In the dead of night, when all was silent, Madara was already walking in a forest filled with a dark aura.
He looked up at the bright moon in the sky, having long forgotten when he last ventured out to see the moonlight.
Maybe it was yesterday, maybe last year, or perhaps decades ago.
In his long-lasting memory, ever since faking his death and escaping, only the dull darkness accompanied him, occasionally listening to the grumbling and banter of the White Zetsus to pass these long and boring days.
Madara took a gentle breath; the fresh air outside made every cell in his body feel as if they were cheering, giving him the illusion of being reborn.
Although his body was still incredibly old, his walking speed exceptionally slow, like a turtle crawling on the ground, his eyes emitted an awe-inspiring sharp light.
The vision of the Sharingan pierced through the forest's layers of leaves and barriers, already seeing the approach of his enemies.
Three kilometers away.
Hakushi and the other two were approaching Madara's location at an extremely fast speed. Madara's Chakra stood out like a firefly in the dark, in the perception of Hakushi's perception ninjutsu and Ayane's Byakugan scanning.
Both Hakushi and Ayane had sensed Madara's position and the distance separating them was clear to them.
But before that, there were also many obstructions appearing around.
Humanoid creatures with bodies painted all white — White Zetsu.
Not just one, but a dense mass surrounding them.
The trio advanced quickly with Ruri in the middle, Hakushi on the left, and Ayane on the right.
"Hello, good evening! Had dinner?"
"No need to rush on the road."
"Let's have some fun with us here; we're super interesting chat partners."
"Oh dear, such a cold reaction, a bit heartbroken."
...
The sound of White Zetsus' laughter and chatter continuously came from around.
These guys never stop talking, and they don't know when to shut up. Despite being in a critical, tense moment, they still acted unseriously, laughing incessantly, showcasing their comedic talent.
"How many?"
Ruri asked.
Her role in the trio wasn't that of a scout but the fiercest combatant.
But seeing the surrounding encircled by White Zetsus, she knew their numbers weren't few.
Ayane, who had already opened the Byakugan, quickly answered Ruri's question: "Three thousand."
She provided a rather considerable number of enemy units.
Not an exact count, but a rough estimate.
Given the enormous number of enemies, even the Byakugan couldn't precisely count every one in a short time.
"Three thousand people?"
Ruri murmured.
A truly daunting number.
Facing such a large number of enemies, an ordinary ninja would likely have already felt desperate.
Even Ruri dared not say she could ignore such numbers.
But this time... they were acting as a team of three, not just alone.
"Barely enough for us to have some fun."
As a warm-up for a big battle, Ruri felt the blood in her body starting to boil.
The Uchiha Race's inherently combative nature, upon facing such a formidable enemy number, was eager to wipe out these White Zetsus in one swoop.
Without hesitation, Ruri slightly straightened her back, quickly forming complicated seals, gathering Chakra at a beyond-average speed, and opened her mouth:
"Fire Style: Great Fire Extinguishing!"
What emerged from Ruri's mouth was a sea of fire that swept everything before it like tidal waves.
The noisy chatter of the White Zetsus disappeared, the roaring of the flames covering all the noise.
The White Zetsus caught in the fiery storm ignited, their bodies burning one after another, turning into charred corpses, leaving only black ash falling from the sky once the fire sea were past.
The trees along the way vanished in the fire, the earth turned desolate, becoming a scorched plain extending fifty meters away.
About half a hundred White Zetsus perished in the sea of fire.
They had neither time to escape nor strength to resist.
Although numerous, individually they weren't strong; compared to small countries' ninjas in similar numbers, they were inferior, let alone competing against militarized ninja squads from large nations.
If not for this, Madara would probably have already acted, instead of planning secretly all this time.
However, creating such a large number of White Zetsus wasn't something done casually, and it must have come at a considerable cost.
Several Shadow Blades emerged from Hakushi's body, beheading and killing each approaching White Zetsu trying to break through from his side one by one.
The speed of the sliding Shadow Blades was so fast that even Jonin unwarily wouldn't escape in time, let alone these inferior White Zetsu Soldiers.
They couldn't even see the shadows of the Shadow Blades sliding through the air before reporting to the next world.
"What is this thing!"
Having failed to find a breakthrough against Hakushi, the White Zetsus couldn't understand what attack Hakushi used; their dynamic vision couldn't capture the attack trajectories of the Shadow Blades.