Black and White Zetsu appeared like a pitcher plant on a hidden branch of the Great Tree of Takigakure.
White Zetsu looked in awe at the Seven-Tails, which seemed to be under Shisui's Summoning Jutsu: "Incredible, to even be able to change a Tailed Beast's will... is this a special ability of the Mangekyo Sharingan?"
"Lord Ryou must be careful."
Black Zetsu stared at Shisui, expressionless, but his heart was filled with shock.
To be able to absolutely change even a Tailed Beast's will—if that's the case, wouldn't any Shinobi caught in Shisui's Dojutsu become a puppet of his will?
Black Zetsu was confident in Madara's abilities, but he feared that Shisui's Dojutsu might be so unreasonable that it could even modify the will of Madara, who possessed the Rinnegan.
If that happened, Black Zetsu's thousand-year plan would be completely ruined.
"Uchiha Shisui..."
Black Zetsu muttered Shisui's name gloomily, realizing he might have been too confident in Madara and thus underestimated the elites of the Shinobi World.
Times create heroes; this Shinobi World never lacks brilliant individuals.
"Zetsu, gather all the intelligence on Uchiha Shisui's Mangekyo Sharingan!"
"Yes!"
Black Zetsu wanted to know the full capabilities of Shisui's Mangekyo Sharingan—whether there was a cooldown for this Dojutsu, what the cost was, if it was an ability of the left eye or the right eye...
At the same time, a surge of greed rose in his heart; if Black Zetsu could obtain such eyes, he could control powerful Shinobi as his own puppets.
He wouldn't have to plan so cautiously anymore.
However, seeing Shisui's lethargic state after using the Dojutsu, Black Zetsu regained some clarity; Shisui's body did not have Hashirama cells.
Nor did it have White Zetsu cells!
Given Konoha's discriminatory treatment of the Uchiha, they wouldn't transplant Hashirama cells into them!
Thus, Shisui's eyes would eventually go blind; his Dojutsu was, after all, just a fleeting moment.
The one truly to be wary of is... Ryou!
Black Zetsu looked at Ryou's current giant beast state.
"This chakra?"
Sensing the chakra after Ryou transformed into the Futamata-no-O-no-Mikoto, White Zetsu was deeply shaken: "This chakra is already close to, or even exceeds, Lord Madara's!"
"What?!"
Black Zetsu was equally horrified: "Doesn't that make him like Hashirama? When did this kid learn such a powerful Forbidden Jutsu?"
It hadn't been long since they last saw Ryou, and he was already about to catch up to Madara. If given more time, wouldn't he be heading for the moon?
Ryou's talent... seems even greater than Madara's!
Then, Black Zetsu became happy, because the stronger Ryou was, the better he could serve as Madara's vanguard, helping Madara clear the obstacles ahead.
Madara was not yet the Ten-Tails Jinchuriki, and there were still many ways in the Shinobi World to restrain him.
He needed helpers. Ryou was previously just a usable Uchiha, but now he had become an indispensable part of Madara's—or Black Zetsu's—plan.
A pawn is, of course, better the stronger it is.
And in terms of personality, Black Zetsu appreciated Ryou more, because Ryou was just like him—a schemer to the bone.
If Madara hadn't made White Zetsu write a letter to the village committee to report his involvement in illegal activities, probably no one would have discovered the kid's secrets.
He had intended to lay low in Konoha for his whole life.
Everything was about moderation and timing, hiding one's edge within and not showing off momentary bravery.
One word to describe it—low-key!
Black Zetsu appreciated such a personality; Madara's personality was too aloof. He only had eyes for Hashirama and never took anyone else to heart.
In a world without Hashirama, everything he did was like blasting fish; he could never truly get serious.
Black Zetsu preferred Ryou to lead the execution of the Eye of the Moon Plan.
Great things require steady people.
White Zetsu said: "Relying on Lord Ryou, the operation to capture the Seven-Tails should be no problem, right?"
Black Zetsu nodded: "With Ryou's current strength, only Lord Madara or Hashirama can suppress him."
Ryou's chakra was like the Nine-Tails, as vast as mountains and seas.
Just by standing there quietly, he was like a thousand-year-old Greater Demon from the Sengoku era awakening; his aura was fierce and terrifying, making the air tremble.
The Konoha Anbu didn't even dare to breathe heavily.
