Chapter 47: You Can Absolutely Trust a Crow
No boasting, no dissing, Danzo Shimura is truly formidable.
At the very least, his ability to fabricate stories is formidable.
Not only did he take credit for what Kitahara did, but he also found ways to make the lies plausible, even creating intelligence for a non-existent character, and surprisingly, he actually found someone similar!
By the way, this rogue ninja's name is very distinctive, making Kitahara feel that there's a destiny at play in the unseen...
The rogue ninja handbook and the wanted poster both displayed information about Konoha's newly declared S-rank rogue ninja... His name was...
"Yin-Yang, 16 years old, Flying Thunder God user..."
Uchiha Itachi softly read the rogue ninja's information, then asked doubtfully, "Teacher, a Flying Thunder God user... must be very strong, right?"
The little boy didn't know much about the Flying Thunder God Technique... In reality, there was currently only one person in the ninja world who could use the Flying Thunder God Technique, and he had used it in front of him several times.
"In the history of the ninja world, there have only been two Flying Thunder God users..." Jiraiya put down the wanted poster and began his lesson, "The Second Hokage and the Fourth Hokage."
The meaning was clear: both these Flying Thunder God users were Hokage.
His expression wasn't good. The Second Hokage, Tobirama Senju, developed the Flying Thunder God Technique, and the Fourth Hokage, Minato Namikaze, improved this ninjutsu and brought it to greater prominence.
The third Flying Thunder God user was hidden far too well... The use of this space-time ninjutsu greatly tested one's reaction speed; without long-term training, it was impossible to master.
As Minato Namikaze's teacher, Jiraiya knew a lot about the drawbacks of training the Flying Thunder God Technique. He patted Itachi's shoulder and continued on the road back to the village with his disciple.
Kitahara was practically in awe of that determined old man with a disability. To be able to fabricate information about Konoha's S-rank rogue ninja, Yin-Yang, so convincingly was truly not easy.
If it didn't know it was its own doing, it would definitely think Konoha had an S-rank rogue ninja named Yin-Yang.
The question was, how on earth did Konoha find a Zetsu that looked similar? Wasn't Danzo's face a bit too... big... for that?
In reality, it was very difficult for Danzo Shimura to operate... During the period when Hiruzen Sarutobi stripped him of his position, he felt so aggrieved he wanted to wipe away tears.
If he really had a Flying Thunder God user under him, would he still tolerate Hiruzen Sarutobi dumping blame on his head?
In order to regain power, Danzo had to sacrifice a successful Wood Style experiment and admit that he had a Flying Thunder God user under his command... only defining that user as a rogue ninja.
This way, he could not only temporarily resolve Hiruzen Sarutobi's overt and covert attention but also use it to regain control of Root...
The purpose was to find that Flying Thunder God user who had made him the scapegoat.
Not only could he clear his name, but he could also actually capture that strange person... because Danzo had a piece of information.
In the Land of Grass, there was indeed a ninja with a very strange appearance, and very few people had seen him. It was said his name was Zetsu... a rogue ninja who had joined the Land of Grass.
Uchiha Itachi couldn't help but ask, "Teacher, then are we going to the Land of Grass?"
"It's useless to go there..." Jiraiya shook his head, "Let's go back to Konoha first and ask the old man for the intelligence he has!"
"Caw~"
Kitahara hopped cheerfully on Itachi's shoulder. Ask me... ask me... quickly, come ask me...
I'll tell you everything about Zetsu.
Anything that could cause them trouble... was a good thing.
"Eh? Kitahara, do you know something?" Uchiha Itachi stroked the crow's wing, making Jiraiya's brow twitch.
His disciple couldn't be doted on by a crow to this extent, could he... Personal protection is one thing, but does he not even need to gather intelligence anymore?
Of course, there was no need to gather it... Kitahara knew clearly what methods every named and somewhat threatening ninja in the world possessed.
