The Will of Fire.
When those four words came from Kiyohara's mouth, Black Zetsu could only feel that Kiyohara was mocking him.
However, Kiyohara's overwhelming strength made Black Zetsu extremely wary of him.
At this moment, there was only one thought in Black Zetsu's entire mind.
Run!
He had to run!
If he did not escape now, he might end up being trapped here forever.
He did not even have time to maintain the hidden state of the "Mayfly Technique." His body immediately plunged toward the depths of the earth at the fastest speed he could manage.
"Don't even think about it!"
Black Zetsu let out a low growl as his body burrowed deep underground, moving farther and farther away from the surface.
Kiyohara watched the direction in which Black Zetsu was fleeing and shook his head.
Then he raised his right foot.
A layer of earthy-yellow chakra appeared beneath the sole of his foot.
Earth Release chakra flowed from his foot into the ground. It spread like an invisible net, rapidly pursuing Black Zetsu in the direction he had escaped.
Black Zetsu was frantically burrowing downward when he suddenly felt the soil around him begin to harden.
The earth that had originally been soft and loose became as hard as iron and stone in an instant, firmly locking his body in place.
"Earth Release?"
Black Zetsu sneered.
"It's merely ordinary Earth Release. I can move freely through any kind of earth. These rocks can't possibly stop me..."
Before he could finish speaking, the sneer on his face froze.
A strange chakra fluctuation suddenly emerged from within the hardened soil.
It was something he had never felt before.
Natural energy?
No.
It was chakra infused with natural energy.
Sage chakra!
Black Zetsu's pupils contracted.
Kiyohara had used "Sage Art" and infused chakra into his Earth Release, fundamentally altering the nature of the soil itself.
Black Zetsu struggled desperately, attempting to use the "Mayfly Technique" to force his way through the soil strengthened by Sage chakra.
But no matter how desperately he activated his technique, the earth around him did not move even an inch.
The Sage chakra was like an invisible barrier, completely separating his body from the surrounding soil.
The ability to travel freely through the earth that he had always taken pride in had become completely useless before Sage chakra.
"This is impossible!"
Black Zetsu began to panic.
But what happened next was even more despairing.
The depths of the earth suddenly began to tremble.
The soil strengthened by Sage chakra started to gather and transform. Before Black Zetsu's very eyes, it rapidly converged into a gigantic hand.
The enormous hand was completely formed from earth. A layer of faint green Sage chakra covered its surface, and every finger was several meters thick. Even the lines across its palm could be seen clearly.
The giant hand suddenly clenched.
Black Zetsu's body was firmly seized within its palm.
Black Zetsu struggled with all his might, but under the tremendous grip of the Sage-enhanced hand, his body could not move at all.
The soil clung to his chakra as though it were alive, suppressing every bit of resistance he attempted to muster.
The giant hand carried Black Zetsu upward from deep beneath the earth.
The soil automatically parted before the giant hand, opening a passage that led directly toward the surface.
The next moment, the stone pavement on the ground shattered.
The enormous earthen hand burst out from beneath the surface, tightly gripping Black Zetsu's body like a prison and lifting him high into the air.
Moonlight fell upon Black Zetsu, illuminating his half-black, half-white face with perfect clarity.
His eyes were filled with shock and fear.
Such an expression was extremely rare on his face.
For a thousand years, he had always hidden in the shadows and manipulated everything from behind the scenes.
He had always been the one observing others.
He had always been the one playing with other people as though they were pieces in the palm of his hand.
But now, he was the one who had been captured.
Kiyohara stood on the ground with both hands behind his back.
He raised his head and looked at Black Zetsu, who was being held high in the air by the giant earthen hand.
"I told you it wouldn't work."
Kiyohara's voice was calm.
"You may be able to move freely through all kinds of earth, but unfortunately, that ability stops working once natural energy is mixed into it."
Kiyohara shook his head.
The white half of Black Zetsu's face twisted into a sinister expression.
