Chapter 249: Finding Daddy
Even though Dana's powerful arm had punched clean through his chest, the man, despite his frantic struggling, didn't seem to be in any real pain.
It was noticeable that there was no blood splatter from the wound, only black liquid churning within.
Black Zetsu never expected Yotsuki Dana to attack so suddenly.
"How did you..."
However, Dana felt no joy.
Inside Black Zetsu's body, there were no internal organs—just a mass of unknown black liquid.
"Then how about this..."
Massive Lightning Chakra surged from Dana's hand, transforming into raging electricity. Black Zetsu lit up like a giant light bulb, enveloped in violent lightning, emitting black smoke and the smell of cooked meat.
He looked completely charred.
However...
"Dana-Nii-san! Be careful! His chakra hasn't weakened at all!"
From the platform, the short ninja shouted a warning.
In the next instant, countless wooden spikes erupted from the smoking figure like a sea urchin. Simultaneously, the area where Dana's arm penetrated his body liquefied. The sticky black liquid began to creep up Dana's arm.
Dana's expression changed, and he immediately withdrew his arm. He didn't dare let that substance cover him. Black Zetsu dissolved into a puddle on the ground, then reformed into a humanoid shape, restoring his original appearance.
Wisps of smoke still rose from his body—signs of the electric shock—but he seemed unharmed.
"I truly didn't expect you to use this method... Yotsuki Dana. It seems I still underestimated you greatly."
"Cut the crap! Barriers up!"
Four curtains of light rose from the corners of the training ground, sealing it completely.
Four Special Strategy Division ninja executed the jutsu together. "Four Azure Thunder Formation!" Similar to the "Four Violet Flames Formation," this barrier had once captured the current Fourth Hokage, Sakumo Hatake.
Black Zetsu's face twisted, his voice sinister. "You came prepared."
The net cast days ago was finally closing.
From the start, Dana knew his "Pulse" Vision had significant flaws when detecting Black Zetsu and White Zetsu.
In a capital city of hundreds of thousands, unless Black Zetsu did something impossible for ordinary humans—like diving underground or merging with trees—Dana couldn't distinguish him from the masses. Two years ago, when he first met Nagato, he could spot the two White Zetsu only because they were hiding inside trees.
So, from the beginning, Dana brought Kayo Uzumaki, who possessed the Mind's Eye of the Kagura, as double insurance.
The Mind's Eye of the Kagura sensed chakra signatures. This alone excluded the vast majority of the capital's population, shrinking the search range by ninety percent. However, distinguishing between hundreds of samurai and mercenaries individually was still difficult, leading to today's situation.
If Black Zetsu had cracked under pressure during the previous rounds of screening and tried to escape using Mayfly, either Kayo or Dana would have noticed. But since Black Zetsu tried to be clever and played along, entering the training ground, he was now trapped.
Dana's ultimate goal was simple: Let the Mind's Eye of the Kagura, which could "mark" individual chakra signatures and distinguish them forever, record Black Zetsu's chakra.
This way, whether it was a year or ten years later, as long as Black Zetsu appeared within Kayo's massive sensory range, he would be discovered. Breaking the enemy's cover at a single point ended the "guard against thieves for a thousand days" scenario.
After this, the enemy would no longer be in the dark while the Cloud was in the light.
Knowing that the thousand-year-old Black Zetsu might be aware of the Uzumaki clan's sensory abilities—and possibly knew about Kayo in the Cloud Village—Dana had Kayo dye her hair and wear makeup, hiding her among the troops. Since it wasn't a Transformation Jutsu, there was no chakra disguise to see through.
Sometimes, makeup was more effective than plastic surgery.
Since the barrier appeared, the surrounding mercenaries and samurai panicked, fearing the Cloud would suddenly turn on them. But no one paid them any attention.
Black Zetsu glanced at the light walls surrounding him, then cast a subtle look into the crowd.
Dana didn't pause. His terrifying speed caused the air to explode. His 1.3-meter-long leg delivered a side kick straight to Black Zetsu's head.
Black Zetsu raised his arm to block, but he was kicked away like a ball. The blocking arm bent into a U-shape.
Dana's heart sank.
This guy was truly bizarre. There seemed to be no internal human structure. Bones, organs—none could be called weaknesses. Dana suspected even the head wasn't a weak point.
When Kaguya Otsutsuki created him, he was just a slime-like semi-liquid life form.
Black Zetsu's body turned into viscous liquid mid-air to cushion the impact. Upon landing, he melted into the ground.
In Dana's Pulse Vision, Black Zetsu's outline was clearly visible. Since they were here to deal with Black Zetsu, the barrier naturally extended underground. Yet, Black Zetsu's body struggled, squeezing through the barrier with difficulty.
The entire barrier trembled, its stability compromised. Lightning sparked wildly on the side near Black Zetsu, trying its best to stop him.
The Special Strategy Division member maintaining the barrier shouted, "Barrier stability is critical!"
In the next moment, in Dana's perception, Black Zetsu actually squeezed out of the barrier underground.
The disguised Kayo had already rushed to Dana's side. "Dana-Nii-san! He's injured! His chakra reaction has weakened significantly! He's heading southwest!"
"Come with me! The rest of you stay here! Don't let anyone escape! Kill anyone who resists!"
Ignoring Kayo's startled cry, Dana scooped her up by the waist and chased in the direction Black Zetsu fled.
In the crowd, a figure saw Dana carrying Kayo away. Their fist clenched instinctively but relaxed immediately. They remained with the mercenaries and samurai, accepting the Cloud's management.
Underground, Black Zetsu moved rapidly using Mayfly. He didn't know where he had gone wrong.
The Cloud clearly knew of his existence, his characteristics, and even specific intel. That was why they used chakra paper for testing and prepared barrier jutsu.
From the start, this was a giant net targeting him, and he had foolishly walked right into it.
Although he never considered himself a ninja, one rule applied to him just as well: information asymmetry played a massive role in confrontations.
The enemy knew his chakra nature was different from ordinary humans and likely knew the characteristics of Mayfly, hence the barrier. Black Zetsu, who had played conspiracies for a thousand years, felt like he was the one being played this time.
He could sense Dana still biting at his heels on the surface, carrying an unfamiliar girl. Logically, at this depth, he should be safe from sensory detection. That girl must possess some special sensory ability.
However, Mayfly wasn't omnipotent. Even he couldn't dive infinitely deep.
On the surface, Dana chased relentlessly, lightning flickering around his body.
To others, Black Zetsu's Mayfly speed was fast, but to Dana, it was mediocre. As long as he didn't lose the target, Black Zetsu couldn't shake him off.
"Dana-Nii-san, how long are we going to chase him?"
Truth be told, while Black Zetsu couldn't escape, the two on the surface couldn't do much to him either while he was a hundred meters underground.
"Chase him until he thinks we stopped chasing."
With Kayo's sensory range, even if he was ten or twenty kilometers away, they wouldn't lose him.
"And then?"
"And then... we wait for him to go find his Daddy!"