetsu suddenly asked, feigning innocence.
Li Yao rolled his eyes. Black Zetsu thought if he played innocent through White Zetsu's personality, Li Yao would drop his guard too.
"A genjutsu," Li Yao said casually.
"What kind of genjutsu requires that many rogue ninjas for testing?" White Zetsu clearly didn't buy it.
Li Yao just shrugged, not bothering to answer. Believe it or not, up to you.
White Zetsu sighed helplessly. Seeing that Li Yao didn't want to talk, he gave up trying to probe and prepared to sink back into the ground and follow him covertly again. As long as Li Yao used the new jutsu on the surface, he would definitely sense it.
"Huh…"
Before White Zetsu fully submerged, Li Yao suddenly stopped and turned to his left, looking off into the distance—a familiar chakra signature had entered his sensory range.
"What is it?"
White Zetsu resurfaced and looked in the same direction.
But since he hadn't fully sunk into the ground, he couldn't sense the ninja eight kilometers away.
"An old acquaintance. I'm going to check it out."
Li Yao smiled and immediately darted forward. White Zetsu quickly followed. Hearing it was someone familiar to Li Yao, he instantly thought of the Five Kage. His face changed and he called out, "Wait, Li Yao, did you forget my warning? Don't do anything reckless. Don't make a scene. It's not time for Nagato to step forward yet."
If it was one of the Five Kage in the Land of Rain and something happened, Nagato would find it hard to stay hidden.
Tobi hadn't completed his transformation yet. White Zetsu couldn't afford the Rinnegan to be exposed to the five great nations so soon.
"Relax, it's just a nobody. I won't expose my identity."
Li Yao chuckled, ignored White Zetsu's words, and kept advancing rapidly.
White Zetsu's expression immediately changed. He looked at Li Yao in shock.
"You... you're not afraid of dying?"
The old Li Yao would never have dared to defy him. But this new Li Yao felt completely unafraid of death—or more accurately, unafraid of Madara's control.
That made White Zetsu quickly re-check the cursed seal on Li Yao's heart and the will fluctuation in his soul.
Still there!
Then why?
White Zetsu stared at Li Yao in confusion. Where was this guy getting such confidence? Was he truly unafraid of Madara?
Unless… White Zetsu suddenly looked at Li Yao in shock and said, "You've completely removed the side effects of the Spiritual Possession Technique!!"
That was the only explanation for Li Yao's current behavior.
This guy must think that by using soul possession to take over another body, he could escape the curse Madara placed on him.
Little did he know—even if he took over someone else's body, the will fluctuation left in his soul would still allow Madara to use Six Paths-level techniques to kill him instantly.
"Li Yao…" White Zetsu wanted to warn him not to do anything foolish, but he feared Li Yao might realize his soul still carried Madara's and Black Zetsu's will. He opened his mouth but said nothing.
Li Yao had no idea about the storm of thoughts swirling through White Zetsu's mind. He smiled and said, "Madara gave me the task of staying close to Nagato and protecting his Rinnegan."
"I'm not disobeying his orders. I'm simply investigating who's been attacking Akatsuki's members, as one of them myself."
Back then, when his life and death were under Madara's control, even if he was frustrated, Li Yao had no choice but to obey.
But now, having broken free of Madara's grip, he wasn't going to cater to his every whim anymore.
Sure, he still wanted to stay on Madara's side and watch the show. But if doing so meant being treated like a servant, constantly ordered around by Madara and White Zetsu—that was just self-torture. Li Yao wasn't interested.
Besides, this time, he had a legitimate reason to go.
Of course, he wouldn't confront Madara directly. So he gave a bit of explanation to smooth things over.
White Zetsu, however, took it as proof that Li Yao truly believed he could escape Madara's control.
"Fine then, but I'm warning you again—don't do anything reckless," White Zetsu could only warn him again in the end.
White Zetsu quickly sank into the ground and stopped moving with Li Yao.
Now he could only hope that brat Uchiha Obito, the one Madara had chosen in Konoha, would awaken his Sharingan soon.
Over the past two years, Obito had fulfilled Madara's expectations—he had found someone he could love completely and had formed a strong bond with a boy named Kakashi.
As soon as Obito awakened his Sharingan, the plan could begin. They would guide him into darkness and awaken the Mangekyō Sharingan.
Then they could abandon Li Yao.
White Zetsu would no longer need to worry about the Eye of the Moon Plan continuing after Madara's death.
Too bad Obito was such a poor talent.
He was already eight or nine and still hadn't awakened his Sharingan.
Without awakening the Sharingan, no matter how deep they pushed him into darkness, no matter how powerful the special chakra secreted by his brain, there was no way to instantly evolve into a Mangekyō Sharingan.
He had to awaken the Sharingan first.
Even a single tomoe would suffice.
What a pity.
White Zetsu sighed inwardly. For now, all he could do was hope Li Yao didn't do anything reckless—because if he did, no one could save him.
"Be careful, Lady Huito. Someone's coming."
About a kilometer away, Iwagaki suddenly flashed in front of Huito, his expression tense as he stared ahead.
"Mhm. They're fast."
Huito didn't need the warning—she had already sensed the enemy. They hadn't even tried to conceal their presence and were charging straight toward them.
(END CHAPTER)
Get 30% off on my Patreon and enjoy early access to new chapters.
You can also purchase the next 100 chapters of the novel directly from my Patreon page.
Hurry up! The promotion ends on February 2, 2026.
Read 30 Chapters In Advance: patreon.com/Kira1997