Shiki was more than confident enough to deal with Black Zetsu and White Zetsu right here and now.
But after giving it a little thought, he decided against it.
If a boss-level piece like that died here already, then the future of the ninja world would become far too boring.
So Shiki only watched for a moment before losing interest and looking away.
"I told you, he noticed us!"
Outside the barrier of the land of Demons, on top of a tree, the figures of Black Zetsu and White Zetsu slowly emerged.
The moment Shiki's gaze swept over them, both of them felt it.
White Zetsu immediately called out in a relaxed, almost cheerful tone, sounding weirdly pleased with himself.
"Shut up."
Black Zetsu cut him off coldly.
Their position had been exposed. There was nothing to be happy about.
He honestly could not understand what White Zetsu found so amusing about this.
"Hmph."
Letting out a cold snort, Black Zetsu couldn't be bothered arguing with him any further. He narrowed his eyes and looked in Shiki's direction.
Sure enough, if the Eye of the Moon Plan was to succeed, then Shiki's existence would definitely become a major obstacle.
Black Zetsu had thought about eliminating him here and now.
But he knew very well that with his current strength, there was no way he could threaten Shiki.
If Madara Uchiha were fully resurrected, then maybe things would be different.
But in Madara's current state, even if he fought Shiki for only a short while, he would most likely die from exhausting what little life force he had left.
'Forget it... once the Eye of the Moon Plan begins in full, I'll deal with him then.'
Black Zetsu would never allow any accident to ruin a plan he had spent a thousand years preparing.
Right now, though, Shiki was not his priority.
Pulling back his gaze, Black Zetsu turned to look in the direction of Rin Nohara and Kakashi.
At this moment, those two were the key.
"Black Zetsu, what do you think?" White Zetsu asked curiously. "For Obito, which one matters more? Kakashi... or Rin?"
"Can you stop talking for one second?"
Black Zetsu's face darkened.
Even if no one else could see it clearly, White Zetsu could still feel the killing intent radiating off him.
"But I'm curious," White Zetsu muttered, sounding a little sad. "I just want to know who Obito likes more."
"Shut. Up."
"...Okay."
White Zetsu fell silent, sounding thoroughly aggrieved.
Meanwhile, Kushina and the others had already made their way over to Shiki.
Seeing him stand there so quietly, they could not help feeling a little curious.
"What is it?" Kushina asked.
"Nothing."
Shiki shook his head and did not explain much.
He only glanced once more in Rin Nohara's direction.
After all, the appearance of Black Zetsu and White Zetsu had to be because of Rin.
Their next move would definitely be to manipulate the situation so that Rin died in front of Obito, forcing him to awaken the Mangekyō Sharingan on the spot.
As for Kakashi...
In Shiki's view, without Obito's Sharingan transplanted into him, Kakashi was nothing more than a secondary piece in Madara's plan.
He was not important enough to be targeted.
'In that case... the next step is simple. Protect Rin Nohara.'
Shiki did not care what Black Zetsu and White Zetsu were planning overall.
But Rin was his student now.
That alone was reason enough to protect her.
"Um... Lord Shiki?"
Just as he was thinking about what to do next, a timid voice reached his ears.
It was Rin.
The fact that Shiki had been glancing at her more than once had clearly made her feel uneasy.
Had she done something wrong?
"I'm just saying..." Kushina's teasing voice suddenly rang out beside him. "You're not seriously interested in Rin, are you?"
Her tone sounded joking, almost ridiculous.
But the way she looked at him was completely serious, as though she really wanted an answer.
"Are you an idiot?"
Coming back to himself, Shiki shot Kushina an annoyed glare.
What kind of nonsense was she even thinking?
Interested in Rin?
Did she really think he was that kind of person?
"Pfft—"
Kushina instantly relaxed after hearing his answer.
Even so, her reaction was still as shameless as ever, as though she had been waiting just to mess with him.
While Shiki and the others were still talking, Shion, the shrine maiden of the Land of Demons, walked over with Ashiho and several of the guards.
"Thank you very much for your help, Shiki-sama."
The power Koharu had shown earlier had terrified Shion.
But seeing Shiki defeat her so cleanly and effortlessly gave people an overwhelming sense of security.
That only strengthened Shion's determination even more.
If she wanted to learn how to control her own power of foresight, then Shiki was the only person she could think of who might truly be able to teach her.
Ashiho and the others standing nearby were just as grateful.
From the looks on their faces, they practically wanted to kneel on the spot.
"Relax," Shiki said. "Koharu has been dealt with, but the real problem still hasn't been solved."
"The real problem... you mean Mōryō?" Shion asked at once.
She was not stupid. She immediately thought of the source of everything.
The monster was still alive.
"Uhh..."
Ashiho and the others, who had only just started to feel relieved, stiffened again.
They had all realized it.
The most dangerous problem had always been Mōryō itself, especially now that it was on the verge of breaking the seal.
"Lord Shiki, please..."
Ashiho looked at Shiki and the others with a panicked expression.
At this point, other than the people standing in front of him, he had no idea who else he could rely on to protect the Land of Demons.
"Don't worry about it."
Before Ashiho could even finish asking, Shiki waved a hand and cut him off.
"We came here to deal with this in the first place."
And besides...
Even if Ashiho had said nothing, Shiki still would have taken care of it.
As he spoke, he pointed toward Koharu's body lying on the ground.
"If I'm not mistaken, the reason Mōryō is trying to break the seal now is because of her."
In the original timeline, Mōryō would also attempt to break free.
But that was supposed to happen years later.
There had always been something strange about how early this was happening now.
Looking at it this way, the answer was obvious.
It was all because of Koharu.
Most likely, after taking over Koharu's body, whoever was behind her learned about the existence of Mōryō and reached some kind of deal with it.
Mōryō gave her power.
And in exchange, she helped Mōryō break the seal.
"What a pain... even dead, she's still causing trouble."
Shiki could not help glancing at Koharu's corpse with irritation.
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