Chapter 152: The Arrogant Little Devil
Konoha Village.
Underground cavern.
The atmosphere in the cavern was unusually oppressive today. The lighting was dim, making it almost impossible to see what lay ahead.
White Zetsu felt his way along the wall with his right hand, taking one step at a time as he sighed.
"I was still watching movies with Lord Madara back then."
"Idiot!"
Hearing Black Zetsu's voice right beside him, White Zetsu froze.
He rubbed his eyes and looked toward Black Zetsu again.
"Zetsu, where are you? I can't see you."
"Just look at what you've been doing in Konoha these past few months."
Black Zetsu emerged from the nearby wall, disappointment written all over his face. He materialized a hand and began counting off the activities on his fingers.
"Eating dango with Uchiha Madara, going shopping, buying clothes, taking pictures, watching movies, teaching children... Are you trying to let him experience the life of an old man?"
"Don't put it that way."
White Zetsu smacked his lips.
Thinking back on everything that had happened recently, the corners of his mouth immediately stretched into a huge grin, and he chuckled.
"I used to think Lord Madara only had contempt and hatred left for the Uchiha clan. I never expected that after returning to Konoha this time, I'd actually discover a trace of humanity still left in him."
"Otherwise, Lord Madara would have left Konoha long ago."
Humanity?
Black Zetsu sneered inwardly.
Rather than saying that humanity remained in his heart, it would be more accurate to say that Madara still remembered Uchiha Izuna's dying wish.
Protect the Uchiha clan.
Black Zetsu recalled the empty right eye it had possessed ever since settling in the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path and shook its head.
It wasn't difficult to guess what Madara was thinking now.
He neither wanted to protect the Uchiha clan nor did he want to target them.
"Hm?"
At that moment, White Zetsu scratched his head.
After looking around, his eyes settled on Black Zetsu.
"Where's that guy?"
Black Zetsu knew he was referring to White Zetsu.
After erasing the image of Uchiha Madara from its mind, it replied, "He's gone to help Obito."
Hearing that, White Zetsu's eyes lit up.
"The plan is about to begin?"
"Mm."
Black Zetsu raised its head toward the sky.
Thinking about the overly confident Uchiha Obito, it felt somewhat complicated.
Seeing White Zetsu grinning from ear to ear, Black Zetsu lowered its voice and warned him.
"Madara's life is nearing its end. If he gets frightened tonight, he might drop dead on the spot. If you don't bring him back, I'll come save you myself."
"No problem."
White Zetsu repeatedly slapped his chest, looking extremely reliable.
Black Zetsu glared at him.
Its voice was low and hoarse.
"You'd better be reliable."
Watching Black Zetsu disappear, White Zetsu scratched his head.
Then he turned toward Konoha and sighed emotionally.
"Should I buy Lord Madara some dango while he still has time?"
When White Zetsu emerged from underground and returned to Konoha, he immediately noticed that something about the village was different today.
The streets were still bustling with pedestrians, but there were far more ANBU shinobi than usual.
Even numerous medical ninja had gathered together, as though they were preparing for some kind of emergency.
Thinking about the plan Obito would execute tonight, a trace of very human concern appeared on White Zetsu's face.
"I wonder if that dango stall owner will still be able to open tomorrow. Konoha's dango really is delicious."
After sighing inwardly over Konoha's fate, White Zetsu suddenly thought about what Obito was going to do tonight and pouted.
Obito's plan sounded pretty good on paper, but for some reason, White Zetsu felt that there was a certain element of venting his anger mixed into it.
Anger. Poop. Poop.
Smack!
He slammed his right fist into his left palm, an uneasy expression appearing on his face.
"I was supposed to teach the children some drawing techniques tomorrow, but it looks like I won't be able to teach them after all. Sigh."
White Zetsu then found an empty alley, emerged from underground, and happily hopped toward the dango stall.
"Boss, two orders—"
Before he could finish, he noticed that two elderly men were already standing in front of the stall.
"No need to make two more orders."
Seeing that the two old men were also buying dango, White Zetsu decisively waved at the stall owner before walking over with a smile.
"Lord Madara!"
"Mm."
Uchiha Madara gave a faint grunt.
At that moment, Ryoichi suddenly leaned close to White Zetsu's ear and whispered,
"My cousin's name is taboo. Absolutely no one is allowed to mention it. Although enough time has passed that nobody cares about it anymore, I'm still worried that someone with ulterior motives might remember something."
"Mm~"
White Zetsu nodded and whispered back,
"Actually, there's no need to be so cautious. Several decades have passed, and Konoha even recovered his corpse back then. Even if Lord Madara stood right in front of them now, they wouldn't recognize him."
