Daichi took a few deep breaths and calmed himself. He quickly opened the quest list and looked at the corresponding quest.
[Quest - 'Seek the Hidden Truth of the Necklace.']
[Tsunade and those around her believe there is a curse on the first Hokage's necklace that would kill anyone who wears it other than Tsunade Senju. But is this the truth? Investigate what happened in secret and find the hidden truth of the necklace. ]
[Once you've found the truth, you have two options. ]
.
Option 1:
Reveal the truth to Tsunade.
Rewards:
[10000 Exp.]
[Reputation increases with Tsunade, Shizune and possibly others.]
[Note: Revealing the truth to Tsunade will have unknown consequences.]
.
Option 2:
[Keep what you've learned to yourself.]
Rewards:
[10000 Exp.]
.
Failure:
[If you are caught investigating the incidents then certain dangerous individuals will have their eyes on you.]
[Possible death]
'There doesn't seem to be any change in the quest. Am I wrong?' The gamer ninja frowned.
Daichi recalled everything he knew about Madara. Everything he read about the man since he came to this world and everything he saw in his previous life.
Suddenly a memory surfaced. It was Madara facing Mu the Second Tsuchikage and his student Onoki. And then the words Madara said to Onoki during the fourth war came to his mind.
"What kind of adult goes full force when fighting children?"
Daichi's brow furrowed. '…Would Madara really ambush a child? Would he kill Nawaki like that?' Madara's words echoed faintly and doubt formed in his mind. 'Well he did manipulate Obito and killed Rin. So that's a yes but still…'
'Wait. At that time, Madara hadn't fallen into full insanity. He hadn't become old and frail. During those years I'm certain he still had his pride. So then would he have really ambushed a child like Nawaki? Or sabotaged Dan just to traumatize Tsunade?... Maybe Dan or Tsunade but Nawaki? Would he really do that to the grandchild of his rival just because of fear? Especially when he was still young enough to be proud of his own power?'
"…No. That doesn't feel like Madara's style."
Daichi narrowed his eyes. 'Even after breaking away from the village, Madara Uchiha still had a warped code. He would break armies but he wouldn't sneak a knife under a boy's ribs in a tent and call it victory. Maybe he would have done something like that in the last decade of his life but during Nawaki's time, he had standards. I'm sure of that.'
Eliminating Madara, only one other name appeared in Daichi's mind. One ruthless and low enough to pull it all off.
"Black Zetsu." The name came as a whisper from Daichi's lips. 'That makes more sense. Zetsu had always operated from the shadows. Manipulating, deceiving, orchestrating war from behind the curtains. Creating pain, grief, chaos... all to move the world toward his desired end.'
A tired sigh escaped from Daichi's lips.
'Killing Nawaki covertly, without Orochimaru even realizing. Then targeting Dan in a way that left no trace. And making sure Tsunade blamed the necklace—so she'd turn away from her identity, from the battlefield, from hope itself.'
"All of that just to ensure no Senju with Wood style ability would rise again. Not unless they were under his thumb."
Daichi recalled the words Shizune had told him when he first saw his sensei's condition and he sighed. 'There was no curse. It was all just a lie to break her spirit and waste her life… Oh sensei… I am so sorry.'
[Gamer's mind has activated]
Rage flowed through Daichi's body but he quickly calmed down. 'Just one more score I need to settle. Zetsu, I'm sure you also had a hand in escalating the tension between the village and the Uchiha clan… Just you wait, you fucking sludge. Once I'm ready, old and new grudges will be settled together.'
Just then, a ding echoed in his ears. A semi-transparent blue box appeared in front of Daichi.
[Quest Update: 'Seek the Hidden Truth of the Necklace.']
[You have discovered the truth behind the events.]
[Black Zetsu orchestrated the deaths of Nawaki Senju and Dan Kato to traumatize Tsunade and prevent the birth of a new Wood Release bloodline.]
[What will you do now?]
[Option 1: Reveal the truth to Tsunade.]
[Note: If you select this option, rewards will be distributed after you inform Tsunade Senju. Time limit: 14 Days. Failure to complete the mission in the given time limit will render all rewards from this quest void.]
