"The hell is wrong with him? Is he dead?" Tobirama crossed his arms, frowning slightly as he kicked a pebble toward the motionless black blob.
"Not sure." Makoto shook his head, his eyes narrowing.
Black Zetsu's main body possessed extremely tenacious vitality, comparable to a cockroach that survived a nuclear blast.
Not only could the bastard live for thousands of years, but even when attacked, he could split and escape underground in mere minutes.
But what Black Zetsu just said was about his consciousness being erased.
This was truly bizarre!
Like White Zetsu, Black Zetsu was a creation without a soul.
If Black Zetsu's consciousness was erased, this didn't signify a soul attack; rather, it pointed to a fundamental change in his main body's origin.
Makoto briefly considered whether this was another act, similar to when Black Zetsu played Uchiha Madara like a fiddle for decades.
But upon second thought, what the hell would be the point of acting now?
Had he discovered that reviving Kaguya was impossible and decided to revert to the original plan, thus staging a "Black Zetsu fake death" as part of some gigachad move to return to the shadows?
But Makoto had already said he'd thought of another solution.
Even if Zetsu wanted to bail, he should have waited until Makoto finished speaking before "dying," right?
Now, with this sudden interruption, Makoto stopped talking.
The rhythm was off.
What exactly should they do with this thing?
"Not sure? That's easy to handle. Inherently ev... Uchiha Hikari, you go ahead. Use Amaterasu to see if you can completely burn this thing to ashes. Brother, use Wood Release to force it out from underground first. Don't give it any damn chance to escape." Tobirama Senju directly proposed the most violent solution available.
This suggestion was comparable to that time in the original story, after the Infinite Tsukuyomi was cast.
Tobirama had wanted to use Madara's severed lower body for Impure World Reincarnation just to confirm whether the bastard was still alive.
Hashirama had objected, whining that Impure World Reincarnation required living sacrifices.
Tobirama's attitude was basically—aren't there plenty of sacrifices hanging from the Infinite Tsukuyomi trees like fruits? Why waste them?
"Eh? Isnt he our ally? Why treat him like this?" Kushina was thoroughly confused by the Second Hokage's suddenly aggressive command.
She had just been thinking about how touching this mother-son relationship was.
Even though the son might not really be human, and it was unclear whether to call it a son or daughter, the sentiment was there.
'It was a touching family moment, dammit!'
But now the Second Hokage wanted to cremate him alive?
"If Black Zetsu is already dead, then we're just giving him a cremation. If he's not dead, that means he's up to some shady shit, so we send him to his death. It's a win-win situation for us." Tobirama glanced at Kushina and since she was from the Uzumaki clan not Uchiha, he offered a blunt explanation.
"No, Tobirama, think about it. He appeared here precisely to revive Kaguya, right? That means his existence might be a key component to resurrecting her..." Hashirama raised his hand to stop him, his expression serious.
"Brother!" Tobirama was speechless.
He resisted the urge to facepalm.
His brother's intelligence always seemed to spike at the most inconvenient times possible.
Of course, he had also realized this fact—Black Zetsu might be something like a biological key to reviving Kaguya.
However, Black Zetsu could also be counting on them deducing this to avoid destroying his body, thus achieving his goal of faking death to escape.
Rather than risking that, it would be better to just eliminate the variable entirely.
As for reviving Kaguya? It's less about resurrection and more about unsealing her.
They could figure out solutions slowly when the time came.
But his brother had to go and bluntly state it outright, ruining the momentum!
"Brother, step aside! Uchiha Hikari, aren't you going to act?" Tobirama grew impatient.
Why keep an uncertain factor around when they could eliminate it? He urged Hikari to attack immediately.
"No. You inherently foolish old Senju man, when did you get the delusion that you could order me around?" Uchiha Hikari shot Tobirama a look of pure exasperation and disdain before turning her gaze to Makoto for actual orders.
"No need." Makoto shook his head, signaling Hikari to stand down.
Because the moment Tobirama said, "Brother, step aside," Hashirama moved even closer to stand directly in front of Black Zetsu, completely blocking him from Hikari's line of sight to prevent an Amaterasu strike.
It was at that exact moment that the previously frozen Black Zetsu moved.
Watching closely from the side, Makoto saw Black Zetsu raise his hand slowly and reach out to touch Hashirama's back.
'Was he attempting to possess and control him? That didn't make any sense—where would Black Zetsu get the confidence to possess and control Hashirama Senju, the God of Shinobi?'
Makoto activated his Epitaph to glimpse the immediate future.
Combined with his demeanor and performance right after "dying"... Makoto made a decision within 0.01 seconds.
Squish.
Makoto appeared behind Black Zetsu in a blur, grabbed his head, and yanked him violently out of the ground like pulling a weed.
He then locked him in a tight chokehold while clamping a hand over his mouth, completely restraining the black creature.
"Huh?" Uchiha Hikari looked astonished. "Didn't you tell me not to attack?"
'Why the hell did you suddenly attack him yourself? So should she attack now or not?' She was getting mixed signals here!
The arguing Senju brothers were also drawn by Makoto's sudden, violent movement.
"Makoto, what the hell are you doing?"
"Black Zetsu suddenly reached out to touch the First Hokage just now." Makoto explained, tightening his grip.
"I see! Well done! I didn't expect him to lose composure so quickly and reveal his true colors!" Tobirama praised him before turning to Hashirama with a smug look.
"See, brother? I told you there was something wrong with that thing and you didn't believe me?"
"This..." Hashirama frowned slightly at the restrained Black Zetsu.
It was hard to judge the intent immediately.
"Actually, it might not necessarily be a conspiracy," Makoto suddenly changed his tune, confusing everyone.
Under Tobirama's surprised gaze, he continued his analysis.
"Black Zetsu's consciousness has dissipated, meaning his original personality is gone. However, his very existence has only one purpose—to revive Kaguya. This is his base instinct. Only through the combined power of Ashura and Indra's reincarnations can one obtain the Rinnegan, which was one of the hard conditions in his original plan. That's why he chose to touch the nearby First Hokage."
"Black Zetsu's condition can be understood as him being formatted—his entire existence has been reset. His memories might still be accessible and retained, but his personality has completely disappeared. A new personality might emerge later, or it could simply become a human-shaped tool."
"Alright, new Black Zetsu, listen carefully. Although the attempt to revive Kaguya failed this time, I have a new plan. I'll now explain this new plan to everyone and you. From today onward, you must obey my orders. Can you accept this?" Makoto spoke directly to the restrained Black Zetsu.
When first restrained, Black Zetsu struggled briefly like a wild animal before becoming completely still again.
After hearing Makoto's words, Black Zetsu nodded blankly.
Makoto then released his grip.
Black Zetsu continued standing there dully, its empty gaze sweeping over everyone present.
Then it looked up at the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path.
The Demonic Statue had now returned to normal and was no longer convulsing.
Makoto wondered if the earlier convulsions of the Demonic Statue might have been because Black Zetsu had summoned someone's consciousness but failed to complete the resurrection, causing it to be expelled by the Demonic Statue like bad food?
'That would be rather... awkward.'
If Black Zetsu's consciousness disappeared for such a stupid reason, it would make perfect sense.
"I believe the crucial reason for this failure lies in the qualitative difference between Tailed Beast Chakra and Dragon Vein Chakra. Therefore, I've conceived an idea—to convert this energy directly into Tailed Beast Chakra." Makoto began explaining the next phase of the operation.