Black Zetsu's words carried the certainty that all of Ye Zi's life, struggles, and achievements were destined to be nothing more than a stepping stone for others.
"How pitiful," White Zetsu laughed gloatingly, though he knew exactly where Black Zetsu's confidence came from.
He laughed, but in truth, his thoughts didn't align with Black Zetsu's. Unrealistic as it might sound, he wanted to see Ye Zi break free of his predetermined fate and seize new possibilities.
"Ninja being used as tools, isn't that the norm?" Black Zetsu said coldly.
"That's true…" White Zetsu withdrew his smile, and the two resumed moving.
Their conversation, one Ye Zi would never know, drew to a close. For now, White Zetsu still had to obey Ye Zi's orders which was gathering as much intelligence as possible. Every bit of information, no matter how small, could increase the plan's chances of success. Even the slightest increase was still an increase.
Inside the hideout.
After sending White Zetsu out for intel, Ye Zi didn't remain idle.
Now that the Gedo Statue was secured, with the chakra of eight Tailed Beasts supporting him, he could continuously produce clones infused with Hashirama's cells. That force alone would be formidable. Beyond that, Nagato himself would join the Edo Tensei army.
In a brightly lit room, Ye Zi extended his right palm. A slit slowly opened across his smooth skin, revealing a mouth full of sharp teeth.
With a thought, Nagato's body, stored in that space, was "spat out" with a dull thud onto the floor.
Ye Zi crouched beside the corpse, strands of lightning crackling across his fingertips. He sliced a piece of flesh from Nagato's arm and set it aside.
A small amount of DNA was enough for Edo Tensei. The rest of Nagato's body he had no intention of destroying, it would be handed to Orochimaru as expendable material.
But first, Ye Zi extracted the Rinnegan from Nagato's eyes, placing them into a prepared container.
Once done, he sealed Nagato's body inside a storage scroll, then sat quietly with the transparent glass jar holding the Rinnegan.
"To control the Gedo Statue, I need these eyes…"
Raising the jar to the light, he studied the Rinnegan closely, every faint blood vessel visible.
From the moment he planned to seize the Rinnegan, he had already formed the outline of his next steps. He would have to transplant one, without it, he could not command the Gedo Statue.
But he hesitated: should he implant one eye, or both? He could abandon his left Mangekyō without regret, but his right one… he could not decide.
Once, he had dismissed genjutsu. But the higher his understanding of power grew, the more he came to value it. In the battle at Cloud Lightning Gorge, without genjutsu, he doubted he could have stood alone against the backbone of the Cloud Village.
Genjutsu now held immense weight in Ye Zi's heart.
So, while he could discard his left Mangekyō for the Rinnegan, he felt it necessary to preserve his right Mangekyō.
With that in mind, he abandoned the thought of implanting both Rinnegans.
"The cost of the Samsara of Heavenly Life Technique is death. Before I leave… I must revive Kotoe."
Ye Zi muttered, his face deep in thought. He planned to sacrifice his left Mangekyō, implant one Rinnegan, and give the other Rinnegan to Shin.
Kotoe's resurrection would rest on Shin's shoulders.
That much was easy to decide. The problem was: how to make Shin accept the cost, his life, for Kotoe's return?
To sacrifice oneself for another was no trivial matter. Ye Zi doubted Shin would ever agree willingly. But even if he refused, Ye Zi would not allow him to.
"It'd be best if he agreed. If not… I'll have to use other means." Ye Zi's voice was cold.
Forcing someone into what they rejected could be done through threats, but emotions made coercion unreliable. Ye Zi preferred certainty.
The simplest method was to use genjutsu. He could implant control so that Shin would, at the right time, perform the Samsara of Heavenly Life to revive Kotoe. A technique like Konoha's Shisui Uchiha's Kotoamatsukami would be ideal for this purpose.
That was one possibility: seize Shisui's Mangekyō and use Kotoamatsukami on Shin. But the method was far too roundabout.
Ye Zi considered it, but if a better solution existed, he would not waste time.
His own ability, Tenjin, could absorb genjutsu energy and release it to cast illusions. With enough energy, he could certainly use genjutsu to control someone. Though not as absolute as Kotoamatsukami, it would suffice.
The problem was… how to apply it effectively.
He pressed his fingers against his left eye, deep in thought.
After half a day of contemplation, he found his solution.
If he was already discarding his left Mangekyō, then that very eye could be transplanted into Shin, and the key would lie in that eye.
He would combine sealing techniques with genjutsu. By sealing a genjutsu into the Mangekyō, he could ensure that when the seal was released, the illusion would activate, bypassing Shin's own ocular defenses.
Compared to stealing Shisui's eye, this was far preferable.
Once the idea struck, Ye Zi acted. That was his way.
His Tenjin had been drained of genjutsu energy at Cloud Lightning Gorge, so it needed replenishment. He would have Shin and the genjutsu-trained youths at the base cast illusions on him day and night until the reservoir filled again.
It would take some time.
But Ye Zi was in no rush. Before that, he had another task: eliminating someone in Amegakure.
Having ordered his priorities, Ye Zi put away the Rinnegan and began preparations for Edo Tensei.
He arranged the sacrificial clone inside the sealing array and wove the hand seals.
White chakra flared, and sheets of paper materialized, wrapping the clone's body until it slowly took Nagato's form.
Ye Zi watched coldly, making no move to seal Nagato into a coffin, yet.
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Currently on Chapter 604 - The Shadow that Lurks