The world is ever in motion, with people heading in all directions.
The electromagnetic lights that seamlessly replaced the natural aurora startled many. Ordinary people worshiped it, the Daimyo of the Land of the Moon trembled in fear, and rational Ninja sensed the Chakra's fluctuations altered by some unknown force.
The small sea area to the north remained tumultuous for some time. Bounty hunters, Missing-nin, and even investigating Ninjas specially sent by the Land of Lightning gathered in the inexplicable chaos.
However, the instigator had already departed on that very day. Having fulfilled the little girl's request, he left without saying goodbye, abandoning the subsequent ripples of disturbance and bidding farewell to the fishing village he had stayed in for three months.
It is now Konoha's Year 60, a time when formidable forces and young talents would begin to encounter and clash with each other.
Logan has been waiting for this 'new chapter' for a long time.
…
Northeast of the Land of Fire.
Dense forests covered the mountains, with the world divided between the branches and leaves above and below. Several startled birds burst from the canopy, soaring above the forest sea, the intense sunlight vividly displayed.
Logan dashed along a sturdy tree trunk, his body moving at high speed, the wind not so gently ruffling his hair. The scenery on both sides shifted, high and low, as he left the unchanging landscape behind. A few high-flying birds suddenly brushed past him, flying away in alarm. Logan chuckled, leaping forward, with a hundred meters vanishing in the blink of an eye.
Early in the morning, he had crossed the border of the Land of Hot Water and followed the dense rivers into the Land of Fire. Now, even the narrow tributaries were gradually disappearing. When the last thin white line following his feet had flowed its final inch of land, Logan came to a halt.
"Have you had enough of following me?"
Stopping on a tree trunk, Logan's hand rested on the rough bark, and spoke with a leisure tone.
A few seconds later, a pitcher plant grew strangely on the tree trunk in front of Logan. The two serrated leaves opened to reveal a black-and-white figure, which is none other than Zetsu.
"Huff, huff..." Once revealed, Zetsu couldn't help but take a few deep breaths. The two Zetsu with different personalities looked at Logan with their own eye, "You run pretty fast."
As usual, White Zetsu was still responsible for speaking. At this time, he's pointing at Logan with one hand on his hip, his posture was far from dignified. While the other half, Black Zetsu, remained silent, expressing through his demeanor that he'd lose if he spoke.
"You've been following me for half a day, since the border of the Land of Hot Water," Logan ignored White Zetsu's complaints and said with a half-smile, "What do you want? If the organization has something, you can just relay the message through the ring."
"Nothing much, we happened to be nearby, and then noticed your 'strange' route." White Zetsu waved his hand and replied casually, "Every Akatsuki's member initially has a spore I left on them... But after passing the newbie phase, they all unceremoniously destroy it..."
When White Zetsu said this, he seemed to think of something, and his tone began to be very resentful, his expression one of an elder member feeling disrespected by newcomers, "I'm the earliest member of the organization! Of course, I have raised this issue with the leader, insisting that there must be a strict sense of seniority in a multi-person group! But the leader said that he'd back me only if I could beat the unruly ones..."
Logan listened patiently to White Zetsu's rambling. He just smiled and said nothing about the other party's complaints. Indeed, he had removed the spore, which acted like a "tracker," later on. After all, The feeling of being watched was always unpleasant.
Also, the main reason he dared to do so was because Itachi had reassured him post a regular Akatsuki's meeting that it was fine.
The existence of the Magic Lantern Body Technique does not affect the execution of Akatsuki's plan, so the restriction of spores is no longer necessary.
As for what happened after Itachi saw Logan's phantom during an Akatsuki's meeting, there's a lot to talk about, but let's leave that aside for now.
"...So I finally decided to endure and set a good example as a senior member." After White Zetsu finished his long-winded and pointless speech, the atmosphere suddenly became awkwardly quiet.
No one responded, making it even more awkward.
Black Zetsu just stared at Logan indifferently, completely unconcerned with the awkward atmosphere.
Logan was still kind, so he clapped his hands politely, "Yeah, you're right."
The empty applause seemed to make the atmosphere even more awkward.
White Zetsu, either used to this or too clueless, showed no awareness of the awkwardness and continued, "So, back to the point… Even though you don't have the spores on you, your route was still detected by my clones. Where exactly are you heading?"
Logan rubbed the bark in his hand and didn't hide anything, "Konoha."
Zetsu was stunned for a moment, as if he had heard something unbelievable. Then, White Zetsu exclaimed: "Returning to Konoha? Are you sure? That's pretty bold!"
Logan shrugged nonchalantly: "My identity hasn't been exposed, so what's the problem with going back to Konoha? Besides, the Third Hokage has been urging me to return and contribute my fire to the village. Most importantly, I'm on vacation right now. I don't remember the organization has any restrictions on its members outside of missions."
Akatsuki's management of its core members was indeed very lax. As long as it didn't involve a mission or doesn't expose the organization, they didn't care even if one of their members suddenly have a whim and want to rush into the Ninja Village and kill everyone.
"Okay, I understand." White Zetsu shrugged, indicating he understood. Black Zetsu continued to silently watch Logan, it is unknown what he's thinking.
"Since that's the case, you can help me with some intel work. Konoha is really difficult to infiltrate..." White Zetsu changed the subject, "Just continue doing what you did during your probation period. With your low position in Konoha, accessing some ordinary secrets should be easy."
Logan frowned after hearing this. He had never thought about continuing to be a spy when he returned to Konoha. Not only it would be a lot of trouble, it would also be easy to get into trouble. And most importantly, this was not ordered by Pain.
As if seeing the refusal on Logan's face, White Zetsu raised his hand and added, "Don't refuse me yet, Raiden Hattori. It's mutual help, you know. I'll give you something in return."
"Oh? What is it?" When Logan heard this, he suppressed his irritation, and asked.
The corner of White Zetsu's mouth curled up, " Haven't you been researching Space-Time Ninjutsu for a while now? You even applied to the organization to browse the documents, but it seems... you haven't made much progress."
Hearing this, Logan's eyes flashed with caution, 'This Zetsu really knew a lot.'
That was during his early attempts to master the Flying Thunder God Technique. But whether due to talent or other reasons, it was extremely difficult for him to learn the Flying Thunder God Technique. Of course, since the Second Hokage created this technique, only the Fourth Hokage, Namikaze Minato has mastered it, so the difficulty was evident.
"So, what do you have?"
White Zetsu gave him a knowing look, "I can get you some internal information!"