I, Zetsu, absolutely cannot be stopped here!
So this is what it feels like to be restrained?
Am I really going to fall into Kiyohara's hands like this?
Thoughts continued to flash through Black Zetsu's mind.
Die here?
He asked himself the question once again.
He was tired.
He was truly exhausted after making it this far.
He had endured and concealed himself for thousands of years, making plans and laying countless schemes that had finally brought him to this moment. Every step had consumed an enormous amount of effort.
He carried a burden and expectations as heavy as a mountain. He bore sins and responsibilities as vast as the sea. Above all, he carried the unwavering obsession of reviving his mother, Kaguya.
Sometimes, even he almost forgot how much longer this endless, lightless waiting would have to continue.
Over the countless years, as he watched his plans repeatedly approach the brink of collapse, Black Zetsu had occasionally experienced a fleeting moment of hesitation.
If he simply gave up like this, would he no longer have to endure this torment?
But could I?
Could I really?
He roared inside his heart.
No!
Absolutely not!
I, Black Zetsu, have lived my entire existence for my mother. I exist for the sole purpose of reviving Kaguya!
I carry the humiliation of my mother's sealing.
I carry the countless years of effort that went into my plans.
I carry a mission that cannot tolerate even the smallest mistake.
I have been crushed.
I have been forgotten.
I have struggled to survive in the darkness.
My form has always been elusive and difficult to discern, and my presence has been faint and almost impossible to detect.
But I have never truly fallen.
Even if I was sealed.
Even if I was severely injured.
Even if I found myself in a hopeless situation.
As long as my mother has not been revived, I must get back up and continue moving forward!
That's right.
I cannot be stopped!
I cannot die here!
My mother has yet to be revived. My mission remains unfinished. The obsession I have carried for thousands of years has yet to be fulfilled!
The plan has now reached its most critical point. If Kiyohara manages to keep me trapped here, my mother may never have another chance to see the light of day!
The balance of the world will completely deviate from the course I have prepared.
Could all my plans, painstakingly laid out over thousands of years, really end in failure at the very last moment?
How can I allow myself to be stopped?
I absolutely cannot surrender here!
Mother needs me!
Mother needs me!
I must break her seal and help her return to the shinobi world!
Therefore, even if Kiyohara restrains me completely, even if my strength is exhausted, even if my form is about to disappear, even if my body is shattered into pieces and my soul is completely destroyed...
I, Zetsu, absolutely cannot be stopped!
I must break free from this restraint.
I must escape from here.
I must...
Revive my mother, Kaguya!
In an instant, Black Zetsu extracted all the chakra from White Zetsu's body.
It was as though every single cell in his body was responding to his powerful and unyielding will.
A miracle happened.
"So I can still use the Mayfly Technique!"
Black Zetsu's body began to flicker, seemingly on the verge of escaping from the giant hand infused with Sage chakra.
Seeing this, Kiyohara raised an eyebrow.
Black Zetsu was not simple.
Even while being restrained by only one hand, he was actually showing signs of breaking free.
Although Kiyohara had not used his full strength, the fact that Black Zetsu could reach this point still surprised him somewhat.
Therefore, Kiyohara condensed another giant hand.
Then he simply slapped Black Zetsu with it.
Smack!
Black Zetsu was instantly sent spinning, completely disoriented.
His attempt to activate the "Mayfly Technique" also failed.
All the excitement and determination that had surged through his heart moments ago shattered in an instant.
"Did you drink too much?"
Kiyohara noticed that Black Zetsu had suddenly seemed as though he was about to unleash some hidden power.
Unfortunately, in the face of absolute strength, this level of power was still far too weak.
Once Black Zetsu finally regained his senses, he looked at Kiyohara.
"When did you discover me?"
"I knew about you a long time ago."
Kiyohara answered calmly.
"!"
Black Zetsu was sweating profusely.
He had known all along?
What did that mean?
When had he discovered him?
How many times had Black Zetsu infiltrated Konoha?