[Option 2: Keep what you've learned to yourself.]
[Note: If you select this option, the quest will be marked complete and rewards will be distributed now.]
[Time Remaining to Choose: 10:00 minutes]
A digital countdown started ticking at the bottom of the screen.
[9:59… 9:58… 9:57…]
Daichi stared at the floating prompt in front of him with an unreadable expression. His eyes drifted from the system prompt to the ceiling, where soft lights illuminated the room. 'What should I do?'
'If I tell Tsunade... She might find closure. Or it might reopen every wound she tried to bury. Revealing the truth will change her. Shake her to the core. But… maybe she deserves to know. Maybe it's time she stopped blaming herself for something that was never her fault.'
He stared at the two options for a long moment.
'But if I tell her... it could change her path entirely. Maybe it'll give her strength… or maybe it'll break her again.'
He glanced at the timer. [9:17… 9:16… 9:15…]
'Nine minutes. And I have to make a choice.'
Daichi exhaled and closed his eyes. He quickly entered his mindscape and conjured several clones. He wanted to know the pros and cons of his decision as quickly as possible.
Five forms of Daichi with different demeanors stood in a semi circle in front of the original
"This is a predicament." One of them started.
"No kidding. We'll have to live with whatever choice we make." Another clone nearby retorted.
At that moment the real Daichi spoke. "Let's start with option one. What are the upsides to telling sensei about this?"
"Telling her will free her from guilt," the first clone said. "The belief that her loved ones died because of her, because of some 'curse,' has been emotionally crippling. This truth… it could bring her closure."
"Closure isn't guaranteed," immediately the third Daichi replied. "It could just as easily break her again. She's somewhat moved on now. You tell her this and it might reopen every old scar. If she realizes that she was a pawn in someone's schemes it might have serious negative repercussions on her psyche."
"And let's not ignore what she would do even if she accepts it." The fifth clone nodded with the third clone and gave his thoughts. "If she finds out that her brother and fiance were murdered and she was manipulated, then she might make it her life's mission to kill Zetsu. Her hatred of being manipulated could push her into more aggressive actions. She could even reject the position of Fifth Hokage and that could be problematic."
All of them became silent for a few moments before the second clone spoke. "If we tell her, she might heal and finally move on. She might even fall in love again and have a family."
"She just endured a torture under the hands of her former teammate and is just starting to recover. Do we really want to put more on her plate?" The fourth clone asked, looking at his creator.
"Are you saying I should keep this a secret from her?" The original asked.
The fourth clone nodded. "It might be the right option to keep her in the dark considering her current situation."
Daichi scoffed. "Now I'm starting to sound like the Third Hokage."
The clones immediately understood what their creator meant.
The fourth clone crossed his arms. "Come on! Tsunade's situation is nothing like Naruto's. We're talking about something that happened way in the past. Telling her won't change what happened. Naruto's situation is completely different. He needed to know about the nine tails and about his parents to make informed decisions about his future. Otherwise it would have created problems for him."
"And what makes you think not telling Tsunade about this matter won't have any effect on the future?" The second clone looked at the fourth and asked with narrowed eyes. "We might be able to keep this a secret from her. But what if she finds out the truth from someone else?"
The real Daichi quickly understood what his doppelganger was getting at. "You're talking about someone taking advantage of sensei just like how Mizuki took advantage of Naruto."
The Second clone nodded. "Yes. The only person who knows this information is Zetsu. And if in a battle he tells her this information and rattles her, the consequences would be devastating."
"But as far as we know, Black Zetsu and Tsunade never had any interaction in canon."
"But this isn't canon. Orochimaru never abducted Tsunade and experimented on her. But that happened. How can we say that Zetsu will never come into contact with sensei in the future? Especially now that she has the possibility to use wood style jutsus… Telling her might be for the best. So she can accept, move on or prepare." The fifth clone thought about all the changes that happened and sighed.
"If we had a few months or even a few more weeks, this wouldn't be such a problem." The third clone knew that heaping such terrible news, right after Tsunade recovered, might not be ideal.
