Chapter 169: Black Zetsu and White Zetsu Blocking the Way!
After thinking carefully, up to now, Oborotsuki had only used the power of his Eternal Mangekyō in battle against Uchiha Obito, Uchiha Itachi, and Uchiha Shisui.
That is to say, either the fake "Uchiha Madara" (Obito) leaked his secret,
or Itachi and Shisui did.
But no matter which side the information came from, both Sunagakure and Konoha were now convinced that Oborotsuki had used the Sharingan to control tailed beasts and attack their villages.
This situation was really interesting!
The more Oborotsuki thought about it, the more the corners of his mouth slowly curved upward.
Seeing that he could still smile in such a situation, Terumī Mei furrowed her brows deeply and asked uneasily:
"Do you have any ideas?"
"Don't tell me you're planning to go to war with those two villages…"
"Is that not allowed?"
Hearing Terumī Mei's words, Oborotsuki came back to his senses. He shrugged indifferently and asked back confidently.
He wasn't unaware of the strength of those two ninja villages.
Sunagakure was already half-dead at this point. Due to Obito controlling Shukaku to attack, the village's combat power had suffered severe losses.
What was even more ridiculous was that they had sold out their Scorch Release ninja Yekura (Pakura), and now Yekura was on Kirigakure's side.
Such an operation of weakening their own forces could only be done by the pig-headed fools in the Wind Daimyō's office.
As for Konoha, their situation wasn't much better.
The Nine-Tails attack had left Konoha severely weakened, and even a powerhouse like Minato Namikaze had fallen.
Among the Sannin, Orochimaru was now in Kirigakure conducting research, Tsunade had run off somewhere to drown her sorrows in drinking and gambling to escape reality.
And Jiraiya, in order to find his "bonded" Orochimaru, had long ago left Konoha to gather intelligence everywhere.
Konoha was now at its weakest point in history.
Sunagakure and Konoha were truly like a pair of dragons and phoenixes—when they teamed up, they were still just weaklings huddling together.
And the strong existed to humiliate the weak.
"If it's possible to avoid armed conflict, it's better not to…"
Seeing that Oborotsuki didn't seem to be joking at all, Terumī Mei could only shake her head and hesitantly remind him.
Not everyone was as powerful as Oborotsuki.
The disasters war brought to ordinary people were something Terumī Mei—who had been a war orphan—understood more deeply than anyone.
"Then it depends on whether those villages know the rules and whether they know how to appreciate favors."
Oborotsuki chuckled lightly and didn't say anything more.
"Let's go back to the village first."
He very naturally reached out and wrapped his arm around Terumī Mei's shoulder. The latter looked at the hand resting on her right shoulder in surprise.
But this time, Terumī Mei surprisingly didn't refuse Oborotsuki's intimate gesture.
Behind them, Mizura watched the two of them walking intimately side by side and smacked her lips with a sigh, but as a subordinate, she didn't dare voice a single complaint.
…
On the other side, the Fourth Raikage—who had just left the Daimyō's residence in the Land of Hot Springs with his subordinates—was now heading back toward the Land of Lightning.
But on the road, they encountered an uninvited guest.
That figure suddenly emerged from the ground right in the middle of the path. Not only was the ninjutsu he used extremely strange, but even the perception-type ninja in the Fourth Raikage's squad couldn't detect his presence in advance!
"Who are you?"
The Fourth Raikage looked grimly at the combined Black Zetsu blocking the road, his fists already clenched tightly.
Meanwhile, the perception ninja named Xī spoke in a grave tone to remind him:
"Lord Fourth Raikage, this guy's chakra signature is very strange—I couldn't sense his existence at all!"
As soon as these words came out, everyone immediately went on high alert.
"Ahh, everyone, please don't be so nervous… I'm here to help you."
White Zetsu raised his hands and explained with a wave.
"This guy's outfit… there's no mistake!"
"Lord Fourth Raikage, back at Turtle Island, the ones who attacked us were wearing exactly the same red-cloud-on-black cloaks as this guy right now!!"
Motoi recognized the black-red-cloud cloak on Zetsu and immediately reminded the Fourth Raikage.
Hearing this, the Fourth Raikage instantly became furious.
"Akatsuki, huh!"
"You came at the perfect time. I was just about to settle accounts with you!"
"Where did you take my sworn brother Killer Bee? Hand him over right now, or you'll pay the price!!"
The Fourth Raikage glared fiercely at Zetsu and questioned coldly.
"Hmph…"
Black Zetsu immediately gave a meaningful laugh.
"Who told you your sworn brother was taken by us?"
"Lord Fourth Raikage, you've been completely deceived by that kid Hōzuki Oborotsuki and still don't know it… We came here specifically to explain things to you."
"Also, our Akatsuki organization isn't as evil as you imagine. We're just an elite mercenary group that serves various clients who have needs."
Black Zetsu's words made the Fourth Raikage's eyes flicker.
"What do you mean by that?"
He asked in a deep voice, holding back his temper, deciding to hear what these people had to say.
"Ah… Hōzuki Oborotsuki was once a member of our Akatsuki organization. He never told you that, did he, Lord Fourth Raikage?"
White Zetsu immediately followed up with an explanation.
Hearing this, the Fourth Raikage thought back carefully and realized it really was the case.
Earlier when he asked Hōzuki Oborotsuki whether he was a member of Akatsuki, the kid had refused to answer by saying it was none of his business.
Now hearing this information, the Fourth Raikage immediately became furious:
"That damn kid!"
"So who exactly took Killer Bee? Tell me right now!!"
The Fourth Raikage demanded angrily, staring at Zetsu.
His subordinates behind him also showed listening expressions.
"Lord Fourth Raikage, your temper really is explosive… don't be in such a hurry, let us explain slowly…"
White Zetsu smiled and slowly began to explain:
"Our Akatsuki organization has always maintained absolute neutrality. We only recognize money, not people. As long as the pay is enough, we will solve any problem for our clients."
"In the underground black market, our reputation is top-tier."
"And Hōzuki Oborotsuki was once one of our Akatsuki members. At that time, he was still a missing-nin from Kirigakure."
"But later our organization discovered some unspeakable secrets about him, so we expelled him and issued an order to hunt him down. That's why the kid returned to Kirigakure to develop…"
"What unspeakable secrets did you discover about Hōzuki Oborotsuki?"
"Stop talking nonsense—just get to the point!"
The Fourth Raikage's explosive temper flared up again. He suddenly flashed forward like lightning and appeared right in front of Zetsu.
His thick, powerful arm shot out like lightning and grabbed Black Zetsu and White Zetsu by the neck, lifting them into the air.
"You two pieces of trash from Akatsuki—tell me the key information right now! Where is Killer Bee?!"
The Fourth Raikage roared in fury.
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