Chapter 12: Feedback
To be honest, Hajime didn't hold any particular grudge against Black Zetsu or White Zetsu.
In fact, he didn't care much about the future of the ninja world at all. As far as he was concerned, even if he lived out the rest of his life in peace, by the time the Infinite Tsukuyomi plan was set into motion, he'd already be long dead.
So what if a flood came to wash the world away in the future? What's that got to do with a corpse?
And even if we backpedal a little—any future disaster should be left to future generations to handle. After all, this world does have a so-called "savior."
The schemes of Black Zetsu and White Zetsu? That's the savior's business. Hajime wasn't about to shoulder that kind of burden. He was well aware of his limits and never once imagined himself participating in such high-stakes battles.
Simply put, Hajime was still trapped in his old way of thinking. He believed this world would inevitably follow the course laid out in his memory—unchanging and unwavering.
That said, just because he didn't care about the future didn't mean he could ignore the present. So, with a clear conscience, he struck White Zetsu down.
A cancer of the ninja world—one that deserved eradication.
He couldn't help it. Hajime really wanted that EXP.
"You… you're not one of us…"
White Zetsu felt its chakra rapidly fading. The attacker beside it had launched a sudden and dishonorable ambush—this person wasn't one of them. Not a "fellow Zetsu."
"Why… how… did you disguise yourself so well…"
But how? How could this man imitate them so perfectly? It was beyond White Zetsu's comprehension.
"Why? Honestly, I don't know either," Hajime replied.
The truth? There was no disguise.
In a weird, twisted sense… he really was one of them.
For thousands of years, White Zetsu had only ever mimicked others. No one had ever impersonated it.
As White Zetsu lay dying, it didn't even have time to consider how Hajime had mimicked it so flawlessly. Its thoughts jumped straight to another realization:
A ninja capable of disguising themselves as one of their own without being detected—what kind of internal damage could that do to their species? Their grand plans?
It could be devastating. Fatal, even.
Unfortunately for White Zetsu, now that it understood the threat… it was already too late to do anything about it.
Hajime quickly absorbed White Zetsu's chakra, and the unease in his expression vanished almost immediately. The power-up was immediate and obvious. He could feel his overall abilities steadily rising.
Seriously, White Zetsu was an EXP pack!
Whenever Hajime used Spore Technique to absorb chakra from other ninja, he'd get a temporary boost. But that chakra was like water from a leaking bucket—it ran out fast.
Regular ninja chakra? Basically just a fuel can.
But White Zetsu? Totally different. His hypothesis had been right all along—only by absorbing White Zetsu's chakra did his base stats genuinely increase. This was real EXP.
White Zetsu had died a noble death. A true act of charity.
For a brief moment, Hajime even considered becoming a devotee of Lady Kaguya. Maybe he and White Zetsu really were long-lost half-brothers.
Once the White Zetsu's chakra was fully drained, it finally perished. Hajime paused to feel out the changes in his body. Physical strength, chakra volume, chakra quality—it had all improved.
And the boost wasn't small either. By rough estimation, he felt like he'd just jumped by 20 to 30 percent in overall strength.
If one White Zetsu could do that… what about the remaining?
Hajime was elated. He even started fantasizing about piloting a Gundam in the ninja world.
Then reality hit him: there's no way every EXP pack would give the same massive boost.
His current power surge was largely due to how weak his base stats had been in the first place.
Like in an RPG—leveling is easy when you're low-level. But it slows down as you climb.
Still, if the EXP pack theory held true, then Hajime had found a real shortcut to strength… He just needed to keep hunting down lone White Zetsus.
He couldn't wait for their next "staff meeting."
But that was a problem for future Hajime. For now, he had to get out of here.
Ending his White Zetsu transformation, he released a Fire Style jutsu on the corpse.
Flames engulfed White Zetsu's body, and with the overflowing chakra, the orange fire shifted into a brilliant white.
The searing heat curled and blackened the nearby trees. In just a few minutes, White Zetsu was completely gone.
Hajime's chakra power had increased significantly. The same jutsu he once used now had exponentially more destructive force.
Without wasting any more time, he turned and quickly fled the area.
Once he'd traveled a fair distance, Hajime emerged from the ground. Slowing down, he began pondering something else…
Just now, when using his jutsu, he had sensed another subtle change in himself.
He plucked a leaf from a nearby tree and held it in his palm, letting chakra flow from his hand naturally.
With his original chakra nature, the leaf should've burned to a crisp immediately. But instead, it first became soaked—then burned.
"Water release…"
And this wasn't some weak, beginner-level water chakra that you could only detect with chakra paper. This was the kind of chakra wielded by experienced water-style users—practical and potent.
By absorbing that White Zetsu's chakra, Hajime had awakened water-nature chakra.
But why?
To his knowledge, White Zetsus weren't known for elemental jutsu. They had no reason to be proficient in chakra nature transformations.
Could it be… a latent ability? Something tied not to the White Zetsu itself, but to what it used to be?
"Before becoming White Zetsu, they were ancient humans… Maybe that one had mastered water chakra in its former life?"
It might be a power buried so deep that not even the White Zetsu remembered it.
But then he frowned.
"No… that doesn't make sense."
The theory sounded plausible, but he quickly rejected it.
Most White Zetsus in the present came from the first Infinite Tsukuyomi. Back then, the Sage of Six Paths hadn't even created ninjutsu yet. There was no such thing as elemental chakra transformation—let alone elemental jutsu.
In other words, before they became White Zetsus, they weren't even ninja. And after they became Zetsus, they had no need for ninja techniques.
Now Hajime was confused.
"Maybe ancient people could manipulate elemental chakra… they just didn't know how to turn it into jutsu? Like a master archer born before bows were invented?"
That was the only explanation he could settle on for now.
But truthfully, Hajime's understanding was flawed. The canon lore around the ancient world was too vague. In reality, the first generation of White Zetsus were just ordinary humans—caught in the Infinite Tsukuyomi during Kaguya's war against the human nations. Her goal wasn't to deal with her sons, but to crush her enemies.
Hajime had always assumed White Zetsus were created during the war between Kaguya and her sons, Hagoromo and Hamura. But in truth, they came before that battle.
Later, the two divine brothers sealed the Ten-Tails and sent their mom to the moon. They then released the Infinite Tsukuyomi, founded the ninja system, and introduced chakra to the world. Thus began the era of shinobi.
So in short, Hajime thought he'd uncovered some hidden truth about White Zetsus and elemental chakra…
But he was completely wrong.
Still, regardless of how or why it happened, Hajime now had access to water-nature chakra.
And naturally, he wanted to try out some Water Style jutsu.
Excited, he clasped his hands into a seal… but after a long moment, nothing happened.
Eventually, he dropped his hands.
Knowing chakra nature didn't mean you knew any actual techniques.
Hajime hadn't learned any water-style hand signs.
So yeah—he wanted to try.
But nope. Not happening.
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