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Deep within Mount Myōboku
Mist wafted through the air as distant frog calls echoed across the peaks.
Manji stood quietly on the stone platform. His eyes shifted slightly, landing on Black Zetsu as he hurried over with a bamboo scroll tucked in his arms.
A thought suddenly settled into place.
Mount Myōboku had been stretched thin lately.
Patrols across the Shinobi world. Intelligence gathering. Internal administration. Everyday work around the mountain. There were too many tasks and not enough hands.
And there just happened to be something in this world perfectly suited for that problem.
White Zetsu.
Manji had the Rinnegan now. Summoning was already well within his reach. Even the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path sealed away on the moon could be brought down to the world with ease.
If he summoned the Demonic Statue to Mount Myōboku, then used it as the foundation to produce White Zetsu in bulk, those naturally stealthy, reconnaissance-specialized creatures could take over a large part of the toads' workload.
After that, every shift in the Shinobi world—every movement, every ripple—would pass through his eyes and ears.
Once the decision was made, Manji raised his gaze toward Black Zetsu, who had just arrived in front of him.
"Black Zetsu."
Black Zetsu stopped at once. He carefully set the bamboo scroll down, lowered his head, and waited for orders.
Manji's tone was calm, though something unreadable ran beneath it. "Do you miss your mother, Kaguya?"
Black Zetsu froze.
He had spent years living on Mount Myōboku now, receiving Manji's daily guidance. He was no longer the obsessive will that had once existed only to resurrect Kaguya.
Over time, he had developed a self of his own. His own judgment. His own sense of right and wrong. He was no longer nothing but an extension of Kaguya's will.
Only Black Zetsu.
Slowly, Black Zetsu straightened. He bowed deeply to Manji first, then answered with complete honesty. "To answer you, Grand Sage, I do think of my mother."
"But Mother chose the wrong path back then. She acted selfishly, betrayed you, and committed an unforgivable mistake. What she did was shameful."
"Oh?" Manji's lips curved faintly. "At least you're honest."
He lifted his eyes toward the distant sage mist, and a trace of old, weathered emotion entered his voice.
"To tell the truth, I miss her too."
"After living for so many years, the only ones who could truly understand my state of mind were the White Snake... and her."
Manji spoke slowly.
The grudge left by Kaguya's knife in his back had long since faded under the endless wash of time.
Love, hate, anger, obsession—for someone like Manji, someone who had already stepped beyond the Shinobi world, even those things eventually became smoke on the wind.
Black Zetsu kept his head lowered and said nothing, quietly waiting for Manji to continue.
Manji drew his gaze back and looked at him again, his smile mild. "You were born from Kaguya's will. I imagine no one understands what she was thinking back then better than you."
"Tell me. Back then, how did Kaguya see me?"
Black Zetsu fell silent for a moment, as if searching through ancient memories buried deep in his blood. Then he spoke, his voice sincere.
"Mother respected you, Grand Sage. She also relied on you... She hated humanity's greed and betrayal, but you were the one person she never hated. In Mother's eyes, you were never the same as those ordinary people."
"Later, Mother regretted striking you down. The truth is... she was only a frightened woman with nowhere to turn."
"More than once, she wondered what would have happened if she had never betrayed you. The two of you could have stood side by side against the Ōtsutsuki from beyond the heavens and ruled this planet together."
"When it came to you, Mother was full of regret and guilt. During the years she carried Hagoromo and Hamura, she often thought of you when she was alone."
"Even when she was sealed away in the end, one thought remained in her heart—she wanted to put the past behind you and protect this world with you once more."
"So that's how it was..."
Manji listened quietly. A complicated emotion flickered through his eyes.
No wonder Kaguya had looked like she wanted to say something back then. He had simply attacked her with killing blow after killing blow.
Even if he had understood it at the time, Manji would never have ruled the Earth together with Kaguya.
She had stabbed him in the back once.