Every single time, he had believed that he had concealed himself flawlessly.
Every single time, he had moved around Kiyohara, observing him from the shadows.
Yet this man had known the truth and deliberately allowed him to continue.
Every single time.
Black Zetsu did not even know how many times he had walked back and forth across the gates of death without realizing it.
"Every time you approached Konoha, I could sense you," Kiyohara said. "The Mayfly Technique is indeed an excellent infiltration and concealment technique, but it has one fatal weakness. Although your chakra fluctuations are extremely faint, they do not completely disappear."
Kiyohara paused before continuing.
"And as it happens, my sensory abilities are just a little stronger than those of ordinary sensory ninja."
Black Zetsu's eyes widened.
A little stronger?
Being able to precisely detect the chakra fluctuations of the "Mayfly Technique" deep beneath the earth was what he called a little stronger?
A sensory ability of this level was already approaching the realm of the legendary Sage of Six Paths.
No.
In this particular aspect alone, Kiyohara had already surpassed the Sage of Six Paths!
The Sage of Six Paths had never even known that Black Zetsu existed!
"Who exactly are you?"
Black Zetsu's mind was filled with questions.
"Just an ordinary Hokage."
Kiyohara raised his hand and made a grasping motion.
The giant earthen hand immediately responded.
It lifted Black Zetsu's body toward Kiyohara until the distance between the two of them was less than two meters.
Kiyohara carefully examined Black Zetsu.
This was the mastermind who had hidden himself for a thousand years in the original story, the will of Ōtsutsuki Kaguya, who had manipulated powerful figures such as Madara and Obito as though they were mere chess pieces in a board.
Yet now, he was being held in midair by a giant earthen hand, looking like a small insect caught by its wings.
"Black Zetsu."
Kiyohara spoke.
"The third child of Kaguya, born just before Kaguya was sealed. You have remained hidden in the shadows of the world for a thousand years."
"You have remained in this world for all these years because you wanted to revive Kaguya, didn't you?"
Boom!
Those words struck Black Zetsu's ears like a thunderclap.
How did Kiyohara know?
How could he possibly know?
His true identity had never been discovered by either Madara or Obito.
Even those whom he had manipulated had believed that he was merely a will-like creation attached to Madara.
Yet Kiyohara had exposed his origins with a single sentence.
He had even accurately stated his ultimate purpose.
If his previous shock had come from having his identity exposed, then the shock he felt now was completely different.
It was as though someone had turned him inside out and exposed every secret hidden within the deepest cracks of his very being beneath the blazing sunlight.
"You... how do you know?!"
Black Zetsu's voice became distorted.
This was the greatest secret hidden deep within his heart.
He had guarded it for more than a thousand years.
And now Kiyohara had exposed it with a few simple words, causing his entire mind to tremble violently.
"I know far more than you think I do."
Kiyohara calmly examined him.
Black Zetsu's heart was in turmoil.
He had never felt so exposed before.
A thousand years of disguises, a thousand years of patience and concealment, a thousand years of carefully laid plans. In front of Kiyohara, all of it seemed like a transparent sheet of paper. With a single glance, Kiyohara had seen through everything.
The feeling of having someone see straight through him, from the inside out, was even more unbearable than the suffocating sensation of having his body trapped within that enormous earthen hand.
"What do you want?"
Black Zetsu gritted his teeth as he asked.
"Nothing in particular."
Kiyohara replied calmly.
"You have lived for so long, so you should know plenty of useful information. Information about the Ōtsutsuki clan, Kaguya, and all the secrets you have gathered over the years."
Black Zetsu let out a hoarse, cold laugh.
"You think I will tell you? Even if you kill me, my mother will eventually be resurrected. When that day comes, all of you will..."
Smack.
The fingers of the giant earthen hand tightened.
Black Zetsu's voice stopped instantly.
A wave of intense pain swept through his body.
After a moment, Kiyohara loosened his grip, allowing Black Zetsu enough room to breathe.