As for nameless ninjas with no threat... there seemed to be no need to gather intelligence on them either.
"Caw~ Caw~"
Of course, not everything about Zetsu could be revealed. It was estimated that the Jiraiya before it would have his worldview shattered. A little bit of artistic embellishment was needed...
After listening to the intelligence relayed by Uchiha Itachi, although it was embellished with a lot of linguistic flourishes, Jiraiya was still frightened...
"Lord First Hokage's Wood Style?"
"Appearing anywhere, anytime?"
"Is this... true?"
Jiraiya looked at Itachi and Kitahara in disbelief. The little boy and the crow on his shoulder both nodded their small heads.
This news was simply too astonishing... It sounded like that Zetsu... was indeed a Flying Thunder God user, but who would have thought he also concealed Wood Style.
The Flying Thunder God Technique was a forbidden jutsu unique to Konoha.
Wood Style... needless to say.
To say he had no connection with Konoha, probably no one in Konoha's leadership would believe it... Zetsu was definitely a product of Konoha's human experimentation.
"That fellow Orochimaru really knows how to cause trouble. What kind of monster did he create!" Jiraiya patted his head and said seriously, "Let's speed up and quickly bring the news to the old man!"
"Yes!" Uchiha Itachi nodded forcefully... The crow on his shoulder blinked its small eyes. Did it forget to say something? Or did it say something wrong?
How did it come back to Orochimaru again?
Kitahara briefly explained some of Zetsu's methods, including the ninjutsu effects of Wood Style: Cutting Technique and the Mayfly Technique...
These were all real... It just didn't explain the origin of Wood Style and Zetsu. After all, Kaguya Otsutsuki's existence couldn't be discussed much now...
But, this way...
Black Zetsu and White Zetsu, painstakingly created by Kaguya before she was sealed, as well as that great filial son of the ninja world who lived for a thousand years, would probably soon be publicized as experimental products that escaped from Konoha.
At this moment, Zetsu was also a bit bewildered... It had been exposed...
It seemed that overnight, Konoha had somehow targeted it... It was currently just an ordinary rogue ninja who had joined the Hidden Grass Village!
It hadn't displayed any special abilities, nor had it shown particularly formidable strength. It was just to have a preceding identity to join Akatsuki...
The Land of Grass could no longer serve as its place of refuge...
The Land of Grass was about to be turned upside down by ninjas infiltrating from Konoha... The Hidden Grass Village had protested to Konoha multiple times, but Danzo suppressed them all.
This matter was not trivial, and since it didn't involve the Five Great Nations, Danzo's methods were very firm, forcing the Hidden Grass Village to hand over the ninja named Zetsu...
"No matter how the Hidden Grass Village explains, that ninja named Zetsu is a rogue ninja who escaped from our Konoha! Moreover, it involves Konoha's secrets, they must hand him over!"
This was the order Lord Danzo issued to Root and ANBU.
Jiraiya and Uchiha Itachi, who had traveled day and night back to Konoha, rushed straight to the Hokage Building without even going home... After all, Zetsu also possessed Wood Style, indicating Konoha's assessment of his strength was flawed.
"Is the intelligence reliable?" Hiruzen Sarutobi still held his pipe, his face full of worry. In reality, he already believed Jiraiya's words in his heart.
No matter how you looked at it, Zetsu's existence was very logical...
Quite a few of the First Hokage's cells remained, and his ANBU had also been augmented with Wood Style ninjas snatched from under Danzo's command.
It seemed Danzo still had some things concealed from him...
Jiraiya nodded. He believed Mount Myoboku's judgment and said seriously, "Old man, we can absolutely trust Great Crow Sage."
"Since that rogue ninja now calls himself Zetsu, then pass this news on!"
Kitahara: "..."
Did I forget to say something again? Or did I say something wrong? Since when did Zetsu become a Konoha rogue ninja?
(End of this chapter)