Manji would never trust her a second time. He lightly waved a hand, cutting off Black Zetsu's words. His tone returned to its usual calm.
"Enough."
"Black Zetsu, Mount Myōboku has been short on manpower lately, and there is too much work to handle. I intend to summon the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path to Mount Myōboku."
"From now on, you will be responsible for using the statue as a base to extract and produce White Zetsu. They will help carry Mount Myōboku's workload."
Black Zetsu's entire body shook. Shock flooded his face.
He knew exactly what the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path was.
It was the core requirement for resurrecting his mother, Kaguya. The foundation of the obsession that had once defined his entire existence—yet the Grand Sage in front of him was handing something that important directly to him, without hesitation, and ordering him to personally manage it and produce White Zetsu??
Seeing Black Zetsu frozen in place, Manji naturally knew what he was thinking.
"What? Too afraid to accept it?" Manji asked slowly.
Black Zetsu snapped back to himself. He immediately dropped to both knees, pressed his forehead hard against the ground, and spoke with absolute respect. "This subordinate obeys the Grand Sage's command!"
"You have placed such trust in me. How could Black Zetsu ever betray it?"
"Good." Manji gave a slight nod, his eyes calm.
Naturally, Manji was not afraid of Black Zetsu harboring other intentions.
With Manji's current strength, Black Zetsu did not even have the ability to resurrect Kaguya. Even if an opportunity did appear, Manji could crush it before it ever took shape.
With a thought, Manji closed his eyes. The vast power of the Rinnegan stirred silently around him.
There was no earth-shaking roar.
No blinding flash of light.
The empty air twisted slightly, and a massive, hideous statue descended onto Mount Myōboku's sacred ground out of nowhere—
The Demonic Statue of the Outer Path.
Black Zetsu looked up at the familiar, cold, enormous body. The long-lost scent of his mother, Kaguya, drifted around him, and a thousand tangled emotions flashed through his eyes.
Manji slowly opened his eyes as well, staring at the ugly yet solemn Demonic Statue before him. His fingers paused slightly.
The Demonic Statue was already an empty shell. Its chakra had long since dissipated.
But the aura belonging to Ōtsutsuki Kaguya remained unmistakable.
Manji's gaze grew distant. It was as if, through this cold statue, he could once again see the Rabbit Goddess from long ago—draped in fine robes, peerless and radiant.
"It's just... all of that was a very, very long time ago."
Manji's barely audible sigh faded into Mount Myōboku's sage mist.
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Mount Myōboku.
Historical Records Hall.
Over the years, Mount Myōboku had gone through several waves of reform. Lightweight paper had already replaced most scrolls and bamboo slips.
But Manji was nostalgic. He felt that history recorded this way carried more weight.
So he had given a special order. The Historical Records Hall had to record the Shinobi world's history on bamboo slips.
Fukasaku held a brush in hand, carving the passage of time into bamboo stroke by stroke. His handwriting was strong, measured, and precise.
"Shinobi Year 70: Uchiha Kitsune crossed the river in funeral white, shattered the Senju defensive line, and redrew the balance of power across the Shinobi world."
"From that point on, the Uchiha swept away their former decline. The offensive and defensive positions of the Shinobi world reversed. The Senju, once on the attack, were forced onto defense. The Uchiha, once cornered, became the ones pressing the assault."
"The Uchiha Clan migrated south as a whole, relocating their clan grounds to the banks of the Naka River. There, they built the Naka Shrine, dedicated primarily to the Sage of Six Paths and the ancestors of the Uchiha Clan."
"From Shinobi Year 70 to Shinobi Year 90, the flames of war between the two clans burned without end."
"With the full support of the Sarutobi and Uzumaki Clans, the Senju relied on blood ties, sealing techniques, and enormous chakra reserves to defend their borders. Uchiha Kitsune's strength was monstrous, but even he could not push any farther."
"That stalemate lasted a full twenty years..."
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