Late at night, after Haku and Kimimaro had fallen asleep, a White Zetsu emerged from the ground beside Shinji using the Mayfly technique.
As soon as it appeared, this White Zetsu, or rather, "Second Dog," couldn't hide its excitement and spoke eagerly.
"Lord Anli! You've finally returned!"
"What is it?"
Sitting by the campfire, Shinji casually asked while adding more firewood.
"It's nothing... it's just that the days without you were really hard to endure."
"Uh..."
Shinji's eye twitched. What kind of brainwashing had he done to Second Dog to make him like this? Or was there something wrong with Second Dog's mind from the start?
"Just tell me what has happened in the ninja world during the two years I was asleep."
Second Dog began to recount the significant events that had occurred in the ninja world over the past two years.
First, about Obito. After failing to provoke a war between Konoha and other ninja villages, he turned his attention to Iwagakure and Kumogakure. However, his efforts to incite them also failed, instead straining relations between those two villages. Currently, ninjas from Iwagakure and Kumogakure are mortal enemies on missions.
As for Sunagakure, Obito's attempts to incite them were also unsuccessful. Sunagakure knew their limits; trying to fight Konoha was a fool's errand.
Hearing this, Shinji interrupted.
"Wait, you said Uchiha Obito infiltrated Sunagakure and released Shukaku, trying to blame Konoha?"
"Yes, but Shukaku was quickly subdued by the Fourth Kazekage Rasa. That man is very strong, especially in the desert where he can suppress a rampaging Shukaku!"
This didn't surprise Shinji, as the original story mentioned Rasa's ability to suppress Shukaku multiple times.
"Did Sunagakure's jinchūriki survive?"
"Thanks to Rasa, Shukaku was forced back into the boy's body, barely saving his life. However, the situation is not optimistic. Rasa is looking for a replacement jinchūriki before the boy dies but hasn't found a suitable candidate yet..."
"What a remarkable Kazekage."
Shinji smiled, not intending to be sarcastic. For Rasa, sacrificing a couple of sons for the village was a trivial matter.
Sacrificing personal desires for the greater good of the village wasn't entirely wrong, though his rigid thinking and self-centered approach were problematic.
Second Dog continued recounting events from the past two years.
After failing to incite a war between Konoha and Sunagakure, Obito turned his sights on Kirigakure. Surprisingly, despite Obito's control, Kirigakure refused the Fourth Mizukage's orders to start a war with Konoha. High-ranking officials in the village almost unanimously opposed the idea. Obito considered using force to make Kirigakure obey, but the increasing dissatisfaction with the Mizukage's policies made him reconsider, fearing a large-scale rebellion.
For Obito, who had almost lost his mind, slowly torturing his enemies (Kirigakure) for maximum pleasure was more satisfying than killing them outright.
Another reason for Obito's restraint was Kakashi's relentless pursuit. Over the past two years, Kakashi continuously found traces of Obito, making it impossible for him to relax. Although he had no concrete evidence, Kakashi's determination to unmask the man in the mask was unwavering.
Obito was annoyed by Kakashi's persistence and couldn't bring himself to kill his former friend, leading him to reduce his outings.
Of course, Obito didn't know that Black Zetsu had betrayed him, and most of the clues Kakashi found were left by Black Zetsu.
Recently, Black Zetsu had been planning to lure Kakashi to Kirigakure, hoping to give Obito a hard time as revenge for previous grievances.
"Lord Anli, over the past two years, a grassroots religion has emerged in the ninja world. Although currently small in scale, it is growing and has even been adopted as the state religion by some small countries."
"Oh? What religion?" Shinji asked with interest.
"The Cult of Fire Worship! And they've included you in their doctrines! It's truly infuriating!"
"What did they say about me?"
"They say you're the source of all evil in the world!"
"Well, they're not wrong."
"Uh..."
Second Dog thought for a moment, realizing they hadn't technically lied, then continued. "Somehow, they obtained your name and story, and established a religion. The number of followers is growing. A small, war-torn country that adopted the Cult of Fire Worship as its state religion has even regained peace through its spread. Currently, the cult plays a very positive role in some unstable regions."
