Black Zetsu's eyes flickered erratically as his mind raced.
"Long ago… This means Shimaseki Seiki must have had some connection with one of them. That's exactly why they were now doubting themselves."
The key was the word "disgust." Given Seiki Shimaseki's broad-minded nature, even enemies who had fought him face-to-face wouldn't earn his contempt—let alone hatred.
In Black Zetsu's opinion, only two events truly deserved such a reaction: one was the incident he himself had instigated, and the other was the Nine-Tails disaster.
"So either this fire takes me down, or it takes Obito!"
Although they hadn't considered it from this angle yet, once they did, it wouldn't be hard for them to piece things together.
Of course, mere suspicion proved nothing, but once the seed of doubt was planted, many of his future plans would become impossible to carry out.
"I have to lock in the conclusion before they start suspecting me!"
Thinking this, Black Zetsu immediately shifted the blame with a giggle: "Hehe, looks like the Ninja God must've sensed something during the Nine-Tails disaster, which is why he detected Aizen's presence through our chakra!"
Obito's eyes suddenly widened. What was Black Zetsu doing? Was he betraying him?
Yahiko was also shocked, instinctively glancing at Obito. "The Nine-Tails disaster… Tobi, could you really be Madara Uchiha?"
This time, the three new recruits were stunned too!
"Is this organization really this powerful? Rescuing people from Shimaseki Seiki's grasp was shocking enough, but now they're even tied to the Nine-Tails disaster, and even Madara Uchiha has shown up!" Raiga couldn't help but tremble.
"Madara Uchiha? Could it be that Hashirama Senju is here too?" Kakuzu felt uneasy. The paper-wielding woman who had invited him mentioned that someone in the organization could use [Wood Release].
At the time, he hadn't believed it, but now… Could it be that Hashirama Senju wants to have a word with me?
"Nine-Tails disaster, Madara Uchiha…" Sasori glanced at Aizen beside him. Seeing his calm expression, Sasori mused inwardly, "Was this within your calculations? Did you intentionally emphasize what Shimaseki Seiki discovered because you foresaw this possibility?"
Obito folded his arms behind his back, muttering, "Never thought I was hiding this deep, and still… you found me out!"
"That's right. I am Madara Uchiha, the embodiment of both heroism and wrath, where charm and wisdom coexist!"
Yahiko blinked in confusion. Was this really Madara?
Just then, Black Zetsu interjected perfectly: "Indeed, Madara Uchiha was behind the Nine-Tails disaster, but he's already dead now!"
Obito opened his eyes wide, striking a comical pose as he mimicked a crane spreading its wings. "When did I die? How could I possibly die?"
Black Zetsu shrugged. "I was the first Monster ever cultivated by Lord Madara. As for Tobi, he was created using Madara's and Hashirama Senju's DNA, and raised as the inheritor of Madara's will… That's why he can use [Wood Release]—and why he's always seeing himself as Lord Madara!"
"Whoa… That's a whole lot to process!" Everyone looked completely stunned. It wasn't because the term "gene" was too advanced for them. From the context, they could still guess its meaning.
But that's exactly why they were confused… Could the genes of two men really combine?
However, considering Tobi could use Wood Release, maybe it wasn't impossible after all!
"So what you're saying is, this senior is actually the illegitimate child of Madara Uchiha and Hashirama Senju?" Ruiga exclaimed in shock.
Just as they were marveling at how wild Madara Uchiha really was, Obito's mouth twitched violently beneath his mask. "What bullshit setting did that bastard Black Zetsu feed me? Making me into a combination of two men? That's taking it too far!"
Still, thinking about his own plan and the world with Rin he wanted to create, Obito forcibly held back his irritation and continued acting crazy. "What illegitimate child? I'm more like their bastard father!"
"Why do I have their abilities? Obviously because they're both my sons!" Tobi boasted proudly, hands on his hips. "Didn't see that coming, did you? Those two are actually brothers!"
This time, it was Black Zetsu's turn to look perplexed. He hadn't told Tobi anything about the reincarnation vessels of chakra. So was this an accidental hit at Hagoromo by Tobi?
Yahiko temporarily dispelled his suspicions and turned to Black Zetsu again. "You just said the Nine-Tails disaster was driven by Madara Uchiha, and also said he's already dead?"
Black Zetsu spread his hands. "He was just too old. Before dying, he wanted to go crazy one last time and personally destroy the Hidden Leaf village established by Hashirama Senju… After all, back then, he couldn't believe until his dying day that Hashirama would kill him for the sake of the Leaf! Because of that, Madara fell into despair and lived in confusion for decades, not even knowing what was happening in the outside world!"
"???" Everyone was once again filled with question marks. Where was this weird vibe even coming from?
From this guy's description, it actually sounded like Madara Uchiha was jealous of Konoha?
Jealous of the Hidden Leaf?
Not only were they confused, even Tobi himself was secretly shocked.
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He couldn't even tell whether Black Zetsu was telling the truth or not, because during the time Madara had taught him, he had already noticed that Madara indeed had a special emotion toward Hashirama.
But back then, he hadn't thought about it that way. He had just assumed Madara regarded Hashirama as a good friend.
Thinking about it, Tobi's expression became complicated. "Never thought Madara and I were actually the same kind of person!"
After successfully diverting everyone's attention using two rumors about Madara, Black Zetsu quietly exhaled in relief.
Looks like the danger of being exposed was finally over!
As for Madara Uchiha's reputation getting damaged, what did that have to do with him?
Besides, given Madara's personality, Madara Uchiha might actually enjoy such rumors.
Thinking thus, Black Zetsu nodded to himself. "Exactly. How could I possibly betray my dear nephew?"
Pushing away some weird scenes forming in his mind, Yahiko asked again, "Earlier, you said Hashirama Senju killed Madara Uchiha?"
"Just the history you all already know too well."
"Black Zetsu chuckled, 'It's just that Madara Uchiha somehow managed to fake his death and escape!'
Everyone nodded in realization. That's how it was!
No one would have guessed that Madara Uchiha would do something like this!
In the eerie silence, Black Zetsu explained voluntarily, 'Anyway, Tobi and I inherited Madara Uchiha's will to destroy Konoha... but Konoha was just too powerful, or rather, Seiki Shimaseki was too powerful. Therefore, after learning about your organization's objective, we reached out to you, hoping to use your group's strength to eliminate Konoha!'
'So that's it!' Yahiko exclaimed in realization, then added somewhat discontentedly, 'We plan to change the shinobi no sekai (ninja world) through revolution, unifying the entire shinobi no sekai into a single nation. This is fundamentally different from your terrorist methods!'
'Haha, that doesn't matter,' Black Zetsu waved dismissively, 'As long as Konoha eventually disappears, that's all that matters!'
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