The masked man who had just burst from the ground was acting so foolishly that even Might Guy and Rock Lee were losing their patience.
"Hey, are you insulting our intelligence?"
Guy's face darkened as he leaped into the air, aiming a kick to send the bomb flying. However, a giant golden chakra hand promptly grabbed him, pulling him out of the bomb's blast radius. Other chakra hands descended, rescuing the rest of Team 3.
Boom!
The bomb exploded instantly.
Naruto Uzumaki frowned, watching the masked man on the ground, who was half-exposed and scratching his head.
He knew this guy. The mastermind of the Akatsuki, hiding in plain sight and playing the fool for so long, only to reveal his true face at the very end...
Inside the masked man's body were the auras of two people. One was White Zetsu, and the other was half White Zetsu, half human.
Obito Uchiha.
Even setting aside his future crime of starting the Fourth Great Ninja War, he was the one who had instigated the Nine-Tails' rampage in Konoha, making him the person responsible for the village's decline.
The masked man raised his head and scanned his surroundings. When his gaze landed on Naruto Uzumaki, he froze. With a playful laugh, he said, "Um... uh... I have some intelligence to report, exclusively for the Fifth Hokage..."
"Who are you!" Might Guy demanded, clenching his fists.
The masked man pulled his body out of the ground and patted the dust off himself. "I'm just a kind and enthusiastic ordinary ninja!"
"What kind of enthusiastic ninja throws a bomb right away?" Tenten's eyelid twitched as she complained wearily. "No matter how you look at it, you seem more like an enemy!"
"Byakugan!" Veins bulged on Neji Hyuga's face as he stared intently at the chakra inside the masked man. "Guy-sensei, this man's chakra is very strange!" he said in a low voice.
"Don't say that..." The masked man quickly shook his head. "Actually, I'm a very kind person. What happened just now was just a misunderstanding!"
"Reveal your true identity!" Guy smashed a nearby tree trunk with his fist, his expression turning ice-cold. In that moment, he looked incredibly reliable and rational.
"I'm serious!" The masked man waved his hands anxiously. "I'm not good at fighting at all! I just have some urgent intelligence to report to someone who can help us, and I just happened to run into Konoha's Fifth Hokage!"
"Is that so?" Might Guy subconsciously started scratching his head.
A drop of cold sweat trickled down the faces of both Neji and Tenten as they stared speechlessly at their teacher, whose judgment was questionable at best.
Just as they were about to intervene, the masked man's voice suddenly turned sinister, as if he had become a different person. "Of course not, you fool."
"Don't be rash—"
"It's an enemy! Konoha Whirlwind!"
A figure shot forward like an arrow. Rock Lee charged, kicking towards the masked man. However, before he could connect, the masked man easily grabbed his calf, struck Lee's abdomen with his shoulder and elbow, then seized his neck.
In a near-instant, Rock Lee, a taijutsu specialist, was captured by the enemy using taijutsu.
A flash of scarlet light flickered. The next moment, Lee's head drooped in a daze. As a taijutsu expert, his greatest weakness was genjutsu.
The masked man grabbed Rock Lee and fled.
Naruto's chakra surged. One after another, giant chakra hands appeared, blocking the masked man's path and trying to snatch Lee back. But the man was exceptionally agile, dodging the attacks in an instant and continuing his escape.
The remaining members of Team 3 immediately leaped up to pursue him.
Might Guy quickly turned back and advised, "Tenten, Neji, you protect Lord Hokage. I'll go rescue Lee!"
"No need!" Naruto's speed was nearly on par with Guy's. He shook his head. "Let's chase him together and see what he's up to!"
Why would Obito capture Lee? Naruto wondered. He has no value. No Wood Style cells, no Tailed Beast... This guy… he's trying to lure me away!
Might Guy had also considered this possibility and tried to dissuade him. "Lord Hokage, that man gives me a very dangerous feeling... Please don't put yourself in danger so easily!"
"It's fine. What he wants..." As Naruto was about to explain, he caught sight of a giant Venus flytrap out of the corner of his eye. It was Zetsu—the combined body of Black Zetsu and White Zetsu.
Naruto stopped mid-sentence. He dropped down and called out, "You guys be careful! I'll regroup with you later!"
Strangely, Zetsu seemed to be standing there, waiting for him.
Naruto understood everything at once. Obito wanted to lure the Hokage's guards away to create some alone time for him and Zetsu.
However, Zetsu was the least skilled in combat among the Akatsuki but also the hardest to kill, because Black Zetsu was the will of Kaguya Otsutsuki. Only Yin-Yang Release could temporarily subdue him.
This isn't an ambush; it's a plot!
Coincidentally, Naruto also had something he wanted to ask Black Zetsu.
When Black Zetsu saw him land, a strange smile spread across its face. "Nice to meet you, Fifth Hokage of Konoha. I am a member of the Akatsuki, Zetsu, in charge of the organization's intelligence."
"Oh?"
"I'm here to extend an invitation to you." Zetsu's smile was insidious. "Please don't be so quick to refuse," he explained softly. "I know about the matter in the Sand Village, and I also understand that the Fifth Hokage has the ambition to unify the ninja world... This point happens to align with our organization's long-cherished wish."
"..."
Naruto's expression turned a bit ugly. Because he remembered the future, he knew Black Zetsu was treating him like an idiot.
When did the Akatsuki ever think about something as grand as unifying the ninja world?
The first leader, Yahiko, only wanted to make the Akatsuki a larger, stronger peace organization to stop wars. The second leader, Nagato, wanted to collect the Tailed Beasts and use the Gedo Statue to force the great ninja villages to accept their rule. The third leaders, Obito and Madara, tore off their masks and started the Great Ninja War to plunge the world into the Infinite Tsukuyomi.
What a load of nonsense, Naruto thought.
No one in the Akatsuki had ever thought about unifying the ninja world. Even the Black Zetsu in front of him was only focused on reviving that terrifying woman, Kaguya Otsutsuki.
Zetsu's insidious smile remained. "Does Lord Hokage not believe me? I came with sufficient sincerity... Our organization will be responsible for starting wars between countries, and then we will clear out any resistance against Konoha. Wouldn't that make it easy to unify the entire ninja world?"
"..."
Naruto was dumbfounded.
Is this ninja world broken? Why does Black Zetsu want to help me unify it? Aren't we supposed to be natural enemies?
"What do you want?"
"I want... peace in the ninja world." The smile on Black Zetsu's face slowly faded. He continued with a serious expression, "Because my mother died in a war, I have always hoped that someone could change the situation in the ninja world..."
-----
Bonus:
Naruto: ...You want peace in the ninja world?
Black Zetsu: That's right! I have a dream...
Naruto: Wait, isn't the ninja world at war for all these years because of you?
Black Zetsu: Huh?
Naruto: Didn't you incite Indra and Asura...?
Black Zetsu: Wait, how do you know all that?