Chapter 52: Black Zetsu's Melancholy
According to the tale Black Zetsu had spun, Uchiha Madara had been cut down by his own disciple, Senju Stelle. The battle had concluded, and Madara, though grievously wounded, was not yet dead. However, the treacherous Stelle, coveting her master's powerful eyes, delivered the final, cowardly blow. She had not only killed him but had gouged out his Sharingan, sealing his fate.
Before his demise, Madara's heart had filled with absolute resentment at his student's betrayal. This deep hatred, Black Zetsu explained, had warped his ocular powers and given birth to Black Zetsu himself—a manifestation of Madara's indomitable will. His singular purpose was to find a worthy successor within the Uchiha clan, one who would slay Stelle, avenge Madara, and finally enact the Moon's Eye Plan to bring true peace to the ninja world. The stone tablet in the Uchiha's Naka Shrine, he claimed, was proof of this grand design.
Uchiha Setsuna, having recently awakened his own Mangekyō Sharingan, had swallowed the story whole after reading the manipulated contents of the tablet.
But his attitude was starting to grate on Black Zetsu's last nerve. The boy was insufferably arrogant, strutting about as if awakening the Mangekyō had made him invincible. Even Uchiha Madara, in all his glory, would never have made such a foolish claim. What right did this piece of trash—a boy Madara himself had deemed unremarkable—have to act so high and mighty?
Still, for Mother's sake, he endured. This was merely a temporary humiliation for a greater cause. He had suffered far worse.
Pushing aside his irritation, Black Zetsu offered a reminder. "Stelle's chakra is beginning to show signs of chaos. Watch her closely. The moment she reveals a weakness will be your chance to strike."
At this, Setsuna's tone grew even more conceited. "We had an agreement. We were to lure her out so I could kill her in a proper duel. I was to wash away the clan's humiliation and prove that I am a more worthy disciple than she ever was. Why did you arrange for so many others to be here?"
He scoffed, his voice dripping with disdain. "If she's simply mobbed and killed, what is the point? Even if I land the final blow, there is no honor in it!"
Black Zetsu was stunned. Here they were, at the most critical juncture, and this fool was whining about not getting a one-on-one duel? Did he not see the state of his own abilities? His Mangekyō was newly awakened and untested. His ninjutsu and taijutsu were leagues below Stelle's.
The boy was living in a dream.
A deep exhaustion washed over Black Zetsu. Why were all the collaborators he found such troublesome, shortsighted fools? Not a single one could focus on the grand scheme. If the circumstances weren't so delicate, he would have already slapped a Cursed Seal on Setsuna to guarantee his compliance.
"The priority," Black Zetsu said, his voice a weak rasp, "is to reclaim Lord Madara's Sharingan."
"I know that! You don't need to remind me!"
Black Zetsu fell silent, simmering.
Meanwhile, on the battlefield, the situation had shifted. At the cost of a deep gash on her arm from the black-clad samurai, Stelle had finally broken through Kakuzu's relentless ninjutsu bombardment. With a flick of her wrist, a kunai flew true, embedding itself directly in Kakuzu's heart. He crumpled to the ground and did not get back up.
Only the samurai remained.
While weaving hand signs, Stelle secretly rolled her eyes. 'That Kakuzu is far too insidious,'she thought.'Lying on the ground playing dead... he's definitely waiting for a chance to launch a sneak attack.'
The moment Kakuzu fell, Stelle seemed to expose an opening. The black-clad samurai seized the opportunity, his blade carving through the air in a calm, precise slash. An orange-red aura flared from the steel, so sharp it seemed to slice the very atmosphere in two.
Stelle clapped her hands together. "Fire Release: Triple-Layered Flame Wall!"
Three concentric walls of fire erupted from the ground to shield her, but the samurai's attack was too powerful. The blade aura tore through all three layers as if they were paper. The samurai's blade followed an instant later, piercing Stelle clean through the chest and pinning her to the earth, rendering her immobile.
A victorious smirk spread across the samurai's face. He had succeeded. As he prepared to withdraw his katana and claim his prize…
A sharp whistle of air sounded from above.
Above me!
The samurai's head snapped up. To his utter disbelief, Stelle was descending from the sky, her face a mask of cold fury.
How could this be?
His eyes darted back to the figure impaled on his sword. The body of Stelle flickered and vanished in a puff of smoke. It had been a Shadow Clone.
In the real Stelle's palm, a sphere of pure flame spun with ferocious speed. The small orb was blindingly bright, its core glowing with a violet-white intensity from the sheer heat. A terrifying, destructive power radiated from it as it descended.
The samurai tried to dodge, but it was too late. The fireball slammed squarely into his back.
"Flame Release: Spiraling Inferno!"
