Megumi suddenly remembered something and tilted her head, asking:
"Makoto, I recall that using the Mangekyo Sharingan comes at the cost of deteriorating eyesight, right?"
Having been with Makoto for so long, they had a certain understanding of the Sharingan's power-up mechanics.
Makoto nodded.
That was indeed a problem.
Each time the Mangekyo Sharingan was used, the eyesight would degrade a little. With excessive use, it would lead to complete blindness.
The only way to solve this was to evolve it into the Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan, which required transplanting the Mangekyo from a direct blood relative.
The problem was, Obito was a pure orphan, so there's no possibility of evolving into the Eternal Mangekyo.
Makoto didn't want to transplant Hashirama's cells into his woman either. What if a face grew out of Utaha's chest?
He looked down at her pair of tremendously tempting breasts, and the image of a face growing on them appeared in his mind...
Even Makoto couldn't help but shudder.
Then, Chika raised her hand:
"I have a proposal!!"
Everyone looked at her.
"How about letting Moeha heal Utaha-sensei every time she uses the Mangekyo Sharingan? What do you think?"
Upon hearing this, everyone turned to look at Moeha, who possessed the Heal-Heal Fruit ability.
Everyone had experienced the miraculous medical effects of the Heal-Heal Fruit. Whether it was limb regeneration or internal organ repair, it could be accomplished in a short time.
Makoto's eyes lit up at the suggestion.
"We can give that a try."
If this method worked, aside from ultimate moves like the Complete Body Susanoo that would render the eyes completely ruined after a single use, Utaha might be able to leverage the power of these eyes to their maximum potential.
However, Makoto wasn't too concerned about how strong Utaha could become. There were already plenty of female monsters on the team.
…
A few days later.
The hall of the Ninja World Government.
This palace, symbolizing the highest authority in the Ninja World, had been completed.
Inside the hall, huge stone pillars stood on both sides, and the floor was paved with mirror-polished marble.
The most striking feature was the Empty Throne at the far end of the hall.
The throne itself was rather ordinary.
But around the throne, several swords had been plunged into the ground... each weapon represented a nation or power that had joined the Ninja World Government.
Swords of Alliance!
Makoto stood alone in the center of the hall, looking up at the Empty Throne.
Currently, none of the Five Great Nations, except for the Land of Fire, had joined the government.
However, many small nations, led by the Land of Snow and the Land of Grass, had chosen to join and submit.
The reason was simple.
Whenever war broke out, the great nations used the small nations as their battlegrounds.
The Land of Wind and the Land of Fire fought their wars in the Land of Rivers.
The Land of Earth and the Land of Lightning fought their wars in the Land of Waterfalls.
The small nations, caught between the great powers, dared not offend either side and were oppressed by both.
When war came, their fields became battlefields, their villages became barracks, and their children became cannon fodder.
But now, the Ninja World Government established by Makoto had publicly declared:
As long as you join the Ninja World Government, anyone who dares to start a war will be met with a united attack from the government.
For these small nations, this was an incredibly good thing.
For a small nation, acknowledging a patron to avoid war was an extremely worthwhile deal.
Even if they had to pay some protection fees, it was worth it.
Because once war broke out, their losses would far exceed the cost of the fees.
"Since you're here, stop hiding."
Just then, Makoto suddenly spoke.
The vast hall contained only him, not a single guard.
It was unclear who he was talking to.
The next second—
A dark shadow suddenly emerged from a crack in the floor.
The black shadow seeped out from the stone crevice like a pool of melting asphalt, slowly solidifying into a bizarre, liquid-like humanoid form.
Black Zetsu.
"Such terrifying sensory ability..."
Black Zetsu's beady eyes stared at the back of Makoto, a hint of wariness in its voice.
"It reminds me of the former fastest Shinobi in the world."
The person it was referring to was Tobirama.
Most later generations only knew Tobirama as a master of Forbidden Jutsu and the strongest Water Release user, but they didn't know he was also a Sensory-type Ninja.
Before dying, while leading his team to evade pursuit, he could constantly sense the location of Gold and Silver Brothers.
And later, when he was summoned with Edo Tensei during the Fourth Great Ninja War, he was the first to sense several enormous Chakras on the distant battlefield.
"Have you finally made up your mind?"
Makoto turned around and looked at Black Zetsu.
He knew that after he had spoken that name, this thousand-year-old lurking shadow would definitely come looking for him.
Black Zetsu was silent for a long time.
He had spent several days agonizing underground before deciding to come.
After taking a shallow breath, Black Zetsu gritted its teeth and asked:
"How do you know?"
The main issue was that Obito, his current trump card, had fallen into Makoto's hands.
And Black Zetsu had been plotting for a millennium to revive its mother.
If it gave up this opportunity, who knows how many more years it would have to wait.
Nagato's Rinnegan had already awakened, the Tailed Beast Capture Plan was ready, everything was at the most critical point.
And now, with Obito and Itachi captured one after another, the Akatsuki existed in name only.
Black Zetsu had no other choice.
After much agonizing, it decided to take a gamble and ask Makoto what exactly he wanted.
Makoto looked at Black Zetsu's face, which had nothing but eyeballs and a mouth.
"In my hometown, there's a saying: 'Walls have ears'. The things you've done over the years are bound to leave some traces, however small."
Black Zetsu's beady eyes were full of confusion.
It truly couldn't figure out where it had left behind incriminating evidence.
For thousands of years, hiding among the descendants of Otsutsuki Hagoromo and Otsutsuki Hamura, it had never exposed its true purpose.
'Where had it gone wrong?'
'And, did Konoha actually have such a saying?'
"Do you want to cooperate?"
Just as Black Zetsu was utterly bewildered, Makoto asked directly.
"I'll help revive your mother."
Black Zetsu's expression froze, its face filled with disbelief.
Makoto had been thinking about it recently and suddenly realized his own objective was somewhat similar to Black Zetsu's.
After all, aside from unifying the Ninja World, the task given by the system was also to defeat Otsutsuki Kaguya.
That meant he had to revive Otsutsuki Kaguya first before he could defeat her.
That's why Makoto decided to talk to the number one filial son of the Ninja World.
Now that Obito had been captured, if Black Zetsu, against all odds, abandoned Madara's plan and waited another millennium for another chance to revive Kaguya, that would be terrible for Makoto.
Would he really have to wait another few thousand years?
Black Zetsu was silent for a long time.
Its beady eyes showed shock, confusion, suspicion, distrust, and many other complex emotions, along with a trace of... hesitation.
After a long while, Black Zetsu finally spoke.
"Why are you doing this?"
Because to revive Otsutsuki Kaguya, it would be necessary to execute the Infinite Tsukuyomi, turning everyone in the world into puppets like White Zetsu.
Black Zetsu truly couldn't fathom why Makoto would help it revive its mother.
This was perhaps the first person in thousands of years that it couldn't see through.
Black Zetsu's mind was struggling to keep up.
And this question stumped Makoto.
He couldn't just say... "I need to revive your mother so I can kill her, right?"
That would be too absurd.
After thinking it over, Makoto came up with a reason that might barely pass muster. Transforming into a scoundrel, he said in a perfectly enunciated manner:
"I want to f*** your mother."