It felt like falling into an abyss. This was Black Zetsu's most terrifying moment.
If Emiya Shirou's target had always been Kaguya, and his reason for attacking Indra a thousand years ago was to orchestrate this meeting, then everything Black Zetsu had experienced—its entire millennium-long plan—had been unfolding under a dark shadow cast by another from the very beginning.
"How is that possible..." Black Zetsu's body trembled. "Back then... you should have only just been born, right?"
"I remember when I first saw you," Emiya Shirou recalled, describing the scene of their first meeting. "You were wearing a straw hat stolen from who-knows-where, with a simple-looking bamboo basket on your back. You looked like a naive child..."
"However," he continued, "you were also very vigilant. You were never willing to reveal anything about Kaguya."
Black Zetsu couldn't help but think back to when Kaguya first left it behind in the ninja world. Its form was small back then, and carrying out its mission was incredibly difficult. But no matter how difficult it was then, it couldn't compare to the despair it felt now.
"At that time... was I already being deceived?" Black Zetsu's voice was filled with shame as it stared intently at Emiya Shirou.
The mere sight of him made its body tremble. The Emiya Shirou standing before it was the exact same man from that ancient era. A small slug rested on his shoulder, and his entire being radiated absolute confidence and composure, as if nothing in the world could move him.
And in truth, there was nothing that could. Everything in this world was already within his grasp. For Black Zetsu, who was currently held in his hand, the feeling was anything but pleasant.
Black Zetsu remembered their friendly past from a thousand years ago. The more comfortable it had felt with Shirou back then, the more intensely it hated him now.
"Wait..." Naruto Uzumaki said, not quite understanding. "What do you mean?"
"The roles have been reversed," Sasuke Uchiha explained to his clueless friend in a low voice. "Black Zetsu always thought Emiya Shirou was a pawn for reviving Kaguya..."
"But..." A mocking smile appeared on Sasuke's lips. "Black Zetsu never expected that the one it thought was a pawn was actually the player secretly controlling it all."
"However..." As Sasuke spoke, his eyes were fixed on Emiya Shirou. "This man's scheming is terrifyingly deep..."
Back when all of Konoha learned from Orochimaru that Shirou was the leader of the Akatsuki, the incident during the Chunin Exams four years ago had already been frightening enough. But this… this was a game within a game. A scheme within a scheme.
"So..." Naruto's body was still paralyzed, but his simple values immediately caused a shift in his thinking. "Emiya is actually a good person..."
Sasuke was at a loss for words. Good and evil… it wasn't something you could explain in a sentence or two.
"Hmph! Just a hypocritical good person!" At that moment, Black Zetsu heard the conversation and couldn't stop itself from lashing out in anger.
Unable to accept being manipulated, it decided to drag everyone else down with it. "Don't think Emiya Shirou is anything good! Do you think he hasn't played with your destinies?"
"You and Sasuke Uchiha have always been his pawns!" Black Zetsu looked at Naruto and Sasuke, growing angrier the more it thought about it, and immediately revealed their past. "The entire ninja world, all of them are his pawns! Even your past lives, Asura and Indra, were his pawns!"
Naruto and Sasuke both fell silent. Because… what Black Zetsu said was also true.
Emiya Shirou seemed to have deceived too many people. The Sage of Six Paths and his sons in the ancient era, many Konoha ninjas, Madara Uchiha, Black Zetsu… the ninja world was filled with victims he had deceived and manipulated.
"I'm curious..." Black Zetsu looked at Emiya Shirou, grinding its teeth in hatred, but it still wanted to know the truth. "You already knew about my relationship with Kaguya in the ancient era, but you still chose to die back then..."
Could it be that, at that time, this man wasn't afraid of dying completely?
"Even if I didn't choose to, it would have been meaningless. Human life has an end," Emiya Shirou nodded and continued casually. "At that time, my power was already on par with the Sage of Six Paths. If I had rashly become the Ten-Tails Jinchuriki, I might not have gained eternal life, but I would have gained even greater power. That would have inevitably made you vigilant..."
"If I could have obtained eternal life through the power of the Ten-Tails, you would have become wary of my existence and wouldn't have dared to try and revive Kaguya."