Shinji wasn't surprised by this. He had anticipated such developments when he planted the ruins. The fact that small, war-torn countries were the first to adopt the cult made sense, as people in constant despair would cling to any hope.
While the cult currently had a positive impact, Shinji knew that over time, negative aspects would emerge, an inevitable part of history.
In a world with supernatural powers, the cult's decay would be accelerated. Various ambitions would soon corrupt the initial hope the cult offered.
Indeed, Second Dog soon mentioned some small-scale massacres related to the Cult of Fire Worship. Ninja marauders would burn and loot villages, pushing all blame onto Angra Mainyu.
While these incidents were currently few and isolated, Shinji believed that as the cult spread, such events would become more frequent and larger in scale. Self-serving ninjas who twisted the doctrine would eventually form organized groups, breaking away to create new religions.
Just like Christianity and Catholicism.
As long as he intervened occasionally to prevent major powers from wiping out the cult, the outcome was inevitable, leading to large-scale turmoil in the ninja world.
To bring about destruction, one must first induce madness.
After discussing this, Shinji inquired about other matters, such as the Akatsuki and the Uchiha clan.
The responses were surprisingly calm: Akatsuki was quietly expanding its power, and the Uchiha clan remained stable in Konoha.
Shinji was puzzled by this. Even with a more lenient Hokage, the Uchiha clan's hot-headed nature should have led to more unrest.
But after some thought, Shinji realized that Fugaku, the clan leader, must have shifted his mindset and approach. Indecision would only make things worse.
After Second Dog finished his report, dawn had arrived. At that moment, Second Dog asked the question he was most curious about.
"Who are these two children?"
Looking at the sleeping Haku and Kimimaro, Shinji smiled. "Just children. In ninja terms, they're like disciples."
"I see."
"Anyway, good work."
Seeing Shinji's sincere smile and hearing his words of appreciation, Second Dog felt a warmth he had never experienced working for Black Zetsu or Obito. Did he even have feelings?
"No, it's nothing, Lord Anli. As long as you remember your promise."
Restoring their memories and identities as humans was something Shinji had promised to Second Dog and the other White Zetsu. Though he wasn't sure how to achieve it, he wasn't worried.
After all, if he couldn't do it, he could always use illusions to create false memories. It was a small matter.
"Also, the White Zetsu team has grown! We hope Lord Anli can give each of them a name as good as mine!"
As Second Dog finished speaking, hundreds of weak White Zetsu emerged from the ground, all looking at Shinji with eager eyes.
Shinji: ...
...
Before dawn, Shinji had given each White Zetsu a poetic name using verses from the Tang poetry collection.
Seeing the White Zetsu delightedly flaunting their new names and reciting the verses, Shinji couldn't help but wonder if they'd start reciting poems before fighting in the future. Given their excitement, it seemed likely.
Extinguishing the campfire, Shinji stood up and clapped his hands.
"By the way, Second Dog, keep an eye on the Land of Grass and Kusagakure for me. Let me know if anything happens."
"I understand, Lord Anli."
...
By mid-morning, Haku and Kimimaro woke up from a rare good night's sleep, seeing Shinji smiling at them, giving them a sense of peace.
"Alright, wash up and have breakfast. We leave after that."
"Teacher, where are we going?" Haku asked.
"To a place like a main base."
"A main base?" Kimimaro was puzzled.
"You'll see when we get there."
...
The next evening, at the coastline of the Land of Hot Water.
Leading the two children, Shinji looked at the familiar hot spring inn and frowned.
The warning signs he had left were in disrepair, and the entrance was a mess. The inn's hall was in shambles.
"Is this the main base?" Kimimaro murmured.
Entering the hall, Shinji retrieved his monitoring equipment hidden there and spoke. "First, let's clean up. Haku, you take the rooms upstairs. Kimimaro, you clean the men's, women's, and mixed baths. I'll handle the hall and the outside. Understood?"
"Yes, Teacher!" x2
Holding the small surveillance cameras, Shinji had a new plan.
These tasks for the children were just the beginning.
Ignoring the ninjas who disregarded his warnings would be good practice for the kids.
Thinking it was a good idea, Shinji nodded, planning to extract the surveillance footage and have the White Zetsu investigate the identities and locations of those who ignored his warnings.