Before returning to the Daigo's mansion, Black Zetsu demonstrated what he truly meant to be the top stealth master.
Like a piece of jelly, he slipped into Masashi's vest, but Masashi couldn't feel any weight at all.
"This… is pretty convenient." He patted his vest, noticing no bulge or movement.
If someone punched him, would they end up hitting Black Zetsu first?
"Can you shut up? I know you're not thinking of anything good." Even as a bulletproof vest, Black Zetsu could still talk.
"You're underestimating me. I only think about proper matters."
How was having a villain boss take hits for him not proper? That was the true light of justice.
Then, he swiftly used the Flying Thunder God.
By the time he reappeared, he was already in front of the mansion.
"You've returned?"
At the gate, a servant had been anxiously waiting. Seeing Masashi, he finally let out a sigh of relief.
Everyone in the household was well aware that a group of missing-nin was currently wreaking havoc—burning, killing, and looting throughout the territory, with this very mansion as their main target.
For these servants, their fate was tied to their master's. If the master thrived, they thrived. If the master perished, so did they. Unless their master was slain, their loyalty was unquestionable.
The fear, however, was that they might get slaughtered before their master did.
After all, those missing-nin had not even spared the farmers.
"Yeah, had some business to handle. What's going on?" Masashi glanced at the servant and noticed the dark circles under his eyes.
Dawn was breaking.
He could still pull all-nighters just fine. After training in Yang Release for so many years, staying up occasionally wasn't a big deal for him.
A ninja who couldn't endure sleepless nights wasn't a real ninja.
Being able to travel day and night, and start fighting the moment they arrived—that was the basic expectation of these so-called "war machines" known as ninjas.
However, ordinary people in this world were no different from those on Earth. They needed proper rest to function well.
"You waited here all night?" Masashi asked.
"N-No… I didn't."
"If you did, just say so." Masashi pulled out a stack of money and handed it over. "Take it. Buy yourself something good to recover."
"This… I'm just a servant. I can't—"
"Take it. I don't like causing trouble for others. Don't worry, I can reimburse it."
The moment the servant heard the word "reimburse," he quickly accepted the money and even asked, "Masashi-sama, how much should I write the receipt for?"
"Don't be too greedy."
Receiving the servant's admiring gaze, Masashi walked into the mansion.
Inside the inner quarters, he clapped his hands.
A moment later, several doors slid open, and Naruto, Sasuke, and Hinata ran out one after another.
Once they reached him, Masashi immediately pointed out their mistakes.
"You opened the sliding doors too wide. If I were an enemy, you would have already exposed your target. Also, you shouldn't have come out through the main entrance, you should have used another route."
"Oh."
"Huh? We can't just come straight out?"
"S-Sorry. I'll be more careful next time."
The three students responded in ways that perfectly matched their personalities.
Meanwhile, inside Masashi's vest, Black Zetsu silently observed.
In his perception, Asura's chakra reincarnations were always like the original Asura—cheerful and naturally good at gaining others' trust.
The reincarnation of Indra's chakra, like Indra himself, was cold on the outside but passionate on the inside. However, most people would be too intimidated by the cold exterior to ever perceive the warmth within.
Yet, this generation's chakra reincarnations gave off an unusual sense of harmony.
The chakras of Asura and Indra were there, but something about these two individuals just felt… off.
Is it just my imagination?
Black Zetsu was puzzled. To him, the two reincarnations of this generation were unlike any from the past.
"What I'm telling you may not be entirely suited for you, but just remember this—when on a protection mission, always get used to deceiving others. The enemy isn't always in plain sight. Be more vigilant in the future, okay?"
"Yes!"
This time, the kids responded in perfect unison.
Masashi nodded in satisfaction.
"How was your rest last night?"
"I'm fully rested!" Naruto looked brimming with energy, making his words highly convincing.
Sasuke clenched his fists tightly.
Hinata tensed her little face, looking completely prepared as well.
"Looks like you all processed things well." Masashi glanced at the three of them. "Alright then, let's set out now. Eat some soldier pills on the way to maintain your stamina—we'll move fast and return quickly."
