Chapter 289: Orochimaru's Transaction (Part 1)
Dana's speed increased rapidly, soon attracting the attention of the Sunagakure guards on the walls. However, Dana didn't stop, flying straight over the wall.
"Who is that... the Cloud Village guy?"
"What is he doing? Did he report this?"
Flying another few hundred meters, Dana circled in the sky, sensing something, then suddenly pulled up higher.
Then he dove down like a meteorite, smashing into the desert in an instant.
BOOM!
A massive wave of sand splashed over ten meters high. Even the guards on the walls felt the tremor. A huge crater was left in the sand, gradually refilling.
"What happened?!"
"Is it an attack?"
A moment later, Dana flew out of the sand, shaking his head to clear the grit from his hair.
In his right hand, he held an unconscious white humanoid monster.
He flew to the top of the wall and said to the shocked Suna guards, "Please trouble yourselves to inform the Kazekage-dono. Tell him I caught a suspicious individual."
Half an hour later, Dana appeared in the Kazekage building. The White Zetsu was thrown onto the table, and the room was filled with the Kages of various villages.
The Third Kazekage looked at it with an ugly expression. "Is this the 'Zetsu Organization' member you spoke of?"
Dana nodded.
Long before Natsu became Daimyo, the Cloud had informed the various villages and countries about the "Zetsu Organization," claiming that the previous Daimyo's death and the chaos in the Land of Lightning were their doing.
Discovering a White Zetsu in Sunagakure surprised Dana too. It seemed one just happened to surface within his sensory depth. Worried it would dive deep underground again, Dana acted immediately to capture it.
Unfortunately, what he got was a corpse. He didn't know if he shook it to death or if it committed suicide.
Bringing this White Zetsu into the open and summoning the Kages served two purposes: first, to prove the Cloud wasn't lying; second, to judge if these Kages were colluding with White Zetsu.
From their reactions and the feedback from his lie detection ability, it seemed the Kages were indeed seeing a White Zetsu for the first time.
The Third Kazekage said, "If you found it a few hundred meters outside the wall, it should have been within the range of Suna's sensory barrier... There's no reason the barrier didn't react."
Dana explained, "Every member of this organization possesses extremely strong stealth capabilities. They can travel hundreds of meters underground and completely hide their presence. Previously in the Cloud, they couldn't be detected by the barrier either. I only discovered him because he happened to surface to a shallower level. It's unknown if there are more White Zetsus deeper under your village."
The Third Kazekage's face turned even uglier. Did this mean Suna might have been infiltrated like a sieve? Right in front of so many peers?
Onoki clicked his tongue in wonder, looking at the White Zetsu. He had never seen such a creature. Although humanoid, its pale white body looked like rubber.
"According to you, this monster caused the chaos in the Land of Lightning? Doesn't feel very strong..."
Dana explained to Onoki, "Their combat power is indeed low, but their elusive nature allows them to set up conspiracies calmly. They are much harder to deal with than open enemies."
Sakumo Hatake remained silent. Initially, when the Cloud brought up the "Zetsu Organization," Konoha was skeptical, thinking it might be a fabrication to absolve the Cloud. But seeing this monster...
No... I still can't rule out the possibility of the Cloud staging this... This one might have been prepared by the Cloud specifically to clear their suspicion...
The appearance of a White Zetsu made the already weird atmosphere even more complex. Everyone had a headache.
Especially Onoki, the Third Kazekage, and Sakumo. They already had guilty consciences, and this unexpected complication added to the confusion.
If Suna was truly infiltrated by these things, how would this unknown extra force affect their plans?
Of course, the most embarrassed was undoubtedly the Third Kazekage. With a grim face, he said, "In that case, there's no point wasting time here. I will strengthen the guards and have my subordinates sweep the perimeter of the village. Also, Yotsuki-dono, how about this corpse belongs to Sunagakure? We need to see what properties it has."
Dana nodded indifferently. "No problem. The Cloud has caught plenty of White Zetsu already. You can try to extract intel from its brain, but it might not be realistic. This guy only looks human; its internal structure is vastly different."
The Third Kazekage nodded.
Onoki and Sakumo exchanged a glance, then stood up to leave. What they saw today shocked them greatly. If such things existed widely, what about their own villages? How many secrets had already been probed?
After everyone left, only the Third Kazekage remained in the room. He stared at the White Zetsu corpse on the table, trying to analyze some intelligence.
After staring for a long time and forming a rough hypothesis, he ordered his subordinates to notify the specialists to collect the "person."
This monster would undergo various dissections and studies.
"Hope we can get more intel..."
Even the Cloud and the Land of Lightning were messed up by these things. Honestly, the Third Kazekage was a bit afraid...
However, he didn't notice that a small pustule appeared on the seemingly unresponsive White Zetsu's body. The pustule vanished in an instant, ejecting a lightweight spore into the air, which then drifted lightly onto the Third Kazekage's clothes.
Konoha, Underground.
The new Root reused the original base from Danzo's era. Konoha spent massive manpower clearing the collapsed underground base. Driven by the entire high command, the empty shell of "Root" was quickly filled with massive funding, equipment, and personnel.
This time, they were very careful, not wanting another Danzo to appear. Thus, they strictly controlled the armed forces of the "New Root," making it primarily research-focused, with a scale far smaller than in Danzo's time.
But the new leader of Root, Orochimaru, didn't care.
If during the Second War, Orochimaru still had some thoughts about power, ambition, and Konoha, after Jiraiya's death, he had become increasingly pure. He only wanted to learn all ninjutsu in the world, uncover the secrets of chakra, and explore the possibility of immortality.
So, after becoming the leader of the new Root, he only cared about his research.
Supported by massive funds, resources, and authority, his research advanced by leaps and bounds. He buried himself in various laboratories every day, paying no attention to external matters.
Counting from his youth until today, he had never possessed such an ideal research environment.
No worries about money. No worries about test subjects. No worries about authority.
Orochimaru's obsession made the Konoha high command increasingly satisfied. He showed no tendency to become like Danzo; instead, he helped Konoha break through technical difficulties one after another, having no interest in power struggles.
A very pure researcher.
This was exactly what they wanted to see.
What they didn't know was that sometimes, purity also represented paranoia... and madness.
Inside a glass tank, a handsome long-haired boy floated in glowing green liquid. His closed eyelids trembled slightly.
Orochimaru recorded data in a notebook with a fascinated expression.
"Subject 047. Still alive one month after transplantation. The only successful case from the previous batch. Vital signs and physical fitness significantly improved. No adverse reactions so far... Since he is the first successful subject, designate code name: 'Kinoe' (Yamato)."
After countless experiments and consuming massive amounts of material, Orochimaru finally obtained an individual who successfully accepted Hashirama Cells. Although the subject hadn't woken up yet, there was a high probability he could master Wood Release.
The reappearance of Wood Release in Orochimaru's hands broke the curse that had plagued Konoha since the First Hokage's death. The significance was extraordinary. Upon receiving the news, the village high command was exhilarated, providing even more support to Orochimaru and celebrating their choice of the perfect candidate to lead Root.
As for the dozens of other test subjects? Just a set of numbers in a report.
Orochimaru finished recording the data with satisfaction. It was late at night, but he was highly excited, turning to check another laboratory.
A voice appeared without warning from a dark corner.
"You're actually happy about such half-baked results? Orochimaru... do you have some misunderstanding about Wood Release?"