The two raced back toward the sandstone staircase they had come from, only to realize—
The staircase was gone!
In its place stood a cluster of green puppets.
These puppets moved even faster than before. Though slightly weaker in strength compared to the earlier red puppets, their speed was significantly higher—they were clearly agility-type units.
"Not good! We've stumbled right into an ambush!" Ye Liang shouted, hurling several shuriken, all of which the green puppets dodged. He quickly adjusted his thinking.
Thinking it through, it started to make sense—Fake Ye Liang, having already lost the map and key, would have naturally prepared countermeasures. Coming here alone really had been too reckless on Ye Liang's part.
"Then what should we do now, Master Ye Liang? We're completely surrounded!" Itachi Uchiha said with slight panic.
He was still only a sixteen-year-old kid, after all. Despite being somewhat mature for his age, he hadn't yet reached full adult composure.
"You buy me a minute—let me see if there's another way out," Ye Liang ordered and immediately pulled out the worn old map, studying it intently.
Earlier on the map, he had noticed an isolated room nearby—but at that time, all around were solid walls with no visible path anywhere.
Could it be hidden inside one of these walls?
[Earth Release – Earth Dragon Projectile!]
Ye Liang released the jutsu directly at the surrounding stone walls. Sure enough, exactly where the map had indicated, a narrow passageway opened up.
"Go!"
Both dashed rapidly through the opening. The pursuing puppets, however, couldn't fit through due to their larger frames, getting stuck temporarily outside.
"I think we're safe now," Itachi Uchiha sighed heavily with relief. Following close behind Ye Liang, they entered a hidden chamber.
"This must be the central hub of this secret chamber."
Ye Liang folded away the map.
"Mm-hmm."
Itachi checked the entrance one more time to make sure nothing had followed them before taking a closer look at their surroundings.
"What are all these strange iron objects?"
Curiously, he touched some nearby items—machines constructed entirely from cast iron. Although bulky, their craftsmanship was surprisingly delicate.
"They must control this underground sand city," Ye Liang speculated while observing what looked like aircraft control panels.
They immediately began searching the cockpit area.
Since Fake Ye Liang had visited this place before, there surely was a reason—they knew he hadn't come here just for fun!
After going through things for a while longer,
Ye Liang suddenly found a blood-stained diary tucked inside a drawer of one of the control panels.
"My Days of Whitewashing in the Naruto World!"
He flipped through its pages.
"Ten years ago, I suddenly died and arrived in the Naruto world... Haha! I successfully modified White Zetsu! Even Kaguya Hime's followers actually fell for my trickery!"
"This is Fake Ye Liang's diary!" Ye Liang exclaimed, recognizing the owner right away.
According to the diary,
Fake Ye Liang had actually arrived shortly before Ye Liang did. Immediately upon arrival, he had begun setting up a grand scheme within the Naruto world.
"He plans to transform everyone into White Zetsu to launch an attack against Kaguya's world!" Ye Liang gasped in shock. Now fully aware of Fake Ye Liang's plot, he felt genuine terror at such a plan.
From reading the entries, it became clear—everything Fake Ye Liang had done so far was purely to prepare for Kaguya's anticipated invasion, just as Kaguya Hime had once done.
The White Zetsus had always been Kaguya Hime's ultimate tool to counter the Kaguya Clan!
Ye Liang shook his head.
This was a matter of righteousness!
From a broader perspective, Fake Ye Liang wasn't entirely wrong, but he could never agree with it.
If everyone were transformed, even if the threat of the Kaguya Clan was truly eliminated, what would be the point of this Naruto world still existing?
A world without girls was no world worth living in!
Ye Liang continued reading the diary.
"I met him... that bastard impersonating me... right when I was about to gather all the portal energy. Damn it!"
End of book.
Ye Liang silently closed the diary.
The rest was about what happened when Ye Liang encountered the Land of Snow.
"Lord Ye Liang, what does this book record?" Itachi Uchiha quietly asked after seeing Ye Liang close the diary from behind him.
Ye Liang waved it off. "Just some trivial things—hardly worth mentioning." The writings were in ancient script, beyond Itachi's understanding.
He rose in silence, the weight of the moment pressing down on him.
With both hands forming hand seals, he activated [Ant Hell], creating a massive pit right in the center of the secret chamber!
It was so deep that its bottom couldn't be seen.
And sure enough, the area beneath had been hollow all along.
Ye Liang grabbed Itachi's hand and jumped down.
Earlier, while reading the diary, he had already uncovered the answer to this maze-like city—the secret base where Fake Ye Liang created the White Zetsus lay directly beneath the control room!
After a long while,
the two walked along the walls for over half an hour before finally reaching the deepest part of the chamber.
Inside, row upon row of White Zetsus were tightly packed by the tens of thousands. They were arranged like lifeless cargo, motionless and packed tightly together.
"Hisss!"
Itachi stiffened—anyone would be horrified seeing so many naked men.
"Lord Ye Liang, what should we do now?" he asked.
"Burn them!" Without hesitation, a massive Great Fireball Technique shot straight toward these intact White Zetsus.
Itachi quickly followed up.
Boom!
Huge waves of flames surged toward these yet-to-awaken White Zetsus!
In moments,
tens of thousands of White Zetsus were already suffering heavy losses. The remaining ones screamed in pain as they began to awaken.
"Master? No! Master, why are you harming us!" They were initially startled, but the moment they saw Ye Liang's face, they were instantly shocked.
As noted in the diary, these White Zetsus were Fake Ye Liang's ultimate trump card—cloned using Hashirama cells. If they regained consciousness, tens of thousands wielding Wood Release techniques would form a force no ordinary ninja could resist.
The raging flames engulfed the corpses, and within just three seconds, all the White Zetsus were reduced to ashes.
Ye Liang stopped his attack.
At this moment, a shadow silently emerged from behind him.
"You finally showed yourself?" Ye Liang said calmly. He didn't even turn his head, clearly already aware of the person behind him.
Itachi stiffened, spinning around instinctively.
Orochimaru!
"Hehehe, since you've done me such a big favor, I naturally had to come," Orochimaru sneered coldly, smacking his lips.
"That diary—you let me find it on purpose, didn't you?" Ye Liang asked.
Knowing Fake Ye Liang's personality, there's no way he'd stash something that important in a drawer. So someone else must've done this—and that person was clearly someone quite familiar with him.
But Ye Liang never expected that person to be Orochimaru!
*Tsk tsk,* you really are sharper than *him.*
Orochimaru ignored Ye Liang's remark entirely.
"That him?"
Ye Liang's eyes flickered slightly. He instantly knew who Orochimaru was referring to.
"Have you met him?"
"Of course. I already knew about him since your very first arrival in this world."
Ye Liang's eyes narrowed slightly.
So Orochimaru actually knew he didn't belong to this realm!
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