On the border of the Land of Rain, a continuous, overcast drizzle shrouded the land.

On the muddy road, a figure wearing a conical hat walked at a leisurely pace.

Uchiha Itachi's footsteps were light, leaving almost no trace on the damp, soft soil.

Since leaving the Land of Whirlpools, he had been traveling for several months.

Following Qi's instructions, his mission was to draw a detailed map of the underground intelligence network and resource distribution covering the entire Shinobi World.

This was a long and tedious task, but Uchiha Itachi enjoyed it.

Having shaken off the shackles of Konoha and the nightmare of the clan annihilation, for the first time, he was able to observe this real world with his own eyes.

He had seen bustling towns and barren villages.

He had seen civilians struggling to survive in the flames of war, and rogue ninjas living in drunken dreams in the black market.

This world was more complex and contradictory than he had imagined.

Recently, he had focused his tracking on the traces of the Akatsuki.

After dealing with Kakuzu and Hidan, and obtaining some intelligence from their memories, Qi gave him a new mission.

Find the other members of the Akatsuki and analyze their abilities and patterns of action.

According to intelligence, the Akatsuki seemed to have an important base in the Land of Rain.

The purpose of Uchiha Itachi's trip was to confirm the specific location of this base.

However, just as he was about to enter the hinterland of the Land of Rain, his footsteps suddenly stopped.

He looked up at a desolate valley not far away.

The rain there seemed to be lighter than elsewhere.

The air was permeated with a faint, elusive, and abnormal aura.

It was not human Chakra, nor was it the aura of any known summon.

It was a kind of... strange feeling, similar to a plant, yet carrying the rhythm of life.

Uchiha Itachi frowned slightly.

He gathered Chakra in his eyes, and his Three-Tomoe Sharingan slowly emerged.

In his field of vision, beneath the ground of that valley, existed a huge, unnatural source of Chakra.

That Chakra source was vast and complex, yet it operated according to some unified pattern, like a huge, breathing creature.

"Something is strange."

Uchiha Itachi's figure flashed, instantly disappearing from where he stood.

When he reappeared, he had already arrived at the edge of the valley.

He squatted down and gently pressed his fingers against the ground.

The observational power of his Sharingan was pushed to the limit; he could "see" the flow of Chakra underground, forming an incredibly complex network that eventually converged into a bottomless cave.

He found the entrance to that cave.

It was an entrance disguised as an abandoned mine, surrounded by various micro-barrier techniques to interfere with perception.

But these crude disguises were useless in front of Uchiha Itachi's Sharingan.

He did not rashly enter, but waited quietly at the entrance.

He had a premonition that this place might hide a secret even more shocking than the Akatsuki base itself.

Time passed second by second.

Finally, a white figure, seemingly composed of some special substance, walked out of the cave silently.

It had a humanoid outline, but its face only had a swirl-shaped single eye, and it was wearing the black-and-red cloud robe of the Akatsuki.

Zetsu.

No, that's not right.

Uchiha Itachi's pupils shrank slightly.

This guy's aura, although very similar to the "Zetsu" he had learned about in the intelligence, was weaker and more... monotonous.

It was like a poor-quality replica.

The white figure seemed to be on a patrol mission; it looked around vigilantly, then walked towards the other side of the valley.

Its method of movement was very strange; it could directly merge into trees and rocks to travel short distances.

Uchiha Itachi's figure, like a ghost, followed silently behind it.

He needed a live specimen.

He needed to know what exactly was hidden in this cave.

The opportunity soon came.

The moment the white figure traveled out of a large tree and prepared to merge into the next rock, Uchiha Itachi moved.

There was not the slightest killing intent, no unnecessary movements.

He simply reached out a hand and gently pressed it onto the top of the white figure's head.

"Tsukuyomi."

In an instant, everything around disappeared.

The white figure found itself bound in a blood-colored space, with countless scarlet Sharingan coldly staring at it from all directions.

"Tell me, what are you."

Uchiha Itachi's voice, like the judgment of a god, resounded in its mind.

"We... are weapons..."

In the world of Tsukuyomi, the fragile will of this creature, which Uchiha Itachi called a "White Zetsu clone," instantly collapsed.

Its memories, like a broken tide, flooded into Uchiha Itachi's mind.

Vast.

Boundless.

Beneath the ground was a huge space beyond imagination.

A colossal statue, like a withered god or demon, stood in the center of the space.

That was the Gedō Mazō.

And at the feet of this statue, countless huge, root-like pipes were densely connected.

At the ends of these pipes, white figures were being "cultivated" like fruits.

100,000.

Even more.

These creatures, collectively known as "White Zetsu," were a massive army prepared for a certain war.

They had no independent will, only a common command implanted deep in their souls.

Wait for the resurrection of "Mother."

Clear all obstacles for the upcoming "Infinite Tsukuyomi."

Boom!

Uchiha Itachi abruptly cut off Tsukuyomi.

He gasped violently, his face deathly pale.

Not because of the consumption of Chakra, but because of the unparalleled shock brought by that memory.

The White Zetsu clone in his hand had already turned into a pool of white, plant-like fiber liquid because it could not withstand the massive information shock brought by Tsukuyomi.

But Uchiha Itachi no longer cared.

In his mind, only the image of the 100,000-strong White Zetsu army standing silently in that underground space remained.

That was a force sufficient to overturn the entire Shinobi World.

The Akatsuki collected Tailed Beasts to resurrect the Ten-Tails.

And this 100,000-strong White Zetsu army was prepared to coordinate with the Ten-Tails to launch that war that would sweep across the world.

This was no longer a simple terrorist organization.

This was a massive war machine that had begun its layout a thousand years ago, aiming to be an enemy of the entire world.

Cold sweat seeped from Uchiha Itachi's back.

He had always thought that the enemy he was facing was the Akatsuki, the mysterious Masked Man who claimed to be Uchiha Madara.

But now it seemed that they, perhaps like him, were just a link in this huge conspiracy.

He immediately took out a special scroll from his bosom, bit his finger, and recorded the intelligence he had just obtained at the fastest speed.

"Qi, things are much more serious than we imagined."

He whispered to himself.

Subsequently, he summoned the special crow with the Kamui ability and stuffed the scroll into the sealing tube at its feet.

The crow let out a soft cry, the Mangekyō Sharingan pattern in its eyes flashed, and it instantly disappeared into the twisted space.

After doing all this, Uchiha Itachi looked at the bottomless cave again.

He knew he could not go any deeper.

The value of this intelligence was far more important than exploring a base.

He had to immediately deliver this secret, which was enough to plunge the entire Shinobi World into panic, to the only person capable of dealing with all of this.