"Chirp—!"
The loud and clear cry of a soaring falcon echoed across the sky.
Even without using the Mind Body Transmission Technique, Kei could tell from Pidgeot's voice that it was filled with unrestrained relaxation and joy.
But wasn't this happiness a bit too much? Could it be that it was mistreated at the breeding house?
It wasn't unreasonable for Kei to have such thoughts.
Although leaving the falcon at the breeding house was indeed part of the original agreement, that place had suffered losses on both ends—the caretaker responsible had not only lost money but was also taken away for interrogation by Root, enduring quite a bit of hardship.
What if that caretaker got more resentful the more they thought about it?
What if they secretly took out their frustration on his remaining summon beasts?
Did the breeding house treat you badly? Kei used the Mind Body Transmission Technique to connect with Pidgeot's consciousness.
"Chirp—Chirp! Chirp—"
Pidgeot chirped non-stop, detailing its life at the breeding house. Every meal consisted of the most delicious feasts it had ever had.
In the morning, all it had to do was cooperate with the caretakers for some simple summon beast training, and then it would receive an incredibly comfortable massage.
After resting a bit at noon, it could freely soar through the skies, releasing its excess energy. In the afternoon, the caretakers would groom its feathers and clean off any dirt or parasites. And by evening, it could enjoy the company of charming and diverse female birds—some shy and pure, others alluring and charismatic.
Life there was even more perfect than it had imagined.
The only problem was... too many female birds were attracted to its overwhelming presence!
Besides its original mates from the Summoning Island that had come with it to Konoha, the breeding house was also filled with stunningly beautiful female birds.
It was struggling to choose between them all!
"I...! Damn it!"
Kei smacked Pidgeot right on the head.
You actually set up a harem in the breeding house?! Where's your shame?!
I have been in this world for almost twenty years since transmigrating, and I'm still a virgin! Yet you... you spend every night partying with countless beauties?! Why haven't those female birds drained you dry yet?!
"Chirp?"
Pidgeot tilted its head in confusion, looking at its master in bewilderment.
With its level of intelligence, it really couldn't comprehend why it suddenly got hit.
"Just focus on flying! If you don't get us to the Land of Iron in a day and a half, I'll personally make sure you get neutered!"
Kei snapped, forcefully turning Pidgeot's head back toward the front.
Damn it!
It was spending his ryō, enjoying the breeding house's top-tier services, living carefree, and flirting with girls to the point that even its waist was getting sore?!
How was that fair?!
"Chirp?!"
Pidgeot's pupils shrank in terror, nearly dropping out of the sky. Panicked, it frantically flapped its wings to accelerate.
Its already incredible speed surged even higher in an instant.
As Kei felt the powerful winds howling past his ears, he glanced at Pidgeot's tail and saw it shuddering in fear. Only then did he finally feel satisfied and look away.
Pidgeot, completely oblivious to the sinister intentions of its master, focused entirely on flying forward, terrified of the consequences.
For the sake of preserving its future happiness, it did not dare slack off in the slightest.
Seated on its back, Kei took out some kunai from his ninja tool pouch and began engraving Flying Thunder God marks on them, preparing for the upcoming battle.
The Land of Iron had a unique geographical environment. Compared to the mild and seasonally distinct climate of the Land of Fire, this place was significantly colder.
In mid-November, Konoha was just beginning to feel the autumn chill, but in the Land of Iron, snow was already falling heavily.
Heading northward, Pidgeot took only two short breaks for food and rest, spending less than two days in total to help Kei locate the general area of the Mountains' Graveyard.
The falling snow covered what was originally a dense, green forest on the map. The enormous beast skeletons standing within the forest appeared even more ferocious and terrifying as the icy, blade-like wind and snow swept over them.
Using the wind currents, Pidgeot hovered at an altitude of a thousand meters.
Kei squinted, struggling to observe the terrain, and spent a long time silently comparing it to the landmarks on the map.
Only then could he confirm—just another seven or eight kilometers ahead, and he would reach Madara's old stronghold.
"Land."
Kei patted Pidgeot's back.
The falcon gradually lowered its altitude and, just over ten meters from the ground, transformed into chakra smoke, returning to Konoha's breeding house.
Kei clapped his hands together, using the Air Current Wild Dance to offset his falling momentum, allowing him to land lightly on the ground.
He stepped onto an unknown creature's massive rib bone and carved another Flying Thunder God mark, about the size of a fingernail.
Closing his eyes, he extended his sensory abilities, marking spatial coordinates stretching southward and eastward to ensure his escape routes were secure. Only after confirming that everything was in order did he proceed toward the sunken pit at the heart of the Mountains' Graveyard.
Unlike naturally formed valleys, ravines, or sinkholes, the terrain of the Mountains' Graveyard had an abrupt sunken section, as if someone had forcibly pressed a massive piece of land underground using an advanced Earth Release technique like Moving Earth Core—the artificial traces were unmistakable!
Madara had clearly been extremely confident at the time. Confident that no one would ever find this place and that even if someone stumbled in by accident, he could still toy with them at will.
Five kilometers away from the Mountains' Graveyard, he quickly suppressed his presence, minimizing his chakra signature to the lowest possible level. Using the Hiding with Camouflage Technique, he completely blended into the snowy terrain.
On top of that, he had been constantly using scent-eliminating spray beforehand. Aside from the faintest traces of footprints in the snow, there were no other signs of his presence. Just as he had covered about a kilometer, even in his concealed and breath-suppressed state, Kei's heart tensed for a moment.
To avoid alerting the enemy and ruining his entire plan, he had already narrowed his sensory range to just 100 meters.
At this level of precision, not even the smallest detail could escape his perception. Yet, the White Zetsu fused into the tree trunk ahead, almost indistinguishable from the tree itself was something even he nearly overlooked.
"Is it because they're in a dormant state?"
Kei steadied himself, carefully bypassing the surveillance network of White Zetsu clones. The one before him was just an ordinary mass-produced White Zetsu clone. Logically speaking, if the White Zetsu during the Fourth Great Ninja War had suppressed their chakra so much, it would have been nearly impossible to track their movements, let alone monitor entire battlefields.
So the only explanation was, they were in a dormant state.
---
[Name: White Zetsu]
[Career: Soldier]
[Traits: Deteriorated Wood (Green), Parasitic Absorption (Green)]
---
[Deteriorated Wood] clearly indicated that White Zetsu was a mass-produced bioweapon created by Kaguya using the Divine Tree. They could exist in spore form, merge in pitcher plant form, or burrow through the ground in a mayfly-like state.
[Parasitic Absorption] allowed them to drain an opponent's chakra for their own use and even take on another person's appearance. For ordinary genin, encountering one would be deadly. Even a chunin could easily suffer if they weren't careful.
A hundred thousand White Zetsu... Just the thought of it sent chills down Kei's spine. And these were just the standard mass-produced ones. Who knew what kind of mutated White Zetsu variants might exist?