"Was it the Sage of Six Paths who told you?"
Black Zetsu blurted out.
He knew that the old man, Hagoromo, would occasionally reappear in the shinobi world in the form of a spirit and meet with the reincarnations of Indra and Asura.
Could it be that the Sage of Six Paths had discovered something, while Black Zetsu had simply assumed that he had not?
However, the conditions for the Sage of Six Paths to appear had not been met at the moment, and there was no trace of any connection between Kiyohara and the Pure Land.
"Or could it be..."
Black Zetsu's pupils suddenly contracted as another possibility occurred to him.
"You are not actually one of the Sage's people?"
"Who said I was?"
Kiyohara smiled faintly.
"Black Zetsu, I can cooperate with you. Together, we can bring Kaguya back."
Black Zetsu's eyes widened.
He had imagined countless ways Kiyohara might deal with him.
Kiyohara could interrogate him for information.
He could seal him away and imprison him.
He could even simply kill him.
Given Kiyohara's strength, destroying this manifestation of will created through Yin-Yang Release would not be difficult.
But what Kiyohara had said was...
Cooperate.
Bring back Kaguya?
Hearing those four words come from Kiyohara's mouth gave Black Zetsu an overwhelming sense of unreality.
"Why would you help me?"
Black Zetsu remained extremely cautious.
Having lived for so long, he understood better than anyone that there was no such thing as a free benefit in this world.
Kiyohara definitely wanted something in return.
But what?
The price of reviving his mother would be enormous. As the Hokage of Konoha, what reason could Kiyohara possibly have to help an outsider from the Ōtsutsuki clan?
"And besides, how do you know..."
Black Zetsu added another question.
"How do you know about my mother?"
A ridiculous thought suddenly rose within his mind.
Apart from him and his two elder brothers, Hagoromo and Hamura, could his mother have left behind a fourth child?
A child who had been born even earlier, one whose existence he himself did not know about?
If that were the case, then Kiyohara's complete understanding of everything would suddenly make sense.
"Kaguya is not my mother."
Kiyohara's voice interrupted Black Zetsu's train of thought.
"Then my mother..."
Black Zetsu paused.
A trace of confusion flashed through his yellow eyes.
"Then who exactly are you?"
Black Zetsu did not know how many times he had asked that question already.
"I am also a member of the Ōtsutsuki clan."
Kiyohara answered indifferently.
Seeing the stunned expression on Black Zetsu's face, as though he had just been struck by lightning, Kiyohara continued.
"A long time ago, I reincarnated into the world through a Kāma. This body is the vessel I currently reside in."
Kiyohara casually fabricated the entire story.
Ōtsutsuki!
Kiyohara was actually an Ōtsutsuki?
The very thing that Kaguya had feared was her fellow clan members from beyond the stars. As the inheritor of Kaguya's will, Black Zetsu had inherited that same fear and vigilance.
For a thousand years, he had always believed himself to be the only manifestation of Ōtsutsuki Kaguya's will in the shinobi world, the one manipulating everything from the shadows.
Yet the man standing before him, the Hokage of Konoha whom he had secretly observed for such a long time, was actually a genuine member of the Ōtsutsuki clan.
No wonder.
No wonder he had grown so quickly.
No wonder he could simultaneously accommodate multiple Kekkei Genkai.
No wonder his strength far surpassed everything that should have been possible according to the laws of the shinobi world.
If Kiyohara was an Ōtsutsuki, then everything could be explained.
"However, you don't need to be nervous."
Kiyohara looked at Black Zetsu's suddenly guarded expression.
"I am not an enemy of Kaguya. On the contrary, we are allies. We are united against the other members of the Ōtsutsuki clan."
"Allies?"
Black Zetsu's voice was filled with suspicion.
"If you really are allies, then why have I never seen you throughout these thousand years? Where were you when my mother was sealed? Where were you when the Uchiha and Senju clans were fighting each other relentlessly?"
