Suppressing the unease rising in his chest, Black Zetsu continued following behind Tobi toward the surface. Still, his cautious nature made him speak up:
"Hey, Tobi, pick up the pace. Let's finish this as quickly as possible. I've got a bad feeling — something doesn't seem quite right."
Tobi clicked his tongue dismissively, clearly unimpressed. But since Black Zetsu represented Lord Madara's will, he didn't dare argue back. Instead, he silently increased his speed.
Before long, the two burst through the floor of Konoha Prison, emerging directly into the cell block that held the captured Uchiha clansmen.
The sudden noise startled the Uchiha. They turned in shock toward the two bizarre figures that had just erupted from the ground, momentarily too confused to even speak.
Among them, a younger man couldn't contain himself and let out a shout — a shout loud enough to draw the attention of a nearby guard.
The guard came running, barking harshly:
"Hey, you there! What's all the yelling about?"
As the Uchiha froze in panic, one of the strange intruders suddenly raised his sleeve.
From within, a black, liquid-like substance shot forth, splattering across the guard's face and quickly spreading over his body.
The man's scream was cut off almost instantly.
From further down the corridor, another guard called out in confusion:
"Mōri? What's going on over there?"
To the Uchiha's horror, the guard named Mōri suddenly spoke again — but his tone and expression were eerily calm.
"Nothing. One of the prisoners tripped in his cell, that's all. Looks like it's nothing serious."
Hearing that, the other guards relaxed, shrugging it off and returning to their posts.
The Uchiha clansmen stared in stunned silence at the unsettling scene before them. They glanced at each other, eyes full of suspicion and fear, unsure of what to say or do.
At that moment, the man in the black cloak — the one wearing a strange white spiral mask — suddenly spoke:
"What are you waiting for? Do you plan to sit here and die?"
The Uchiha's eyes widened. Could it be… someone had actually come to rescue them?
A stir ran through the group until one of the older, more composed men finally stepped forward and asked:
"Who are you people? Why would you come to save us?"
Tobi let out a cold snort.
"Your clan head paid a high price to arrange your rescue. And here you are dawdling around? My companion can only keep the guards under control for a short time.
If you want to live, follow me — now."
With that, he turned without another word and jumped back down into the hole.
At the mention of "the clan head," hope flashed in the Uchiha's eyes. So… Fugaku-sama hadn't abandoned them after all!
All this time with no word from the outside — it turned out he'd been secretly working on a rescue plan!
Having already resigned themselves to dying in this dark, hopeless prison, they didn't stop to think any further.
One by one, they hurriedly leapt into the tunnel after Tobi.
Once the last of the Uchiha had disappeared underground, the pitcher-plant-like White Zetsu chuckled softly.
He sealed the hole shut with earth, then slowly began forming hand seals.
As he did, his body split apart, producing more than a dozen copies of himself.
The White Zetsu clones exchanged glances, and their faces began to twist and morph —
until, one by one, they each transformed into perfect copies of the missing Uchiha clansmen and sat quietly back in the cells.
Seeing the situation stabilize, Black Zetsu let out a silent breath of relief. He quietly released control over the guard he had been manipulating and wordlessly merged back into the pitcher-plant-like White Zetsu's body, then sank soundlessly into the ground.
White Zetsu moved at incredible speed, quickly catching up to Tobi and the group of confused Uchiha clansmen he was leading.
With Tobi at the front and Zetsu following behind, the bewildered Uchiha said nothing as they made their way toward the outskirts of Konoha.
Their destination, of course, was the underground cavern where Uchiha Madara resided.
At first, Black Zetsu was relieved, thinking he had simply been overanxious.
But before long, he began to sense it — someone above ground was following them silently, step for step.
Black Zetsu's heart instantly tensed.
There was no mistake. He had lived in the shinobi world for over a thousand years — though he lacked offensive power, his sensory abilities had reached a transcendent level. He was certain of it.
Someone was tailing them from the air.
Such terrifying strength… there could be no one else but Gekko Hoshiyomi.
Black Zetsu was no fool — far from it.
He was a manipulator so cunning he had once driven the sons of the Sage of Six Paths to turn on each other. There was no way he could ignore the obvious now.
In that instant, he realized what had been bothering him earlier.
These Uchiha prisoners had been kept alive far too long.
Nearly a week had passed since the rebellion was crushed — yet these key instigators of the uprising hadn't been executed. That was completely inconsistent with Konoha's usual methods.
Normally, they would have been secretly eliminated right away.
So why keep them alive?
There was only one possible explanation:
someone was using them as bait.
Bait meant to lure him and Madara out.
Could it be… that Gekko Hoshiyomi had already discovered their existence?
The very thought made Black Zetsu's ancient body shiver. Even after living for millennia, he couldn't suppress the chill that crept up his spine.
"Impossible," he thought. "There's no way anyone could know about me and Madara."
No — that couldn't be.
The Eye of the Moon Plan had never been fully revealed to any outsider. Even Nagato only knew about the Tailed Beast Collection Plan.
No matter how powerful Gekko Hoshiyomi was, there was no way he could know the truth behind everything.
Most likely, Hoshiyomi had simply noticed that something was off — but couldn't determine that Madara and Black Zetsu were the ones orchestrating events from the shadows.
Thinking that, Black Zetsu finally allowed himself to relax a little.
If Hoshiyomi didn't know the real plan, then things were still under control.
His mind worked rapidly, and soon, a bold new idea began to form.
If Gekko Hoshiyomi didn't understand the full Eye of the Moon Plan, then he wouldn't know who the true puppet master was — in fact, no one in this world knew that truth.
So… why not turn this situation to his advantage?
Madara didn't have much time left anyway. From what Black Zetsu could sense, the old man had less than a year to live.
So why not use him one last time?
He could lure Madara and Gekko Hoshiyomi into a direct confrontation — and let Hoshiyomi kill Madara himself.
Once that happened, Hoshiyomi would undoubtedly believe everything was over…
And no one would be left to interfere with Black Zetsu's plans from the shadows ever again.
...
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