'Brother… no, Uchiha Kazuki—he wants me to say it out loud myself, to beg him!'
Black Zetsu muttered irritably in its mind, 'Does he really need me to spell everything out? Fine. For Obito's sake, do I even have another choice?'
It lowered its head and spoke in a pleading tone: "I want to ask you to help me save Obito… Isshiki, on the verge of death, implanted a Kāma into his body. With the aid of Momoshiki and Urashiki, he intends to possess him…"
"I don't want to see Obito become Isshiki's vessel. I don't know what else to do. So I had no choice but to come to you…"
Kazuki nodded slightly, as if pondering something. "So that's what this is about…"
Even though Black Zetsu knew full well that Kazuki's current demeanor was a façade, it still had to go along with it and nodded as well. It continued: "As long as you can do it, whatever you ask for… just say the word."
"I'll find a way to make it happen!" Black Zetsu forced out the words as though it had emptied the last of its strength: "Even—even if you want me to betray Mother Kaguya, I'll agree!!"
It knew Kazuki would likely demand something related to Kaguya… That devil's eye technique drew power from emotional fluctuations between minds, feeding itself on those connections.
And among the things that would most likely break Kaguya's defenses, Black Zetsu believed its betrayal would rank near the top…
"Black Zetsu," Kazuki said, staring at the aggrieved-looking Black Zetsu with a teasing glint in his eye, shaking his head lightly, "at what point did you get the ridiculous idea that I needed your help to defeat Kaguya?"
"As my younger brother, I never hesitated to share my ocular powers with you…"
"So you should know… if I've already obtained everything Kaguya had, it means her essence has been drained dry—down to the point of worthlessness."
Kazuki slowly raised his hand. At his fingertip, a Truth-Seeking Orb the size of a fist radiated an aura capable of annihilating the heavens and the earth.
And in that moment, his eyes transformed—into the pattern of the Nine-Tomoe Rinnegan.
And beyond that—layered within his sockets—appeared the noble golden cross-pupil of Isshiki's dojutsu, the brilliant shimmer of the Tenseigan, and the golden, red, and blue Rinnegan patterns of Momoshiki and Urashiki…
Until, finally, all of it collapsed into pure blackness—like a pair of black holes devouring all light.
Even catching only a glimpse of those pitch-black eyes from the corner of its vision, Black Zetsu felt as though its very body and soul had been imprisoned—its thoughts frozen in a single instant.
"Do you still believe I need Kaguya's power, my foolish little brother?" Kazuki said softly.
The Truth-Seeking Orb in his hand began to swell in an instant—growing unimaginably massive, as though it were about to burst this entire world apart!
But then Kazuki made a casual grasping motion—
And that terrifying, swollen Truth-Seeking Orb shattered like a balloon, bursting into fragments in the blink of an eye!
Black Zetsu stared in stunned silence.
The Expanding Truth-Seeking Orb! That was the Expanding Truth-Seeking Orb!
It was considered Mother Kaguya's most powerful offensive technique—yet in Kazuki's hands, it was no more than a child's toy…
That alone made it clear: Kazuki had completely absorbed Kaguya's power.
No… not just Kaguya—he had absorbed everything from Isshiki, Urashiki, and Momoshiki as well…
Unbeknownst to all, Kazuki had already achieved the unthinkable—he had unified the power of all the Ōtsutsuki within himself!
'I see now! That's why he vanished for nearly ten days. No trace of him anywhere—in the shinobi world or across any of the parallel timelines… it was because he was off completing that!'
A tremor ran through Black Zetsu's heart.
Kazuki's disappearance during his "hunt" in other timelines now seemed to make perfect sense—Black Zetsu's mind naturally filled in a plausible explanation on its own.
Because honestly, Black Zetsu simply couldn't fathom it—
Without its involvement, how could Kaguya, the so-called progenitor of chakra, have fallen into Kazuki's hands in such a short amount of time?
Even conquering a regular person takes some time, doesn't it?
"You won't even call me 'Brother,' and worse—you show me no respect, Zetsu… oh Zetsu…" Kazuki shook his head, visibly pained, and spoke with clear disappointment: "In your eyes, am I really someone who disregards emotion in pursuit of gain? Or do you think I've grown so weak I'd need your help to take down Kaguya?"
"You must understand—everything I've done has been for you, for Kaguya... If not for me, then in the face of these invading Ōtsutsuki, how exactly would Kaguya's strength have held up?"
Kazuki stepped forward and gently patted Black Zetsu on the shoulder. In his voice, for once, there was a hint of rare weariness: "You think the defeat of those mainline Ōtsutsuki means the war is over?"
"I'm telling you—it's far from over. In fact, this might just be the beginning…"
"It's just like in the shinobi world—when a major nation's scout team gets attacked and wiped out by some backcountry bandits, do the hidden villages just turn a blind eye? Of course not. They send stronger shinobi in retaliation!"
"What I need to focus on… is them—on studying how to deal with these unknown Ōtsutsuki. I don't have the luxury of time. I can't leisurely plant Divine Trees for a thousand years like the Ōtsutsuki do, can't consume chakra fruits one after another like I'm on vacation…"
"The only resources I have are the living beings on this land we call the shinobi world… I have to find ways to avoid wasting even a single sliver of chakra. I have to devise strategies, find methods to probe for any usable intelligence—before the next wave of Ōtsutsuki descend upon us."
"You think, with all that weighing on my shoulders, I have time to toy with you for amusement?"
Kazuki unleashed all of this in a single torrent, question after question crashing down—leaving Black Zetsu's head ringing. Thought after thought began to string together like a chain, each one sparking the next, until its brain felt like it was on fire—roasted alive by Fire Release.
Kazuki possessed such overwhelming strength that he could shatter even an Expanding Truth-Seeking Orb with a single blow—yet he still carried such a powerful sense of urgency.
At that moment, Black Zetsu suddenly felt like a complete fool.
How could my perspective be so pathetically narrow?
Of course… even if the main branch invaders had been slain, would the Ōtsutsuki Clan really stop coming to the shinobi world? Would they simply abandon their pursuit of Kaguya, the traitor?
No. This was far from over.
And it was precisely because Kazuki had such long-term foresight—and had concealed his true power, waiting for the perfect moment to strike—that he'd been able to deal with the trio of Ōtsutsuki so cleanly…
That was also why Kazuki had outperformed him in every possible way.
"To face the Ōtsutsuki, I have three trump cards left…" Kazuki murmured to himself, shaking his head slightly.
"In the worst-case scenario… if I fail to obtain Gaia's Will and the power of the Ōtsutsuki God, I will burn myself away—just like opening the Eighth Gate of Death—and take down the reinforcements from the Ōtsutsuki with me."
Black Zetsu's heart gave a violent jolt.
The Gate of Death? Wasn't that the life-burning forbidden jutsu used by that green jumpsuit-wearing shinobi?
But when it saw the sincerity in Kazuki's eyes, a sudden shiver ran through its core.
Kazuki had never lied to it… Not even about the most secretive things—like the source of his power, or the eye technique he had cultivated over a thousand years. Kazuki had always told him everything.
So this man, who had always seemed selfish on the surface, was actually prepared to sacrifice himself to face the threat?
"Wait! What about the best-case scenario?" Black Zetsu asked quickly.
Crushed by the weight of this grand and terrifying vision of the future, Black Zetsu could no longer dwell on Obito's personal fate, nor the entanglements of affection. With rare decisiveness, it spoke up: "I… Is there anything I can do to help you? I want to help!"
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