Crack!
Black Zetsu stared at the hand that had been pulled out from his left chest, completely dumbfounded.
Huh…?
He stammered,
"W-what's going on, Akira? Th-this isn't what you said would happen!"
Akira replied casually,
"What's different about it~?"
Black Zetsu's eyes twitched backward, catching Madara's face full of cold mockery.
"D-didn't you say Madara was controlled by your Kotoamatsukami?! Then why did he suddenly stab me from behind?!"
Standing nearby, Akira picked up Kaguya's hand and gently ran its slender, separated fingers through his hair like a comb.
Not only was the action bizarre, but what he said next sounded utterly nonsensical to Black Zetsu.
"Huh? That's strange~ Could it be that your little black backside is just too mysteriously attractive~ and made Madara unable to resist taking a closer look~? Is this the distortion of human nature, or the collapse of morality~?"
"Forget distortion and morality! Make him pull his hand out right now!! I can't move!!!"
Crack!
Before Black Zetsu finished speaking, another hand pierced through his right chest.
Now two hands were sticking out in front of him.
Behind him stood two people, perfectly aligned.
The owner of the second hand was Obito, standing beside Madara in the same posture.
Black Zetsu painfully shifted his gaze from Obito's face—wrinkled with scorching sarcasm—then turned his head.
He saw Akira smiling too.
But that smile looked utterly demonic.
Only then did Black Zetsu finally realize.
"Y-you… you were acting? All of you?!"
Madara's cold voice sounded behind him.
"Black Zetsu, how does it feel to have your dreams shattered at the moment you were most smug and relaxed?"
Obito followed with scorching ridicule.
"You like to think you're smarter than everyone else and treat others like idiots."
"But right now, you're undoubtedly the dumbest one here."
"Hah… hahaha… hahahahahahahaha!"
Black Zetsu burst into manic laughter.
As he laughed, his expression turned ferocious.
"Uchiha Akira… you… you're despicable! All of you are despicable!"
"Black Zetsu, when it comes to being despicable, you're the greatest teacher under heaven."
"You trampled on others' lives and dignity at will."
"Ending up in our hands today is your karma."
Bzzzz…
Behind him, the two former Six Paths figures began to "exert strength" instinctively, following familiar sensations.
Using Black Zetsu's Yin–Yang body as raw material, they refined Truth-Seeking Balls in their free hands.
(Obito had proven in canon that this was possible.)
Whoosh!
The Truth-Seeking Ball in Madara's hand transformed into a crescent-shaped monk staff, like a half-moon.
Whoosh!
The one in Obito's hand became a full-circle staff with a ringed ornament, like a sun.
These two designs symbolized the tendencies of Yin and Yang respectively.
Hagoromo's double-headed staff represented the perfect balance of both, the true Six Paths.
With two Truth-Seeking staves extracted from him, Black Zetsu was completely drained.
He slipped off their arms and collapsed onto the ground like a puddle.
Clang! Clang!
Madara and Obito stood with their staves planted on the ground, looking at Akira.
Their eyes conveyed the same meaning.
We've done our part. The rest is up to you.
Akira withdrew his smile.
Personally, he had no real grudge against Black Zetsu.
He had only spoken up earlier to back up his brothers.
That was all.
Now that he knew death was inevitable, Black Zetsu gathered his remaining form into a round, flat face with two golden dots for eyes.
He looked pitifully at Akira, clinging to his last shred of hope.
"Akira! You just disliked me and wanted to vent for those two behind you!"
"But what you said about reviving Mother—that wasn't a lie, right?! Right?!"
"I don't believe it!"
"You wouldn't come all this way and go through so much trouble just for someone as insignificant as me!"
No matter what Akira truly thought, Black Zetsu was never going to hear the answer he wanted.
"Of course we didn't come for you."
"Because… we're here to completely kill Kaguya."
"What?! No! Please, don't do that!"
"I beg you!"
"Mother's past mistakes—I'll take responsibility for all of them!"
"You can humiliate me, torture me, even kill me!"
"But please spare her!"
"She's lost her power and is sealed inside the stone!"
"She can't do anything anymore!"
"Why must you wipe her out completely?!"
The black puddle swelled into a face and repeatedly struck its forehead against the ground near Akira's feet, as if kowtowing.
Akira put down Kaguya's hand and bent over, grabbing Black Zetsu.
—Yumodoryū!
With trembling black lines, Black Zetsu's shriveled body became full again.
Of course, the Truth-Seeking staves in Madara and Obito's hands did not disappear.
—Yumodoryū!
Time activated again—this time, freezing.
Crack, crack!
Blue-white frost spread across Black Zetsu's skin.
Yet his mind was so focused on Kaguya that he didn't even notice this miraculous phenomenon.
Until the very last moment before time completely froze, he was still muttering:
"Please… don't hurt Mother…"
"Please… don't hurt Mother…"
"Please… don't hurt Mother…"
When the frost mist dissipated, Black Zetsu was gone.
After a long silence, Madara asked,
"Akira, what are you planning to do about Kaguya?"
During Akira's act, he had mentioned two extreme options.
Madara knew neither was his true intention.
Akira lowered his gaze to Kaguya's severed arm.
This hand, wrapped in half a sleeve, had been torn off by Naruto's brute force back then.
At the end of Six Paths: Chibaku Tensei, Naruto had thrown Black Zetsu—still hiding in that sleeve—into the sealing core.
"Uncle Madara, honestly, I haven't decided yet."
"Oh? Even you haven't figured it out?"
"Yes."
"From Kaguya's stance against the Ōtsutsuki, there's a chance she could be recruited."
"But only a chance. There are serious risks."
"First, reviving her is extremely costly."
"It requires the Ten-Tails, a Jinchūriki, Infinite Tsukuyomi, and absorbing the God Tree."
"That's basically repeating your and Obito's old path."
"Second, her abilities are extremely troublesome."
"If she hadn't been obsessed with reclaiming Naruto and Sasuke's chakra, she never would've lost."
"If she wants someone dead, it's absurdly easy."
Obito nodded grimly, placing a hand on his abdomen.
"Yeah. Forget the All-Killing Ash Bones."
"She could've just switched us into the Acid Sea dimension with Amenominaka and wiped us all out."
Akira continued,
"High investment, high risk, uncertain returns."
"From an investment perspective, Kaguya isn't a blue-chip stock."
"So for now, I don't plan to recruit her."
"But I don't plan to kill her either."
"Until I find a low-cost, low-risk way to deal with her…"
"I'll freeze her first."
As he spoke, Akira bent down and picked up Kaguya's hand.
The soft, cold sensation against his palm sparked an idea.
He turned his gaze toward the Demonic Statue—
More precisely, toward the Hashirama artificial body infused with Madara's power.
He clenched the hand tightly.
This idea… isn't it too wild and crazy?
But if it works, it'll be unprecedented…
I'll try it after we get back.
Crack!
Akira sealed Kaguya's arm into the Yumodoryū time zone.
He checked his watch.
It was already 10:23 a.m.
Only about one-sixth of Six Paths: Chibaku Tensei had been destroyed.
They'd been delayed by Black Zetsu's little episode.
Time to speed things up.
Three Perfect Susanoo rose once more.
"Let's finish this before dinner."
"At least I want to see that rabbit auntie once before nightfall."
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