"You can't say that. There are still plenty of old people in Konoha who haven't died yet. If they connect the clues together, we'd be in trouble."
"Got it."
Listening to the two people whispering behind him, Uchiha Madara narrowed his eyes slightly.
He turned toward the stall owner and said,
"Seven servings of dango."
"Coming right up!"
As the stall owner handed over the freshly prepared dango, he looked up and watched the three figures walking into the distance.
The sun was setting, casting their shadows long across the ground.
Even the hunched figure in the middle seemed to grow taller beneath the glow of the setting sun.
"That Uchiha elder probably doesn't have much time left, does he?"
Over the past three months, the stall owner had watched the man's once-healthy complexion gradually grow pale.
He couldn't help sighing.
He was about to lose a loyal customer.
The thought genuinely saddened him.
The next moment, he noticed a piece of paper lying on his stall.
He froze.
"When did I leave a note here?"
He unfolded it.
The handwriting was crooked and messy, resembling a tangled spiderweb.
Two black lines appeared on the stall owner's forehead.
There was absolutely no way he had written this.
Your wife says you can only last a few minutes every time she cheats on you.
The stall owner could barely recognize the handwriting.
His face instantly darkened.
He tore the note into pieces and threw it into the stove, cursing furiously.
"Don't let me catch you, you damn prankster! My wife just went back to her parents' house in a rage. How could she possibly be cheating on me behind my back?!"
"..."
Ten minutes later.
The dango stall owner, still deeply unsettled by the note, hurriedly packed up his stall.
He took two bottles of sake and left Konoha, heading straight for his father-in-law's house.
After all, he had never told anyone about his 'few-minute' problem.
Better safe than sorry.
"Actually, the thing men can't tolerate most is being told that they're bad in bed by the woman they love."
White Zetsu stood on a rooftop, watching the dango stall owner, the red bean soup vendor, the ramen shop owner, the stationery shop owner, the bookstore owner, and several others hurriedly leave.
His mouth stretched all the way to his ears again.
"A whole bunch of people are giving themselves a special discount?"
"Idiot!"
An old voice suddenly came from behind him.
White Zetsu hurriedly rubbed both hands over his cheeks, concealing his smug grin.
Then he walked up to Uchiha Madara and smiled.
"Lord Madara."
Madara glanced at him coldly.
"What are you laughing about?"
"Ah~"
White Zetsu scratched his head.
That smug smile appeared on his face again as he explained,
"We might not be able to eat dango tomorrow, but we'll be able to eat authentic dango again in a few days."
Uchiha Madara had long since grown accustomed to such foolish and absurd answers.
He had never expected to obtain any useful information from this man.
The only purpose this fellow served was providing emotional support.
"This old man feels that something is wrong with Konoha today. Has something major happened in the village recently?"
Madara leaned back in his chair and spoke as though talking to himself.
Ever since his second resurrection, he had stopped caring about the daily affairs of the shinobi world.
He left everything to the "Will."
But today, Konoha felt strange to him.
The atmosphere was far too tense.
As Madara looked up at the sky in contemplation, White Zetsu glanced at Ryoichi, who was busy in the kitchen.
Without thinking, he answered directly.
"The biggest thing happening in Konoha recently should be that Uchiha Obito is planning to do something to Kushina."
"Mm!"
Madara nodded.
A thoughtful look flashed through his eyes.
"Is Obito carrying out another plan? This old man feels like the name Kushina sounds familiar. What exactly does Obito intend to do to her?"
"Kushina is Uzumaki Kushina. Obito wants to extract the Nine-Tails from her."
White Zetsu waved his arms dramatically as he explained Obito's entire plan.
"Konoha is going to have a bad night."
Hearing this, Madara stopped eating his dango.
He blinked and stared at the stars gradually appearing in the night sky.
After a moment of hesitation, he asked,
"Have Tailed Beasts One through Eight all been collected?"
White Zetsu tilted his head.
"No. Not a single one."
"I know this shouldn't matter much to Lord Madara's plan, but if Obito exposes himself too early and lets Minato notice something, leaving a Flying Thunder God mark on him, or even prepares for the situation in advance..."
"But Obito has already convinced your 'Will.'"
"Obito says he plans to control the Fourth Hokage, weaken Konoha, drive a wedge between the Uchiha clan and the village, and, while he's at it, make the Nine-Tails go berserk."
"..."
Uchiha Madara fell silent.
The plan sounded as ridiculous as him awakening the Mangekyo Sharingan and declaring that he was going to defeat Hashirama.
After a moment, he suddenly raised his head toward the Hokage Rock.
His teeth clenched.
"That arrogant little brat..."
"He's just trying to vent his anger, isn't he?"