Konoha Year 51 finally came to an end.
Compared to previous years, this New Year's celebration was much livelier—after all, there were over a dozen performances rehearsed by White Zetsus. Silly as they looked, they were still quite entertaining. As for Black Zetsu's appearance...
Although Kana and Karura had both quietly whispered to Kaguya:
"Your child looks… kinda special~"
But come on—who was Kaguya Ōtsutsuki in the Shinobi World?
She was the progenitor of chakra, the Mother of the Sage of Six Paths, arguably the ancestor of the entire shinobi world. Someone like that… had absolutely no grasp of social norms. She sat through everything with a blank face and never said a word, showing no expression at all.
And Black Zetsu? Technically speaking, he was more or less an embodiment of Kaguya's consciousness. When he'd first been born, he was just a small, dark, squishy lump—unknown and insignificant. But after thousands of years of growth, he'd evolved into… a taller, weaker, darker lump. Which was honestly kind of impressive in its own right.
Rasa didn't bother explaining the origins of Kaguya or Black and White Zetsu to everyone. As long as they didn't know anything, they could just enjoy life in blissful ignorance.
The only thing that really bothered him…
Was the gift Black Zetsu gave to his "mother."
Fire Release!
The entire collection of Uchiha Fire Release techniques—complete with notes on Uchiha training insights and even a few forbidden techniques.
This guy... couldn't he think about the future of the shinobi world for a second?
Buffing the BOSS again and again—what was he supposed to do when his own "kids" couldn't pay to keep up?!
For the sake of peace… for the sake of the future of the shinobi world, Rasa decided it was time to take matters into his own hands. He had to limit the BOSS's power. If even hacks and cheat codes couldn't beat her, then what was the point?
But then…
"I already had the White Zetsus make a clean copy."
Black Zetsu had quietly pointed at the floor with the sly grin of an old merchant.
"Later on, I'll have someone deliver it to the Academy."
"You… you—you!" Rasa angrily jabbed a finger in his face. "What kind of person do you think I am?!"
He was Rasa!
The Fourth Kazekage of Sunagakure!
A righteous defender of peace and the future of the shinobi world—how could he just pretend not to see this kind of thing?! Did the world not deserve a future?
And so, with great determination, he slammed his hand down… on Black Zetsu's shoulder and said sternly:
"Don't do this again next time, okay?"
"I didn't have a choice. Mother suddenly showed interest in the ninjutsu developed by Hagoromo's descendants," Black Zetsu sighed, sounding a little helpless. "She's been sealed away for so long… I just wanted to make her happy."
"What a filial child you are~" Rasa sighed in admiration. But then his brow furrowed as something came to mind. He glanced at Black Zetsu.
"Hey, do you think you could get your hands on the Uzumaki clan's secret techniques?"
"The Uzumakis? You mean their sealing techniques?" Black Zetsu looked over at Uzumaki Kana , who was chatting nearby, then rubbed his chin.
"I didn't pay much attention back then. Most of the Uzumakis who escaped weren't very powerful. The secret techniques they brought out were incomplete, and the majority of them died off anyway. Plus, their homeland was destroyed—most of their stuff was lost. As far as I know, the only complete Uzumaki sealing arts were brought to Konoha by Senju Hashirama's wife, Uzumaki Mito."
"That disaster back then… had nothing to do with you, did it?" Rasa narrowed his eyes, lowering his voice. "You didn't have a hand in wiping out the Senju and Uzumaki clans, did you~?"
Better be careful not to let Kana find out.
Otherwise, by this time next year, your mom's gonna have to pop out another kid and start over on her quest for freedom.
"It was all due to war. If I really wanted them dead, I'd have made my move centuries ago. I don't have much power, but tens of thousands of White Zetsus aren't exactly pushovers. Besides, those clans had already declined. Moving too early would've exposed me."
"Didn't you start those wars?"
"You give people in this world too much credit," Black Zetsu snorted. "If you dig through the records, you'll see—it's always been chaos here. Funny thing is, when Mother ruled the world, it was actually the most peaceful era. All that nonsense about peace through ninshu or the Sage's ideals… that never came true."
"Can you sneak the Uzumaki secrets out of Konoha, or not?"
"Back when Kushina was still alive, maybe. But after her death, the Uzumaki family's assets were absorbed by Konoha. All their secret techniques are sealed away in Konoha's forbidden archives. Breaking in is… not easy. As for the Uchiha's Fire Release, that was something Madara left behind himself."
"You're useless." Rasa sighed deeply, shaking his head. "Your mom loves collecting jutsu, and yet you, Black Zetsu… even with tens of thousands of 'brothers,' you can't even grab a few scraps of sealing techniques? Tell me—what exactly are you good for?"
"..."
This damn Kazekage really deserved a beating.
Black Zetsu was speechless. But remembering that his mother's current projection lacked both the Ten Tails and the Rinnegan, and still wanted to study these basic techniques…
Sure, some of them were decent. But compared to her original powers?
Not even close.
Still, if she was interested, he'd do everything he could to get them.
He shot Rasa a sidelong glance.
"How about you attack Konoha, and I'll sneak in during the chaos?"
"Sunagakure is a guardian of peace," Rasa said solemnly. "We would never start a war over something like this."
"..."
Shameless.
As if Sunagakure hadn't started its fair share of wars?
Black Zetsu had been lurking in the shadows of the shinobi world for centuries. You think he didn't know that?
But with his mother now under someone else's control, what could he do?
All he could do was sigh. He'd need to pay Tobi a visit soon. When it came to infiltrating forbidden areas and barriers, that guy was the real expert.
"Speaking of which… what's Tobi even up to these days?"
That guy…
Probably didn't even realize the boss had changed hands.
...
Spring, Year 52 of the Konoha Calendar.
The shinobi world stepped into a new year.
The war between Konoha and Kumogakure had been the largest-scale conflict in the past two years. Now, the world had entered a phase of general peace—with only a few scattered regional conflicts remaining.
But the people of the shinobi world still cherished this hard-won peace.
And that peace… had also driven major growth in Sunagakure's physical economy. The only downside was that something strange was happening in Kirigakure. Lately, they'd started intensifying their screening of foreign shinobi, which was causing major economic losses for Sunagakure's ventures in the Land of Water.
Rumor had it…
Back in Year 50, during Kirigakure's genin graduation exams, a terrifying child slaughtered all the other candidates singlehandedly—nearly wiping out an entire generation of young ninja. It forced the village to change its graduation system entirely.
At the same time, the Third Mizukage mysteriously stepped down, and the Fourth Mizukage took the seat.
Now, thinking of the terrorist puppet-master who'd infiltrated Kirigakure—Uchiha Obito…
No one knew when Obito would make his move, but Rasa was sure that the days ahead wouldn't be easy for Kirigakure.
Which meant…
As for business operations in the Land of Water…
Rasa could only ask the puppet faction's "Chief Administrator"—Black Zetsu—to keep an eye on things for now.