Seeing things go wrong, Ye Liang immediately prepared to retreat.
When facing uncertain situations, Ye Liang never took unnecessary risks—the risk was often disproportional to the reward!
After all, no cunning schemer would willingly step into the spotlight.
"I'll go first," Ye Liang said by way of warning.
But there was no need for him to say it. Deidara had already controlled the clay bird to fly far away.
"Don't think you can leave! Stay here for my master!"
Kitsuchi's eyes burned red like an enraged ape!
With a mighty roar, the Great Mud Flow beneath his feet surged toward Ye Liang once more.
At that moment, suddenly a colossal skeletal apparition as large as a mountain slapped Kitsuchi hard across the face. It stood between Ye Liang and Kitsuchi like a sky-high giant.
"Susanoo!"
The man inside the skeletal figure softly spoke one sentence. He looked at Kitsuchi with not a trace of fear in his eyes.
"It's Itachi Uchiha! He finally appeared!" Naturally, Ye Liang recognized who Itachi was.
At this moment, besides Itachi Uchiha, there was no one else capable of activating Susanoo.
"No way, we can't leave him behind." Ye Liang quickly handed a flying shuriken marked with the [Flying Thunder God Technique] seal to Deidara before rushing straight into battle.
After all, Itachi was just buying them time. Given his current age, he was still far from being a match for the enhanced Kitsuchi.
"Cursed! Those who dare disrupt my master's plan must die!" Kitsuchi roared furiously again.
Suddenly, his face darkened, vaguely revealing a black Expressionless Mask. At the same time the mask appeared, his body began shedding.
Clumps of skin fell onto the ground, revealing beneath them a massive White Zetsu form.
"It's that thing!" Ye Liang sucked in a sharp breath.
Back during the Chunin Exams, Ye Liang had encountered this masked White Zetsu before. Back then, he barely defeated it after fully unleashing [Sage Art – Night Guy].
"Why is this here again?" Ye Liang was shocked.
These masked White Zetsus possessed immense chakra and were extremely durable!
Previously, Ye Liang had spent all his chakra launching a [Tailed Beast Ball], so now he had practically no strength left for another fight.
After all, Ye Liang dared not use [Sage Art – Night Guy] again at this point...
"Let's go!"
Ye Liang threw another [Tailed Beast Ball] to block Kitsuchi before instantly appearing right in front of Itachi Uchiha. He touched the latter's waist.
[Flying Thunder God Technique]!
They vanished in a flash.
Outside Iwagakure Village, powerful explosion sounds continued echoing outward as Ye Liang and the others arrived at the small wooden cabin where Deidara had hidden earlier.
This location was near the edge of a cliff, making it impossible for Kitsuchi to track them down.
"My Lord Ye Liang, how did you end up here? Weren't you headed back to Otogakure?" Itachi Uchiha looked at Ye Liang in confusion.
Besides surprise, his eyes also flickered with excitement!
"This question should be mine to ask you! Why aren't you in Konoha? What are you doing joining Akatsuki? Don't you know this organization was founded by Orochimaru!"
Ye Liang lectured Itachi Uchiha like a concerned old woman, clearly showing his frustration at how Itachi failed to live up to expectations.
After all, the Naruto world had changed drastically over the past five years. Not only were White Zetsus everywhere, even powerful Kage-level experts who originally belonged to the village had betrayed it.
For example, Sanshouo Hanzo, whom Ye Liang met earlier, was once a widely recognized elite master in the ninja world, yet he abandoned his principles for the sake of the God Tree's fruit.
If such a strong figure could fall from grace, then the current state of the Naruto world really could be described as perilously dire.
"Lord Ye Liang, I must confess—I've become a rogue ninja," said Itachi Uchiha, raising his hand helplessly.
"After you left, Danzo quickly made a move to seize control of Konoha. Although the Third Hokage strongly opposed him, with Anbu support, Danzo still became the Fifth Hokage. The Uchiha knew full well Danzo had no intention of letting us thrive, so we had no choice but to leave the village."
"You left the village?" Ye Liang's expression immediately turned odd.
"That's right. Now we're hiding somewhere in the Land of Snow; there aren't many ninjas there, so it's relatively safe."
"Ah..." Ye Liang hesitated, unsure of what to say next.
Danzo became the Fifth Hokage.
In the original timeline, Danzo did briefly become Hokage—but officially as the Sixth. His premature coup caught Ye Liang somewhat off guard.
It seemed that his own arrival significantly altered events in Konoha.
"So how did you join Akatsuki? Since you already secluded yourselves in the Land of Snow, why get involved in outside conflicts?" Ye Liang asked again.
The Uchiha had already suffered heavy losses after Danzo's attack. Now they needed to rebuild everything from ruin—recovering and strengthening should have been their priority instead of interfering with worldly matters in the shinobi world.
"Because of the White Zetsus!"
Suddenly sighing, Itachi continued, "Initially we had no intention of meddling in shinobi affairs anymore, but large numbers of White Zetsus started appearing near the Land of Snow. Their intentions were clear—they seemed to want to take control of the Land of Snow! You see, if they succeed, our Uchiha clan will inevitably perish too."
"My father sent me to seek external assistance, which is also why I joined Akatsuki."
"I see now."
Ye Liang suddenly understood everything.
Akatsuki had always been gathering powerful ninja across the entire shinobi world, so choosing them as allies definitely made sense. As for Orochimaru, according to Sasori's earlier account, he had completely disappeared after failing to assassinate Sanshouo Hanzo three years ago.
Now that things were mostly understood,
After settling everyone properly, Ye Liang led Itachi and others back toward the battlefield.
This time without any worries behind them, with their strength, they might just stand a chance against Kitsuchi!
In Iwagakure Village,
Kitsuchi, now wearing the mask of a White Zetsu or controlled by one, was furiously attacking the surroundings. His eyes blood-red, seemingly gone completely mad.
Behind him, countless small White Zetsus blocked the path.
"The Faceless One is out of control! Hurry and call Lord Zetsu here to stop him, or the Land of Earth base will be utterly destroyed!"
One after another, the tiny White Zetsus threw themselves fearlessly at the enormous faceless figure—Kitsuchi—but his power was far beyond their capability to resist. Before they could even reach his head, they were directly crushed into pieces by Kitsuchi!
At the clouds.
Ye Liang eyed the scene warily.
He and Itachi were riding on Deidara's giant clay bird, so the small White Zetsu below would absolutely never notice him.
"Teacher Ye Liang, it looks like they're fighting among themselves. They're actually attacking their own comrade," Itachi said.
"No, more likely trying to stop him. That madman — Kitsuchi."
Kitsuchi had gained power far too quickly, but his body hadn't changed at all. A sudden leap in power like that? Anyone would've snapped—makes sense he lost it first.
"Deidara, prepare to take us over there," Ye Liang replied.
At that moment, the massive white bird dove toward the frenzied Kitsuchi.
<><><><><><><><>
Thank you for reading! Your support will keep me updating!
~ Every 50 Powerstones = **4 Bonus Chapters** this weekend!
<><><><><><><><>
Want to read the subsequent content in advance?
Please follow my Patreon:patreon/Tansnovel
Tans Novel - The Fastest-Updating Naruto Fanfiction Account
Read 100+ chapters in advance, with at least 3 new chapters updated every day! More free chapters! 20+ Naruto fanfictions!
Just three steps:
1. Download and open the "Patreon" app
2. Search for "Tans Novel"
3. Click on the collection and enjoy to your heart's content
<><><><><><><><>