"I spent a thousand years traveling throughout this world alone, gathering information, making plans, laying down schemes, and waiting for the descendants of Indra and Asura to be born."
Black Zetsu could not continue.
All the hardship of those thousand years surged into his heart at that moment.
If Kiyohara really was a member of his mother's clan, if he truly was her ally, then why had he never extended a helping hand during all these years?
"Do you really think the Sage of Six Paths is the only one watching you?"
Kiyohara let out a cold laugh. There was very little warmth in it.
"You have misunderstood something, Zetsu. While you were busy gathering information and manipulating people, the true Ōtsutsuki had been watching your performance from the shadows."
"Isshiki has been hiding in the world all these years. You thought you were secretly manipulating everything, but you never realized that you yourself had become a pawn being observed."
Kiyohara spoke calmly.
"Isshiki?!"
Black Zetsu frowned.
He knew that name.
Before his mother was sealed, she had engraved information concerning some of the Ōtsutsuki from beyond the stars into his memories.
Was he his mother's former partner?
When Kaguya descended upon this planet a thousand years ago, she should have been the one sacrificed to the Ten-Tails.
Instead, Kaguya ambushed Isshiki and nearly killed him.
Black Zetsu had simply never expected that the Ōtsutsuki who should have died had actually survived.
And he was in the shinobi world.
"He has been watching you all this time, Black Zetsu."
Kiyohara continued.
"You're nothing more than a rat burrowing back and forth beneath the earth. You don't even have the qualifications to step onto the real chessboard."
Black Zetsu wanted to refute him.
For a thousand years, he had walked every step as though he were treading on thin ice.
The precision of his schemes and the depth of his plans were unmatched.
Madara, Obito, and all those individuals who had established themselves as dominant forces within the shinobi world had been manipulated by him as easily as pieces in the palm of his hand.
Yet Kiyohara had pointed out one thing after another, exposing everything about him.
As time passed, Black Zetsu even became afraid to think too deeply about his own failures.
Had those failures truly been caused by bad luck?
Or was it simply because he was not capable enough?
Could the hard work of a thousand years really have amounted to nothing?
Was he, Black Zetsu, truly nothing more than the useless rat Kiyohara had described?
"You..."
Black Zetsu gritted his teeth so hard that they nearly cracked.
Blood vessels covered his yellow eye, but he could not utter a complete sentence.
Because Kiyohara was telling the truth.
At the very least, Black Zetsu had no way to prove that Kiyohara was lying.
"So, cooperate with me."
Kiyohara put away his earlier mockery, and his tone once again became calm.
"I don't need to gather all nine Tailed Beasts. I only need to take a portion of their flesh and blood. From that, I can adapt to and refine their chakra."
"This is one of my abilities. You should be able to sense it. There are already the chakra signatures of several Tailed Beasts within my body."
"I don't need to go through all the trouble Madara did to collect all nine complete Tailed Beasts. I only need a small amount of their flesh and blood."
Kiyohara deliberately released his aura.
Black Zetsu stared blankly at him.
He remembered that the Gold and Silver Brothers had also obtained the power of a Tailed Beast by consuming the flesh and blood of the Nine-Tails.
Those two men were indeed descendants of the Sage of Six Paths.
However, at most, the Gold and Silver Brothers could only contain a small portion of the Nine-Tails' chakra. They could not progress any further.
But what about Kiyohara?
The chakra of the Two-Tails, Three-Tails, and Eight-Tails was flowing within his body at the same time, while the chakra of the Nine-Tails was already in the process of being adapted to.
His ability to accommodate the power of multiple Tailed Beasts had clearly far exceeded the limits of the Six Paths bloodline.
That made sense.
If Kiyohara really was a member of the Ōtsutsuki clan, then possessing power greater than that of the descendants of the Sage of Six Paths was only natural.
For the first time in a thousand years, Black Zetsu experienced something resembling awe toward someone other than Madara and Obito.
If Kiyohara truly wanted to harm his mother, there was no need for him to go through such a complicated process.