This was a ninjutsu Stelle had developed herself, a terrifying fusion of the Rasengan's principles, her own unique purple flame-attribute chakra, and a careful study of the Nine-Tails' Tailed Beast Bomb.
The moment the ultra-high-density sphere of fire chakra made contact, the forcibly compressed energy within lost its containment. It didn't just explode—it detonated. A destructive shockwave erupted from the point of impact, spreading outwards in a violent, expanding wave of annihilation that seemed to incinerate and obliterate every cell in the samurai's body.
When the searing heat and concussive blast finally subsided, all that was left of the black-clad samurai were scattered, smoking fragments. There was no further sound from him. Of course, it would have been quite terrifying if there had been.
His end was truly pathetic. The area on his back directly hit by the jutsu had been instantly vaporized, leaving nothing but empty space. His head and lower body had been torn apart by the shockwave, strewn across the clearing in charred pieces that still smoldered, filling the air with the acrid smell of burnt flesh.
Even Stelle was taken aback by the power. Since developing the jutsu, she had never actually used it in a real fight; it had only existed in theory. As expected of a technique inspired by the "ball" the future Hokage would use from the beginning to the end of his career—its potential was truly staggering.
"Stelle!"
A figure leaped from the shadows. Uchiha Setsuna stood before her, his eyes blazing. The crimson irises spun rapidly, revealing a unique Mangekyō pattern: three symmetrical, spiraling blades curved around the pupil like sickles caught in a whirlwind.
The moment Stelle met his gaze, his ocular technique activated.
'Holy cow,'Stelle thought, genuinely impressed.'Someone with Setsuna's mediocre talent actually awakened the Mangekyō. Black Zetsu really is something else, always able to find a replacement pawn.'
[Host, he has activated an incredibly powerful genjutsu. Although it is ineffective against you thanks to my presence, you can't just stand there dazed. Hurry up and give him a reaction!]
That was right. With the system garrisoned in her mind, any genjutsu that tried to invade her consciousness was simply absorbed and neutralized. For all intents and purposes, she was immune.
Stelle blinked once, then her eyes widened in theatrical horror. She clutched her head and let out a miserable scream, her body instantly going limp as if she had lost all control.
At that exact moment, Kakuzu, still lying on the ground, saw his chance. His hand detached from his wrist, propelled by a mass of writhing black threads, and shot towards Stelle's back, aiming straight for her heart.
But Stelle's reactions were too fast. Even as she fell, she sensed the danger. With a subtle, desperate twist of her body, she managed to shift just enough to avoid a fatal blow.
The hand missed her heart, but it still tore a deep, bloody wound in her side.
"Senju Stelle," Setsuna sneered, his voice filled with triumph. "Hand over Lord Madara's Sharingan, and I might grant you a quick death. Otherwise, I can only let you perish in agony."
Stelle's face was pale. Kneeling on the ground, she barely managed to lift her head and glare at him. "Someone of your caliber… actually awakened the Mangekyō Sharingan? How utterly laughable."
"Shut up!" Setsuna roared, his composure shattering. "You're the trash! A worthless traitor who doesn't even possess the Sharingan dares to be arrogant in front of me?"
He completely lost control. If Black Zetsu hadn't been screaming at him telepathically that they still needed to interrogate her, he would have unleashed his Mangekyō's secret technique again. Unable to contain his rage, he kicked a fallen katana from the ground, caught it, and slashed down at her.
Stelle rolled desperately to the side. She quickly took stock of her "injuries": her left arm was immobile, a gaping hole had been torn open next to her heart, and now a fresh slash marked her back. This should be more than enough evidence to report back with.
She'd had enough fun for one day; it was time to retreat. On her way out, she could harvest a nice wave of mood values from Black Zetsu and Kakuzu. The emotional points from a big spender like Black Zetsu were too good to waste.
Stelle made her decision: she would "die" only after she had finished the harvest.
All these battle traces would be more than enough for Senju Tobirama to deduce how intense and difficult her fight had been—how she had struggled desperately to escape, only to succumb to her grievous wounds.
'Land of Wind, here I come,'she thought with a flicker of excitement.'I'm on my way to lead you through the 'Five-Year Desert Control, Ten-Year Oasis' initiative!'
She plucked two smoke bombs from her pouch, slammed them onto the ground, and turned to flee. Her entire body dissolved into a streak of purple light, moving with every ounce of speed she could muster.
"Ah! My thirty million ryō! Don't you run!" Kakuzu bellowed, lunging forward in hot pursuit.
[Ding! Received Mood Value from Kakuzu +5000]
"Quickly, after her!" Black Zetsu urged, latching onto Setsuna and activating the Mayfly technique to give chase, their combined speed far greater than before.
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