"The Seven-Tails is dead. This is the second one, following the Three-Tails. And once again, the one who acted was Konoha's White Yaksha."
The report was delivered in a low, hoarse voice—weak, drawn out, and dragging its syllables despite the gravity of the news.
The speaker could barely be called human.
Wrapped in two fresh aloe-like leaves, this black-and-white composite lifeform possessed the rare trait of dual personalities, able to freely traverse earth, trees, and even concrete structures.
What it looked like hardly mattered.
What mattered was its extraordinary reconnaissance ability.
Its name was Zetsu.
This was Amegakure, the Hidden Rain Village—deep underground, within a heavily sealed chamber concealed by layer upon layer of barriers.
Dark. Secretive.
Figures were hidden in the shadows—no forms visible, only voices echoing.
A plan to capture state-level strategic biological weapons was steadily advancing…
And, secretly, it was also someone's deeply touching filial project to resurrect his conveniently deceased mother.
In short—
The plan could be summarized as: "Become a Mom" Project.
"First the Three-Tails, then the Seven-Tails. Based on his consecutive actions, this can be considered highly targeted behavior," a male voice said.
"So he's finally become a major obstacle to our plan?" another male voice replied.
"Perhaps our actions from a few years ago were premature," a female voice joined in.
"Looking back, the drawbacks may outweigh the benefits."
"That's already in the past," the second male voice said flatly.
"Discussing it now is meaningless."
"Is there any possibility that our plan has been exposed?"
"Impossible. Only we know the plan. There's no way the information leaked. Besides, our operation hasn't officially begun yet—everything is still sealed inside an untouchable black box."
"Moreover," the voice continued,
"although White Yaksha's actions seem deliberate, they aren't necessarily aimed at us. Based on the intelligence I have—and my understanding of him—his actions can likely be explained by two reasons."
"First, this may simply be revenge against the tailed beasts. That's the most likely explanation. After all, the person he cherished most died because of a tailed beast. And so far, every target he's chosen has been an uncontrolled tailed beast. He may still be factoring in inter-village diplomacy—after all, the war hasn't been over for long."
"The second reason is… very personal."
"He may simply be bored."
"…Bored?" The female voice sounded unconvinced.
"Killing tailed beasts for fun? That's absurd."
"Hard to believe," came the reply,
"but White Yaksha really is that kind of person."
"If your first point is true," the first male voice interjected,
"then why hasn't he come after us directly? We should be a higher-priority target than tailed beasts."
"He may not know our exact location," Zetsu replied.
"But that's not the main reason. He may be waiting for those two children to grow up."
"Either way," the second male voice said, repeating himself,
"it's only a matter of time before White Yaksha comes knocking. That's just the kind of person he is."
"Then should we move up our timetable?" the female voice asked.
"No," came the immediate response.
"The timing isn't ripe. Before we act, we must prepare thoroughly. Failure is unacceptable."
"Once the operation begins, we must capture all tailed beasts as quickly as possible. If our actions fall out of sync, it will alert the major villages—and that would put us in an extremely difficult position."
"There are many troublesome ninja in the shinobi world. White Yaksha is not the only one."
"Therefore, our organization must reach a certain size. Given the difficulty of the mission, every candidate must possess significant strength or a unique specialty."
"And with both the Three-Tails and Seven-Tails currently dead, advancing the plan is impossible anyway. We must wait for their revival."
"The Three-Tails, then?" the first voice asked Zetsu.
"It has already shown signs of revival."
"As expected…" the voice sighed.
"Regardless of whether White Yaksha's actions are driven by vengeance or deliberate sabotage, they're ultimately meaningless. As long as I possess the Gedō Mazō, the tailed beasts' chakra will never disappear."
"At most, he can only cause us some inconvenience."
"You'd better not underestimate him," someone warned.
"When he goes to extremes, he's genuinely troublesome."
"I'm not underestimating him," came the calm reply.
"I have a clear understanding of his strength. After all, he's someone who survived under these eyes."
"I'm only saying his actions are… childish."
Being called childish by someone whose life goal was to "make the world feel pain" was a special kind of irony.
Both of them had personally experienced how dangerous Hagoromo Uehara could be. Worse still, parts of his strength remained completely unexplored.
They would never act rashly against him.
If they moved, it would be with overwhelming force.
"Gathering members is now our top priority. Everything is for the plan."
"By the way—what's the situation with Uchiha Itachi?"
"No direct contact yet," Zetsu replied,
"but overall, there shouldn't be any issues."
"Besides Itachi, we've already confirmed several other candidates. All that remains is extending the invitations…"
He paused, then added a warning:
"Within our organization, we must be especially cautious of Orochimaru. Since returning from Konoha, his behavior has become even more erratic."
"For certain reasons, I can't approach him directly—but he's dangerous, troublesome, and completely untrustworthy. Information that shouldn't be shared must never reach him."
"Even if we told him the plan, he wouldn't care. His reason for joining would only be to pursue something of his own."
"Orochimaru…" the voice mused.
"I know what he wants. Regardless, I'll keep a close eye on him."
"Under these eyes, he has nowhere to hide."
"Letting him join was never about trust, nor about using him. He's a liability—but precisely because of that, it's better to keep him where we can see him."
"A pity we can't treat White Yaksha the same way…"
The Three-Tails was indeed in the process of reviving.
But the Seven-Tails?
That was another matter entirely.
Confidence was usually a good thing—but judging the unknown solely through the lens of one's own experience, and then declaring it absolute, was foolish.
A very young brother-obsessed prodigy had once described this mindset with lofty disdain:
People rely on their knowledge and understanding, become bound by it, and call it absolute reality—
not realizing that knowledge and understanding are subjective and ambiguous,
and that the so-called reality may be nothing more than a fabricated illusion.
Failing to break free from common sense—
Even a so-called Child of Destiny was nothing more than a frog at the bottom of a well.
If the Three-Tails could revive, did that mean the Seven-Tails could too?
Describing Hagoromo's actions as "acting on a whim" at least showed some understanding of him. Killing tailed beasts for fun wasn't exactly out of character.
But calling it "venting anger"?
That was nonsense.
Hagoromo was never that shallow.
So—
Let them wait.
Let them wait patiently for their little dragonfly to come back to life.
As for Takigakure…
They had "temporarily" lost their tailed beast.
But what could the village leader possibly do?
He was helpless.
Hold someone accountable?
He had already said earlier that killing the tailed beast wouldn't matter—effectively absolving Konoha of responsibility.
Sure, he'd said it under the assumption that tailed beasts couldn't be killed—but legally speaking, it still counted as evidence.
Granted, there was emotional fraud involved.
Why didn't you tell us earlier there was a White Yaksha involved?!
And besides—
Even ignoring the fact that these three represented Konoha, just looking at Hagoromo's performance alone—
The logic was crystal clear:
The Seven-Tails could bully the entirety of Takigakure.
Hagoromo could bully the Seven-Tails into submission.
So—
Were they supposed to go bully Hagoromo now?
The village leader had lived many years, but fortunately, his brain had never been crushed by a donkey.
He knew perfectly well what the correct judgment was.
So—
The death of the tailed beast was an accident.
Hagoromo's actions were merit without fault.
Otherwise, what?
Was he supposed to grab Hagoromo's arm, shake it, and whine in a cutesy voice—
"You owe us a tailed beast~"?
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