Whether it was Black Zetsu or White Zetsu, they were not considered powerful individuals in their own right, and thus had no confidence in facing Haseo directly. Anyone with even a shred of common sense would avoid such suicidal actions.
The sudden exposure of the "Moon Eye Plan," the leakage of secrets regarding the Rinnegan and Madara Uchiha—these pieces of intelligence that should have been absolutely confidential had somehow become known. How had this happened?
Countless doubts filled Black Zetsu's mind, but he pushed them aside almost instantly. For Black Zetsu, the only priority now was retrieving these eyes and returning them to Madara Uchiha.
Reclaiming the Rinnegan and teleporting straight to Madara's side wasn't supposed to be a difficult task for Black Zetsu. But the problem was that the spatial area around him had been forcibly "blocked."
The members of the Uzumaki clan had gathered together, deploying a wide-area space-sealing technique that moved along with their squad—if you wanted forced spatial shifting? Sorry, that was simply impossible.
Sealing such a vast area was practically beyond reach for most—but not for the Uzumaki. Range itself was an issue even for them. Therefore, they had adopted a simpler and more direct method—flooding the area with chakra-based interference techniques, creating intense spatial fluctuations throughout the region.
The risk involved in opening a spatial passage became immeasurable.
This inverse approach was far easier and rougher than strict forward-directional sealing, yet it achieved the same effect.
Simply put: anyone attempting summoning jutsu would end up torn to shreds.
Even if Black Zetsu's body was immune to such threats, he absolutely couldn't risk the Rinnegan itself being torn apart by spatial turbulence—that was a very real possibility.
Even though he could no longer teleport, Black Zetsu continued moving at high speed in an almost imperceptible manner.
Haseo remembered that White Zetsu could move rapidly through plants and vegetation without leaving a trace. Although he had just stopped the fusion of Black and White Zetsu, once Black Zetsu vanished underground, there was no doubt the two had already merged again.
The only flaw, however, was that the presence of the Rinnegan had already been completely locked onto by the Uzumaki sensor ninjas.
If large-scale teleportation was impossible, no matter how fast the Zetsu moved, he wouldn't escape this tracking.
If given a moment's peace, Black Zetsu could probably hide the Rinnegan's aura entirely—but under constant pursuit, he clearly had no chance to catch his breath.
Stopping for even one second meant falling directly into the hands of Haseo and the Uzumakis.
"Is everything okay, Sannai?"
While moving at high speed, Haseo asked Sannai to confirm Black Zetsu's situation.
Although the Uzumakis were conducting collective detection operations, the most important figure among them was still Sannai.
"There's absolutely no problem, Lord Haseo," Sannai declared firmly.
Whether it was residual chakra from Nagato or even older traces from Madara Uchiha, the chakra involved was undeniably faint.
Though Sannai spoke lightly, in reality, this reconnaissance mission placed immense pressure on her.
The abnormally faint chakra was moving with an incredibly high velocity, making its detection extraordinarily difficult.
Yet despite that, Sannai was still performing an incredibly precise form of surveillance. By spreading a high-density chakra over a vast area, she could sense the detailed movements of her target.
To use an analogy, this approach was like coloring an entire sheet of paper black, then observing the movement of a white speck on it—naturally, the speck would become strikingly visible… even if it was no larger than a single pixel.
This all-encompassing surveillance naturally created unimaginable pressure. Moreover, what Sannai was doing wasn't confined to scanning within a two-dimensional plane—it extended into a three-dimensional "box."
Black Zetsu moved underground while continuing his escape, but this didn't mean Haseo and the others were free of obstacles during their pursuit.
To protect the Rinnegan (the powerful eye technique), numerous White Zetsu were scattered throughout the Land of Rain. When it came to the safety of the Rinnegan, Zetsu himself seemed even more concerned than Madara Uchiha… likely because Madara currently had no idea so many White Zetsu were present.
These White Zetsu presented significant obstacles to Haseo's pursuit.
Possibly related to Madara stealing Hashirama Senju's power, some White Zetsu even possessed the ability to control surrounding vegetation. Therefore, tangles and bindings from trees and vines, along with sudden changes in the terrain itself, posed real challenges to Haseo's group.
When the entire forest sprang to life, it inevitably created serious difficulties, whether genuinely terrifying or not.
Surging woods and vines rushed toward the squad, but as Haseo was preparing to clear away these dead branches and fallen leaves, an Uzumaki shinobi stopped him.
"Lord Haseo, leave this matter to us… What comes next will be far more important, so please conserve your strength whenever possible."
Haseo saw no reason to refuse; after all, for him, it was merely a matter of using a few Fire Release techniques.
Both hunter and hunted moved at breakneck speed, quickly leaving the Land of Rain far behind as they pressed steadily westward.
Further west lay a minor nation known as the Land of Birds. Compared to the Land of Rain, its vegetation, natural environment, and climate were far less extreme. Even when compared to the arid landscapes of the Land of Earth to the north and the Land of Wind to the south, this place was significantly more suitable for human habitation.
The Land of Bird's territory was narrow from east to west. However, even after crossing the furthest western border of this nation, Black Zetsu still hadn't stopped fleeing.
Beyond that lay an uninhabited wilderness deep inland.
After charging forward nonstop for four relentless hours, the target finally came to a halt.
"Lord Haseo, the enemy has stopped."
"Where are we now?"
One of the Uzumaki ninja immediately pulled out a map to confirm. "Lord Haseo, we're currently at the far southwest edge of the Land of Earth—in fact, this region seems completely uninhabited."
"In other words, even though this place is a real back of beyond, it's definitely within the Land of Earth... Seems like we've come to the right spot after all."
Haseo looked around — the rugged terrain was crisscrossed with deep ravines and rolling hills. The bare earth lay exposed without a trace of vegetation, leaving his vision filled with nothing but a dull shade of red.
"Nobody in their right mind would call this a place for humans to live in."
"The enemy has moved deep into the underground space, and my recon was blocked by some kind of powerful interference..." Sannai reported. "Lord Haseo, what should we do next?"
"This is the location, alright. Geographically speaking, this place practically marks the end of the continent; there's literally nowhere further to go beyond here..." Haseo stated. "Your mission is complete.
What remains now is my own affair.
So listen up — my orders are simple: fall back."
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