With that, he led the three back the way they had come.
By the time they returned to the manor's entrance, the servant had just finished counting his money and was carefully tucking the bills into his chest.
Seeing Masashi return the same way he had left, the servant was momentarily stunned.
"Please inform Daigo-sama that we are heading to eliminate those missing-nin. Tell him not to worry. My clone will remain here to protect the manor." Masashi instructed. "Now, if you could open the gate again."
"Yes, of course! I will report to him immediately." The servant was extremely attentive and swiftly opened the gate once more.
"Thanks." Masashi patted him on the shoulder, then led the three out.
In an instant, Team 7 vanished from the servant's sight.
The servant, awed by the speed of the ninja, couldn't help but sigh inwardly, What an approachable and easygoing ninja.
...
Leaving the manor far behind, Masashi led Team 7 straight toward the location of the missing-nin.
The Flying Thunder God mark was formed using the chakra of the user and could also function as a sensory node.
Before capturing the enemy alive, he had already woven a chakra-sensing network by placing Flying Thunder God marks at multiple locations.
At the center of this network was Daigo's manor.
As long as the Hannya Black Ops hadn't given up on attacking Daigo, they would inevitably walk right into his "net."
And now, they had done just that.
Sensing the Hannyas' chakra, Masashi came to a stop and turned to address Team 7.
"Alright, the enemy has entered the net. Sasuke, Naruto, make sure to protect Hinata, understood?"
"Understood!"
"Good. You performed decently yesterday, but this time, it's a group battle—which is a little different from before. Your Academy lessons covered a lot about teamwork, but in my opinion, it's still not enough to handle experienced combatants. So, I'll give you a quick crash course.
Don't resist it. Especially you, Hinata—just relax and enter my genjutsu."
With that, Masashi activated his Sharingan and looked at the three of them, pulling them into a pre-arranged illusionary training scenario.
---
After completing a "recorded playback" with his Sharingan, he waited for them to regain their senses.
What he had shown them was a memory from the Kiri battlefield.
The battle between the Konoha and Kiri ninjas was a classic example of squad-based combat. Both sides would infiltrate each other's ranks along the long border, sometimes outnumbering the enemy and sometimes being outnumbered themselves.
The ones who met the worst fate were the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist.
They had started out looking incredibly cool, but after encountering Duy, things went downhill fast for them.
That was, of course, an extreme case.
In Masashi's playback, he showed the Uchiha and Hyūga clans fighting against Kiri ninjas on the frontlines.
That was the first time they had fought side by side. At the time, both clans were marginalized within the village, and due to a shortage of manpower, Konoha had sent them to the Kiri battlefield which was a place that, in theory, was highly unsuitable for them.
Yet, they had completely overturned expectations. The two clans, along with a group of weaker ninjas, managed to crush Kiri's frontline forces.
Masashi carefully selected cases that he thought would be easier to understand.
The three little ones might not absorb everything immediately, but it would be enough to deal with the Hannya Black Ops.
The Hannya's elite members had already been wiped out by him in the past. The ones acting as missing-nin now were even weaker than those before.
Without access to a reserve of ninjutsu, they had no choice.
Since he had already guided them this far, he might as well go all the way—letting the future Asura and Indra send these enemies on their way seemed appropriate.
Suddenly, Black Zetsu slipped out from Masashi's cloak, landed on the ground, and wriggled back into human form.
"Finally decided to stop hiding?"
The three genin were still immersed in the illusion, their lesson not yet finished.
Black Zetsu ignored him and instead circled around Naruto and Sasuke a few times.
"What are you looking at?" Masashi wasn't worried about Black Zetsu making a sudden move.
If there was one thing reliable about Black Zetsu, it was that if he promised not to do anything bad, he would stick to his word—at least not right in front of him.
Unlike Masashi, who could make a promise one moment and break it the next without hesitation.
"Nothing." Black Zetsu replied before returning to its original position, adopting a thoughtful pose.
"Weird…" Masashi muttered under his breath.
---
After a while, Sasuke was the first to complete his lesson and exit the genjutsu.
