Somewhere in an underground cave outside Amegakure, three shadowy figures gathered in secret, holding a meeting that no one in the world knew about.
To call them "people" would be inaccurate—because, in truth, none of these three could really be considered human anymore.
"So... Lord Madara's dead. What do we do about the plan now?"
The spiral-faced man, Tobi, was the first to break the silence. He shrugged as he stared at Madara's corpse lying on the ground, his tone full of helplessness.
In the corner, Zetsu (the Venus Flytrap one) was huddled up, still looking shaken.
"Do whatever you want," he muttered nervously. "Just—whatever you do—don't go messing with that Gekko Hoshiyomi guy. That man isn't even human."
Seeing his partner's frightened look, Tobi snorted derisively.
"Oi, oi—don't tell me you're actually scared of him."
White Zetsu immediately jumped to his feet, shouting:
"You wouldn't be talking so casually if you'd actually seen his fight with Lord Madara! That hundred-meter-tall Susanoo—he sliced it apart with a single swing of his sword! With that kind of power, why don't you go and provoke him yourself?!"
The bickering between the two White Zetsus was giving Black Zetsu a headache. Finally, he snapped:
"Enough. Both of you—shut up."
Whether it was because of his self-proclaimed identity as Madara's will incarnate, or because his true nature as Kaguya Ōtsutsuki's will gave him an instinctive dominance over the White Zetsu, his single bark was enough to silence them both instantly.
Black Zetsu sat still, methodically untangling the chaos in his thoughts.
To be honest, Hoshiyomi's sudden appearance had completely shattered his plans.
Originally, he'd had plenty of time to prepare before Madara's death—to use Madara's influence and the Command Seals to create a new pawn to replace him.
But Hoshiyomi's intervention had destroyed everything.
Sure, there were still surviving Uchiha with Sharingan in his grasp—but without Madara, he no longer had anyone who could convincingly manipulate them.
On his own, he could easily deceive a weak-minded Uchiha into obedience, yes—
but keeping such a person loyal forever? That was far more difficult.
And besides, a Mangekyō Sharingan wasn't invincible.
If a new wielder wasn't completely under his control, then it was as good as useless.
That meant his original plan was no longer viable.
He still needed a Mangekyō user, yes—but it could no longer be a typical Uchiha.
Moreover, he needed to build a new power base.
He couldn't afford to put all his eggs in the Akatsuki basket anymore.
If something happened to Nagato, then his grand plan might be delayed for another century.
Gekko Hoshiyomi's unpredictable appearance…
Madara's premature death…
Nagato's still-developing strength...
No matter how he looked at it, things were dangerously unstable.
The more he thought about it, the clearer it became—
this era was different.
In all the thousand years since his creation, Black Zetsu had never faced such unpredictable variables.
He could no longer simply lurk in the shadows waiting for fate to align.
If he truly wanted to revive his mother—Kaguya—then he had to start taking action himself.
After a long silence, his mind finally cleared.
He turned toward Tobi and asked in his deep, measured tone:
"How is Akatsuki's progress? And what about the Uchiha clansmen you brought in? It's time we started implementing the Mangekyō activation plan."
Tobi—who was in charge of those operations—responded immediately:
"Akatsuki's development is going smoothly. I've already convinced Nagato to move the organization underground, shifting it from a peace movement into a mercenary group. Everything's on track—but…"
He hesitated briefly, then continued,
"…we still have a major issue. The organization's high-level combat strength is severely lacking. Without enough powerful members, capturing the Tailed Beasts will be nearly impossible."
"The Uchiha we recruited haven't shown anything unusual yet," Tobi replied. "But getting them to kill each other until they awaken the Sharingan is difficult. Right now we can't control those Uchiha at all—how could we make them turn on each other?"
Black Zetsu thought for a moment, then asked, "What if you used your current body to deal with them? Could you suppress them then?"
Tobi was silent briefly before answering, "With Wood Release, maybe... but I'm not exactly a combat specialist."
"You'll have my support in battle, so don't worry about that. What matters now is that we immediately obtain a pair of Mangekyō that can break this deadlock. Do this: put Akatsuki affairs on hold for the moment. Over the next few days focus entirely on the Uchiha problem. Once we have a Mangekyō, everything can proceed as planned."
Before Black Zetsu could say more, White Zetsu timidly blurted out that he had been threatened by Hoshiyomi.
Hearing that, Black Zetsu felt as if a thorn were stuck in his back—so Hoshiyomi really did know something. The fact that someone was aware of his existence was deeply wrong. The thought churned in him and a dangerous light flashed in his eyes.
Black Zetsu decided: whatever it took, Hoshiyomi had to be eliminated. The man was far too dangerous. His strength and the way he seemed to know about Black Zetsu's plans made Black Zetsu very uneasy. Such an interfering factor could not be allowed to live.
Seeing Black Zetsu's scheming face, White Zetsu reflexively remembered Hoshiyomi's "harmless" smile. He quickly spoke up, trying to be clever:
"Don't you dare go after Hoshiyomi's friends or family. Right now he's beyond what we can handle. Causing trouble for him before our forces are strong would do our plan more harm than good. You must stay calm."
Black Zetsu nodded. "Don't worry. I understand Hoshiyomi's meaning. I will not plot to harm his friends or family. As you said, we are not yet ready to bear his wrath."
White Zetsu's eyes lit up—he hadn't expected Black Zetsu, the embodiment of Lord Madara's will, to behave so differently from Madara himself. As long as Black Zetsu refrained from flashy schemes, White Zetsu felt he needn't fear being killed by Hoshiyomi.
What White Zetsu didn't realize was that Black Zetsu had no intention of targeting Hoshiyomi's family or friends—doing so wouldn't help his plan and might alert Hoshiyomi prematurely. But if Black Zetsu could find an opportunity to kill Hoshiyomi outright, he wouldn't have to worry about those complications anymore.
There would be a chance. There had to be some way to deal with Hoshiyomi all at once.