Chapter 953

Flipping through the notebook compiled by Lady Xinjianai, Young Yuanzi was highly satisfied with its contents; even after a thousand years, the traces left by the Six Paths Sage tied to the sealing of the Divine Tree's energy would not vanish entirely with time.

Moreover, the current Six Paths Sage, Xuanwozhang Sect, could be considered an ally of hers; no matter when she asked, he would not hesitate to assist.

Young Yuanzi analyzed the situation and was utterly certain she held an excellent hand of cards.

Regardless of the process, as long as the final outcome was achieved, "change" was not impossible—but the overall trajectory would not deviate drastically.

Young Yuanzi learned this from the Uchiha massacre; originally, this event was meant to occur years ago, but now not only had the timing been delayed so long, the perpetrator had changed—not only was Uchiha Sasuke not involved, but Danzo also played no part.

And there was Minato.

After the Nine-Tails incident, Minato, as the Fourth Hokage, should have perished alongside Kushina—but both survived.

Yet now Minato had vanished during this delayed Uchiha massacre; after sealing the scene, the Leaf Anbu conducted a series of investigations and identifications, finding no trace other than a few of Minato's space kunai.

But since the space kunai were intact, it meant Minato had judged herself capable of further combat; she might not have been the strongest Hokage, but she was undoubtedly the most elusive—something must have occurred that she had not anticipated, something from which she could not have withdrawn unscathed.

Why assume she was missing rather than dead?

Although the Leaf initially had no evidence and merely insisted publicly that she was missing, Kushina firmly insisted Minato was still alive.

It was simple: both Kushina and Minato had sealed portions of the Nine-Tails' power; during the incident, Minato had activated hers, and Kushina had sensed it—though the activation ceased after only a moment, the connection remained.

Kushina had seriously informed the Third Hokage and Danzo of this; both reached the same conclusion: Minato had fallen into the hands of an unknown enemy, her life temporarily safe but unable to use her signature space ninjutsu.

Who was the enemy? What was the purpose of slaughtering the Uchiha?

Why kidnap the Fourth Hokage? All these questions remained unanswered, and now they could only find the answer by studying Uchiha Sasuke.

Young Yuanzi sent Xiao Mei back partly to ensure someone guarded Uchiha Sarada, and partly to confirm any possible new variables.

Uchiha Sasuke's identity was no longer that of a martyr but of a avenger; this made him an extremely unstable figure for Young Yuanzi.

Having Lady Xinjianai intervene in the Leaf at this moment was also deliberate: it allowed her to seize greater control over the Leaf Village's economy—and even the entire Land of Fire—during its leadership upheaval, and after gaining some influence, to secure more favorable resources for Lolan and herself.

The Leaf was a very sharp sword in the Shinobi World; keeping it perpetually pointed at others was the greatest assistance.

Since receiving intelligence from the Leaf, Young Yuanzi had been planning her next moves; Minato's disappearance and the Third's prolonged absence from the political center meant perhaps Danzo could be entrusted with control over the Leaf's upper echelons?

Having confirmed this now, Young Yuanzi held no prejudice toward Danzo whatsoever; yes, he had willingly sacrificed one eye and one arm for her—and what enabled him to make such a move was precisely the personal emotion that outsiders believed Danzo utterly lacked.

· ·······Seeking fresh flowers····· ·····

Lady Xinjianai naturally knew whom to cooperate with upon arriving at the Leaf; after all, it was Danzo who had first stepped forward to broker ties between Lolan and the Leaf.

Lost in thought while following instinct, Young Yuanzi snapped back to awareness and found herself at a remote corner of Lolan City; such sparsely populated areas were nearly nonexistent in Lolan, where every inch of land was precious—she had already noticed the source that had drawn her here.

That was…

Standing beside the dragon vein energy conduit, cloaked entirely, a figure's presence made Young Yuanzi's eyes flash a bolt of emerald lightning.

First impression: the figure was slender and short, likely female, possibly a very thin male—no metal objects such as blades, kunai, or shuriken were visible on her person.

A moment earlier, Young Yuanzi had clearly seen the figure's pale, bare feet directly touching the ground.

In the afternoon heat of Lolan, the ground was scorching; standing barefoot would peel skin and could cause severe burns.

Clearly, the figure had noticed Young Yuanzi's attention and deliberately assumed a pose, then spoke first in a clear, childlike voice: "Greetings, my lord Young Yuanzi. I have intelligence from Lord Black Zetsu that he wishes delivered to you—please accept it."

"Black Zetsu? Oh, I nearly forgot!" Young Yuanzi repeated the name blankly, then suddenly realized—