Zetsu

**White Zetsu** (白ゼツ, *Shiro Zetsu*) is half of the Akatsuki member **Zetsu** (ゼツ, *Zetsu*), the other being Black Zetsu. He was one of the first victims of Kaguya Ōtsutsuki's Infinite Tsukuyomi, and was eventually pulled from the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path by Black Zetsu, and infused with the DNA of Hashirama Senju by Madara Uchiha.

## Background

White Zetsu was originally one of the victims of Kaguya Ōtsutsuki's Infinite Tsukuyomi, who was transformed after being tethered to the God Tree over the course of years and ultimately stored within the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path. After Madara Uchiha summoned the statue and cultivated Hashirama Senju's DNA into a large flowering tree, Black Zetsu removed White Zetsu and the other victims from inside the husk, leading Madara to believe they were artificial humans created by the statue's chakra and Hashirama's DNA. White Zetsu and other mutated humans were then tasked with intelligence gathering before he and a spiral-patterned Zetsu were entrusted with looking after the rehabilitating Obito Uchiha. Over time, the duo became friends with the young Uchiha.

When Obito's rehabilitation was near completion, White Zetsu returned to the base and informed Obito that Kakashi Hatake and Rin Nohara were being attacked by Kirigakure shinobi. When the spiral-patterned Zetsu offered to help Obito by encasing himself around the young Uchiha in order to enable him to leave the cave, White Zetsu served to guide Obito telepathically with the information he received from other Zetsu stationed outside. When they returned to Madara, White Zetsu assured him that no one had seen them and relayed information on what had happened after the arrival of Konoha reinforcements, noting that Obito didn't kill Kakashi.

When Madara was on the verge of death, he imbued Black Zetsu into White Zetsu's right half, believing the former was a manifestation of his will. Zetsu later accompanied Obito to Amegakure to locate Nagato, who had unknowingly been given Madara's Rinnegan as a child, and watched as Obito introduced himself using Madara's identity.

## Personality

Unlike Black Zetsu, White Zetsu, nicknamed "Chatterbox" (饒舌, *Jōzetsu*), was carefree and playful with a habit of teasing others, traits shared by his clone siblings. In the Japanese version of the manga, White Zetsu used kanji and kana regularly. This was often conveyed in the anime through a higher-pitched voice. While he and Black Zetsu sometimes had differing opinions, the two halves were still able to function as a single entity.

White Zetsu appeared to be extremely trustworthy, obedient and loyal, being entrusted with Akatsuki's secrets and knowledge of Madara's Eye of the Moon Plan, which he believed to be beneficial to mankind. Because of his ties to Madara, White Zetsu worked with Obito for a long time, originally helping him find and convince Nagato to join them. He was shown to be quite friendly to most Akatsuki members, indicated by how he was saddened that so many had died in a conversation about them with Tobi; in the anime, one of his clones freed a captured Deidara, saying he was a fun guy to be around in Akatsuki. Though he annoyed Obito at first, White Zetsu eventually won the boy's friendship. Like Tobi, White Zetsu believed Madara was a good man at heart and saw no harm in helping Obito without Madara's permission.

Zetsu's main role within Akatsuki was to function as a spy, with other duties that were similar to those of a hunter-nin. He was able to control his body and take part in the tailed beast sealing ritual simultaneously, which, in addition to being unique to him, allowed him to act as a lookout while the sealing took place. When an agent of Akatsuki, or possibly even a member, died, Zetsu was sent to devour their bodies so as to not have their secrets revealed, further adding to his nature as a half-plant creature. Zetsu was also the one sent to retrieve the rings of dead Akatsuki members. Due to the role he played, Zetsu was the only member of Akatsuki to act without a partner on a regular basis. He operated on his own, often moving between the different locations where the other Akatsuki members were located. This resulted in other members reporting directly to him, rather than the figurehead leader, Pain. Zetsu would in turn report directly to Pain as well as Obito, the organisation's benefactor and eventual leader.