"If I couldn't obtain eternal life through the power of the Ten-Tails, you would have prevented my resurrection out of fear of my power."
"That death was the best opportunity," Shirou explained. "Although I had long understood that what Asura spoke of was impossible, I held on to a little hope, to see if the peaceful future he dreamed of would come true. But my greater purpose was indeed to arrange a meaningful death..."
"Madman!" Black Zetsu gritted its teeth and spat out the word. Emiya Shirou was so calm as he spoke of his own death, so frank about arranging it himself. This man was a complete madman.
Even Sasuke and Naruto were dumbfounded.
"It was the best way," Shirou continued. "As long as it was a sacrificial death, the body I left behind could be passed down in the ninja world."
"Because I am the first true medical ninja, Asura's descendants would protect my body because of my sacrifice. And you wouldn't choose to secretly destroy it because of our past cooperative relationship..."
"Of course, this couldn't entirely guarantee my resurrection. So, I left behind two different crystal coffins."
"One of the coffins was left for Asura's descendants. Their clan is the most suited to become medical ninjas and also the most talented. They can't rely on the Sharingan, which Indra's descendants are almost destined to awaken.
The chakra struggle between Asura and Indra would also fuel their descendants' wars. Among Asura's descendants, in order to fight Indra's, they would surely develop more forbidden jutsu. Forbidden power often represents strength, and it inevitably tempts people to sink deeper and deeper..."
"Sooner or later, they would start researching the soul."
The statement was self-evident. Everyone understood what he meant. Even without Tobirama, another branch of Asura's descendants, the Uzumaki clan, did indeed start researching the soul. But Konoha's Second Hokage, Tobirama Senju, was the one who took it the furthest.
In the end, the man who seemed to only create forbidden jutsu developed the Impure World Reincarnation, a technique that caused great disaster.
"Even if my guess was wrong, it wouldn't have mattered," Shirou said, not revealing his knowledge of history, but explaining his backup plan. "I left another coffin in Shikkotsu Forest, one that would surely resurrect me in the future."
"On that crystal coffin, I left my last words. If someone could pass the slugs' test, they could get it. Once that coffin flowed into the ninja world, sooner or later someone would discover my last words and understand how to research a way to resurrect me."
"Coincidentally, both crystal coffins were ultimately put to use."
"The first was used by Tobirama to resurrect me with the Impure World Reincarnation. The timing wasn't ideal, but it was enough to let me get involved with you again and arrange my second return to the underworld, followed by my second resurrection."
"At that time, I also met Tsunade. I believed she would eventually bring my crystal coffin out from Shikkotsu Forest. And I met Orochimaru, who was curious about forbidden jutsu from a young age. I was sure he would find a chance to get the second coffin and resurrect me a second time..."
"This time, I could finally be sure. It wouldn't take as long as it did a thousand years ago."
Shirou's gaze turned back to Black Zetsu. "As long as I regained your trust after my first resurrection, you would be looking forward to my return and would definitely not obstruct my second one."
"I just didn't expect... in the ancient era, it was so difficult to get information about Kaguya from you. You protected yourself like a newborn terrified of a new world."
"It wasn't until I was resurrected that you, having become arrogant after a thousand years of manipulating people, finally revealed the story of Kaguya. That was a bit of a surprise." As Shirou said this, a look of genuine surprise appeared on his face, like seeing a formidable opponent suddenly start making unexplainable mistakes.
"After all, everything I said back then was just to gain more of your trust. I didn't expect you to confess everything this time, and even be so pleased with yourself for successfully deceiving me..."
"I..."
Black Zetsu really wanted to scream. However proud it had felt when it thought it had tricked Shirou, that's how furious it was now hearing him talk about it again.
"At that time, the two of us were thinking the exact same thing," Shirou said softly. "Just as you were imagining how regretful I would be when you revealed your 'truth,' I was wondering what your expression would be at this very moment. Is it full of regret... or shame turned to anger?"
"If you need a reference, I can tell you what I was feeling just now, while you were so pleased with yourself."
Shirou's gaze fell on Black Zetsu. His eyes were filled with a strange emotion, like a powerful being looking down on a helpless creature that was triumphantly struggling, unaware of its own powerlessness.
That emotion... is generally called...
"Pity."