"Wear me" was not some exaggerated metaphor. It was a literal description of reality. Under Uchiha Hatoha's gaze, Asu's body slowly split open. In an instant, his humanoid form unraveled into a long, rope-like, spiral mass of white material.
That sight
made Hatoha's eyes widen.
Asu… really wasn't human.
No organs.
No bones.
No blood.
And the white substance… to be honest, it didn't even resemble any muscle Hatoha had ever seen before. Yet its texture and structure were undeniably muscle-like in form.
"Come on, Hatoha! Put me on!"
Hatoha's voice rose
from within the twisting white substance.
"…What do I do?"
Uchiha Hatoha felt no fear— or rather, the worry for his younger brother completely drowned out any fear he might've had.
"Reach out."
"Give me your hand."
Asu's voice echoed again.
"Alright!"
Hatoha responded at once. He extended his hand toward the bizarre white mass in front of him and, without the slightest hesitation, plunged his right hand into the spiraling substance. A second later, a faint sensation of pressure wrapped around him.
The long, rope-like white matter tightly wound itself around his palm.
Yet—
strangely enough, he didn't lose control of his body at all. If anything, his right hand felt overwhelmingly powerful, as if he could crush a boulder with one punch.
And the hand was only the beginning.
The white substance climbed rapidly up his arm, and in the blink of an eye it spread across his torso, limbs, and even wrapped around his head—leaving only his eyes exposed.
He had truly
put on Asu
as if he were wearing a suit of clothing.
"Hatoha, like this you can not only use my power, but also hide your identity. You won't have to worry about any Konoha shinobi recognizing you." Asu's voice echoed inside Hatoha's ears.
"…Thank you, Asu."
Hatoha clenched his fist and offered his thanks.
"Hehehe! Being thanked actually feels pretty nice!"
Asu said with a playful, smug laugh.
"Cut the nonsense—just show the way."
Hatoha had no room for embarrassment. His mind was completely focused on his brother trapped in danger.
"You really have no patience… this way!"
Asu replied.
The next moment,
a thin, floating strand of white thread rose in Hatoha's peripheral vision, pointing northwest.
"Northwest, huh?"
Hatoha kicked off the ground. With a thunderous BOOM, his body smashed directly through the ceiling above him. And that was only the start—like a charging bull, he blasted through layer after layer of ceilings until he burst onto the surface.
Only then did he sprint northwest at full speed.
His speed—
blazing through the forest like a streak of white lightning.
At first, each of his steps left massive craters in the earth. He couldn't fully control Asu's power yet. But soon, the deep pits became shallower… from massive holes to formed footprints… from footprints to faint traces… until, in the end, only a trained tracking expert could find any hint that Uchiha Hatoha had passed through.
Hatoha was adapting to this "wearing Asu" state at an astonishing pace.
—
"Asu and Uchiha Hatoha have departed."
"Are all preparations complete?"
"All actors are in place. We're only waiting for our seed to arrive at the designated location."
"What's the situation on Konoha's side?"
"The Third Hokage sent out four ANBU squads. None of the absolute top-tier elites are among them, but each one is a battle-hardened veteran. If our seed can successfully sprout, then these ANBU will make the perfect whetstones."
"Excellent."
Uchiha Madara nodded slowly, then added, "Black Zetsu, you go watch as well. See whether this seed… can truly take root and sprout!"
With that,
he closed his eyes.
As if exhausted, his gaunt body slumped back against the stone chair.
"Leave it to me, Madara-sama."
Black Zetsu stared at the old man reclining on the chair. On his half-black face, an almost imperceptible sinister smile flickered. Then—like a pitcher plant swaying in the wind—his form lurched sideways and merged into the wall as easily as a drop of water slipping into an ocean.
He followed Uchiha Hatoha and Asu from just the right distance.
Hatoha had no idea he was being tailed.
Asu sensed Black Zetsu behind them—
but said nothing, continuing to sync perfectly with Hatoha's breakneck sprint.
"These footprints… he's evolving!"
The white half of Zetsu's dual face spoke excitedly.
"Yes… he's evolving."
Black Zetsu replied.
He wasn't just tailing Hatoha. He was also erasing every trace that might expose their hidden base. And as he did so, he noticed Uchiha Hatoha evolving— rapidly, violently, perfectly adapting to the White Zetsu's power.
"In all these years, nothing like this has ever happened!"
White Zetsu chirped, thrilled.
In the past decade,
more than one young Uchiha had worn a powerful White Zetsu suit—but not a single one had evolved so quickly, so dramatically, nor come close to subduing its power as perfectly as Uchiha Hatoha.
"Perhaps… this time, there really is hope."
Even Black Zetsu couldn't suppress his muttered anticipation.
Hope flickered
in his eyes.
Uchiha Madara was frustrated at failing to find a suitable pawn for the Eye of the Moon Plan. Black Zetsu, too, was tormented by the constant delays. In truth, he was even more desperate than Madara.
After all—
Madara had only waited a few decades.
But Black Zetsu…
had waited a thousand years.
So now, seeing even the faintest glimmer of hope, his gaze shone.
"Will Hatoha awaken the Mangekyō Sharingan? And what will his Mangekyō ability be? Amaterasu? Tsukuyomi? Kamimusubi? Iwatsuchibiko? Amanotorifune? Taomataru? Iwanaga-hime? Konohanasakuya-hime? Shinatobe… or will an entirely new Mangekyō technique appear?"
White Zetsu rattled off names like listing off a menu.
They were—
none other than the Mangekyō Sharingan abilities that had appeared throughout Uchiha history.