Black Zetsu furrowed his brow as he stared at the dilapidated little shop before him. The surrounding area had once been clear, yet now a strange, shabby building stood there, as if it had materialized out of thin air. His voice dripped with confusion as he muttered, "When was there ever a building here?"
His gaze then shifted to a stone pillar beside the entrance, etched with ominous words: "All-knowing and all-powerful, with everything." The words stirred something deep within Black Zetsu.
He had lived for over a thousand years, traversing battlefields and clandestine meetings, and yet no one had ever dared to claim omniscience and omnipotence so boldly—let alone in a run-down shop like this. His curiosity was piqued. How could such a humble-looking place dare to boast such grandeur?
Unable to resist, Black Zetsu decided to investigate further. Slipping silently into the shadows, he sought a way to sneak inside. True to his usual methods, he descended underground, seeking the basement to crawl in unnoticed.
Suddenly, a loud clang echoed through the quiet village.
"Ow!" Black Zetsu clutched his head, staggering back. "That hurts so much!"
He instinctively pressed his hand against the top of his head, where a thick pitcher plant sprouted. Fortunately, it absorbed most of the impact. Without it, the blow would have been unbearable.
But why had his usual penetrating technique failed so utterly? His powers were supposed to let him slip through any barrier, no matter how strong or subtle. Yet every time he tried to phase through the floor, he met an invisible wall of resistance.
"Why won't it work?" Black Zetsu muttered, his voice tinged with disbelief.
He slammed his head against the floor again, only to be met with the same painful clang.
"What kind of sealing jutsu is this?" he wondered aloud, looking around the seemingly ordinary room. There were no visible signs of traps or seals. No chakra fluctuations. Nothing that could explain why even he couldn't enter.
Growing wary, Black Zetsu decided he shouldn't rush in blindly. If there was a trap waiting inside, it could be fatal. This was far beyond the realm of ordinary security.
He quickly retreated from the house and decided to report what he had found.
---
Rain Shinobi Village.
Black Zetsu emerged from the shadows and hurried to deliver the news.
"I couldn't penetrate that room," he said gravely. "Something's wrong. It's unlike anything I've encountered before."
His companion, Obito, listened intently. The infamous Uchiha, who claimed to pull the strings behind countless events, frowned deeply.
"Interesting," Obito murmured, his right eye—the one bearing the Sharingan—flaring to life. A swirling vortex appeared in the iris as he prepared to investigate for himself.
"No secrets can hide from me," Obito said with confidence. "I will go check it out."
Black Zetsu hurried after him, anxious.
---
Outside the building, Obito studied the ancient structure carefully, his keen eyes searching for any clues.
"Is this the place?" Obito asked quietly.
Black Zetsu nodded. "Yes, and I still can't get through."
Obito smirked beneath his mask. "Leave this to me."
The three magatama embedded in his Sharingan began to spin wildly, morphing into a whirl of light shaped like a windmill. The vortex in his eye expanded, and his body gradually phased away.
But just as Obito was about to slip through the threshold, a dull thud echoed.
Obito's head bumped sharply against an invisible barrier.
"What?!" he gasped, clutching his aching forehead.
His face showed genuine surprise and confusion. No matter how strong his space-time ninjutsu, this barrier stopped him cold.
"No space seal... no physical barrier... then what is this?" Obito muttered, scanning for chakra signatures but finding none.
Black Zetsu, watching anxiously, asked, "What do we do now?"
Obito's eyes darkened with determination. "I'm going in. Someone has to know."
Black Zetsu protested, "Are you crazy? What if it's a trap? We don't know what's inside!"
Obito laughed coldly, "No one in this world can stop me. I'm in control."
Without waiting for a reply, Obito vanished once again, moving boldly toward the door.
Black Zetsu stood frozen, torn between caution and curiosity. Despite his reservations, a strange feeling told him that whatever lay inside was crucial—even for him.
After a long moment of hesitation, Black Zetsu decided to follow, maintaining a careful distance. He braced himself for danger but resolved that if anything went wrong, he would abandon Obito and escape.
After all, even if Obito fell, there was still Nagato. But if Black Zetsu were to die here, his mission—and the hopes of his mother on the moon—would be lost forever.
If the Ōtsutsuki clan ever invaded, he had to be ready to stand with her. Failure was not an option.
---
Inside the Shop
Peter groaned, unable to sleep. Strange noises came not only from the floorboards but now echoed faintly from the walls themselves.
"System, what kind of dilapidated place is this? How am I supposed to rest here?" he grumbled.
Suddenly, footsteps approached, and Peter looked toward the door.
His eyes widened in disbelief when the familiar figure stepped inside: the yellow, vortex-patterned single-eye mask, the black cloak with red clouds—the unmistakable garb of the Akatsuki. It could only be one person: Uchiha Obito.
Behind Obito, the unmistakable shape of the pitcher plant appeared—Black Zetsu himself.
Peter's heart raced. Why were these powerful Akatsuki members here? And why in this shabby little shop?
Obito's single eye locked onto Peter, his voice low and curious: "Commoner?"
Black Zetsu examined the surroundings carefully, noticing the glass counters filled with strange objects he had never seen in his long life.
"There's no chakra coming from this person," Black Zetsu whispered to Obito, "just an ordinary human. But this place... it feels different. There are things here I've never encountered."
Obito nodded slightly and fixed his gaze on Peter.
"Are you the owner of this place?" Obito demanded.
Peter snapped out of his shock and stepped forward eagerly.
"Yes, I am. What can I do for you?" he asked politely.
Obito's tone was curt but direct. "What do you have here?"
Peter smiled confidently. "Whatever you want. Just put the money down, and I can even help you blow up the moon in the sky!"
He slapped his chest for emphasis.
Peter knew full well it was impossible to blow up the moon without an astronomical amount of money—hundreds of billions of dollars, at least.
He was testing Black Zetsu, baiting him with the outrageous claim.
Black Zetsu's eyes gleamed at the mention of blowing up the moon, but he quickly forced himself to stay calm.
"Boss, stop joking. That's impossible," Black Zetsu said with a laugh.
Peter chuckled, knowing he had lured the ancient entity's attention. Then, with a slight sneer, he added, "Isn't the moon formed by the Six Paths Planetary Devastation Sealing Technique?"
He leaned in and lowered his voice.
"Give me tens of billions, and I can solve that problem in minutes."
Black Zetsu stood stunned, unable to hide his disbelief.
"How... how do you know about the Six Paths Planetary Devastation technique?!" he whispered.
---
Peter's eyes sparkled with secret knowledge, but he remained calm on the surface.
This moment marked a turning point. The fate of the world, and possibly the entire shinobi world's future, seemed to hinge on the mysterious powers and wealth hidden inside this little shop.
As Obito and Black Zetsu exchanged wary glances, Peter prepared to reveal more.