"By the way, there's something rather strange."
White Zetsu recalled something and said.
"What's strange?"
"This time when we went to Konoha for reconnaissance, we encountered no obstacles, and the other White Zetsus also faced no problems. Before this, a major event happened in Konoha."
"A major event?"
"Some members of the Uchiha and Hyuga clans have defected from Konoha."
White Zetsu said.
"Defected?"
Madara lifted his head, revealing his old, wrinkled face, and a hint of confusion appeared in his eyes.
"Yes, although I don't know what happened, after that, we were able to infiltrate the depths of Konoha unhindered."
White Zetsu's meaning was clear. The reason why the Zetsus sent to Konoha before had mysteriously disappeared might be related to the Uchiha and Hyuga ninjas who defected.
"Who triggered it?"
"A Konoha Chunin named Chiba Hakushi. Prior to this, he was an ordinary medical ninja in Konoha. He had a Uchiha girlfriend, Uchiha Ruri, and it seems like the two of them initiated the defection incident."
White Zetsu answered.
"Any more details?"
"That's all I could gather. It was from some Uchiha ninjas that I overheard while monitoring the Uchiha. I suspect that Konoha's higher-ups have issued a gag order."
White Zetsu spread his hands helplessly.
"Find their whereabouts. I need to understand their situation."
Madara unhesitatingly gave this order.
Regardless of whether those who defected from Konoha had secretly engaged with the Zetsus he sent, the mere fact that Uchiha left Konoha was worth exploring its secrets.
Because this matter was completely beyond his expectations and there was no prior preparation.
"Lord Madara, rest assured, we'll handle this."
White Zetsu agreed with a smile.
After all, information gathering was inherently the primary job of the Zetsus.
"Alright, you can leave now, I need to rest—"
Boom!
The ground suddenly erupted, bursting into intense explosive flames.
The chair Madara was sitting on was surrounded by a mass of robust trees, tightly protecting him, rolling into the darkness, and painful gasps could still be heard echoing from the darkness.
"Lord Madara!"
White Zetsu loudly called out Madara's name.
He was also in a bad state. Although the power of the bomb erupted from underground, and the hard soil layer prevented the explosive force from being fully released, the huge tremor still made him feel like his internal organs were shifting painfully.
Madara's life force was extremely weak at that moment, and White Zetsu was very worried that Madara might die suddenly from the surprise explosion.
"Cough... cough..."
Madara leaned crookedly on the chair, spitting out blood, his fingers and body trembling, his breathing also becoming rapid, the flame of life flickering like a wind-swept candle, growing weaker and weaker.
Only after a while did he catch his breath, the scarlet Sharingan coldly swept towards the site of the explosion just now.
A not very large pit appeared there, but no enemy figure was seen.
"I'm fine, the power of the Divine Tree can still supply me with life force."
Madara's words temporarily calmed White Zetsu, but the weakness in his tone was hard to disguise.
Most importantly, he noticed bloodstains on the wooden chair where Madara sat, clearly indicating a serious injury, only surviving by the life force supplied from the 'Divine Tree'.
"Lord Madara, what should we do now?"
White Zetsu was a bit at a loss. With Madara's current power extremely weak, he surely couldn't participate in battle.
As soon as he finished speaking, suddenly another White Zetsu appeared from somewhere.
But unlike the usual White Zetsus, his face was shaped like a whirlpool.
"Lord Madara, what happened? How did it suddenly become so noisy, was it an earthquake? I was just thinking about how to poop while hanging upside down. Lord Madara, do you know how one can poop while hanging upside down?"
"Tobi, stop messing around, there's an enemy approaching, quickly go deal with them!"
Madara coldly issued the command.
To think he, Uchiha Madara, suffered such a loss, it must be no ordinary enemy.
"There's an enemy?"
Seemingly just realizing, the White Zetsu named Tobi, also became aware of the severity of the situation, as the usually composed Madara now had a chilly killing intent in his tone.
Tobi's body immediately merged into the soil, vanishing to search for the enemy that Madara mentioned.
"Call the rest of the Zetsus, we need to leave this place."
Madara gave another order to the remaining White Zetsu.
Since the base had been discovered, it meant this place was no longer safe.
We must relocate the base immediately.
Thinking of this, a trace of bitterness emerged at Madara's lips. What a life of barely hanging on.
He, Uchiha Madara, once so majestic, now had to shy away from such an enemy.
If that man found out, he would surely be mocked mercilessly.
This pitiful stature, truly disgraceful.