He had the strength to kill Black Zetsu directly.
He also had the strength to destroy the plan himself.
Yet Kiyohara had not only spared him.
He had even taken the initiative to offer to help him revive Kaguya.
That was enough.
"What do I need to do?"
Black Zetsu finally relented.
"Keep the Akatsuki stable. Continue doing what you have always done. Gather information, stir up chaos throughout the shinobi world, and create trouble. The more chaotic things become, the better. The more attention you can draw from the various powers, the better."
"When I have completely adapted to the chakra of all the Tailed Beasts, that will also be the day your mother is resurrected. At that time, the entire world will bow before us."
Kiyohara painted a magnificent picture of the future.
And that picture was simply too tempting.
It was exactly what Black Zetsu needed to hear.
Black Zetsu's yellow eye shifted several times within its socket before he slowly nodded.
"All right."
Kiyohara was right.
His mother had been sealed, and the Tailed Beasts had been extracted from her.
Even if she were resurrected now, she would still need time to rebuild her strength before she could deal with the Ōtsutsuki clan from beyond this world.
Without a sufficiently powerful ally, even if he managed to free his mother from her seal, it would still be extremely difficult for her to deal with the enemies hiding in the shadows.
Kiyohara was the strongest and most reliable lifeline Black Zetsu had managed to grasp so far.
"There's one more thing. Investigate the Four-Tails, Son Gokū, and the Five-Tails, Kokuō. Their jinchūriki belong to Iwa, and their whereabouts are uncertain. I need their exact locations."
Black Zetsu froze slightly before nodding again.
"I understand."
Kiyohara raised his hand and waved.
The enormous earthen hand tightly gripping Black Zetsu slowly released its hold.
The Sage chakra that had been infused into Black Zetsu's body also dissipated along with it.
Black Zetsu fell to the ground, kicking up a small cloud of dust.
He climbed back to his feet and looked up at Kiyohara.
He opened his mouth, seemingly wanting to ask more questions.
But Kiyohara had already turned around, leaving him with nothing but his back.
Black Zetsu swallowed all the countless questions he wanted to ask.
His body slowly sank into the earth.
The "Mayfly Technique" activated, and his body seeped into the soil like a pool of ink.
Kiyohara remained standing where he was.
He sensed Black Zetsu rapidly departing and slowly shook his head, a faint curve appearing at the corner of his mouth.
He really was easy to fool.
Actually, this was quite normal.
Kiyohara possessed something Black Zetsu did not.
An information advantage.
Within this enormous game that had been unfolding across the shinobi world, only four beings knew the deepest secrets at the very top.
Ōtsutsuki Kaguya.
The Sage of Six Paths.
Black Zetsu, whom Kaguya herself had created.
And Ōtsutsuki Isshiki, who had been hiding in the shadows.
Even Madara only knew part of the truth.
He knew about the connection between the Infinite Tsukuyomi and the Ten-Tails, but he did not know where the true origin of everything ultimately led.
As for Obito, what he had heard from Madara was little more than a legendary version of the story, already distorted beyond recognition and vastly different from the actual truth.
Most of the things Kiyohara had said tonight had been lies he had fabricated on the spot.
Of course, he was not an Ōtsutsuki.
He was certainly not Kaguya's ally.
But Black Zetsu did not know that.
This thousand-year-old fox had one particular weakness. His instinctive fear and wariness toward his mother's fellow clan members from beyond the stars had been carved into his very bones.
Therefore, the more reasonable and convincing Kiyohara made his words sound, the more deeply Black Zetsu believed them.
After all, even the Sage of Six Paths did not know everything.
If Kiyohara possessed knowledge that even the Sage of Six Paths did not have, then that alone proved that Kiyohara was an extraordinary existence.
That was the greatest information advantage of all.
With these secrets, Kiyohara could easily gain Black Zetsu's trust and turn this thousand-year-old mastermind into another pawn in his hands.
(End of Chapter)