Demon Cat, a true Two-Tailed Demon Cat!
Just looking at this Demon Cat and smelling its scent was already a great danger.
A Konoha Anbu suddenly showed an abnormality.
His expression struggled for a moment, and then became as distorted and bizarre as a glitch.
His back arched slightly, shoulders tensed, fingertips unconsciously curled into claws, and a low, threatening hiss rolled out of his throat.
His pupils narrowed slightly as he bared his teeth and hissed at his companions.
Just like, just like he had turned into a fierce cat.
"Hiss—"
The Konoha Anbu let out a sharp hiss and launched an attack with claws and teeth at his companion.
The fellow Konoha Anbu was extremely terrified: "W-what's going on?"
Jiraiya covered his nose and eyes, shouting to warn the Konoha Anbu: "Don't look into his eyes, and definitely don't smell his scent."
According to Jiraiya's analysis, Ryou's Demon Cat body was shrouded in a Genjutsu domain.
Looking at his Sharingan would trap you in Genjutsu, and smelling his musk would also trap you in Genjutsu.
This was a Genjutsu domain.
It could be described as similar to the First Hokage's Deep Forest Emergence.
This was based on Deep Forest Emergence, but with giant flowers growing from it; the flowers would continuously release pollen, causing anyone who inhaled it to faint.
The pollen from these blood-red flowers would cause even the Five Kage to faint directly upon inhalation.
Ryou laughed loudly: "Jiraiya, it's too late. As long as you look at me or smell my cat scent, you'll become a cat slave."
Ryou activated the Dynamic Marking of the Inuzuka Clan's ninken—essentially, the dog peeing technique.
The massive Demon Cat body sprayed forcefully, a 360° spiral spray, and the surroundings were instantly filled with Ryou's marked cat urine.
Jiraiya was startled back a step by the sheer volume of the spray: "What kind of evil Ninjutsu is this?"
"Hiss—"
Hissing sounds rose one after another; these were Shinobi caught in the Genjutsu after smelling the cat urine.
Any Konoha Anbu whose stats weren't high enough and whose Genjutsu resistance was insufficient fell victim.
One by one, they went on all fours, their pupils became vertical slits, and they turned into Cat-humans.
This was the passive ability that came with Ryou's transformation into the Futamata-no-O-no-Mikoto—Hissing Domain!
The principle was a combination of the Sharingan and the Deep Forest Emergence.
Unlike the True Several Thousand Hands, which belongs to the realm of Senjutsu, Ryou could perform the Deep Forest Emergence using his own chakra.
Moreover, the Hissing Domain was Ryou's passive; this move didn't require hand signs. As long as Ryou's Futamata-no-O-no-Mikoto form remained, this passive remained active.
Just like Hashirama's signless healing.
Shisui jumped onto the Seven-Tails' carapace, not daring to look directly at Ryou's Sharingan.
Shisui could now be considered the Uchiha Clan's number one Genjutsu master, perhaps even Konoha's number one.
He could remain unaffected by Ryou's Hissing Domain.
But Shisui was very weak now; his chakra was bottomed out, and he couldn't even activate his regular Sharingan.
Resisting Ryou's Genjutsu required chakra.
Kakuzu, on the other hand, was unaffected; his body had been modified by the Earth Grudge Fear Forbidden Jutsu, giving him high Genjutsu resistance, and his body was filled with the threads of the Earth Grudge Fear.
He could stop breathing, so he didn't have to smell Ryou's cat scent.
"Hiss—"
Several Konoha Anbu, bewitched by Ryou's Hissing Domain, turned into cat slaves and rushed at Kakuzu.
Kakuzu released his black threads, binding these Anbu Shinobi; he wanted to kill them all.
And conveniently replenish a heart; earlier, Kakuzu's heart with the Fire-style chakra nature had been crushed by the chakra Ryou released.
Currently, Kakuzu was missing one life.
However, Jiraiya was constantly wary of Kakuzu, keeping his eyes on him; Kakuzu didn't dare to commit any act that would harm Konoha Shinobi.
Kakuzu changed his course of action, injecting chakra into the Konoha Shinobi controlled by his grey threads to release them from the Genjutsu.
Then he threw them dozens of meters away.
He followed suit with his previous actions, using his black threads to break the Genjutsu on the hissing Konoha Anbu and throwing them out one by one.
"This is no place for you! Get lost!"