Naruto: Echoes of a Distant Home

Having successfully sent out the intelligence, a faint smile appeared on Ryō's lips. If Ye Zi saw it, he would find it utterly mocking.

"This is the end."

The quiet murmur was swallowed by the wind rushing past.

The scenery on both sides of his vision, which had been rapidly retreating, began to slow and then stopped altogether.

Ryō came to a halt, landing on a tree branch. Without hesitation, he pulled out a kunai and stabbed it into his own heart.

From the moment he drew the kunai to the moment it pierced his heart, his expression remained calm and composed.

With a muffled grunt, blood dripped from his mouth, sliding off his chin and staining his collar. As his strength faded, his body began to sway.

"Suicide?"

Ye Zi's expression shifted, his teeth gritting slightly. His spiritual form emerged from his shoulder, flashing to Ryō's side in an instant and grabbing his neck.

Without delay, the spiritual form dove directly into Ryō's head.

Ye Zi had intended to use the Spirit Transformation Technique to seize Ryō's memories. He hadn't expected his opponent to be so decisive, delivering the intel and then killing himself immediately.

"I suppose this is what it means to be a member of 'Root.'"

From this single action, Ye Zi had already deduced Ryō's identity. His expression turned ice-cold.

With his heart pierced, Ryō's breath grew faint, and he was on the verge of death within seconds.

Ye Zi's spiritual form began to devour the remnants of Ryō's dissipating soul.

"There's still time!"

The spirit's expression twisted ferociously as it greedily consumed what remained of the fading soul.

Moments later, Ye Zi's spiritual form returned to his body, bringing a surge of memories from Ryō into his mind.

Ye Zi slowly closed his eyes, processing the influx of memories, before throwing Ryō's lifeless body at his feet.

Due to Ryō's decisive suicide, even with the Spirit Transformation Technique, Ye Zi couldn't retrieve all his memories. The amount of information he obtained was limited, and there was no need to sift through it.

"Danzō… Root… the Hyūga clan… gathering intelligence…"

"The First Hokage's Wood Release: Deep Forest Emergence… the Earth Country stronghold…"

When Ryō's body finally went cold, Ye Zi opened his eyes. A dangerous glint flashed within them.

"Shimura Danzō."

Ye Zi uttered the name in a voice laced with icy killing intent, his gaze settling coldly on the corpse at his feet.

To think that such a "rat" had been lurking in the shadows for so long, observing without being noticed. Ye Zi had to admit that Ryō was a rare talent in intelligence gathering.

His methods of avoiding detection even if no information was obtained were the reason Ye Zi had overlooked him for so long. Normally, such tactics were insufficient for gathering intelligence, but with the Byakugan, it became a different story entirely.

Unfortunately for Ryō, he had been too decisive. If Ye Zi had been able to devour his entire soul, he would have learned even more.

Additionally, using a summoned creature to deliver intelligence was incredibly effective. It was both fast and nearly impossible to intercept.

Not being able to stop the white hawk was a significant loss. The intelligence regarding the capture of the Five-Tails Jinchūriki had now been delivered to Danzō.

From Ryō's fragmented memories, Ye Zi realized that Ryō hadn't been following him continuously but instead intermittently, which helped avoid detection. This also explained why White Zetsu had only noticed him after they reached the Land of Fields.

Ryō hadn't witnessed the battle between Ye Zi's group and Iwagakure's forces in the Land of Iron. However, as an intelligence operative, he recognized the Five-Tails Jinchūriki.

This oversight on Ye Zi's part had proven costly. Because the Land of Fields and the Land of Iron were so close, and with White Zetsu accompanying them, Ye Zi hadn't sealed Han into a scroll.

He hadn't anticipated that Danzō would possess someone like Ryō who was an elite intelligence ninja.

Now, not only had Danzō acquired key intelligence, but the approximate location of their Earth Country stronghold had also been exposed. Although Ryō didn't have precise details, he knew the general area.

