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On the eighth day after Haori left Orochimaru's side, the location was the Land of Earth, and the weather had been a continuous downpour for days.
After returning to Konoha according to his schedule, Haori was told a certain piece of news by Kushina herself before he could take any further action.
A fact he didn't want to hear.
For Konoha itself, this situation was undoubtedly excellent news. At the same time that the peace talks with the Hidden Mist had finally borne fruit, the dawn of victory in Konoha's war against Iwagakure also arrived.
Compared to the "peace" that Haori had brought about through his extreme and accidental actions, the latter was more conventional.
Konoha had taken a more conventional approach to the war against Iwagakure.
Because of its battle with Kumogakure, Iwagakure's own strength had been weakened. Plus, Sunagakure's counterattack meant that they were unable to focus on Konoha's situation.
The other side's weakness was Konoha's advantage. So, after the war restarted, Konoha had a golden opportunity to counterattack.
With all the advantageous conditions in place, Konoha's strategy was the one that minimized its own losses – for the large Iwagakure force that had invaded and was stranded in Kusagakure, Konoha used elite squads to cut off their supply lines.
At this time, for Konoha, Iwagakure's supply lines were exceptionally clear and well-defined. The key nodes and weaknesses within them were also crystal clear. This was information that Konoha Jōnin, Shiraishi Haori, had obtained by chance during a major mission…
Because of the rain curtain, Haori's vision was extremely poor while he was operating in this location.
Rainwater flowed down his hair and down his back, bringing a sting that was even colder than the cold itself.
Using the original location of the Kannabi Bridge as a reference point, Haori turned northeast. According to the detailed battle reports he had received from Konoha, after crossing a forest, he finally reached his destination.
This was a small-scale battlefield. Even after days of heavy rain, the traces that should have remained were still there.
The corpses left behind after the battle were gone. This place had clearly been dealt with by humans, most likely by Iwagakure.
But the battle had still damaged the terrain, and it was particularly obvious. This was something that was clear to Haori.
"Is this the place?"
In the rain, Haori's facial expression was blurry, and his low voice was barely audible. What kind of emotions was he feeling at this moment? Perhaps even he himself couldn't tell.
Even though his vision was poor, he quickly found the traces left by the Earth Release, Rock Burial.
This terrain, made of piled-up rocks, should be considered… a grave?
A Chidori Sharp Spear appeared on his palm. Cut by cut, layer by layer, Haori cut through the large pile of earth in front of him without any obstruction.
From the protrusion to the depression, he finally discovered some traces.
Haori crouched down, his fingers touching the cold ground. Under his fingertips was a large patch of dried, dark brown blood.
"So, there's no corpse?"
There was nothing under the pile of rock and earth. As expected, there was no corpse of Obito Uchiha.
Was Obito just a pawn in Madara Uchiha's game?
Haori didn't know the details of this, but from what he could see now, a purely rational analysis suggested that this wasn't the case.
After avoiding a large number of Iwagakure ninjas, Haori came to this battlefield from a few days ago. His purpose was simply to confirm Obito's "corpse." He hoped that the corpse would be there, but he was disappointed.
The matter that needed to be confirmed had been confirmed. He should have left directly, but he couldn't help but stand there in silence until a puddle formed under his feet.
Suddenly, his gaze sharpened.
"One, two… six."
Haori wasn't counting the number of enemies.
With his abilities, his control and perception of his own neural electrical signals were extremely precise and subtle. And at that moment, he felt something else mixed into his body.
This kind of trick that could deceive ordinary ninjas wouldn't work on him.
Without any sign of Haori moving, a very powerful Chidori current instantly lit up his body.
Then, almost simultaneously, from his limbs and torso, white, dough-like foreign objects appeared.
Then, from nothing to something, from few to many, these things grew more and more, like bubbles, until they covered half of Haori's face.
The Chidori current didn't have any effect. In fact, in Haori's perception, the other side was absorbing his chakra. And it was because they were absorbing his chakra that they were expanding like that.
It was indeed all his chakra. If you only looked at it from a perception standpoint, these white, alien creatures were like a part of Haori's own body.
"Who are you?" Haori asked coldly.
In reality, he knew roughly what this thing was. He just hadn't expected to encounter it here.
Or was it only natural to encounter it here?
"Konoha ninja, what is your purpose in coming here?" The other side didn't answer Haori's question. Instead, six heads and six half-faces spoke simultaneously.
Just now, six White Zetsu had mixed into Haori's body.
He took a deep breath. Although his appearance was probably that of a deformed creature covered in boils, he didn't feel anything unusual except for the fact that his chakra was constantly draining away.
He first stopped the Chidori current on his body, then said, "To recover the Sharingan."
"Is that so?" The White Zetsu continued to speak in that six-part voice. "Unfortunately, your mission can't be completed."
This was indeed a very formal and persuasive reason.
"'Is that so?' Those two words should be said by me now." Did the White Zetsu really think that they could defeat Haori by absorbing his chakra?
More terrifying energy began to brew. A more powerful lightning instantly pierced through the White Zetsu that were clinging to Haori's body, swollen and deformed.
At this close range, Haori's attack was unstoppable.
"Lightning Release… isn't it Lightning Release?"
"… It is Lightning Release. This jutsu is called Chidori Current: Second Stage."
Whether it was a mix-up or something else, Haori still answered the White Zetsu's final question.
The charcoal-like objects peeled off his body. The traces left by the White Zetsu on Haori's body instantly disappeared after being washed away by the rain.
Haori stood silently facing the White Zetsu's corpse. After thinking for a while, he decided to take this thing back to Konoha. That way, a lot of things could be explained.
But as soon as he pulled out a scroll and before he could do anything, the White Zetsu's corpse began to swell.
Haori exploded backwards!
Then, a roar echoed.
With a loud "boom," the deformed White Zetsu instantly disintegrated. When Haori turned around to look again, there was nothing left…
The body was destroyed, and the source of information was also eliminated. After all, there were countless White Zetsu.
With this kind of sound, it would probably attract the Iwagakure ninjas nearby soon. So, he couldn't stay long. Haori looked back at the place one more time, then turned around and walked away step by step.
He didn't notice that an aloe vera head was watching his back from the shadows of the forest.
......
The intelligence systems of the Five Great Shinobi Countries were ultimately no match for this unique individual. The biggest change in the war's trajectory was that the war between Konoha and the Hidden Mist would end about two years earlier than expected. In fact, the "Hidden Mist battlefield" no longer existed.
The things that were supposed to happen on the Hidden Mist battlefield wouldn't happen.
The mastermind behind this change couldn't possibly not know about this. To ensure that the pawns he had already chosen would continue to follow their original path, and to adapt to the changes in the war, he also needed to make some changes.
So, the outcome of the Kannabi Bridge Battle was different:
The Iwagakure ninjas deployed in the Land of Grass would soon withdraw due to supply problems.
Konoha gained a more significant advantage in the Shinobi World War.
Jōnin, Minato Namikaze, the Yellow Flash, became even more famous.
Jōnin, Kakashi Hatake, gained a Sharingan.
Obito Uchiha died before…
… Rin Nohara died after…
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