Black Zetsu wasn't afraid of death.
But after scheming for thousands of years—obtaining the Rinnegan, securing the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path, and seeing his plan to revive his mother nearing completion—he absolutely could not accept failure at this final moment.
Obito sneered at him.
"Drop the act, Black Zetsu! Did you really think I didn't know?"
"You're not Madara's will at all."
"Your will belongs to Kaguya Ōtsutsuki. And Madara himself was nothing more than a pawn in your game."
"If Madara is revived and learns the truth—who do you think he'll come after? Me… or you?"
Black Zetsu's eyes widened in shock.
"…How is that possible?!" he demanded. "How do you know this?!"
He didn't doubt Obito.
In this era, even the name "Kaguya" was barely known.
The fact that Obito could say Kaguya Ōtsutsuki so precisely meant one thing—
He knew the truth.
Obito smirked, satisfaction flickering in his eyes.
"I know everything."
"The Uchiha clan's stone tablet? You altered it."
"Kaguya was sealed by her sons—Hagoromo Ōtsutsuki and Hamura Ōtsutsuki."
"And the so-called Eye of the Moon Plan… is just your scheme to revive the Kaguya Ōtsutsuki, Kaguya!"
"Heh… your plans, your secrets—I see right through all of it now."
Black Zetsu felt as if the sky had collapsed.
…He'd been exposed.
"No… it was you."
After the initial shock, Black Zetsu quickly regained his composure.
It didn't take long for him to identify the source—
Uchiha Ren.
Before today, Obito had been nothing more than a pawn.
His betrayal only came after meeting Ren.
So the truth could only have come from him.
But how?
Black Zetsu's gaze drifted to Ren's now-normal eyes.
A thought surfaced—
A Mangekyō Sharingan ability… like Uchiha Fugaku's?
Yes—Uchiha Fugaku had also awakened the Mangekyō Sharingan.
He had simply kept it hidden.
His abilities weren't combat-oriented, which made secrecy easier.
Because of his position as clan head, Black Zetsu had monitored him closely—and discovered the truth.
Fugaku's eyes possessed rare abilities:
One could observe past eventsThe other could predict future outcomes
Individually, they weren't overwhelming—
But used well, they were terrifying.
Unfortunately, Fugaku himself was overly cautious to a fault.
After awakening the Mangekyō, he became even more indecisive—ultimately choosing inaction.
Black Zetsu suspected Ren's Mangekyō had similar abilities—
But far stronger.
Only that could explain how Ren knew everything.
"Heh. So what if you figured it out?" Obito scoffed.
Then he turned to Ren.
"Ren-sensei, someone like him is too dangerous. We should just kill him."
Obito wasn't just angry—
He was wary.
In terms of schemes and manipulation, ten Obitos wouldn't equal one Black Zetsu.
Better to eliminate him entirely.
Black Zetsu snorted.
Killing him wouldn't be easy.
At worst, he'd just be sealed.
Given time… he might still succeed.
But Ren shook his head.
"No need to kill him."
"For now, seal him inside your Kamui dimension."
"He might still be useful."
"…Useful?" Obito frowned. "For what?"
Ren looked at Black Zetsu meaningfully.
"To help us revive Kaguya Ōtsutsuki."
Both Obito and Black Zetsu froze.
Ren continued:
"If you think about it, we don't fundamentally oppose Kaguya."
"In fact… we share a common enemy."
"The enemy of my enemy is my friend."
Obito quickly understood.
"You mean… the Ōtsutsuki Clan beyond this world?"
Black Zetsu was even more shocked.
Even he didn't fully understand the clan—
Yet Ren did?
Ren nodded.
"If Kaguya hadn't ambushed Isshiki Ōtsutsuki back then…"
"This world might've already been destroyed."
"She created the White Zetsu army through the Infinite Tsukuyomi to fight them."
"And we face that same threat."
"She chose her method out of arrogance."
"But if we reach her level… we might change her mind."
"No army of White Zetsu can compare to a single Six Paths–level fighter."
"And for us—Kaguya herself is one of them."
"With her, the burden is shared."
"Cooperation benefits both sides. Division harms both."
Obito frowned.
"Are the Ōtsutsuki really that strong?"
Ren's expression turned serious.
"In the current shinobi world—"
"Fewer than five people could survive ten moves against an Ōtsutsuki."
"And in a true fight to the death?"
"Not one person could last a hundred."
Obito's pupils shrank.
"…Even you and Minato-sensei?"
"No."
Ren shook his head.
"The Ōtsutsuki exist on an entirely different level of life."
"Without reaching the Six Paths tier… you can't fight them."
"Impossible! Absolutely impossible!"
Black Zetsu, after his shock, erupted in disbelief.
"Isshiki Ōtsutsuki cannot be alive!"
"My mother sacrificed him to the Ten-Tails!"
"He never implanted a Karma for resurrection!"
"And if he were alive—with his power—this world would already be gone!"
The news of the Ōtsutsuki's impending arrival felt both expected… and shocking.
Thousands of years had passed.
It made sense they would eventually come.
But—
Less than twenty years?
That was too soon.
He hadn't even revived Kaguya yet.
Even under ideal conditions, it would've taken over a decade.
Nagato still couldn't fully control the Rinnegan.
They weren't strong enough to capture the Tailed Beasts.
And now—
His plan had collapsed.
Obito had betrayed him.
A deep sense of helpless frustration welled up inside him.
As for Isshiki—
He refused to believe it.
Kaguya had struck to kill.
There should've been no chance of survival.
Ren replied calmly:
"Believe it or not—that's your choice."
"I've said what I needed to."
He didn't explain further.
After all… even his knowledge came from fragmented sources.
There was no point elaborating.
Ren continued:
"Your will doesn't matter to me."
"You're too dangerous—I'll still restrict your freedom."
"But I'm telling you this because—"
"There is no fundamental conflict between us."
"As long as you behave…"
"When the time comes, I will cooperate with you to revive Kaguya."
Black Zetsu fell silent.
His plans were already in ruins.
For now—
Cooperation was the best option.
Assuming Ren wasn't lying.
But could he trust him?
For the first time in thousands of years—
Black Zetsu felt uncertain.
He couldn't read Ren at all.
"Alright, Obito—seal him into Kamui," Ren said.
"We'll add more seals later when we return to Konoha. Minato can handle that."
"I told you—my name is Obito, not whatever that was," Obito grumbled.
"Same thing. Or I can call you 'Number Two' again."
"…Fine. Obito is fine."
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