Ryō's caution had saved him from triggering the sentries Ye Zi and Orochimaru had set up around the stronghold. Otherwise, he wouldn't have lived this long.

Even a rough location was unacceptable to Ye Zi. It was clear he would need to relocate the stronghold quickly, at least before meeting with Orochimaru again.

As for the intelligence about the Five-Tails Jinchūriki being leaked to Danzō, Ye Zi couldn't predict what consequences would follow, but there was no time to dwell on it.

If the situation escalated severely, Ye Zi would be forced to reveal his trump card early. Though this was far from what he desired.

Revealing his trump card would signify an all-out war.

This kind of scenario would only occur if multiple ninja villages launched a coordinated attack against him.

Currently, with several Tailed Beasts yet to be captured, the timing was far from ideal. The primary issue was that he still didn't have enough strength.

Was Ye Zi weak? Far from it.

But when compared to certain forces, the gap became evident.

For example, Nagato… the collective power of a ninja village… or even two, perhaps three, ninja villages combined.

Only when measured against such benchmarks could Ye Zi recognize his own shortcomings and the distance he still had to go.

He needed to grow stronger... Quickly.

Only with the Rinnegan can one control the Gedo Statue. Controlling the Gedo Statue is essential to utilizing the gathered Tailed Beast chakra for further preparations.

If he couldn't obtain Nagato's Rinnegan at the critical moment, then Nagato would simply have to be the one standing at the front line.

"It's a pity that Edo Tensei can only control the body and erase the personality, but not manipulate it." Ye Zi muttered as he approached Ryō, bending down to remove the mask from his face.

Edo Tensei couldn't manipulate the target's personality, which meant it couldn't be used to force out intelligence either.

After death, Ryō's eyes remained open. The pale, lifeless Byakugan stared blankly into nothingness, while his calm, resolute expression in death seemed to mock Ye Zi.

"It seemed he didn't have a Caged Bird seal, how did Danzo manage to a Hyuga like that..." Ye Zi wondered as he coldly dug out Ryō's Byakugan. His Edo Tensei forces were already saturated, and despite Ryō's abilities, he wasn't worthy of being revived by Edo Tensei.

The only remaining value in his corpse was his pair of Byakugan.

After storing the Byakugan, White Zetsu emerged from the tree trunk.

"What a shame. Couldn't intercept the intel, huh?" White Zetsu said with a faint tone of mockery as soon as he popped out.

Ye Zi shot him a cold glance, then kicked Ryō's body off the branch. With a Fire Release, he ignited the corpse mid-air.

The burning corpse plummeted to the ground, engulfed in flames.

"He's been following me for some time, and you didn't notice at all?" Ye Zi shifted his gaze from the burning corpse to White Zetsu, questioning him.

White Zetsu shrugged indifferently. "If I had noticed earlier, we wouldn't have found him just now, would we?"

Ye Zi gave a slight nod and didn't dwell further on the matter. He turned to regroup with Yan Ye and Jin.

White Zetsu merged into the trees and followed along.

Ye Zi was now itching to deal with the problem that was Danzō, but it wasn't directly related to gathering the Tailed Beasts. For now, he suppressed the thought.

With the Byakugan taken from Ryō, combined with the Byakugan previously acquired from Ao, Ye Zi now had three Byakugan in total.

Regarding the use of the Byakugan, Ye Zi had considered transplanting it into Hashirama Cell clones, though he had yet to act on this idea. With this additional pair of Byakugan, he could now test whether it could enhance the strength of the clones.

If the clones could use the Byakugan after transplantation, then the Sharingan of the Uchiha clan should also work.

With instant strength-enhancing drugs, and the addition of the Byakugan and Sharingan, the clones would no longer be so weak.

Compared to the Byakugan, Ye Zi felt the Sharingan's potential was even greater.

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Currently on Chapter 409 - The Calm Before the Storm