Ever since Shokui exhausted his energy and returned to the alternate space, Ye Zi had noticed that Shokui's power had become extremely weak. He had tried calling out to Shokui several times, but all he received in return was endless silence. Although he had considered going to the alternate space to check on the situation, in the end, he decided against it.
As long as he wasn't dead, it didn't matter.
What he didn't expect was for Shokui to wake up at this time. Instead of answering Shokui's question immediately, Ye Zi first cut off the shared vision that came from their soul connection.
"You little brat, you're so petty!" Shokui shouted angrily after the vision was cut off. But his body was still weak, and his voice lacked strength.
Ignoring the complaint, Ye Zi spoke to Shokui through his thoughts, "There are some corpses here that need you to deal with."
"Hm? Perfect, I just woke up and I'm starving to death," Shokui's attention was immediately diverted. The last time he had exhausted all his remaining energy had plunged him into a deep sleep. In that empty world, recovery was painfully slow.
After finally gathering enough energy to wake up, the first thing Shokui saw through the permissions Ye Zi had granted him was Ye Zi using a jutsu he hadn't seen before. Naturally, he asked the question, but Ye Zi didn't answer. Instead, he cut off the shared vision, and Shokui had no choice but to endure it passively.
Annoyed as he was, upon hearing Ye Zi's mention of food, Shokui remembered his immediate need to eat.
A familiar cross-shaped light appeared out of thin air, and a palm-sized Shokui jumped out from it.
"Ah, fresh air at last!" The miniaturized Shokui landed on the ground, spread his arms, and wore a delighted expression. His voice was weak, and the scene looked quite comical.
A sticky liquid began to slowly emerge from the ground near Ye Zi's feet, eventually forming into White Zetsu. Looking at the palm-sized Shokui, White Zetsu said with interest, "This is your summoned beast, right? If I remember correctly, it shouldn't be this small."
"Hm?"
Upon hearing the voice, Shokui raised his head and looked at White Zetsu, who had appeared out of nowhere. With his hands on his hips, Shokui coldly said, "Where did this ugly freak come from?"
"Ugly freak?!"
Half of White Zetsu's face flushed with anger as he pointed at Shokui and growled, "I may be ugly, but I still look better than you, you monster that resembles the Gedo Statue!"
"No matter how much you flatter me, it won't make me take back my earlier comment," Shokui sneered.
"You think I was flattering you?!" White Zetsu stiffened, as if struck by an arrow.
"Even though I'm a monster with principles, it's been many years since someone called me that. Thinking about it now, it feels a bit nostalgic," Shokui shot him a cold glance and then trotted off to find some corpses.
White Zetsu was left speechless...
Suddenly, the usually silent Black Zetsu spoke up, "Idiot."
White Zetsu rolled his eyes in Black Zetsu's direction and grumbled, "Being called an ugly freak by that monster is half your fault, too."
Black Zetsu fell silent again, unwilling to respond to White Zetsu.
"If you're so free, why don't you help clean up the corpses? That way, we won't have to worry about Iwa-nin sending reinforcements and causing more trouble," Ye Zi said, looking at White Zetsu as though he were an idiot.
"Fine, fine." White Zetsu agreed, but then he saw the look Ye Zi was giving him and immediately bristled, shouting angrily, "What kind of look is that?!"
"The look I give to an idiot."
Ye Zi casually replied and walked over to lean against a tree, his arms crossed and his eyes half-closed, quietly watching the ground in front of him.
"You're the idiot!" White Zetsu muttered under his breath, shooting a glare at Ye Zi before heading off to deal with the corpses. Soon, he saw Shokui standing on a corpse's chest, forming a rectangle with his thumb and forefinger as if measuring something.
White Zetsu approached and mocked, "Ye Zi asked you to clean up the corpses, but with your size, how long will it take to handle even one?"
Shokui gave him a sidelong glance, then silently jumped off the corpse. His mouth slowly opened, and suddenly, it stretched wide—so wide it was out of proportion with his body, resembling a black hole. Under White Zetsu's stunned gaze, Shokui's exaggeratedly large mouth easily swallowed an entire Iwa-nin corpse.
After consuming one corpse, Shokui's mouth returned to its original size. He muttered in dissatisfaction, "Fresh ones taste better. That brat always makes me eat dead ones."
Then, without paying any more attention to White Zetsu, Shokui went on to the next corpse.
White Zetsu, now watching Shokui, who had just swallowed a whole body yet remained the size of a palm, muttered in disbelief, "What an absolute freak..."
Thanks to the combined efforts of Shokui and White Zetsu, the corpses of the Iwa-nin who had been killed by the Wood Release were all cleaned up. Afterward, Ye Zi and White Zetsu left the area, while Shokui, still complaining about not being full, was sent back to the alternate dimension by Ye Zi.
Shokui's awakening was good news for Ye Zi, as it meant he had gained another ally. However, given Shokui's current weakened state, it seemed Ye Zi couldn't keep suppressing him. He would need to let Shokui gradually grow stronger.
...
Back at the Konoha outpost, Minato had fortunately avoided any damage to his organs, and under the care of the medical ninja, his wounds healed quickly.
With the successful destruction of Iwa-nin's supply lines and the presence of the medical ninja that had accompanied them, the battle ahead was unlikely to be as difficult as before. This was a foreseeable outcome, though they couldn't afford to relax just yet.
They owed a great deal to Tsunade's insistence on developing the medical ninja system. Over the years, she had tirelessly trained more medical ninja, and now, during this war, the medical system was playing a critical role.
Although other ninja villages had recognized the importance of medical ninja, building a proper medical system wasn't something that could be accomplished overnight.
"With Iwa-nin's supply lines destroyed, they will definitely launch a full-scale attack in the near future. Luckily, your injuries weren't serious. Otherwise... the collapse of the frontlines would have been inevitable," Shikaku said gravely, biting his thumb. His serious expression made his youthful face seem more mature.
His words made it clear that he saw Minato's presence as the key to victory or defeat, which highlighted just how critical Minato's role was in the war.
Beside Shikaku, Choza was gnawing on a chicken leg, while Inoichi stood silently by.
"I was ambushed by a very fast enemy and didn't have time to see who it was," Minato said, rolling his shoulder. Thinking back on how close it had been, he was still a bit shaken. The enemy had timed the ambush perfectly, attacking when Minato let his guard down, and struck from behind with such speed that he had no chance to turn around before he was forced to use the Flying Thunder God Technique to return to the outpost.
"I see… that means there's another powerful enemy among the Iwa-nin we need to watch out for," Shikaku said in a low voice.
Minato smiled and didn't seem too concerned about the attacker. With the mastery of the Flying Thunder God Technique, he didn't fear anyone in terms of speed. Looking ahead to the situation, he turned to Shikaku and asked, "So, we just need to hold the line now?"
Shikaku nodded slightly, still biting his thumb, and said, "This is, after all, a war between shinobi. Iwa-nin might try to emulate us by splitting their forces into smaller units and sending squads to infiltrate our rear lines. If they succeed in cutting off our supply lines, the situation could become dire."
Hearing Shikaku's words, Choza's eyes widened, and he said, "Then we've got to stop them! I don't want to go without food!"
Inoichi, hearing this, couldn't help but cover his face and roll his eyes at Choza. Then he asked, "If that's a possibility, how should we adjust our deployment?"
Shikaku furrowed his brows slightly, letting go of his thumb and rubbing his chin as he began to think.
Minato watched the Ino-Shika-Cho trio quietly, a faint smile playing on his lips. This was the future of Konoha...
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Currently on Chapter 234 - Ye Zi's Arrival and the Trapped Snake