Inside the illusion, he had witnessed how the Uchiha ninjas of the past coordinated with their teammates to maximize the effectiveness of their clan's techniques.
Some of it resembled what he had learned at the Academy, but much of it was something that couldn't be taught in school.
It was a battle-hardened synergy, instincts developed through surviving countless life-and-death struggles.
Still, Sasuke understood a lot from it, and he was excited to receive praise from his amazing brother, Masashi.
But just as he was about to ask for a compliment, he looked up and saw a dark, shadowy face.
"GHOST!!!"
He was so scared he reflexively stabbed forward with a kunai, only for it to be casually caught between Masashi's two fingers.
Black Zetsu didn't even flinch. A kunai meant nothing to him.
But he was actually quite satisfied with Sasuke's reaction.
Yes, this was indeed Indra's reincarnation—he hadn't gone off track.
With that confirmed, he lost interest in Sasuke and turned its eager gaze toward Naruto instead.
"Masashi-nii?" Sasuke, still in shock, looked at Masashi. "Who… who is this?"
"Don't be scared. This is Black Zetsu," Masashi said with a smile. "He's a good friend of mine from outside the village. Just happened to be passing by."
Sasuke looked at Black Zetsu again.
On the other side, Hinata was the next to wake up instead of Naruto.
Seeing Black Zetsu, her reaction wasn't much better than Sasuke's, but instead of attacking, she instinctively took a defensive stance.
Before Masashi could say anything, Sasuke was already speaking up.
"Don't worry, Hinata! He is a friend!"
Black Zetsu, who had been waiting to see Naruto's reaction, turned his head back to look at Sasuke again.
Seeing this little brat grinning smugly, he was confused.
He shot a glance at Masashi, silently asking: Is this kid okay in the head?
He had just tried to stab it a moment ago, and now he was calling him a friend?
Never mind whether he deserved the title "friend"—was this how Masashi's students were turning out?
Masashi understood the look but pretended not to notice.
A little while later, Naruto finally exited the genjutsu. The bright-eyed boy had clearly learned a lot. He habitually gave a big thumbs-up, and if Black Zetsu had a nose, that thumb would have gone straight up it.
Naruto blinked.
"There's something weird here!" he shouted at first, then realized something was off when Black Zetsu stared at him.
"???"
Black Zetsu's eyes were nothing but two white dots in a sea of black, but Naruto was sure those were eyes.
"GHOST!!!"
He let out a half-hearted scream and immediately tried to poke Black Zetsu's eyes with two fingers.
This time, Black Zetsu dodged.
Indra's reincarnation at least had the sense to use a kunai.
But this Asura reincarnation? Fake, right?
In all his years, he had never met an Asura who greeted him by trying to poke his eyes.
"Eh?" Seeing Black Zetsu dodge, Naruto became more determined, but before he could try again, Masashi smacked him on the head, making him behave.
"Why are you always yelling?" he scolded. "No manners at all. This is my friend, call him Black Zetsu."
"Oh, hello! I'm Naruto."
Black Zetsu stayed silent for a long moment before finally muttering, "You're braver than your companion."
Naruto blushed at the compliment.
"???"
Yeah… definitely Asura.
Seeing the hidden chakra sealed inside Naruto, Black Zetsu started scheming—figuring out a way to extract some of Hagoromo's chakra from these two.
It didn't matter if Masashi agreed or not. Once he got a taste of it, he'd understand its value.
After memorizing the faces of the two boys, he didn't say another word. He simply turned to Masashi, said, "You know where to find me," and sank into the ground, disappearing.
"That guy is so cold," Naruto said. "Not friendly at all."
"You weren't very polite either." Masashi compared this Naruto to the one in the original timeline. He had to admit—Naruto's personality simply didn't include the word fear.
Pure, untamed wildness.
"Judging by how you performed earlier, you've learned enough. Let's get started." Masashi gathered the three kids together, had them hold hands, and placed a hand on Sasuke's shoulder.
He activated the Flying Thunder God.
In an instant, their surroundings changed—before them lay a village covered in smoke and debris.
A group of Hannya ninjas was walking out of the village entrance—locking eyes with them.
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