Everything was ready. Ye Zi had come here alone ahead of the others, but of course he didn't intend to face the entire Alliance by himself.
Though White Zetsu had failed to obtain useful intel in Konoha, the earth itself was his domain. When merged with the ground, he could perceive everything within a set range.
The Alliance had a rough idea of White Zetsu's abilities, but they didn't know about this scouting technique, melding fully with the earth. They had no idea their movements were laid bare to him.
"Kush—… the target's position?" Ye Zi gripped his blade in his left hand and held out his right palm. A coffin slid silently out from his hand and thumped onto the ground beside him.
"Not within the Allied forces of the Five Great Villages," White Zetsu reported. He had not found Kushina.
"I see…"
Ye Zi's eyelids lowered. Since they knew who he was after, it wasn't strange they'd hide Kushina. He said coolly, "Our target is the Nine-Tails' jinchūriki. If she isn't here, there's no point wasting time."
Before his words had finished, the coffin lid beside him clattered to the ground, kicking up a puff of dust.
A man in a black cloak patterned with red clouds stepped out. In his lusterless Rinnegan, one could still faintly read a trace of emotion.
The Edo Tensei body Ye Zi had summoned, was Nagato.
"If the Nine-Tails' jinchūriki isn't here, she's likely in the rear," White Zetsu said, glancing at the vanguard below with its murderous discipline. "So are we going to split off to find her?"
"Yes." Ye Zi stared down at the ten thousand shinobi. "This crowd isn't worth my chakra."
White Zetsu chuckled. "With Edo Tensei and the clone army, you don't need to lift a finger. By now, the clones are probably already engaging."
Ye Zi ignored him and looked to Nagato. "Orochimaru, this side is yours."
The reply was Orochimaru's familiar hoarse chuckle, issuing oddly from Nagato's mouth.
Suddenly, a figure flashed to Ye Zi's side.
Ye Zi turned and said nothing.
It was Kimimaro. After leaving the base, when Ye Zi had separated from the main force by surging ahead, Kimimaro had gritted his teeth and kept pace. He was the first to catch up.
"Where are the others?" Ye Zi had not entered Sage Mode, so his sensory range was much smaller. He wasn't surprised to sense Kimimaro, but he sensed no one else.
"Behind," Kimimaro replied, slightly out of breath.
Ye Zi nodded. The clone army neither ate nor rested and could march without pause. From the first day, they had pulled far ahead of the Hebi Squad. Ye Zi hadn't forced the Snake Squad to keep up with the clones; they could arrive later as reinforcements.
He hadn't expected Kimimaro to be so stubborn as to follow alone. Ye Zi found it unwise, but he wouldn't scold him. Since he was here, he would join the battle.
"Kimimaro, go with the Edo Tensei and hold them," Ye Zi said.
The boy's youthful face hardened with resolve. "Yes!"
"Come with me."
Ye Zi leapt from the stone pillar toward the ground.
White Zetsu sank into the earth with the Mayfly Technique and vanished.
He wasn't a frontline fighter and didn't need to conserve chakra. Even if, like Ye Zi, he thought it a waste to spend chakra on the Alliance's vanguard, he used the Mayfly Technique, because it was convenient, and because it was habit.
As Ye Zi jumped, Kimimaro and Nagato, controlled by Orochimaru, also leapt down.
Wind roared in Ye Zi's ears. His body cut the air and hit the ground with a heavy boom.
The drop kicked up a cloud of dust. Ye Zi's figure loomed within it. Kimimaro landed second, his superb physique absorbing the shock.
Nagato came down a few seconds later, cushioning his fall with Wind Release before touching down gently and blowing away Ye Zi's dust.
Summoning Technique!
Upon landing, Orochimaru, through Nagato, formed the seals for Edo Tensei.
Thud, thud...
The ground trembled. Coffins burst up from below and stood arrayed before Nagato, eighteen in a line.
Seeing Ye Zi and Nagato move, the entire first division grew taut with caution. Even if they had held their position, it looked like Ye Zi would make the first move.
Besides Ye Zi, there were eighteen unrevealed Edo Tensei, Nagato, the one who had assaulted Konoha and a young boy.
As Kakashi relayed the situation to the rear, a bad message arrived in return.
The second (mid-range) division, the third (long-range) division, and the fourth (special operations) division had all been intercepted, by a vast army of "White Zetsu." The vanguard had been cut off and might soon face a pincer attack.
"Wasn't the Sensor Division on constant watch…?"
Kakashi's eyes narrowed, but he set the question aside. This was not the moment to ponder—only to fight.
Clack…
All eighteen coffin lids toppled to the ground, revealing the reanimated shinobi within.
At the sight of those faces, the vanguard's expressions changed drastically.
No cries, no gasps. Not a sound. The very silence revealed the shock gripping their hearts.
Ye Zi didn't look back at the coffins. He sprinted straight at the ten thousand before him, without Lightning Release armor, without Sage Mode, only his Sharingan open.
He had told White Zetsu already: the ten thousand before him weren't worth his chakra.
And it was true.
Even with the chakra he could draw upon, Ye Zi would avoid waste whenever possible. He knew exactly what his target was.
What could one man hope to do, charging ten thousand?
Guy drew a deep breath and crushed his own shock. Perhaps confusion simply didn't suit him; at this moment, facing Ye Zi, he hesitated not at all. He chose the truest path of his heart...
To defeat Teacher Ye Zi!
"The Sixth Gate: Open!"
Years of brutal training bore fruit. He opened straight to the Sixth Gate.
His exposed skin flushed red; a bright green aura wrapped him.
Gate opened, Guy launched himself at Ye Zi.
"Guy!"
Kakashi couldn't stop him. He bit down and surged forward himself, wind and lightning wreathing the short blade in his hand.
Ye Zi watched the green-enshrouded Guy rush in, making no move to respond.
Without needing a word from Ye Zi, Kimimaro accelerated, slipped past him, and met Guy head-on.
Green and white collided with a thunderous crack, winds exploding in all directions.
Kimimaro stopped Guy, even at the Sixth Gate.
Ye Zi spared them no more attention and pressed on toward the Allied line.
Kakashi, a step behind Guy, crossed directly into Ye Zi's path and struck without a word.
In that instant, a figure flashed across Kakashi's front, swift beyond belief.
Two short blades, shining with the same light, met in midair with a piercing ring.
Twin currents of wind and lightning, born of the same source, twisted together. The glare lit Kakashi's face, drawn tight with gravity.
"Father…" Kakashi said, voice low.
"Kakashi, are you well?" Sakumo Hatake looked at his son from an arm's length away. So many years, so many changes, yet in the end, everything he felt condensed into a single question.
If you want to read more...
Check out the patreon and get 55 chapters in advance -> SaintXI
Currently on Chapter 619 - When The Light Fades