Chapter 1: The Birth of White Zetsu-Man
In the central region of the Shinobi World, deep within a dense forest beneath a thick canopy, a young ninja staggered deeper into the uncharted wilderness.
He looked about fourteen or fifteen years old, his clothes in tatters, blood staining both his chest and back. His steps were weak and unsteady, every movement sluggish as though he might collapse at any moment.
By sheer luck, he had temporarily shaken off his pursuers.
His name was Yugami Genshin, a member of a small shinobi clan called the Yugami Clan. He was the nephew of the former clan leader. A month ago, the old leader died in battle. Just a week ago, the new leader—his cousin—also perished in combat. And so, he found himself thrust into the role of the next clan head.
Three days earlier, during a fierce skirmish, Genshin had volunteered to act as bait to divert enemy forces and allow the rest of his clan to retreat safely. After a narrow escape from his pursuers, he was now making his way toward their agreed rendezvous point.
That's the gist of his situation.
Oh—and one more crucial detail: Genshin wasn't originally from this world.
A year ago, his soul inexplicably transmigrated into this body, replacing the consciousness of the original Genshin. At first, he had high hopes, expecting to follow the classic "cheat system" path, becoming an overpowered force of change. But it didn't take long for him to realize—he had no system.
Next, he hoped that his knowledge of the Naruto world's timeline and key events would allow him to ride the "genius path." But that, too, turned out to be a pipe dream. Even now, his strength had only reached that of a Chūnin, with no signs of progress.
Eventually, he had resigned himself to walking the long-abandoned "trash protagonist" route. But even that was a misjudgment. Only now did he realize he'd been on the "cannon fodder" path all along—an ordinary shinobi fated to die meaninglessly.
His isekai journey had barely begun… and already seemed on the verge of ending.
Though he couldn't pinpoint the exact timeline, Genshin was fairly certain he had arrived during the chaotic Warring States period—before the founding of the Hidden Villages. It was a time of unrelenting bloodshed, and minor clans like his were on the verge of extinction.
As he trudged forward, he suddenly tripped over something and fell flat on his face.
He hadn't slept in three full days and nights. Starvation and fatigue had pushed him to his limits.
He needed food—any food—if he wanted to stay alive. But he had long since exhausted his supplies.
Still, the heavens hadn't completely abandoned him.
Genshin struggled to lift his head and forced open his eyes. Just ahead, he spotted something growing from the ground.
"Mushrooms…"
Better than chewing on bark, he thought. Driven by desperation, he crawled toward them, grabbed one that looked like an oversized king oyster mushroom, and shoved it into his mouth without a second thought.
Only after swallowing it did he notice something strange.
The mushroom had sprouted from a half-buried tree stump. Around the stump grew pale, ghostly pitcher plants, and atop it were aloe-like leaves slick with unnatural greenness—almost as if painted on. Now that he thought about it, the mushroom had tasted oddly oily…
"..."
Genshin's eyes widened in confusion. A sense of déjà vu washed over him, as though he were staring at something eerily familiar.
He looked closer at the stump—and saw a grotesque, twisted human face growing from it.
"…Huh?...Huh?!"
Ever since arriving in this world, Genshin had complained that he was stuck on the lowest rungs of the ladder—no important characters, no major events, nothing familiar from the source material. But now, finally, his wish had been granted.
He had stumbled upon a pivotal character from the original Naruto timeline—a dead White Zetsu.
The mushroom he just ate had grown from the eye socket of that Zetsu.
Instantly, Genshin felt a wave of dread. Theoretically speaking, he had just eaten the most unsanitary thing in the entire shinobi world.
No—this wasn't just unhygienic. This could be lethal. Who knows what side effects it carried?
Without warning, pain exploded throughout his body. His limbs convulsed violently, as if his entire body were being twisted like a rag. Even clenching his teeth couldn't stop the muffled groans from escaping his throat. The pain was unbearable—his consciousness began to slip away.
"If only I had boiled it first…"
That was his last thought before everything went dark.
About ten minutes later, Genshin's body finally stopped twitching.
The forest fell silent. He lay curled on the ground. At some point, his skin had turned a ghostly pale.
He was undergoing a transformation.
Three hours passed.
The pale hue gradually faded, and his original complexion returned.
With a sharp gasp, Genshin awoke, his body jolting upright. He dropped to his knees, supporting himself on his arms as a violent coughing fit overtook him.
He coughed up a milky, sap-like fluid that spread across the ground in front of him. When his breathing finally steadied, he let out a deep exhale and leaned against a nearby tree, a complex mixture of shock and confusion on his face.
He wasn't sure what had happened to him—but something had definitely changed.
His wounds were gone. His body felt light, his mind clear. He had the distinct sensation that his physical stats—strength, chakra, stamina—had all taken a sudden leap.
He used to be an average Chūnin, indistinguishable from thousands of others. But now, he felt like he could almost reach the Kakashi threshold if he just stretched a little farther.
More surprisingly, new instincts and knowledge had appeared in his mind—hard to describe, but undeniably there.
He raised his left arm. With a thought, it turned ghostly white, the texture of the skin like bark stripped of its outer layer. That pale hue quickly spread to his entire body.
In a sense, he had become a White Zetsu.
"White Zetsu…"
Genshin could hardly believe it.
Everyone knows, if a person gets bitten by a spider, they turn into Spider-Man.
So if he ate a mushroom growing from a White Zetsu… did that make him White Zetsu-Man?
"In the end, isn't it just another broke guy getting powers from a mutation?"
Thanks to that mysterious mushroom, Genshin felt that he had undergone some kind of fusion with White Zetsu. It had enhanced him—granted him new abilities and altered his body.
He'd have to study these changes further—but now wasn't the time.
He heard rustling—clothing brushing through leaves.
His senses sharpened. From the sound, at least a dozen shinobi were approaching fast. He quickly concealed himself.
About fifteen minutes later, the group arrived and stopped nearby.
But this wasn't a coincidence.
When he saw their faces clearly, Genshin emerged from hiding without hesitation—they were his clansmen.
Unbeknownst to him, even while unconscious, he had managed to stumble to the rendezvous point.
"Clan Leader!"
His sudden appearance startled the group. But when they recognized him, they breathed sighs of relief.
"Is it just you all that made it?" Genshin asked.
Sixteen shinobi had made it—mostly young men. The fate of the rest was painfully obvious.
"Clan Leader, we…" One of them looked filled with guilt.
Genshin raised a hand to silence him. His expression remained calm.
"It's not your fault. Looks like I didn't do enough to draw the enemy away."
"The enemy's forces were overwhelming… we were powerless," the ninja said, bowing his head in defeat.
They had been outnumbered and outclassed.
"What about the pursuers?" Genshin asked again.
"They'll catch up in four or five hours, at most… They have sensory-types. We won't be able to shake them."
Whether anyone would witness it or not, the moment had come—
The fate of their clan now hung by a thread.