"There is something else you need to consider." The first clone spoke.
"The blood samples." The original sighed as he quickly figured out what his clone was hinting at.
The others thought for a few moments and quickly understood.
"Right, right. If we tell her, there would be questions on how we acquired the samples of Nawaki and Dan. And even why we looked into it."
"The why won't be much of an issue but it's the how that's going to be a headache." The first clone knew that Tobirama, Hiruzen and Jiraiya would have doubts.
"If in telling her, our identity as Dragon gets exposed, that could pose some problems."
"Also, the system says unknown consequences if we tell her. Can we really take a gamble with that?"
"But isn't that cowardice?" the third clone snapped. "We know the truth. And she deserves to know. We're just keeping her in the dark because it's safer?"
The fifth clone cut in. "Or maybe it's wisdom. A good shinobi knows when to hold information. Right now, we hold a rare advantage. If this information gets out, then Zetsu will know someone other than the people around him is aware of his existence. He will definitely trace it back to us and he'll be even more vigilant. He could persuade Obito to come for us or someone near us."
"What if we choose option one but not tell her as Daichi?"
The second clone had an idea in his mind and Daichi immediately saw it. "Dragon."
"Yes. Dragon could tell Tsunade and he could take the fall out."
"If Dragon shows such concerns for Tsunade, will that negatively affect her reputation with the Hokage or others? Don't forget. He's an enemy of the village right now. A wanted shinobi."
"What if we choose the option to not tell her now, get the reward, then have Dragon tell sensei about all this after she's become the Hokage?"
The original Daichi thought about that plan and shook his head. "I'm not sure if the system would allow such a loophole without any penalties."
Everyone became silent for several moments. Then suddenly the first clone standing on the right side spoke. "I don't think you should tell her. She's slowly recovering from her trauma of losing those two. Right now, for the next few months, I think it's best that she recovers from this nightmare without thinking about anything else."
"And Zetsu?" The original asked.
"I think the probability of him meeting Tsunade is slim to none. If this happened a decade ago, then maybe. But now the Akatsuki are close to their goal. The chances of him going to antagonize Tsunade is small. From his point of view, her prime is over. Even if she gets stronger she won't be able to stop them. At least this is what I think he'll decide. He's lived for a thousand years. He has his pride and arrogance."
"And on the very slim chance that he does tell her this? Maybe even manipulate the facts about their deaths?" The second clone asked.
"We'll deal with that then. For now, her body is healing. We should prioritize her mental state."
The real Daichi crossed his arms and became silent for a while. He thought about all the valid reasons his counterparts stated and soon one question came to his mind.
He opened his eyes and looked at 5 manifestations in his mind and asked that single question.
"What is the right thing to do?"
The 5 clones became silent for a moment and then looked at Daichi with a smile.
"You already know the answer to that." The doppelganger standing near him smiled and gave his reply. Hearing those words the other clones also nodded their heads in agreement.
The real Daichi let out a deep breath of air and nodded to himself. "Thanks. I've made my decision."
"Don't mention it. We're you afterall."
The clones smiled and vanished. The real Daichi opened his eyes and saw himself back in his lab.
He glanced at the timer. [9:04… 9:03… 9:02…].
He looked at the two options and resolutely pressed on the first option. 'The past should stay as the past. If I hadn't known about this or if this was just a wild theory I had, I wouldn't tell you. But now that I have confirmed the truth, I can't keep this from you.'
[Quest 'Seek the Hidden Truth of the Necklace.' Completed.]
[You have chosen to tell Tsunade Senju the truth. Corresponding rewards will be distributed after the completion of this task.]
[Time limit: 14 days.]
'No truth will be buried forever. It's best you hear this from me.'
—------------
Author's Note:
When I first wrote this quest way back, at that time only a couple people guessed that it could be Zetsu and only one person in the comments guessed this method. Most thought it was Danzo.
If you like my story and want to read ahead, then check out my P.a.T.R.E.0.N page. I've uploaded up to 30 additional chapters there.
Patre on.com/MonkWithAPen (No space)