Mujie scratched his head, stepping forward cautiously. "There must be some kind of misunderstanding. I was just, "
"Don't move!" the voice cut him off, and before he could react, Mujie was grabbed and restrained.
"The evidence is clear, Mujiee," Konan said as she appeared at the village gate with Nagato, her eyes flickering over the two stunned children.
She sighed heavily. "I never thought you'd do something like this. I've already sent word to The lord. Now…" She glanced at Jiraiya, who was still in shock, and added, "Hand over your things."
Before she could finish, Mujie suddenly shifted, and something slipped from his arms, falling to the ground with a soft thud. Everyone's eyes fell on the object, a book, its cover bright and colorful.
"Shh, " gasps spread through the crowd as many quickly covered the children's eyes.
"Mujiee, you…" someone whispered, disbelief thick in their voice.
Tears streaming down his face, Mujie sobbed, "I was just here to exchange a book! How is that treason?"
Silence hung in the air.
In the quiet underground cave, White Zetsu called out softly a few times, "Lord Madara~? Lord Madara~?"
When there was no response, he let out a relieved sigh and muttered to himself, "Looks like Lord Madara still hasn't woken up."
Feeling reassured that he wouldn't be caught, White Zetsu carefully stepped his right foot into the cave with a smug grin. Suddenly, a cold voice echoed from within, making him freeze in place. He quickly pulled back his foot, peeked inside briefly, then withdrew again.
After a moment, he stuck his head out once more and saw Lord Madara sitting inside, staring blankly ahead with cloudy, expressionless eyes.
White Zetsu chuckled nervously, "Lord Madara, you're awake?" He hurriedly hid his precious drawing board, then trotted forward holding a skewer of tri-colored dango, smiling brightly.
"Actually, Lord Madara, I didn't run off because I was curious about the festival outside. I just wanted to bring you some dango!"
There was a brief silence. Madara's eyes lingered on the dango in White Zetsu's hand. The cold scolding he had prepared for the reckless kid softened without him realizing it. His cloudy eyes drifted into a memory, back to the early days of Konoha, the very first festival they held.
Hashirama stood beside him, and together they looked over the village they'd built with pride. Compared to him, everyone seemed to like Hashirama more.
Sensing Madara's displeasure, Hashirama had smiled and offered him a skewer of dango. 'That fool…'
Suddenly, White Zetsu's voice called out again, "Lord Madara~! Lord Madara~!"
Madara snapped out of his thoughts, his vision momentarily blurred as if he could still see Hashirama's goofy smile.
When White Zetsu's face came into focus, Madara finally reacted with a cold glare.
"You idiot! Have you forgotten what I told you? Don't run off! Don't run off!
We're working for peace in the shinobi world! To prove that we're right!
But what if we get exposed? What if we fail?"
Madara muttered bitterly, snorting coldly as he shook his head. "How did I end up with Hashirama's idiot cells inside me, anyway?"
White Zetsu grinned, casually shaking the dango in his hand. "I get it, Lord Madara. Want some?"
"Childish nonsense! I don't eat that stuff anymore!" Madara sneered at the dango, pursing his lips in disdain.
Then, with a face creased by wrinkles, he glanced at White Zetsu again, slowly closing his eyes halfway. "You were out for a while. Did you manage to gather any useful intel?"
"U-useful intel?" White Zetsu blinked in surprise.
If he had real eyes, he might have blinked dumbfounded. He had only gone out to play, no real intel gathering!
Usually, that was the job of the real Zetsu and his clones. Madara furrowed his brow, studied White Zetsu's expression, and sighed deeply. "Why am I even asking you, an idiot?"
Before he could finish, White Zetsu quickly interrupted, "There is! I found some very important intel!"
Madara's interest piqued, eyes narrowing. "What intel?"
"Well…" White Zetsu scratched the back of his head with his right hand while still holding the dango in his left. "A high-ranking official from the Land of Grass has defected!"
Madara frowned. "That's it?" But seeing White Zetsu's enthusiastic nod, he fell silent for a moment before muttering, "As expected… shinobis are the root of all chaos."
With a cold sneer, he added, "Even a small country like the Land of Grass has a traitors. Pathetic."
"Y-yeah, yeah," White Zetsu stammered, relieved Madara was actually listening. "I heard it's someone important, someone who helped a lot during the Land of Grass's rebuilding. Didn't expect a person like that to betray…"
Before he could finish, Madara fell silent, as if recalling something. Noticing this, White Zetsu hurried to add, "But that guy's different from you, Lord Madara! You're working for peace in the shinobi world!"
"You're great!" White Zetsu exclaimed.
Madara shot him a flat look. "Enough, shut up," he said sharply. "Get out of here. You just make me angry by being around."
"Okay, okay! I'm going!" White Zetsu said quickly, nodding. "But if you need me, just call…"
"Get out!" Madara snapped.
"Y-yes, yes!" White Zetsu hurried away.
"Wait!"
Just as White Zetsu was about to leave, Madara called out again. The other stopped in his tracks, turned around with curiosity, and looked at Madara, who had already closed his eyes and was leaning back in his chair.
Hesitantly, he asked, "Lord Madara, did you call me?"
There was no answer. Thinking he must have misheard, White Zetsu started to step away again when Madara's faint voice came from behind closed eyes: "Put… that skewer down."
White Zetsu froze. He looked down at the dango skewer in his hand, then back at Madara. "Lord Madara… didn't you say you didn't want, ?"
"Put it down. Now get out."
"Got it!" White Zetsu said quickly.
Hearing Madara's rare hint of anger, White Zetsu didn't hesitate. He carefully set the skewer down on the stone table and dashed out of the cave.
Only after White Zetsu disappeared from the entrance did Madara slowly open his eyes. His gaze fell on the dango skewer before him.
Reaching out with his old, wrinkled hand, he gently picked it up. After a long pause, still hesitating, he slowly bit into one of the pieces. His jaw moved slightly as he murmured to himself, "Not as good as Konoha's…"
Before he could say more, Suddenly, Whoosh.
White Zetsu came darting back from outside, grinning. "Oh! Lord Madara, you're awake! Want to take a bathroom break now? You'll sleep better afterward, and I can even help you…"
As he spoke, he noticed something was wrong.
Seeing Madara's pale face, the dango in his right hand, and his left hand clutching his neck, White Zetsu stopped. "Lord Madara?"
Then realization hit him. "Lord Madara! Are you choking? What should I do? What should I do? Maybe you liked it too much?"
"Geez, Lord Madara, you're so old, how can you still be this careless?" White Zetsu muttered anxiously, unsure of what to do next.
Just then, Madara swallowed whatever he had been struggling with, his voice weak but icy as he commanded, "Get out! Get out of here, now!"