Black Zetsu immediately realized Obito was in trouble. He looked pitiful, and one arm seemed completely alien, molded from a whitish mass.
"The plan succeeded. And then failed miserably," Obito said dully, shaking his head. "The unexpected happened."
He recounted the massacre in the Uchiha quarters. When he finished, Black Zetsu fell silent for a long moment. Tension hung in the thick silence.
"Damn it!" Zetsu seethed mentally. "A flawless, meticulous plan to destroy the clan... and such a misfire! Itachi paid for it with his life. Two worthless bastards!"
"The Mangekyo Sharingan has its limits, Obito," he finally broke the silence, his voice even and cold. "Are you sure the clan is destroyed? That only this... upstart remains?"
He needed to be sure their plan was still feasible. The new Uchiha was frighteningly powerful. Awakening the Mangekyo and single-handedly defeating two people, killing one of them, in their first battle was unthinkable. Such a shinobi could become a colossal threat in the future.
"I'm sure of it!" Obito hissed with hatred. "Almost everyone was dead by then. As soon as his eyes' power fades, I'll personally kill that madman!"
He still couldn't believe that such a simple mission had been interrupted by this damnable obstacle. Why couldn't those idiots just obediently perish for the sake of his grand plan? Damn it!
"Well, that's good," Zetsu nodded, relief tinging his voice. "No matter how powerful he is, it's only the Mangekyo. Without his clansman's eyes, he'll never achieve the Eternal Sharingan."
He tried to calm himself, but the anxiety wouldn't go away. This guy is a monster. Activating Susanoo almost immediately after awakening, killing Itachi, and cornering Obito himself... A true monster. If such a man were to wield the Eternal Mangekyo, their plan would be in jeopardy.
"However," Obito added with annoyance, as if remembering something, "maybe I won't have to get my hands dirty. Shimura Danzo and his Anbu won't let such a commotion go unnoticed. That bastard might already be dead."
"All the better," Black Zetsu chimed in. "Let's go to Konoha and see. If we're lucky, we'll get a new pair of eyes with Mangekyo Sharingan."
"Okay!"
Obito nodded, clutching his severed arm to his shoulder. White Zetsu's flesh, possessing incredible vitality, had already begun to reattach itself—he could feel the limb and even perform some form of hand seals.
They rushed toward the Land of Fire at top speed, driven by the fear of being late. If the Konoha shinobi killed Uchiha Yue, they might destroy his precious eyes as well.
Soon...
"Is this... Konoha?" they exhaled almost simultaneously.
The village was dead. Not a single sound, not a single light. Everything was shrouded in an icy shroud, with frost creeping across the ground. From the dimly moonlit sky, a sparse snow fell, drowning in the impenetrable darkness. And high above the rooftops, in the trembling moonlight, a gigantic, barely discernible silhouette swayed.
"How is this possible? What happened here?!"
Obito stared at the scene before him, stupefied. Everything was jumbled in his head. He had expected a furious battle, the intervention of the Third Hokage, an exhausted enemy easily finished off... But not this. Not a dead village. No... that thing in the sky. What the hell is that?!
What was happening exceeded not only his expectations, but also Black Zetsu's.
"Obito, is that that guy?" Zetsu hissed incredulously, not taking his eyes off the horrific scene. "Are you sure that's the Mangekyo Sharingan?"
Such power was far beyond the capabilities of any dojutsu he'd ever seen. In his memory, not even Madara Uchiha had been capable of such a thing. Confronting an entire village single-handedly was possible. But spreading his will and power across such a vast territory, turning it into a realm of death—no.
"I... I don't know," Obito shook his head, looking at the blurry silhouette in the sky. He was no longer certain of anything.
Suddenly, an invisible wave washed over them. The chakra in Obito and Zetsu's bodies rebelled, rushing out like water from a broken dam.
"This is bad!"
Black Zetsu immediately sank into the ground, but realizing it was futile, a second later he burst from the earth, already outside the energy-absorbing field. His formless face contorted with primal terror.
"Damn it, what is this technique?! It... it's sucking the very life out of me!"
A moment later, he realized the danger with horror. He was different from ordinary beings: he had no body, he was a special accumulation of chakra. For others, such absorption would only mean a loss of strength, not death.
But for him, it was different. This technique was draining his very essence. A small loss was bearable, but if he lingered there, he would simply disintegrate on the spot.
"I'll die!"
For the first time in thousands of years of existence, Black Zetsu felt the icy breath of nothingness. He looked up at the figure in the sky. A monster. A true monster!
Panic raged in his mind. He couldn't die. He was the Mother's will. If he died, who would bring her back?
Run away from here, run away from this monster!
"Zetsu, did you feel it too?" Obito flew up to him, still reeling from the shock. "Once you're exposed to that power,The chakra is starting to leak out of control. I have a terrible premonition: if I go deep and can't get out in time, then even if I do nothing, the end will be the same - death.