After Jiraiya left Konoha with a group of ninja, they settled in a smaller village.
Jiraiya had no clear plan for the future, and confusion clouded his mind.
The shinobi under his command felt the same uncertainty. Tensions began to rise among them.
"We should establish a new ninja village and prepare to counterattack Konoha when the opportunity comes!"
"And wait until the end of time to strike back? That's way too slow!"
"We should seek help from the other hidden villages. They also suffered losses at the hands of Zenkichi. We have a common enemy."
"Just because we share an enemy doesn't make us allies. Don't forget the deep grudges between Konoha and other villages."
"Exactly! Our strength is too weak right now. What if another village tries to absorb or crush us?"
"I say we abandon this fantasy of reclaiming Konoha."
"We left to escape Zenkichi. We were lucky to survive—why go back to die?"
"You're right. We don't stand a chance against him!"
Jiraiya watched the heated argument, exhaustion weighing heavy on his shoulders.
Suddenly, a calm voice echoed through the air:
"If you're struggling to decide... maybe we can help."
Jiraiya turned sharply. His expression darkened the moment he saw the speaker. Fresh chapters posted on 𝘯𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘭·𝔣𝔦𝔯𝔢·𝗇𝗲𝘵
A familiar white figure had appeared—the same one that had once controlled Nagato.
"You..." Jiraiya muttered furiously. "How dare you show your face in front of me?"
"Jiraiya, calm yourself."
"You can't touch me right now, and getting angry won't help either," came Black Zetsu's voice from within White Zetsu Tobi ."I'm not here to fight—I came to negotiate."
Jiraiya's chakra flared, and he sneered:
"Negotiate? I've got nothing to say to the likes of you."
"Are you sure?" Black Zetsu replied. "You want to reclaim Konoha, don't you?"
"That's our concern. It has nothing to do with you," Jiraiya snapped. "Your connection to Uchiha Madara makes you impossible to trust."
"I never asked for your trust," Black Zetsu said coldly. "I only came to deliver a message."
"Sunagakure, Kumogakure, and Iwagakure are preparing to join forces against Arakawa Zenkichi. Why not have the remnants of Konoha join them?"
"You, and those other three villages, aren't exactly trustworthy allies either."
"I understand," Black Zetsu replied, his tone patient. "But this isn't the time to be picky."
"Ever since you fled Konoha, your intel network has been in shambles, hasn't it? So let me tell you what you've missed."
"Arakawa Zenkichi has openly declared his plan to create a ninja organization to suppress the entire shinobi world. To make that happen, the other villages must be conquered or eliminated."
"Unless everyone surrenders and accepts his restructuring, they'll all be his targets—Sunagakure, Kumogakure, Iwagakure, and even smaller villages like Amegakure, Takigakure, and Kusagakure."
"But now, they've united to form a ninja coalition—a rare chance to stand against Zenkichi."
"Will you miss this opportunity? Your strength might be the final push needed to defeat him."
"If Zenkichi wins this war, he'll be unstoppable. His new world order will crush any hope of revenge."
"You won't even be allowed to form a village, let alone reclaim Konoha. If you can't defeat him, how do you plan to fight back?"
Black Zetsu's voice was low and hoarse, dripping with temptation.
"Jiraiya-sensei…" Namikaze Minato stepped forward, worry etched on his face. "If what he says is true, we have to join the fight."
Another shinobi echoed from the side:
"This could be our last chance. We can't afford to ignore it."
Jiraiya glared at Zetsu with killing intent, then sighed deeply.
"Fine. If everything you say checks out, we'll fight when the time comes."
"It's a deal," Black Zetsu replied. "I'll contact you when the time is right."
With that, White Zetsu Afei sank into the earth and vanished.
In the Land of Fire, deep in a hidden forest, Tobi emerged once again—this time beside Orochimaru and Danzo Shimura.
He repeated the same message he had delivered to the others.
A secret base was concealed among the trees, where Orochimaru and Danzo had taken refuge.
"You really went to all this trouble to find us," Orochimaru said, yellow eyes gleaming. He stared at the glowing Rinnegan with interest and gave a soft chuckle.
"It's a rare opportunity," Black Zetsu said flatly. "Are you going to let it pass?"
"We'll send some personnel when the time comes," Orochimaru replied, smiling.
"Good. I'll be waiting for your cooperation."
With that, Zetsu departed.
As he vanished, Danzo snorted.
"If that pest didn't know our location and we weren't uncertain of killing him, I wouldn't bother involving my top men in a war ."
"Orochimaru, we need to focus our efforts on perfecting the Reanimation Jutsu. Put the Hashirama cell research on hold. My limbs still work, it's not urgent."
"Once you've perfected it, we'll control the ninja world with an army of reanimated shinobi. Then we'll have all the time we want for our experiments."
Reanimation Jutsu—a powerful forbidden technique.
Danzo, once a high-ranking official in Konoha, had handed this jutsu to Orochimaru, the infamous mad scientist.
Together, they waited in the shadows, working to perfect the technique.
The regeneration ability of reanimated shinobi was astonishing. A reanimated ninja could rebuild themselves quickly, although their combat ability had yet to match their living counterparts.
Zenkichi's resilience had been the inspiration.
Danzo's conclusion was simple: to defeat a man like Arakawa Zenkichi, they would need an army of undead warriors—resilient, tireless, and endless.
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