"This world… what the hell has happened to it?"
The moment Otsutsuki Isshiki departed, Black Zetsu silently materialized on the outskirts of Konoha.
He stared at the village that had been utterly transformed. The chakra lingering in the air had mostly faded, yet traces of it still clung stubbornly to the atmosphere. His expression darkened.
He had never felt so ignorant of this world.
Five years ago, that catastrophic surge of power had reached even Kirigakure. The sheer scale of the chakra fluctuation had told him instantly that it far exceeded anything human. It had to involve the Otsutsuki.
The realization had kept him from showing himself or even approaching the battlefield. Yet his mission never left his mind, so he made preparations. He let Obito indulge himself in Kirigakure, then engineered his failure during a carefully staged political struggle.
Obito's defeat had been deliberate.
Without the Byakugan in Kirigakure, no one should have uncovered their movements. Even the mysterious figure's earlier actions had already pushed the Kiri-nin toward the worst possible conclusions. With the Mizukage under their control, exposure had never been a real concern—they had never shown their faces.
Obito's failure, however, forced them back to the heart of the shinobi world instead of remaining adrift in the Land of Water.
Upon returning, Black Zetsu received even more disturbing news: the Fifth Hokage had fought a mysterious opponent and nearly leveled everything around Konoha.
That outcome had never been part of his calculations. He had assumed the battle would be between two Otsutsuki.
What was Senju Natsuhiko? Just a distant descendant of Ashura whose bloodline had thinned over countless generations.
"Has the brat undergone atavism?"
Bloodline reversion wasn't unheard of, but such reversions usually manifested in the direct inheritors of Indra and Ashura.
Doubts drove him to gather more information. The more he learned, the more Natsuhiko's strength defied belief. According to every rumor circulating through the shinobi world, the man had long since stepped beyond human limits—surpassing even Hashirama Senju at his peak.
Black Zetsu would once have dismissed such claims with a sneer. But he had personally sensed the epicenter of that five-year-old explosion in Konoha's direction. He could no longer afford to ignore the stories.
Natsuhiko's campaigns against smaller nations, including the Land of Rain, barely registered as important. To his mother and the Otsutsuki, such conflicts were trivial. The shinobi world was merely a garden. What mattered was when one of its insects suddenly became a monster capable of devouring the gardener.
"Could his atavism have gone even further… reaching Otsutsuki levels?"
The thought made Black Zetsu scoff at his own absurdity. Yet the longer he dwelled on it, the colder his blood ran. He had heard Natsuhiko awakened eyes that resembled the Tenseigan.
He dared not imagine the variables those eyes might introduce.
Could they have elevated every aspect of the man, even strengthening his bloodline?
Black Zetsu refused to accept the possibility, but he knew the only way to confirm anything was to examine the battlefield himself.
Caution held him back. The trees surrounding Konoha were all Wood Release constructs; any of them could be surveillance. Nagato had once used rain for reconnaissance in the Land of Rain—who knew what methods Konoha employed now.
After prolonged observation and careful probing, Black Zetsu finally stepped into the area today.
He surveyed the devastation and inhaled the faint but unmistakable chakra signature still drifting through the air.
This had been a battle between Otsutsuki. No human could produce chakra or power of this magnitude.
One participant had definitely been Natsuhiko. The identity of the second remained unknown.
"Was it the one who controls the Tailed Beasts?"
That seemed the most plausible answer.
An external Otsutsuki arriving unannounced felt impossible—at least for now.
Even so, Black Zetsu felt numb. The world no longer made sense. Natsuhiko had gone from insignificant ant to terrifying beast in the span of a few years, a beast that could even kill the garden's owner.
The sheer scale of the change filled him with dread. This threat felt far greater than anything the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki had ever posed. That Jinchuriki served an Otsutsuki who knew of his mother's existence and therefore exercised restraint.
Natsuhiko knew nothing of the Otsutsuki. Ignorance bred fearlessness—and he possessed the power to back it up. He had already slain one Otsutsuki.
Black Zetsu sighed heavily and sank into the earth without lingering. As his head disappeared beneath the soil, he reached a decision.
"The plan must be accelerated. Only Mother can deal with this."
---
"Is that guy finally leaving the Land of Fire?"
Inside the Hokage's office, Natsuhiko's deep blue eyes remained fixed on the black-hole-like spatial rift before him. Through it he watched a dense forest and the robed monk moving swiftly through the trees.
This was the result of five years of relentless training in his space manipulation, aided by the system. The "Space Manipulation" granted broad control over space itself. Used correctly, its potential was nearly limitless.
Yet the technique demanded equivalent exchange. Larger scale or greater intensity required vastly more chakra—specifically drawn from his Jōgan rather than ordinary reserves.
His Jōgan had reached the second stage, but unlimited use remained impossible. Unlike true Otsutsuki, his eyes did not recover chakra in proportion to their consumption. Physique helped, but physique ultimately stemmed from bloodline, an area where Natsuhiko still fell short.
He could not match Urashiki's casual deployment of space techniques. Therefore he used his own sparingly and with extreme caution.
Limited use, however, was still enough to achieve what he needed right now.
A few days earlier, the Nine-Tails inside him had suddenly reported sensing extreme malice. The advanced-level Nine-Tails—half-fused with several other Tailed Beasts—possessed perception far superior to Natsuhiko's own. No longer as lethargic as before, he functioned as a living radar within Natsuhiko's body.
Despite his frequent complaints about being ejected late at night during Natsuhiko's personal activities, his loyalty and attachment remained unchanged. He now volunteered for surveillance duty.
Thanks to that perception, Natsuhiko had located the source of the malice.
