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Black Zetsu and Naruto stood face to face. The special training was about to begin.
"While that villain controlled your body, he used powers you didn't possess," Zetsu said. "I need to test if your physical form still remembers them."
Naruto looked utterly baffled. "Really? But I don't feel anything at all!"
"Because it has nothing to do with your consciousness. It's raw instinct, potentially still carved into your body's memory."
WHUMP!
Five massive trees erupted from the ground behind Zetsu.
His black hand shot out. The central tree hurtled toward Naruto!
"!" Naruto's eyes widened. He jumped back, barely avoiding the trunk.
Before he could land—
WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH!
The four other trees arced through the air, striking from all sides. Naruto's escape routes vanished. He was cornered.
"Whoa whoa! Uncle Black, you're serious?!"
Black Zetsu's tone was sharp, final. Yes. This was the simplest, most brutal way to awaken instinct.
"!!!"
Naruto's hand shot up. Instinct took over. A Rasengan formed. In a blink, it swelled to a massive "Super Big Ball Rasengan"—and shredded the incoming trees into splinters!
Zetsu smiled. Good. Those techniques, while executed by Madara's will, had used Naruto's body as the vessel. That physical memory was etched into his very cells, waiting to be used.
Naruto stared at his hand, dazed.
That… was a Rasengan?
No way.
He'd never managed a one-handed Rasengan before. Now he'd done it without thinking? And not just any Rasengan—a Super Big Ball Rasengan?
How…? The unreality of it made his head spin. A cold knot of fear tightened in his gut.
Distracted, he didn't see the last sweeping trunk. THWACK! It smacked him flat to the ground.
"Oof… that hurt."
Black Zetsu walked over. The test was clear enough.
"Your body remembers combat reactions. But your conscious mind hasn't accepted them yet. So when you start thinking, it suppresses the instinct."
Naruto frowned. "I can't not think! It's too weird! Weird enough to be scary! If I don't think about it, I just feel… uneasy."
Zetsu rubbed his chin. Hmm. A problem. Handled poorly, this could become a mental block. Like Lady Tsunade's blood phobia.
They had to dispel Naruto's panic towards this "foreign" power first.
For the next half-day, as Zetsu prepared food, he pondered.
Then—it clicked.
Of course. Make Naruto believe he learned it.
"Naruto. We're starting meditation training next."
"Meditation?"
"It's a method from Mount Myōboku, used in Sage training. Your teacher Jiraiya was proficient. I will instruct you in his stead."
"R-really?! I… I can learn Ero-Sennin's techniques??"
"Believe in yourself! Watch closely."
Black Zetsu assumed a full lotus position. Naruto clumsily copied him.
"Remember… not just the body. The mind must become still."
"Body and mind… both still?"
It wasn't easy. Naruto fidgeted, expression tense.
"Your mind is restless," Zetsu observed. "Thinking of Konoha. Of Sasuke. Of the unease when you used a power you shouldn't know. Correct?"
"Yeah, Uncle Black."
Zetsu hummed softly. "Look at the sky. What do you see?"
"Clouds…"
"The chaotic thoughts in your mind are like those clouds. They gather, scatter, flow. So what is true stillness?"
Naruto guessed. "The clouds… all disappear?"
Zetsu chuckled, shaking his head. He guided gently. "The sky above the clouds is inherently clear and pure. You only mistake the clouds for the sky because you focus on them."
"Oh…"
"Now. Close your eyes again."
Naruto did. After Zetsu's skillful guidance, the churning in his mind… actually began to settle.
A light, peaceful sensation followed.
Naruto entered a state of "Zen Meditation."
In truth, Zen Meditation was an ancient practice from the era of the Six Paths' Shinobi Sect, meant to calm the mind and better channel chakra. Similar to Mount Myōboku's Sage methods, but not identical.
But Naruto's body already remembered the sensation of Myōboku's Sage Mode.
The Zen Meditation Zetsu taught naturally awakened that latent instinct, allowing Naruto to accept it as his own!
Zzzzzzt…!
Natural energy converged. The distinctive facial markings of Mount Myōboku's Sage Mode materialized.
"How does it feel?" Zetsu asked.
Naruto opened his eyes. His gaze was clear, serene. "It's amazing… Like I'm part of nature itself. All those confusing things… I can sort them out now. I can accept them."
Yes. The feeling of entering Sage Mode, as experienced by Madara, was already engraved in Naruto's flesh. Once Naruto found that feeling through his own means, he could simply pick it up and use it.
And not just Sage Mode. Every ability Madara had used through this body was the same.
Zetsu's task was to guide Naruto, to make him believe he'd learned it all himself.
"Naruto. Now, try the one-handed Rasengan again."
Naruto stood. In Sage Mode, his mind was focused, uncluttered. His hand rose—and a Rasengan formed effortlessly in his palm.
Zetsu nodded, smiling. "Good. Now, try to blend the power of the Black Cursed Seal into the Rasengan."
Naruto blinked. "The Black Cursed Seal…?"
"The black mark on your neck."
Naruto's head twisted, eyes widening. "That's… isn't that Sasuke's curse mark???"
"Do not worry. While similar in appearance, this mark is fundamentally different from the Heaven Curse Mark Orochimaru left on Sasuke. They cannot be compared."
Heh. Of course not. That is the prestigious, concentrated power of Uchiha Madara himself. You absorbed thirty percent. The remaining seventy still resides within that seal.
"The method is the same as when you sensed the Nine-Tails. Perceive the Black Cursed Seal. Then guide its power… into the Rasengan."
Naruto concentrated. The Black Cursed Seal activated. Dark patterns spread from his neck down his Rasengan-wielding arm. Simultaneously, a murky, potent energy flooded the spinning sphere. Its color deepened to pitch black. Its rotation grew frenzied, violent!!
Zetsu: Oh? The Black Rasengan Madara used… you've grasped it so easily!
"Naruto! Try to go further! Shape it into a Rasenshuriken!!"
A Sage Art: Black Rasenshuriken… even Madara hadn't achieved this!
Naruto pushed, forcing the Black Cursed Seal's power to erupt more violently. At the same time… he recalled every nuance of his Rasenshuriken training!!
His consciousness narrowed to a razor's edge. Total focus.
Then—
Rustle… rustle…
A blurry image flickered across his mind's eye.
A desolate wilderness. A temple.
Someone sitting on a coffin… facing a man with a wicked smile.
First-person perspective???
Who…? Who was sitting on the coffin? The person he was seeing… was that… Uncle Black??
CRACKLE-BOOM!
Outside the temple in the vision, wind howled. Lightning flashed. A deep, thunderous voice spoke, laced with a threat that vibrated in his bones.
—"Black Zetsu… You resurrected me in this manner. You had better have a damned good explanation. Or I swear… I will end you."
BANG—!!!
The Black Rasengan in Naruto's hand exploded violently.
"NARUTO!!!" Black Zetsu's shout tore through the clearing.
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