Board Thread:Naruto Discussions/@comment-28445617-20160513000858/@comment-4912646-20160513004224

Honestly, the Zetsu situation is a mess. I can't imagine how anybody would think it's a good idea to introduce a character who can apparently infinitely clone himself without any sort of drawback, and then later establish he is part of what is basically a hive mind of other clones and not expect it to get really confusing.

There's no right answer to why they don't all look unique or identical. The few we see in Obito's flashback all appear to be somewhat unique, yet in the present they're all identical to the point of even having the same memories. Some think all of the Zetsu in the war are just parasite clones of the one who was attached to Black Zetsu, but that's never been proven or disproven. And it's not even entirely clear if that's a real technique or not, since the databook ignored it. It also wouldn't explain where all of the other Zetsu from Madara's time went, since there's no trace of them in the present. Or the fact we saw the "original" White Zetsu die at the Kage Summit and then show up again just before the war as if nothing happened.

I think this is definitely a case of Kishimoto not knowing where he was going. Whether or not he always planned for White Zetsu to be a clone of Hashirama is one thing, but the reveal that they're actually transformed humans came out of nowhere and feels like it was thought up way after the fact. We even saw them half-formed on the tree as if they were growing out of nothing.