Through his Jōgan he saw the truth: the monk's chakra was vast and overwhelming, unmistakably Otsutsuki in nature. Yet the man's body was broken, ravaged as though subjected to constant torture—perhaps by the very chakra flowing through him.
Natsuhiko had never witnessed a shinobi reduced to such a state by his own power.
The monk's body also bore clear signs of decay, as though eroded by time itself, yet he remained alive. Most striking were the strange tattoos covering his skin, especially those on his hands, which seemed to serve as the primary conduits for his chakra.
Everything about the man felt dangerously wrong.
"Is he an Otsutsuki? Why does he feel… off?"
Natsuhiko rubbed his chin. The shinobi world contained far too many unknowns, especially anything involving the Otsutsuki. Urashiki had died before any useful information could be extracted. Hagoromo remained hidden. Kaguya was unreachable. Knowledge was scarce.
This monk's appearance offered new possibilities. Natsuhiko did not need to confirm whether the man was truly Otsutsuki. He only needed to capture him and extract answers directly.
The monk was currently leaving the Land of Fire. That timing worked perfectly in Natsuhiko's favor.
---
"Starting the operation so soon? Isn't this too rushed?"
In the Land of Rain, Nagato regarded Obito and Black Zetsu with open confusion. He had not expected this announcement.
Their shared goal was the Tailed Beast capture plan. Obito had mentioned advancing the timeline earlier, and Nagato had quietly relayed the information to Natsuhiko so preparations could begin.
Yet the man calling himself Uchiha Madara now seemed far more impatient than anticipated. He was demanding they move immediately.
Nagato knew better than to rush blindly, even if he and Obito were not truly aligned. He still voiced his concerns while considering how best to pass this update to Natsuhiko. Since Obito's arrival in the Land of Rain, Nagato's freedom had been restricted. He could still route messages through Konoha's hidden ANBU network, but face-to-face delivery to Natsuhiko would have been far more reliable.
"I admit it feels rushed," Obito replied calmly, "but it's necessary."
His answer revealed nothing. Even Obito did not fully understand why Black Zetsu wanted to accelerate the schedule. He simply trusted the ancient being who had guided him through the political chaos in Kirigakure and helped him survive.
Black Zetsu had shaped Obito's trust deliberately. Obito remained unaware that his own exposure had been orchestrated by the same entity. Having lived over a thousand years, manipulating someone like Obito required no effort.
Obito accepted every suggestion without resistance.
Advancing the plan was Black Zetsu's desire, not Obito's. Yet Obito agreed anyway. Five years of Yin-Yang Release training under Black Zetsu had strengthened him considerably. While his mastery was still incomplete, he believed he could handle most threats—except perhaps the man who controlled the Nine-Tails.
Even against Minato Namikaze or Natsuhiko, he felt confident he would not lose. He almost looked forward to the confrontation.
The current world held nothing for him but pain. He wanted to end it and create his own as quickly as possible.
Nagato studied Obito for a moment, then nodded.
"Although I still disagree, the shinobi world does need change."
He played his assigned role perfectly.
Obito smiled, satisfied.
"Our goal remains the same—to overthrow this cruel, despairing world. For peace, for the shinobi world, we must act. Once we create our own world, you will understand how wonderful it can be."
"I believe you," Nagato replied evenly, Rinnegan glowing softly.
In his heart, however, he felt only contempt.
He had already witnessed the beginnings of real peace and prosperity in the Land of Rain—brought by the living Yahiko and Natsuhiko's influence. He had no interest in chasing Obito's illusory dream.
---
Natsuhiko knew little of Obito's accelerated timeline. Nagato had likely passed the information through ANBU channels, but Natsuhiko's attention remained fixed elsewhere.
For several days he had watched the suspected Otsutsuki through spatial surveillance, waiting for the monk to cross the border of the Land of Fire.
He already had theories. Years ago, Urashiki had mentioned "Karma"—a technique suspected to be used for Otsutsuki revival. The monk's condition matched what Natsuhiko imagined a flawed Karma recipient might experience.
The man's body was deteriorating under the strain of foreign chakra that did not belong to him. Yet the same power also seemed to be sustaining him, creating a vicious cycle of destruction and repair. His bloodline showed no signs of evolution, and his overall strength remained pathetically low.
Two possibilities existed: either Karma was less reliable than Natsuhiko had assumed, or something had gone wrong with the technique—or with the monk's body itself.
Either way, Natsuhiko had seen enough.
He created a shadow clone, opened a spatial rift, and stepped through.
The monk had already entered the Land of Rivers, a neutral buffer zone between Konoha and Sunagakure. Natsuhiko felt no hesitation about acting here.
He had barely arrived when an overwhelming presence locked onto him from several kilometers away. The suffocating chakra confirmed the monk's identity.
"So sensitive?"
Natsuhiko did not attempt to hide. He walked openly toward the monk's location, choosing not to use space manipulation. If the man truly was Otsutsuki, a direct spatial approach risked an immediate counter using techniques like Yomotsu Hirasaka.
Five minutes later, Natsuhiko stood before the robed figure.
The monk waited beside a tree, posture calm and arrogant. He regarded Natsuhiko with cold eyes and let out a quiet sigh.
"It seems I've been discovered. I'm curious how you found me."
"Was it difficult?" Natsuhiko replied evenly. "You entered my territory. Doing nothing would have been stranger."
The monk's expression hardened. Chakra surged violently within him.
"You're still the same as ever, Kaguya."
"No matter your current state, never forget—you have always been under my protection."
He paused, lips curving into a mocking smile.
"Sealed away by your own two sons. Forced to descend through some unknown chakra method, unable even to restore your true body. And yet you dare appear before me like this?"
His voice dropped, laced with derision.
"Are you really not crazy?"