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Stand beside me? How could that be possible? The place I'm headed… it might lead to becoming a monster!
Ye Zi put his mask back on, covering the slight change in his expression. He stared carefully into Kotoe's eyes and said calmly, "I need to plant a spy in Konoha. There's no one else but you."
The girl before him was someone he could trust.
"!"
Kotoe was shocked by Ye Zi's request, and many questions flooded her mind: Ye Zi hadn't died, so why didn't he return to Konoha? Why hide his identity? Why ask her to be a spy? But she kept these questions to herself.
"Okay," she agreed simply, silently gazing at Ye Zi, without thinking about the consequences or risks involved.
Seeing Kotoe agree so easily, Ye Zi frowned slightly. Was standing beside him really her only reason? It seemed too naive.
"Is your only motive to stand beside me?"
"No, I…"
Kotoe hesitated, knowing the deeper reason. She suddenly remembered the feelings of frustration she had while standing before Ye Zi's grave, mourning a cold, lifeless tombstone. The emotions she had hidden in her heart now resurfaced, swirling in her mind.
After a moment of hesitation, her expression turned determined.
"I… I want to enter into your heart!"
Ye Zi fell silent. His heart had long been nailed shut, and no one could enter. He had never wanted to open it to anyone.
Kotoe expected his silence. She thought to herself, The only person you care about is her, right? But I won't give up so easily!
"How should I contact you when I'm in Konoha?" Kotoe wisely shifted the topic.
Ye Zi snapped out of his silence and deliberately avoided the previous conversation. He glanced toward White Zetsu, who was hiding in the trees. Feeling Ye Zi's gaze, White Zetsu traveled through the trees, emerging beside him.
"You have a way, don't you?" Ye Zi asked.
White Zetsu nodded, grinning. "I'll plant a spore inside her. Whenever we need to communicate, I'll grow the spore into a clone. Each spore can only be used once for contact, and I can only plant six spores."
"So, that means there are only six chances to communicate?" Ye Zi asked, looking at White Zetsu.
"Exactly."
"How about you, Kotoe?" Ye Zi turned to Kotoe. "Do you have any issues with this?"
"None," Kotoe replied without hesitation. Although she didn't know what the spore was or anything about this creature-like White Zetsu, she trusted that Ye Zi wouldn't harm her.
White Zetsu chuckled as he walked over and patted Kotoe's shoulder. The spore transferred from his palm into Kotoe's body. After planting the spore, he turned back to Ye Zi, saying, "It's done."
Kotoe was momentarily stunned. She hadn't felt any chakra intrusion, nor did she sense anything unusual in her body. So, the spore had already been planted?
"I'll contact you when I need information."
Ye Zi turned away, looking at the shadows cast by the dense foliage. His voice remained calm. "You probably have a lot of questions, but don't ask—I won't answer them."
Kotoe took a deep breath, feeling a sense of disappointment in her heart.
"When you're in Konoha, don't deliberately seek out information. Act as you normally do. The next time we meet… we'll stand together."
With that final statement, Ye Zi leapt into the trees and disappeared from Kotoe's sight after a few swift jumps.
Those parting words erased the disappointment in Kotoe's heart. Watching Ye Zi's figure fade away, she smiled.
White Zetsu glanced at Kotoe, whose eyes remained fixed in the direction Ye Zi had disappeared, with a curious glint in his own eyes before merging back into the earth to follow Ye Zi.
After a moment, Kotoe snapped out of her thoughts. Guy and the others were still fighting. She silently pulled out a few senbon, clenching them between her fingers, her eyes flashing with a cold light.
Stealth and assassination—that's where her true skills lay.
She returned to the battlefield and hid among the trees, silently observing the fight.
Guy had opened the second gate of the Eight Gates, now clearly overpowering the female Iwa-nin.
Obito, on the other hand, was struggling against the hulking Iwa-nin, while Kakashi had the upper hand against the fat Iwa-nin. From the surface, it looked like Konoha had the advantage, but that no longer mattered.
The senbon in Kotoe's fingers moved slowly toward her line of sight. From this moment on, the Iwa-nin's defeat was inevitable.
After parting ways with Kotoe, Ye Zi continued to wander through the Forest of Dusk. Using his heightened sensory abilities, he located Iwa-nin and Konoha ninja, eliminating them quietly. This was all done in secrecy, weakening both sides without drawing attention.
"That Grass ninja seems to like you," White Zetsu commented as they leapt through the trees after killing another Iwa-nin squad.
Ye Zi ignored him.
Though Ye Zi didn't respond, White Zetsu pressed on, unwilling to let the subject go. "I didn't expect you to be so popular. A few words, and that woman became your pawn."
"If you have time to talk, you might as well help me locate more Iwa-nin and Konoha ninja."
"How boring," White Zetsu muttered, then reluctantly resumed helping Ye Zi search for targets.
The battle between Iwa-nin and Konoha continued in the Forest of Dusk, but with Ye Zi's interference, things were different. From dawn until dusk, out of the 563 ninja in the forest—55% from Iwa and 45% from Konoha—about 25% were killed by Ye Zi and White Zetsu.
Together, they were like grim reapers hidden in the shadows, hunting down their targets without anyone realizing. Their sensory skills surpassed any ninja in the forest, allowing them to kill undetected.
After completing their mission, Ye Zi and White Zetsu left the Forest of Dusk. All the while, Shokui complained that he hadn't been allowed to consume any of the dead ninja, not even the corpses, which could still provide some energy. But Ye Zi ignored his protests and, with White Zetsu, headed toward the Land of Wind.
By the time the day came to an end, the battle between Konoha and Iwa-nin was nearly over, with Konoha emerging victorious.
After the failure of Iwa's surprise attack, the direct battles continued for several days. Even with the help of the Five-Tails Jinchuriki, Iwa was unable to gain any significant advantage over Minato Namikaze.
Ultimately, as Iwa faced defeat, the Third Tsuchikage, Onoki, arrived on the battlefield. Though over 60 years old, his presence immediately put pressure on Konoha.
But regardless of the outcome of this battle, Minato Namikaze's name would resound throughout the ninja world after this war.
At the same time, the Land of Wind received two unexpected visitors.
Avoiding Konoha and slipping past the Sand's border patrols, Ye Zi and White Zetsu moved through the desert toward Sunagakure.
They came with ill intent.
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Currently on Chapter 240 - Hidden Thoughts and Relics of the Past